Mad Doctor Hrothgar
@doctorhrothgar.bsky.social
Dinosaurs, dragons, and educational technology
Thirteen pounds of silver coins, guarded by mud worms. Among the hoard are coins marking the first king not to die in battle, and of the clerics who attended him.
Spend a coin, survive a battle, but you're in debt to that strange southern god of resurrection.
www.popsci.com/science/silv...
Spend a coin, survive a battle, but you're in debt to that strange southern god of resurrection.
www.popsci.com/science/silv...
Fisherman searching for worms finds 20,000 medieval silver coins
A Swedish man discovered the 12th century buried treasure near his summer home.
www.popsci.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Thirteen pounds of silver coins, guarded by mud worms. Among the hoard are coins marking the first king not to die in battle, and of the clerics who attended him.
Spend a coin, survive a battle, but you're in debt to that strange southern god of resurrection.
www.popsci.com/science/silv...
Spend a coin, survive a battle, but you're in debt to that strange southern god of resurrection.
www.popsci.com/science/silv...
Bisque of Lobster Vitality:
For the next 24 hours, you do not age, and spells or effects that would increase your age or reduce any atteibute instead increase your size by one category and your Strength by 2. A successful unarmed strike also grapples your target.
For the next 24 hours, you do not age, and spells or effects that would increase your age or reduce any atteibute instead increase your size by one category and your Strength by 2. A successful unarmed strike also grapples your target.
Even 2,500 years ago, people loved a novelty cup! 🦞 🍷 😄
It’s suggested this Ancient Greek terracotta vessel in the shape of a lobster claw was used as a drinking horn at parties!
The Met www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
📷 by me
#Archaeology
It’s suggested this Ancient Greek terracotta vessel in the shape of a lobster claw was used as a drinking horn at parties!
The Met www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
📷 by me
#Archaeology
November 8, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Bisque of Lobster Vitality:
For the next 24 hours, you do not age, and spells or effects that would increase your age or reduce any atteibute instead increase your size by one category and your Strength by 2. A successful unarmed strike also grapples your target.
For the next 24 hours, you do not age, and spells or effects that would increase your age or reduce any atteibute instead increase your size by one category and your Strength by 2. A successful unarmed strike also grapples your target.
Your next dungeon monster:
"Dinosaur mummy, but it's made of clay that was welded by ancient microbes"
www.scientificamerican.com/article/duck...
"Dinosaur mummy, but it's made of clay that was welded by ancient microbes"
www.scientificamerican.com/article/duck...
Dinosaur Mummies Are Clay Molds, Not Soft-Tissue Fossils, New Study Reveals
Wyoming’s “dinosaur mummies,” once thought to preserve fossilized flesh, are actually detailed clay molds formed by microbes as the creatures decayed
www.scientificamerican.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Your next dungeon monster:
"Dinosaur mummy, but it's made of clay that was welded by ancient microbes"
www.scientificamerican.com/article/duck...
"Dinosaur mummy, but it's made of clay that was welded by ancient microbes"
www.scientificamerican.com/article/duck...
Returning to contra dance after 5 years away, I feel like Benjamin Barker. But without the the murder or the pies, certainly not the haircut or shave. But to swing again in familiar forms, my hands upon my trusty partners'...
At last! My arm is complete again!
At last! My arm is complete again!
August 23, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Returning to contra dance after 5 years away, I feel like Benjamin Barker. But without the the murder or the pies, certainly not the haircut or shave. But to swing again in familiar forms, my hands upon my trusty partners'...
At last! My arm is complete again!
At last! My arm is complete again!
This is straight out of Jurassic Park's InGen backstory. Superficial changes to unrelated organisms, but gosh darn it if it doesn't inspire you about the possibilities of giants walking the Earth once again. What could possibly go wrong?
www.wired.com/story/scient...
www.wired.com/story/scient...
Scientists Just Created a ‘Woolly Mouse’ With Mammoth-Like Fur
The de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences wants to bring back the woolly mammoth—starting with a very furry mouse.
www.wired.com
March 5, 2025 at 2:00 PM
This is straight out of Jurassic Park's InGen backstory. Superficial changes to unrelated organisms, but gosh darn it if it doesn't inspire you about the possibilities of giants walking the Earth once again. What could possibly go wrong?
www.wired.com/story/scient...
www.wired.com/story/scient...
This inspired me to improvise a session with my 6yo over a rare dinner for two. Uni the Unicorn became a friend to wolves & enemy of farmers, donkey-kicked a wizard out of his tower, dance-fought a sludge monster into an oven, and found a family of her own. Thanks, @ginnydi.com and Grandma!
My poor grandma had to live 97 years without playing D&D... but don't worry, I fixed that.
https://buff.ly/4i81yU1
https://buff.ly/4i81yU1
March 1, 2025 at 2:35 AM
This inspired me to improvise a session with my 6yo over a rare dinner for two. Uni the Unicorn became a friend to wolves & enemy of farmers, donkey-kicked a wizard out of his tower, dance-fought a sludge monster into an oven, and found a family of her own. Thanks, @ginnydi.com and Grandma!
Defeating Gortash in BG3 is only weak escapism for current events, but still just a little cathartic.
February 4, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Defeating Gortash in BG3 is only weak escapism for current events, but still just a little cathartic.
I want to put this in my game in about five different ways - summon a Mammoth Roc? A special form of Magic Stone? Featherfall token? Pocket cockatrice?
Perhaps the oldest known representation of a bird, carved in mammoth ivory, from Hohle Fels cave, Germany. Aurignacian, about 40,000 years old.
February 4, 2025 at 11:42 AM
I want to put this in my game in about five different ways - summon a Mammoth Roc? A special form of Magic Stone? Featherfall token? Pocket cockatrice?
99 lyrics from a Bluesky bard
Playing d&d with his 8yo ward
Just like Tasha, makes me laugh so hard
The thread keeps going, you can measure by the yard
Playing d&d with his 8yo ward
Just like Tasha, makes me laugh so hard
The thread keeps going, you can measure by the yard
I don’t gripe much, but I would be happy to do something different:
One like = one DnD rap lyric
One like = one DnD rap lyric
Oh no. I've found one I can participate in.
Let's do this.
One like = one trivial gripe
Let's do this.
One like = one trivial gripe
January 12, 2025 at 2:16 PM
99 lyrics from a Bluesky bard
Playing d&d with his 8yo ward
Just like Tasha, makes me laugh so hard
The thread keeps going, you can measure by the yard
Playing d&d with his 8yo ward
Just like Tasha, makes me laugh so hard
The thread keeps going, you can measure by the yard
I am glad to have the @nwspittsburgh.bsky.social (unofficial) mirror of NWS Pittsburgh here 🦋. Ther posts and graphics do a solid job communicating the uncertainty/probabilistic nature of forecasts, while still giving enough concrete detail to prepare and make plans.
The remainder of the Winter Storm Watch has been upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning. A Winter Weather Advisory also issued just to the north of the warning. Images below contain more details on the upcoming winter weather. Latest at http://weather.gov/pbz.
January 5, 2025 at 12:02 PM
I am glad to have the @nwspittsburgh.bsky.social (unofficial) mirror of NWS Pittsburgh here 🦋. Ther posts and graphics do a solid job communicating the uncertainty/probabilistic nature of forecasts, while still giving enough concrete detail to prepare and make plans.
Any adventure that the party can walk away from in a Warforged colossus is an unqualified success.
December 12, 2024 at 4:48 AM
Any adventure that the party can walk away from in a Warforged colossus is an unqualified success.
Let's get it done.
(Art by Stephen Walsh)
(Art by Stephen Walsh)
November 5, 2024 at 9:42 PM
Let's get it done.
(Art by Stephen Walsh)
(Art by Stephen Walsh)
Just saw The Hobbit stage play at the Pittsburgh Public Theater - definitely recommend it! Smartly framed as a D&D group's adventure, it's a fast paced retelling (understandably dropping more sedate interludes from the book) with occasional large puppets.
onstagepittsburgh.com/2024/10/27/r...
onstagepittsburgh.com/2024/10/27/r...
Review: Theatrical Wizardry Propels Public's Inventive 'The Hobbit'
By SHARON EBERSON I thought I had every possible iteration of The Hobbit seared in my brain. Now I have to make room for another: Pittsburgh Public Theater’s mashup of clever staging, puppetry and …
onstagepittsburgh.com
November 2, 2024 at 11:34 PM
Just saw The Hobbit stage play at the Pittsburgh Public Theater - definitely recommend it! Smartly framed as a D&D group's adventure, it's a fast paced retelling (understandably dropping more sedate interludes from the book) with occasional large puppets.
onstagepittsburgh.com/2024/10/27/r...
onstagepittsburgh.com/2024/10/27/r...
Bringing the kid up right: she knows in her bones that mimics are the best "please help yourself" candy bucket
November 1, 2024 at 1:55 PM
Bringing the kid up right: she knows in her bones that mimics are the best "please help yourself" candy bucket
This is a few years old, but dang! A 13-vocal-track version of Misty Mountains, in reconstructed Dwarvish, and sung in earnest. No notes.
(Durin's day was last Thursday, apologies for the late post)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wIS...
(Durin's day was last Thursday, apologies for the late post)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wIS...
The Hobbit - Misty Mountains (In Dwarvish)
YouTube video by Colm R. McGuinness
www.youtube.com
October 7, 2024 at 1:44 PM
This is a few years old, but dang! A 13-vocal-track version of Misty Mountains, in reconstructed Dwarvish, and sung in earnest. No notes.
(Durin's day was last Thursday, apologies for the late post)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wIS...
(Durin's day was last Thursday, apologies for the late post)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wIS...
This short science fiction story hit me right in the feels. Dang it, @jomiles.bsky.social - I don't mind crying but I'm out in the world and all out of tissues.
I'm so very excited my story "A Menu of First Favorite Meals" is now live for you to read at @uncannymagazine.bsky.social !
It's about complicated sibling feels, food as love language, and alien first contact. I'm extremely proud of it, hope you love it too:
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/a-me...
It's about complicated sibling feels, food as love language, and alien first contact. I'm extremely proud of it, hope you love it too:
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/a-me...
A Menu of First Favorite Meals - Uncanny Magazine
Monday: Fluffernutter Sandwich You smile and greet me by name when I arrive: “Hi, Mira, please come in.” It’s the same polite smile you give the doctors. You know who I am, but my identity is just a f...
www.uncannymagazine.com
October 1, 2024 at 10:08 PM
This short science fiction story hit me right in the feels. Dang it, @jomiles.bsky.social - I don't mind crying but I'm out in the world and all out of tissues.
Bronze-age mummies with cheese! With science like this, D&D adventures just write themselves.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
I personally know two druids and a rogue who'd eat that cheese with zero hesitation. The mummy is rising? A trap was sprung? That can wait, there's unusual cheese!
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
I personally know two druids and a rogue who'd eat that cheese with zero hesitation. The mummy is rising? A trap was sprung? That can wait, there's unusual cheese!
Bronze Age cheese reveals human-Lactobacillus interactions over evolutionary history
Ancient DNA has been recovered from Bronze Age cheese residue, revealing cultural
communication, the spread of fermenting techniques, and the domestication of microorganisms
by the Xinjiang Xiaohe pop...
www.cell.com
October 1, 2024 at 1:49 PM
Bronze-age mummies with cheese! With science like this, D&D adventures just write themselves.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
I personally know two druids and a rogue who'd eat that cheese with zero hesitation. The mummy is rising? A trap was sprung? That can wait, there's unusual cheese!
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
I personally know two druids and a rogue who'd eat that cheese with zero hesitation. The mummy is rising? A trap was sprung? That can wait, there's unusual cheese!
Having introduced the recursive acronym WINE (WINE Is Not an Emulator) to the 10 year old, and having sketched out what an emulator *is*, this encyclopedic D&D kid asks, "is a Mimic an emulator?"
It's simulating the hardware of a treasure chest (etc) with an outwardly similar interface...
It's simulating the hardware of a treasure chest (etc) with an outwardly similar interface...
July 3, 2024 at 1:14 AM
Having introduced the recursive acronym WINE (WINE Is Not an Emulator) to the 10 year old, and having sketched out what an emulator *is*, this encyclopedic D&D kid asks, "is a Mimic an emulator?"
It's simulating the hardware of a treasure chest (etc) with an outwardly similar interface...
It's simulating the hardware of a treasure chest (etc) with an outwardly similar interface...
Watching this for "Wonka Experience" level false expectation fallout as it passes through Pittsburgh - absolutely a trap in a sparsely decorated convention hall that its own marketing video can barely conceal.
Maybe "the pit of the false unicorns" is my next D&D adventure.
youtu.be/Z9NNikGAX2U?...
Maybe "the pit of the false unicorns" is my next D&D adventure.
youtu.be/Z9NNikGAX2U?...
Explore Unicorn World
A day at Unicorn World is filled with magic and fun! Come experience the magic of unicorn in this immersive, family experience.
youtu.be
June 17, 2024 at 10:56 AM
Watching this for "Wonka Experience" level false expectation fallout as it passes through Pittsburgh - absolutely a trap in a sparsely decorated convention hall that its own marketing video can barely conceal.
Maybe "the pit of the false unicorns" is my next D&D adventure.
youtu.be/Z9NNikGAX2U?...
Maybe "the pit of the false unicorns" is my next D&D adventure.
youtu.be/Z9NNikGAX2U?...
Time to write up a fresh and spicy cockatrice variant for dinosaur D&D, with little tingly beetle buddies as harbingers. If it's big enough to bother humanoid adventurers, what predator is put off by its paralyzing plumage?
Touching this bird can result in numbness & tingling in extremities. Eating it can result in paralysis or death ☠️.
Let's talk about neurotoxic birds 🐦.
(📷: Ben G Freeman, benjamingfreeman.com)
Let's talk about neurotoxic birds 🐦.
(📷: Ben G Freeman, benjamingfreeman.com)
May 29, 2024 at 11:33 AM
Time to write up a fresh and spicy cockatrice variant for dinosaur D&D, with little tingly beetle buddies as harbingers. If it's big enough to bother humanoid adventurers, what predator is put off by its paralyzing plumage?
Just a regular guy walking a regular dog in the park
May 26, 2024 at 1:05 PM
Just a regular guy walking a regular dog in the park
This is a solid hook.
When traces of ancient squid vampires are discovered in a tiny kingdom, the adventure kind of writes itself!
phys.org/news/2024-02...
When traces of ancient squid vampires are discovered in a tiny kingdom, the adventure kind of writes itself!
phys.org/news/2024-02...
New species of ancient vampire squid unearthed in Luxembourg
A trio of paleontologists in Germany has found a fossilized vampire squid that they dated to 183 million years ago. In their paper published in the Swiss Journal of Palaeontology, Robert Weis, Ben Thu...
phys.org
February 29, 2024 at 1:25 PM
This is a solid hook.
When traces of ancient squid vampires are discovered in a tiny kingdom, the adventure kind of writes itself!
phys.org/news/2024-02...
When traces of ancient squid vampires are discovered in a tiny kingdom, the adventure kind of writes itself!
phys.org/news/2024-02...