James from Crumbling Keep

07/28/2025

So for those that don't know, Vermont has it's own kind of ice cream called a Creemee. It's like soft serve, but it has more fat and, frankly, is better.

Soon after moving here, I heard that dill pickle creemees were a thing. Being a sucker for novelty, I decided I needed to try one and I finally got my chance this week.

It was more dill than pickle, but it was actually really good? I have no regrets.

So what weird foods do you have in your fantasy world? I'm not sure why, but in many of my fantasy worlds, Dark Dwarves have spicey root vegetable based stews.

07/27/2025

This is it. The last day.

The countdown is down to mere hours.

Our Fantasy Toolbox sale ends tonight. This great selection of system agnostic releases will still be available tomorrow - if you want to pay full price. And who wants to do that?

So what's in the toolbox?

- Deep Dark Wood: a collection of dark, psychedelic, fairytale-esque hexes to place where you will.
- Deep Dark Encounters: The companion to Deep Dark Wood, these are random encounters with some real bite to them. Things get strange.
- Deep Dark Dungeons: Journey into the dark places of the forest and come in contact with ghosts, weirdo goblins, aliens, and other terrors.
- The House of Gureaux the Butcher: A small dungeon to place outside any town you desire. Maybe it's best to not know where the meat comes from.
- Blood Fish Isle: A small hex crawl to place off the coast of any map you're making.
- Classic Dungeon Encounters: A brilliant and inventive card deck from Phillip Reed to stock your dungeons with some really interesting encounters.

That's a lot of toys, all for the price of the Players Handbook for that really popular game.

Wanna grab it before that timer hits zero? Comment "Toolbox" and I'll send you the link.

07/26/2025

Hey. You. Wanna know a secret?

Promise not to tell anyone?

You don't have to make your entire hex crawl by yourself. You can cheat and steal.

Hell, it's a great idea to cheat and steal.

One of the things I love about the OSR scene is the plethora of little adventures out there. One off dungeons, tiny hex crawls, little adventure zines.

Unlike a lot of "modern" adventures, they're not set up to run a campaign from level 1-20. If you're making a hex crawl, however, they're a great source of material.

Have a little dungeon adventure? Put that dungeon in a hex. Have a little hex crawl? Insert those hexes on your own overland map and make it part of the bigger campaign you're doing. If the PCs go into that dungeon or travel to those hexes, just pull out the appropriate zine and run things from there.

This is a great way to create a sandbox, a world full of many tiny adventures.

I have a selection of Dragon game zines on sale this weekend - I'm calling it "The Fantasy Toolbox" and it's full of cool things to stock your world with.

Comment "Toolbox" and I'll send you the link.

07/25/2025

07/25/2025

It's seemingly become the default for WotC DnD campaigns to run for a lot of levels. At least 5.

It speaks to what the suspected mode of play is. People are playing the same characters for a long time. A lot of these adventures are on some pretty serious rails, though. Having run Strixhaven and Light of Xarxys in these past few years, they don't seem very big on sandboxes.

For the GM whose homebrewing their own campaign, that's tough. Writing a campaign like the officially released ones is taxing and almost certainly will lead to frustration when the players decide to go left but the adventure depended on them going right.

Let's talk about sandbox play.

Sandbox play doesn't come with an episodic plot. It won't look like a tv show or comic book. It will have a lot of freedom. The world is set - the PCs can travel and do what they will.

The GM makes a hex map. They throw in some towns and dungeons. They create hooks and dynamic situations, but not solutions. They may know that the Wereboar in the woods doesn't like the Cyclops, but what happens with that is up to the PCs.

We have a deal going on right now on The Fantasy Toolbox - Six supplements suitable to use in your sandbox creation. Hexes, dungeons, short adventures - mix them all together, plot them out on a map, and go to town. suitable for any dragon game.

Comment "Toolbox" and I'll send you the link.

07/24/2025

The Fantasy Toolbox, this weekend only. A wealth of stuff to stock your next campaign of your favorite dragon game.

Comment "Toolbox" and I'll send you the link.

07/23/2025

I could name a lot, but let's stick with the "Though Ultan's Door" series.

07/22/2025

Weird things in a dragon’s horde (1d10)

- Sauces. The dragon loves sauces. She has collected them from all over the realm. The flavor is in the sauce.

- Adventurers. Yeah, you read that right. The best part is that, so often, they come to him. He’s got a few barbarians, a sorcerer or two… oooh, you’ll love this. She calls herself an “Artificer”.

- Works of art. Gold is so… common. This painting was made by Terrial yll’um’tillis five centuries ago. It is unsurpassed still.

- Baby animals. Kittens, fawns, puppies, little mice babies, small lizards… just leave this dragon alone. It’s doing fine.

- The horde looks empty. No material possessions adorn this cave. What the dragon taffics in is secrets.

- Drugs. This dragon likes to get wrecked, son. The stronger and more rare, the better.

- The skeletons of dead dragons. She reconstructs them in her cave. It helps her feel connected to her people. She talks to them from time to time…

- NFTs. Bro, it’s the future. Come on, bro, I got these apes and they’re all mine. Gold coins are so dated.

- Books. The cave smells like mouldering paper. A family of elves has pledged their service to the dragon, continually cataloging and upkeeping their library.

- Plants. Kept alive and growing by magical means, this dragon travels the world in search of rare and interesting fauna. It’s like a sauna in their cave. Flowers, vines, man-eating plants, plant-eating plants - and you should see all the veggies!