This Thing is Weird!

Hope you left some space guys, it's time for pudding!

We focus on the Weird in RPG's this week, as we contemplate Adam's bizarre chaos-demon confection The Whirlywhip. What makes a thing weird, and how can this quality enliven our games? 

Then we trip over to the lovely folks from the OSR RPG group on Facebook for more weird and wonderful happenings. 

Full encounter here!

We are once again heavily laden with references. Our Gelatinous Cube is sadly absent this week but here is a piece they wrote about the work of Jim Woodring.

This particular encounter brought to mind the excellent advice of Arnold K to "attack every part of the character sheet," and you can find some of his thoughts on the principle here.

And finally what's all this about Weird Materialism and the OSR? Here's Deep Under Stone on the subject. 

These Mushrooms are Glowing!

Classic dungeon master moves on Gelatinous Cube this week, as we consider Rosie's dingy encounter "These Mushrooms are Glowing!" 

The humble mushroom provides inspiration for all manner of folklore and fantasy. This time they're touched with a little magic to create a low-level trap that introduces an entire world. Then it's over to the Gelatinous Cube for a woodland trance party and the psychedelic offerings it yields. 

Full encounters here!

Lots of references this week:

Frank Dugan's excellent article on mycophobia and mycophilia:

Dugan, F. M. 2008. Fungi, folkways and fairy tales: mushrooms & mildews in stories, remedies & rituals,from Oberon to the Internet. North American Fungi 3( 7): 23-72.

Rosie also discussed her deep and abiding love for the Exile and Avernum series of games, created by Spiderweb Software. 

And finally if you would like to encounter a Machine Elf (seems inadvisable but you must follow your own path) you can find out more about them here.