DDE: Iounian
Artwork by Jason SholtisSince my 2026-01-06 05:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
James Maliszewski posts
Commentary on Dwarves & Gnomes
Happy New Year!
In Tuesday's post, I promised to pr...
2026-01-01 05:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostDDE: Dwarves & Gnomes
Following last week's Christmas post and yesterday's Substack post, ...
2025-12-30 05:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostAn Old School (Essentials) Christmas Gift
Artwork by Jason SholtisYear's End
2025 is rapidly coming to a close. One of the unexpected consequences of getting older is that time seems to move much more quickly than it did when ...
2025-12-18 05:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostHouse of Worms Commemorative Portrait
Today, I thought I'd take a break from sharing more of my thoughts about 2025-12-16 05:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
The Current State of Dream-Quest (Part II)
In my last post, I talked about the origins of the <...
2025-12-11 05:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe Current State of Dream-Quest (Part I)
Though I haven’t posted anything new about the Dream-Qu...
2025-12-09 05:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: The Great Ones
As I continue to ponder Dream-Quest and just what I want this project to be, a recurring topic concerns the gods of the Dreamlands ...
2025-11-18 05:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Dream-Quest: An Example
After thinking some more about my previous post, I conclu...
2025-11-06 05:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: Mirroring the Psyche
As I continue to think about Dream-Quest, I keep coming back to the idea that the Dreamlands are not a fixed geography but rather a land...
2025-11-04 05:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: Generating the Dreamlands
In my public post a couple of days ago, I discussed the i...
2025-10-30 04:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: Building the Dream
As I discussed in two previous posts, I've begun to realize that, from a game design perspective, it's best to think of the Dreamlands not as a p...
2025-10-28 04:00:36 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: The Mutable Dreamer?
Lately, I’ve been pondering an intriguing — and probably difficult to implement — idea for Dream-Quest. I’m not yet sure if it’s <...
2025-10-14 04:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: The Mutable Dreamlands (Part II)
As I mentioned in Part I of this post, I’m still v...
2025-10-09 23:23:08 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: The Mutable Dreamlands (Part I)
One of the guiding ideas behind Dream-Quest is that there is no such thing as a definitive version of the Dreamlands. Lovecraft him...
2025-10-07 04:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: Anchoring Items
As Dream-Quest continues to take shape in my mind, I keep circling back to the question of permanence within the Dreamlands. What, ...
2025-10-02 04:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostVarieties of Dreamborn
At the end of last month, I suggested two possible charac...
2025-09-30 04:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: Poet-Seer Spells (Levels 3 and 4)
3rd Level Spells
Binding Rhyme
Range: 30’ Duration: 1 turn
The Poet-Seer speaks a bindi...
Dream-Quest: Poet-Seer Spells (Levels 1 and 2)
As promised, here are the 1st and 2nd-level Poet-Seer 2025-09-23 04:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Dream-Quest: Poet-Seer
Poet-Seer
Words woven from moonlight. Verses that stir the soul. Prophecies whispered from the hidden cadences of slumbe...
2025-09-18 04:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe Dreamlands Campaign
As I continue work on Dream-Quest, I find my thoughts drifting into places I never expected — surprising, yes, but in the best possible wa...
2025-09-16 04:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: Shadow
Shadow
Footfalls erased. Faces forgotten. Whisper where the dark gathers.
Origin: Earthborn ...
2025-09-11 04:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostAlone in the Dreamlands
On Thursday, I’ll be sharing another Dream-Quest character class — the shadow, my take on a thief-analog for t...
2025-09-09 04:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: Knight of Dreams
Knight of Dreams
Vows made flesh. Steel made dream. Champion of the unreal.
Origin: Earthborn or Dreamborn 2025-09-04 04:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Dream-Quest Table of Contents
Today, I thought I'd take a brief break from presenting sample rules from my Dream-Quest draft and instead share the very rough outline I've got for the work as a whole. Bear in mind, this is all incredibly rough and sub...
2025-09-02 04:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest: Death & Return
The Lands of Dream are indeed wondrous – but they can also be perilous. Yet death is not always the same for all who walk its roads.
Dream-Quest: Character Origins
Every soul who treads the Dreamlands must come from somewhere. Before any other choice is made, each player decides whether his character is...
2025-08-26 04:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDream-Quest
If you’ve been reading Grognardia during this past month, you’ll know th...
2025-08-25 17:59:44 +0000 UTC View Post