Sample item from our current kickstarter project, a deck of 50 system-neutral magic items for TTRPGs, inspired by medieval texts, marginalia, and archaeology.
This one in particular is based on the stylish hat sported by this fellow in the marginalia of the Rutland Psalter (folio 82v, specifically):
As a bonus, here is a sketch from the margins of the included GM's Guide, illustrating how to wear this hat with Confidence:
You can back the kickstarter at the link below; it runs until the end of June.
A collection of 50 system-neutral magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts.
Hi everyone! I recently had the pleasure of working on a Kickstarter project with the talented Maniculum podcast. We created 50 tabletop items for you to use in your games. It's running until June 30th!
👉 Kickstarter link here --> http://kck.st/3yFprB8
👉 Maniculum podcast --> https://www.themaniculumpodcast.com/
Both sides of a sample card from our current kickstarter project, a collection of 50 system-neutral magic items for TTRPGs, inspired by medieval literature, marginalia, and archaeology.
I'm sure many of you recognize this particular item, since Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is not hugely obscure as medieval literature goes, especially after the movie with Dev Patel from a few years ago. (I'm making the possibly unwarranted assumption that most people reading this have a pre-existing interest in medieval literature.)
Those of you who are sufficiently familiar to have Opinions on it might question why our interpretation is particularly good at decapitation, since famously the Green Knight only requires that Gawain strike a blow, and it's Gawain's choice to decapitate him. For this I point you to the text:
Þe grene knyȝt vpon grounde grayþely hym dresses,
A littel lut with þe hede, þe lere he discouerez,
His longe louelych lokkez he layd ouer his croun,
Let þe naked nec to þe note schewe.
When Gawain is preparing to strike the blow, the Green Knight intentionally positions himself to make his neck a target, going so far as to move his hair out of the way. He never says "cut off my head", but he implies that is the right course of action because he wants Gawain to make that choice.
So our version of the Axe of the Green Knight is enchanted to also encourage that behavior. It doesn't come with any sort of curse requiring that you receive any blow you strike with it after a year and a day, but if an ambitious GM thinks that would work in their campaign, they're welcome to toss that in of course.
Anyway, the kickstarter runs until the end of June, and you can back it here:
A collection of 50 system-neutral magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts.
Sample page from our current kickstarter project, a collection of 50 system-neutral magic items for TTRPGs, inspired by medieval literature, marginalia, and archaeology.
Since this page doesn't have the name of the item (it's on the facing page), y'all should know this is the Gae Bolga, a spear wielded by the Irish hero Cú Chulainn.
The actual nature of the Gae Bolga isn't completely clear, as you might expect from a story cycle that has been interpreted by many different voices over the centuries. However, one theory that particularly grabbed us was that it could be a sort of harpoon tipped with a stingray spine. So that's what this one is. (A giant stingray, though, because that's cool.)
If you want to see the rest of this, and the other 49 items, I would encourage you to back the project at the link below -- it runs until the end of June.
A collection of 50 system-neutral magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts.
A sample card from our current kickstarter project, a collection of 50 system-neutral magic items for TTRPGs, inspired by medieval literature, marginalia, and archaeology.
This one is straight from the 13th-century Icelandic Örvar-Odds saga -- it's pretty much exactly as the text describes it, so our usual "inspired by" might be underselling it.
The requirement that you wear it for a day before the protection kicks in is our addition; otherwise, of course, a PC could avoid the downsides of the item by keeping a change of clothes handy for when they don't feel like charging recklessly into battle. We wanted to make sure that simply taking it off at strategic moments was disincentivized.
(At the GM's discretion, removing it to sleep, bathe, etc. may not count.)
To learn more about this and the 49 other items, you are encouraged to back our kickstarter at the link below -- it will run until the end of June.
A collection of 50 system-neutral magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts.
A sample page spread from the GM's Guide in our current kickstarter project, a collection of 50 system-neutral magic items for TTRPGs inspired by medieval literature, marginalia, and archaeology.
Okay, technically this one is inspired by pre-medieval archaeology, but come on. Look at it. You can't be mad at those little mice.
This was inspired by the following item of ancient pottery, currently held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (link here):
And no, I cannot explain how or why I decided that this thing should be used to make helpful mouse-constructs out of wine. But if you want it to do that for you, you can back the kickstarter at the link below -- it runs until the end of June.
A collection of 50 system-neutral magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts.
Hey, y'all! You may remember a while back we were advertising a Kickstarter campaign for a set of system-neutral TTRPG magic items. (These posts here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.) The Kickstarter ultimately wasn't funded, but we've decided to put it out regardless since we already made the thing.
Here are some sample images:
The print version will eventually be available via DriveThruRPG, but the digital version is available now via itch.io! Link below:
A collection of 50 system-neutral magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts.
Hey, y'all -- if you like medieval stuff, TTRPGs, or the intersection thereof, we have a thing for you!
After spending the past few years on the podcast talking about ways to adapt medieval source material to TTRPGs, @meanderingmedievalist and I are taking a shot at doing said adaptation in a form that you can purchase with your currency.
This is a Kickstarter for a fifty-card deck of original magic items inspired by medieval texts, art, and artifacts. (Okay, a couple of the artifacts are pre-medieval.) Each card has player-facing information for the item and some incredible art by Soojin Paek (who worked on Pentiment; you may be familiar). Also included is a GM's Guide with additional detail, additional art, notes on the medieval origins of all the items, and a healthy portion of marginalia.
The magic items are written to be system-neutral, though we have included an appendix in the GM's Guide with D&D 5e stats when relevant, if that's your preferred system and you don't want to stat them up yourself.
This is kind of a trial balloon -- we'd like to do more projects in the same vein, adapting medieval material for use in TTRPGs. Among other ideas, we've taken a lot of time looking at stuff we could do with the bizarre marginalia found in medieval manuscripts (and sometimes maps)... hence the "Marginal Worlds" title for what we hope will be a series of projects.
Anyway, we'd love for you to check it out. The Kickstarter goes live next week, but you should be able to sign up now & be notified when that happens. The link is below!
A collection of 50 system-neutral magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts.
