Antagonist Relations: 2019

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Antagonist Relations Podcast Episode 58 - The Gang Ventures Into a Symbiotic Hell! (Godless)

Having returned to the World of Fire and Blood, the Antagonist Relations Podcast crew continues their actual play of the Godless RPG. They find themselves lost in the horrifying maze that is the Green Rock Canyons.

Starring Ben as Denny Perkins, Deluded Orc Preacher, Christy as Surly Stonearch, Savage Human Raider, Mike as Vale, Genius Changeling Grease Monkey and Cassandra as Emerson Wayne, Awakened Human Auspex.

"Pitchfork Sad" - A review of Shadow of the Demon Lord
Godless: The World of Fire and Blood (review)
Cleanup in Aisle Five

Please take our listener survey here.

Antagonist Relations Podcast Episode 57 - The Gang Flees For Their Lives! (Godless)

The Antagonist Relations Podcast crew returns to Godless: Adventures in a World of Fire and Blood. Reprising their roles from Cleanup in Aisle Five, they find themselves fleeing across the wasteland, on the run from the warlord Baba Proszawa, after stealing her mummified sphinx cat, MacGuffin.

Starring Ben as Denny Perkins, Deluded Orc Preacher, Christy as Surly Stonearch, Savage Human Raider, Mike as Vale, Genius Changeling Grease Monkey and Cassandra as Emerson Wayne, Awakened Human Auspex.

"Pitchfork Sad" - A review of Shadow of the Demon Lord
Godless: The World of Fire and Blood (review)

Please take our listener survey here.

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Music to Game To: The Psychic Maelstrom Mixes

The Psychic Maelstrom Mixes

So a few weeks ago, listening to the new <PIG> album, Candy, and thinking about running Apocalypse World again, and this happened...

1st, I was just going to pick a song ("The Power of Love") as a theme song for my new #ApocalypseWorld campaign-Then I got to thinkin' several of the tracks worked well in conjunction with the different playbooks https://t.co/2HDcSv67Kl #MusicToGameTo #AntagonistRelations 2/14
— Antagonist Relations (@antag_relations) June 28, 2019

then this happened...

Postscript... #psychicmaelstrom preserve me, I'm already contemplating how to repeat this but with Einstürzende Neubauten songs... #AntagonistRelations #MusicToGameTo
— Antagonist Relations (@antag_relations) June 28, 2019

Then I finally just made a playlist of 12 songs (for each playbook, plus the MC) for each playbook, plus the MC...

So, I present the Psychic Maelstrom Mixes... There were some arbitrary rules I invented for myself to craft each mix, but those won't be interesting to anyone else, so I'll skip listing them. Unlike most Music to Game To that I recommend, these are heavier on lyrics and cover songs. While normally, I wouldn't want players to get bogged down in recognizing songs, here I want the covers they catch to feel like echoes of the past rising up through the psychic maelstrom of Apocalypse World.

For my upcoming Apocalypse World Game, I plan on adding the mix for each playbook in play to a master list and playing it on shuffle during the game, which is easy for me since I have all the mp3s, but hopefully others can get good use from these mixes as inspiration for playing or running Apocalypse World too, or at least getting a peak into the psychic maelstrom inside my mind that drives me to put together 13+ hours of music for RPG games.

Friday, July 5, 2019

Random Ship Names & Maritime Songs to Game to

Put together a few more resources for any maritime themed D&D games; first a table to use to generate random D&D inspired ship names like: the Violet Wyrm, the Smirking Voyager, the Emerald Cockatrice, the Wand'rin' Mephit and the Rusty Siren. Easily works as a dockside tavern name generator too...

Antagonist Relations Random Ship Names

Also, here are a few Maritime themed songs that will fit well for when your party visits a dock side tavern...

from The Blasting Company's A History of Public Relations Dilemmae

from Shirley Inspired

Finally, don't forget Thomas' fantastic Heroes of Waves and Wharves that I wrote trinkets and NPC spell lists for. 30+ pages of maritime themed material for your 5e D&D game.

Friday, June 21, 2019

Music to Game to: Andrew Liles - The Dying Submariner: Complete Download Version

I listen to a lot of music (over 41 days worth in 2018 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

Andrew Liles – The Dying Submariner: Complete Download Version

The original edition of The Dying Submariner was subtitled: A Concerto For Piano And Reverberation In Four Movements is extremely minimal in instrumentation but extremely effective at portraying a sinking, claustrophobic atmosphere of being lost at, or worse, below the sea.
Ghostly piano playing echoes through the tracks, recasting the familiar instrument as an eerie explorer diving deeper and deeper into pitch black water. Nearing a length of 3 hours, the album provides plenty of soundtrack, bordering on soundscape, for doomed maritime adventures.
The Aqualungs versions, making up the last seven tracks, expand the instrumentation of the album but retain a maritime theme.

Vocals?...No
Music Genre(s)… Experimental, Ambient
Perfect for… Pitch black, haunted sessions of slowly building tension and dread.
If you only grab one track, make it... The minimal, yet menacing “The Dying Submariner – Part II”, which features rumbling piano lines that emerge from the depths of the track.

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Bag o' Gulls - Weird Magic Item #27

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Bag o’ Gulls

Uncommon Wondrous Item

This filthy, off-white sack smells faintly of seabird guano and was created by the notoriously eccentric Dwarven sea-mage, Scant Muckbeard. Once per day, as an action, the holder of the bag can use a command word and open the bag to release 2d12+12 sea gulls (for 5e D&D, use the stats for a raven, without the mimicry trait). The individual who utters the command word can have the gulls perform one of the actions below:

Seek Dry Land. The gulls fly in the direction of the nearest dry land, soaring at a speed that can be followed by a boat or ship. The gulls circle above the dry land until the individual who spoke the command word is within 300ft of the dry land or until 8 hours have passed, at which point the gulls disperse.
Swarm. The gulls swarm and attack a single target you verbally designate as a free action, using the stats of a Raven Swarm (for 5e D&D) or other appropriate stat block for the system. The gulls attack only the target creature, dispersing if the target of their attacks falls unconscious or dead.
Befoul. For 1d4+1 minutes the gulls befoul an area of huge size or smaller, eating any food, flapping their wings and squawking at any creatures present. If attacked or driven away, they do not fight back, instead they fly up and let loose a truly epic amount of guano, covering any creatures attacking them or attempting to drive them off. If left undisturbed, the gulls may still defecate before they depart but they do not focus their excretions on any single target, instead covering the area with their droppings.
Communicate. For a number of minutes equal to the number of gulls released, the user gains the ability to speak and understand Auran (the language of Air elementals) and has the effect of the Speak with Animals spell but only for birds, allowing them to use the gulls to speak to any other avians present.

Additionally, the bag serves as the material component for a find familiar spell, but when cast only sea gulls arrive to serve as the caster’s familiar.

Once the Gulls complete the command of the user, they fly off as normal gulls, completely free of any lingering effects and the bag cannot be used again until the next day.

Monday, June 10, 2019

The Heroes of Swanholm - Antagonist Relations Beyond the Wall Actual Play Podcasts

I finally took the time to break our first play session of Beyond the Wall (Episode 29) into three hour-ish long chunks, to make for easier listening and to mirror the lengths we started doing after that session.

I've also decided to refer to the campaign as the Heroes of Swanholm, making it easier to tag the episodes.

Below is a listing of all the episodes so far, in case you want to catch up. You too can enjoy how I am unable to maintain consistent accents for various NPCs, plus the terrible jokes and puns that arise from play! The actual play episodes are labors of love and an excuse to get the group together to game, but hopefully they are half as fun to listen to as they are to make.

Episode Twenty-six - He's the Conan of Bears (BtW #0) - Session Zero & Character Creation
Episode Twenty-Seven - Lonely Fun #1 - Beyond the Wall Setup - GM Commentary
Episode Twenty-Nine (A) - Shkelington Party OoOoOo, Part 1 - April 2018 Session
Episode Twenty-Nine (B) - Shkelington Party OoOoOo, Part 2 - April 2018 Session
Episode Twenty-Nine (C) - Shkelington Party OoOoOo, Part 3 - April 2018 Session
Episode Thirty-One - A Suspicious Weasel - May 2018 Session
Episode Thirty-Two - Seeing Eye Bear - May 2018 Session
Episode Thirty-Three - Slithering Beneath the Surface - May 2018 Session
Episode Thirty-Five - Ixnay on the Bloodbath-ay - June 2018 Session
Episode Thirty-Six - "Can we see the stench?" - June 2018 Session
Episode Thirty-Seven - The Bear's Entourage - June 2018 Session
Episode Forty-Three - Snake Steaks - August 2018 Session
Episode Forty-Four - Save Vs Dad Joke... Fail! - August 2018 Session
Episode Forty-Five - Cellar Gases - August 2018 Session
Episode Forty-Six - Coffin Books Are the Worst - December 2018 Session
Episode Forty-Seven - It Was Not Grave Robbing (It Was) - December 2018 Session
Episode Forty-Eight - We Can't All Be Giant Murder Bears - January 2019 Session
Episode Forty-Nine - Creepy Snake Bones and Cursed Rooms - January 2019 Session
Episode Fifty - Skeletons... Seems Sketchy - January 2019 Session
Episode Fifty-One - Sometimes I Forget My Last Name - April 2019 Session
Episode Fifty-Two - Everyone I Know Is Dead - April 2019 Session
Episode Fifty-Three - Let's Go In Your Dad's Hobo Hole - April 2019 Session
Episode Fifty-Four - Some People Died, What Else Happened? - May 2019 Session
Episode Fifty-Five - I Feel Like This Is A Trap! - May 2019 Session
Episode Fifty-Six - Put a Pin in this Hot Mess - May 2019 Session

Most of the podcast crew, minus Ben who was serving as the photographer

Player created maps
GM Hex Map (not for player eyes)

We also took a break from Beyond the Wall in July 2018 to play Godless, an adventure of my own devising, Clean Up In Aisle Five, which I swear I will finish editing and publish soon... But honestly, the four podcasts that came out of that session contain some of my favorite RPG memories...

Finally, if you enjoy the podcast and give it a listen, take our listener survey. If you provide your email address, I will send you some sweet RPG adjacent swag, like stickers, D&D themed temporary tattoos, old 2nd edition AD&D Trading Cards or a gelatinous cube enamel pin!

Here I am tormenting the Ginger Giant with a pyschotic clown mask...

Friday, June 7, 2019

Music to Game to: Undersmile - Narwhal

I listen to a lot of music (over 41 days worth in 2018 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

Undersmile – Narwhal

Sludgy, epic, female fronted doom metal, Narwhal has a maritime theme that makes it perfect for throwing on while you run Ghosts of Saltmarsh. The sprawling tracks feature thudding drums and guitar riffs that wash over listeners like crashing waves. The vocals provide a haunting atmosphere without being distracting.

Vocals?...Yes
Music Genre(s)… Doom Metal
Perfect for… Dark, maritime themed fantasy where you want to evoke epic storms, crashing waves and titanic monsters moving inexorably towards land.
If you only grab one track, make it... The massive and menacing track, “Berk”, which moves between roaring riffs and quieter haunting passages, provides a good taste of the heavy and inevitable sonic-scape of the album.

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Antagonist Relations Podcast Episode 56 - Put A Pin In This Hot Mess

The third episode from our May 2019 session. The party wanders the Barrow Downs searching for Valeska Unruh, the village witch of Swanholm, but instead encounter frogmen, goats and more...

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Antagonist Relations Podcast Episode 55 - I Feel Like This Is A Trap!

The second episode from our May 2019 session. Tulip and Ziska have a pleasant picnic, Hugen has a frustrating conversation with family and then the party heads into the dangerous muck of the Barrow Downs!

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Antagonist Relations Podcast Episode 54 - Some People Died, What Else Happened?

The first episode from our May 2019 session. The party discusses where to journey next, but then gets bogged down in some spooky business in Swanholm.

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Maritime Items & Heroes of Wharves and Waves

With Ghosts of Saltmarsh coming out, Thomas asked me for assistance proofreading and updating his Heroes of Wharves and Waves supplement for the Dungeon Master's Guild. I ended up contributing some NPC spell lists and trinkets to the updated product, but I had some items that did not make it in due to space and a few trinket ideas that worked better as common magic items.

So I took a little time and took what didn't make the cut, revised a little and put them all together into a single page Martime Items document with GM Binder, it's completely free and available at the link below:

Antagonist Relations Maritime Items

If you like what is on the Maritime Items page, consider grabbing Heroes of Wharves and Waves. While I am admittedly biased, it has plenty of fantastic material, including a copy of Moby Dick written up as a trinket that I snuck in as well as...

4 new races: the deck-dwelling hadozee, shadowy malenti, proud locathah, and fey skinchangers (both selkie and swanmay).
5 class archetypes and one modification: charm, opportunity, wave, and wealth domains for clerics, undersea option for circle of the land druids, and elemental water arcane tradition for wizards.
6 weapons
2 feats to access water elemental and ship spells
61 spells and supporting options to portray scoundrels of the docks, shipboard adventures, and aquatic adventures to life
17 magic items
12 beasts for wild shaping druids, selkies and swanmays, and beast summoning spells
A new trinket table
Alternate spell lists for NPC stat blocks, including sample ritual books for PCs to find

If my warlock archaeologist dies in Tomb of Annihilation, I'm going to have my next PC be a Cleric of the Wealth Domain using the rules from Heroes of Wharves and Waves.

Thursday, May 16, 2019

Antagonist Relations Podcast Episode 53 - Let's Go In Your Dad's Hobo Hole

After a long absence due to the cruel spirits of ice and snow, the party re-groups and pick up where they left off in Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures. The gang descends below the Neck, the Sweetberry Estate, attempting to learn the source of the stench that haunts Swanholm....

The third recording from late April 2019, please excuse the audio quality, we switched to a new laptop and the Windows 10 update was not kind, resulting in some unfortunate audio drops.

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Antagonist Relations Podcast Episode 52 - Everyone I Know Is Dead

After a long absence due to the cruel spirits of ice and snow, the party re-groups and pick up where they left off in Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures. The gang returns to Swanholm, finding it much changed since they left for Orlane and begin to uncover dark secrets in the village.

The second recording from late April 2019, please excuse the audio quality, we switched to a new laptop and the Windows 10 update was not kind, resulting in some unfortunate audio drops.

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Antagonist Relations Podcast Episode 51 - Sometimes I Forget My Last Name

Episode Fifty-One - Sometimes I Forget My Last Name

After a long absence due to the cruel spirits of ice and snow, the party re-groups and pick up where they left off in Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures. The gang returns to Swanholm, finding it much changed since they left for Orlane.

The first recording from late April 2019, please excuse the audio quality, we switched to a new laptop and the Windows 10 update was not kind, resulting in some unfortunate audio drops.

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Greatsword of Bashing - Weird Magic Item #26

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Greatsword of Bashing

The legendary berserker, Hjördís Bonebreaker, commissioned this sword after helping a band of adventurers clear the crypts of the Marrow King. During her time in the crypts she was frustrated by the need between to switch her preferred great sword and a maul that would better damage skeletons and other bony undead, so she asked a wizard to enchant her sword so that it dealt bludgeoning damage in addition to slashing. Hjördís christened her original greatsword Marrowdrinker, but since that time several more have been crafted as other berserkers and warriors ask mages to enchant weapons well suited to both cleaving goblins in twain and smashing the skulls of skeletons.

Friday, March 15, 2019

Music to Game to: The Bug vs Earth - Concrete Desert

I listen to a lot of music (over 41 days worth in 2018 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

The Bug vs Earth – Concrete Desert

I’ve featured Earth before, with my very first Music to Game to highlighting the two album epic Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light. On Concrete Desert, Earth’s Dylan Carlson collaborates with The Bug, dub/electronic producer Kevin Martin, for an album inspired by Los Angeles in particular and America more broadly. The result is a vast album, where the empty spaces of the American west meet a dystopic futuristic sound. A ghostly menace fills the tracks, which bear names like “Don’t Walk These Streets, givng them a bit of neo-noir flavor, making this album a great soundtrack for a modern, sci-fi, or post-apocalyptic game.

Vocals?...Yes, but only on the bonus tracks
Music Genre(s)… Doom, Electronic, Dub
Perfect for… Modern or post-apocalyptic games set in vast, empty spaces or crumbling cities.
If you only grab one track, make it... the epically haunting “American Dream” which features an eerie guitar melody that seems to wander a wasteland of drifting sand and broken promises.

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Amalia Sebara’s Fire-breathing Coin Hog - Weird Magic Item #25

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Amalia Sebara’s Fire-breathing Coin Hog

Originally developed by the legendary wizard, Amalia Sebara, this small coin purse shaped to look like a pig is stitched out of the hide of a red dragon. There is a coin sized slot on the back which is used to insert coins of any size into an extra-dimensional space within. The owner can whisper a command word and amount into the tiny ear of the ersatz hog and the amount will spill out of the hog’s mouth, provided the coin purse contains the amount. The extra-dimensional space can hold up to a million coins of any size, but will accept no other objects. It will also not accept counterfeit coins or coin shaped objects that hold no value. If anyone but the attuned owner of the coin purse attempts to steal the purse or open it, the pig opens its mouth and targets the thief with a burning hands spell. The owner can give the purse as a gift, however, and the purse becomes also becomes un-attuned 2d4 hours after the death of its owner, so those are the two most common means of obtaining one of these magical purses.

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Drunkard's Powder - Weird Magic Item #24

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Drunkard's Powder

This pea-green powder can be added to up to a gallon of any liquid to cause it to become a powerful intoxicant. While the powder does not change the taste, smell or appearance of the liquid, it imbues it with a potent effect, causing the imbiber to become drunk in 1d4 minutes as long as they have at least one swallow, and to stay intoxicated for 1d6 hours. The powder will affect all living creatures, though creatures larger than human size require an additional dose of the powder per size category above human sized. A bag of the powder typically contains 1d4+1 doses. Dwarves find it hilarious to put the powder in the teas of Elves, enjoying the normally stuffy Elves fall into a drunken stupor.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Music to Game to: Ufomammut - Snailking

Vocals?...Yes, in Italian and also samples.
Music Genre(s)… Doom Metal, Psychedelic Sludge
Perfect for… Games with epic combats that could benefit from a backdrop of doom laden riffs.
If you only grab one track, make it... “Lacrimosa” which features heavy riffs and thudding drums amidst swirling synths.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Breastplate of the Manticore - Weird Magic Item #23

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Breastplate of the Manticore

This battered bronze breastplate features the gruesome image of a Manticore upon it and functions as a +1 magic breastplate. Once a week the wearer can call upon the magic of the breastplate to transform into a Manticore for up to an hour. During that time the wearer possess their own mind but has the physical attributes, including the hit points and attacks, of a Manticore. All of the user’s equipment is magically absorbed into the new form and unavailable until the transformation ends. The effect ends at the end of an hour or when the wearer is reduced to zero or fewer hit points. If the effect ends because the wearer is reduced to zero hit points or fewer they are returned to their normal form, unconscious but with 1 hit point. Before the breastplate can be used again the wearer must devour the raw and bloody heart of a freshly killed foe that was slain by their hand (or manticore claw, etc) within the last hour. The wearer can devour the heart in either the manticore form, while the transformation is in effect, or in their normal form, but until they consume a foe’s heart they can neither remove the breastplate nor call upon its power of transformation, though they still receive its armor bonus as normal.

Friday, February 1, 2019

Music to Game to: Moon Duo – Occult Architecture Vol.1 and Occult Architecture Vol. 2

I listen to a lot of music (over 41 days worth in 2018 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

Moon Duo – Occult Architecture Vol.1 and Occult Architecture Vol. 2

A psychedelic conceptual opus in two parts intended to be “an intricately woven hymn to the invisible structures found in the cycle of seasons and the journey of day into night, dark into light through the Chinese theory of Yin and Yang”, Moon Duo’s Occult Architecture albums are a great choice for background music for any RPG. With driving rhythms, psychedelic guitar work and understated vocals these two albums provide a wonderfully evocative and thematic backdrop for a game.

Vocals?...Yes, but unobtrusive.
Music Genre(s)… Psychedelic Rock
Perfect for… Games where you want a psychedelic touch that isn’t over-whelming or distracting.
If you only grab one track, make it... The shimmering and sinister “Cult of Moloch” from Vol. 1 and the propulsive “The Crystal World” from Vol. 2

Monday, January 28, 2019

Antagonist Relations Podcast Episode 50 - Skeletons... Seems Sketchy

The third episode from our first Antagonist Relations Actual Play session of 2019. We return to our party as they delve deeper into the Crypts of the Slain Princes, dealing with the various and sundry undead they discover within.

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Antagonist Relations Podcast 49 - Creepy Snake Bones and Cursed Rooms

The second episode from our first Antagonist Relations Actual Play session of 2019. We return to our party as they delve deeper into the Crypts of the Slain Princes, dealing with the various and sundry undead they discover within.

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Witch's Compass - Weird Magic Item #22

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Witch’s Compass

This small stone disc has a small depression in its center and was created by a powerful witch to locate individuals either living or dead. When a piece of a body, like a fingernail, strand of hair, scale, feather or other scrap of bone or flesh is placed in the depression and a newt’s eye is placed over it, like a cap, the Compass activates, consuming the piece of the body. The newt's eye will rotate on the disc to point its pupil in the direction of the body the piece originally came from, or the largest fragment of the body if it has been dismembered. If the body is no longer on the same plane as the user of the compass, the newt’s eye disappears in a harmless puff of smoke, but otherwise it will continue to turn its pupil to point the user towards the body for 2d4+1 days at which point the newt’s eye dries out. The item can be re-used by placing a new fragment into the depression and covering it with a fresh eye of newt.

Monday, January 21, 2019

Antagonist Relations Podcast 48 -We Can't All Be Giant Murder Bears

The first Antagonist Relations Actual Play session of 2019. We return to our party as they delve deeper into the Crypts of the Slain Princes, dealing with the various and sundry undead they discover within.

Starring Ben as Hugen Coldhands, the New Watchman, Christy as Ziska Forespark, the Student of the Dark Arts, Mike as Jasper (Jape) Sweetberry IV, the Gifted Dilettante and Cassandra as Tulip, the Village Bear.

If you want to know more about Beyond the Wall, check out the Antagonist Relations reviews:

Antagonist Relations reviews Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures

Antagonist Relations reviews Further Afield.

Please take our listener survey here.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

2018 Antagonist Relations Recap

Image: Twenty Sided Dice set to 20 19

Antagonist Relations, Inc is back from holiday break, which was not particularly a break since I’ve run 6 game sessions and prepped a 10 part Cypher Game campaign since my last post in addition to all the normal family hoopla around the holidays.

Blog Business

It was a good year for blog writing last year— I posted 102 items in 2018, more than twice the next highest year (2015 with 47) and almost five times what I posted most years since I started this blog in 2012. The volume is especially notably because I only had a single post before March 2018. It was a questionable year for blog reading though… at least from what I can tell. Posts will get 10-20 views in the week I post them and that’s about it. Almost all of the referral links in the blog stats are for scammy clickbacks, for sketchy pharmaceutical hawking blogs or other obviously fraudulent and more importantly non-RPG blogs or sites. The few comments that I did get on posts in 2018 were all spam as well. Despite attempting to promote the blog with a twitter account (@antag_relations) and making sure to post fairly regularly on it to keep it from entirely being a wasteland in between blog post tweets I don’t seem to have grown the blog audience from the three people I know read it which has been disheartening.

Ultimately though, I’ve decided to keep posting here and to accept that maintaining the blog is something I’m mostly doing for myself and not for an audience, after all Lonely Fun has a long and storied tradition as part of the RPG hobby and so this blog will be my outlet for that. That said, if you’re a reader of the blog and not someone I know personally, if you send me an email at “Antagonist.relations(at)gmail.com” to let me know you’re out there, I’ll happily send you one of these snazzy stickers or a pack of the AD&D Second Edition Collector Cards if you’re interested.

Image: Shit Stickers where the I is a 1 on a d20, unopened pack of 1992 Series TSR D&D Collector Cards

So, what are my goals for the Antagonist Relations blog for 2019?

Keep posting Weird Magic Items and Music to Game to Posts.
Post more module and system reviews.
Post at least 100 updates again.

Back in 2018 when I made the conscious effort to revitalize the blog, I planned on putting up lots of tables, but by the summer I had discovered that churning out a table every week or two was difficult, so I’m going to let those drop away and not spend time trying to come up with another table of names just to say I got another table made. On the other hand, I’ve really enjoyed writing the Weird Magic Item and Music to Game to Posts so those will continue.

You’ll also continue to see cross-posts from the Antagonist Relations Podcast, we recorded our first episodes of 2019 on January 4th and I hope to have them edited and ready to post soon. I swear that eventually I’ll do another Lonely Fun podcast just for Ben and there is a chance that there might be another potential podcast to come as well, though that one is really tentative.