Loved @themonstersknow.com's new book, Making Enemies for D&D and other RPGs. It's a complete toolkit for mechanics for new monsters. But it also dives deep into the philosophy of "monsters" in the culture, with a bunch of great interviews from experts in the field! youtube.com/live/X_MndUp...

Polish wildlife photographer Igor Siwanowicz carefully cultivated mushrooms upon books to create living art. The position of the fungi implies that they are sprouting from the pages, as though some ancient magic is escaping from the tome. #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg #fantasy #writing 📷️: Igor Siwanowicz

These gorgeous images of the Patagonian mountains evoke a deep sense of wanderlust, of navigating mysterious wilds. Sometimes, bringing the verisimilitude of travel to players requires not but evocative descriptions that instill life and history. #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg #fantasy #writing 📷️: Max Rive

Built into a massive cliff overlooking the forests of Paro Valley, Taktsang Monastery (Bhutan) connects to a cavern network known as the Tiger's Nest that weaves throughout the mountains. #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg #fantasy #writing 📷: Tom Anderson; Vinayaraj; Bernard Gagnon; & Subhadeep Mondal

Constructed in the 13th century to protect Glamorgan, Caerphilly Castle dominates an island within an artificial lake. As the largest castle in Wales, the fortress saw extensive fighting throughout its life. #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg #fantasy #writing #history 📷: Hawlfraint y Goron & cadw.gov.wales

From its vantage on a spur-like island in a dark vale, the 12th-century Eltz Castle (Germany) watches the evening fog roll through the autumn woods. A tall castle in a dark forest offers ideas for #fantasy #writing & #dnd, especially this #Halloween season. #dnd5e #ttrpg 📷: Carl T. Loveall

The word "myriad" can be used as both a noun (synonymous with "lot of") and an adjective (synonymous with "many"). Personally, I strongly prefer the sleeker, stylish adjective form. "Her reasons were myriad." versus "She had a myriad of reasons."

Upon a mountain stands a fortress, battered but enduring. Its high walls have watched over the Plain of Navelli for a thousand years. Rocca Calascio (Apennines) is one of the highest-elevation forts (4,961 feet) in Europe. #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg #writing #history 📷: Franco Nicolli & Mauro Pagliai

Within vaulted rooms held by towering pillars, each etched and shaped with symbolism, are halls of stained glass dancing with prisms. The Basílica de la Sagrada Familia (Spain) offers ideas for #fantasy #writing & #dnd. #dnd5e #ttrpg 📷 : Ken Cheung; Sagrada Familia; Pep Daude; & Txllxt TxllxT

Ocharan Palace (Castro-Urdiales), a castle melding neo-Gothic and Mudejar styles, stands shrouded in ivy. An observatory operates within one of its splendid towers. Ivy-draped castles and astronomy towers offer ideas for #dnd and #fantasy #writing. #ttrpg #castle #dnd5e 📷: Castro-Urdiales Tourism

Crowned by mists and mantled in snow, Cerro Chaltén (Argentina and Chile) stands above the glacial lakes and lenga woods of Patagonia like a stoic monarch, distant and cold. Mist-wreathed mountains are a staple of #dnd or #fantasy #writing. #ttrpg #nature #dnd5e 📷: Ronald Söthje & Jenna Dixon

Along a towering cliff rent by the Guadalevín River lives ancient Ronda (Spain), a city of island-like plateaus connected by 14th- and 16th-century vaulted bridges. A city along or nestled atop a cliff offers ideas for #dnd or #fantasy #writing. #ttrpg #history #dnd5e 📷: James Relf Dyer

Like a crown set atop a jutting tidal island rests the walls of Lindisfarne Castle (Northumberland). The isle has a history of war dating to the 6th century. A castle atop a tall hill or island is right at home in #dnd or #fantasy #writing. #ttrpg #history #dnd5e 📷: Darren Flinders & Chris Combe

Heard about the Louvre jewel heist and my first thought was “finally, some good old fashioned normal crime”

Constructed in an era known as the Year of the Three Emperors, Kaiserturm (Odenwald) stands 112 feet in a quiet woodland. The lower levels are part of cozy cottage of stone and wood nestled around the observation tower. #dnd #ttrpg #writing 📷: Michael Feldmann; Michael Freyaldenhoven; & Chrisha Go

We have a number of positions open within the D&D TRPG studio, including multiple Game Designer roles! If you're interested in joining our adventuring party, apply here and elsewhere on the Hasbro jobs portal: jobs.hasbro.com/job/Renton-G... #WOTCstaff #dnd

Twin towers of white stone stand together. A covered bridge connects the conical roofs into a single great tower rising from the woods. Torre Schönberg is a watchtower built in 1905 and stands in Baden-Württemberg. #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg #history #writing 📷: Tom Juenemann; Zinnmann; & Lasmahei

Standing nearly 1000 feet above the forest floor, ancient monoliths of quartz sandstone guard the mist-touched valley of Zhangjiajie National Park. A vale of these forest-cloaked giants of stone is right at home in #dnd or #fantasy #writing. #ttrpg #nature #dnd5e 📷: Filip Kulisev

Across East Java is a region known as the Ijen volcano complex, a series of composite volcanoes famous for spewing sapphire-hued lava. While mineral deposits cause the coloration, in #dnd & #writing, the source can be fantastical. #nature #volcano #ttrpg 🎥: Olivier Grunewald and Régis Etienne

"Sorry, me lord."

Let’s break down the budget of a TTRPG project! I hope it’s helpful and you release lots of cool TTRPG product! I also hope it helps ensure paying collaborators fairly (or even great)! #TTRPG #RPG #GameDesign #GameDevelopment #IndieTTRPG #TTRPGCommunity #IndieDev #GameBudget #HowItsMade 1/19

Salar de Uyuni is a glittering expanse, a 10,000-square-kilometer mirror capturing the sky and all who tread upon it. Located in Bolivia, this 3,900-square-mile dry lake is the world's largest salt flat. What magic awaits upon its scintillating surface? #dnd #ttrpg #writing 🎥: Matias De Rada

Fiery blades are staples of both ancient fairytales and contemporary fantasies. A few notable examples are 𝐷𝑦𝑟𝑛𝑤𝑦𝑛 ("White-Hilt") from Celtic legends, 𝐿𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑏 ("Sword of Whirling Flame") from the Old Testament, and the 𝐹𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑒 from #dnd. #dnd5e #ttrpg #writing #folklore 🎥: Kiwamissimo

At the edge of a city, a great temple rises from an urban glade. Wat Sam Phran (Thailand) is encircled by a massive dragon, whose length spirals hundreds of feet around the seventeen-story-tall Buddhist sanctum. #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg #history #writing 📷: Pier Rick; Deltec Homes; & Jude Allen

With intricately carved green jade, Medusa's visage is caught in stone like those who gazed upon her uninvited. Along with Stheno and Euryale, she was one of the three Gorgon Sisters, and all were daughters of the two sea deities Phorcys and Ceto. #dnd #ttrpg #writing #fairytale 📷: Luis Alberto

Sequoias rise hundreds of feet from a sea of snow, the red hue of their bark stark against the white of winter. Forests of massive trees are a staple of fantasy adventures, providing primordial locations of ancient wonders. #dnd #ttrpg #writing 🎥: Quin Schrock (Giant Sequoia National Monument)

The ruined fortress of Raglan Castle (Wales) offers elements of fantasy and horror—a murky moat, a dark forest, and a tragic history. The style of the keep earned it the moniker the Great Yellow Tower of Gwent. 📷: FBJ Mavric, letrain_bleu; & S. Slater #dnd #ttrpg #fantasy #writing #halloween

TODAY'S THE DAY! Making Enemies: Monster Design Inspiration for Tabletop Roleplaying Games, with cover illustration by @kroovv.bsky.social and interior illos by @jencmars.bsky.social, is now on shelves! Get it at your friendly local game store or through one of these links: spyandowl.com/making...

The King & Queen of Horrorween decree: unleash your twisted talent! Enter the community run art contest for royally wicked rewards—if you dare, mortals! 👻👑🎨 en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/162980...

The Singapore Supertrees stand more than 50 meters, and they are solar-powered hydroponic gardens hosting a variety of plants. The light-wrapped tree structures offer inspiration for magical forests or buildings in a Fey village. #dnd #ttrpg #fantasy #writing 📷: Jayakumar Thirugnanasambantham

Within the woods of Yamanashi reside the works of Nagato Iwasaki, figures born of wood fallen from the forest. The sculptures offer inspiration for Fey or magical woodland creatures, such as dryads or a special breed of treant. #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg #fantasy #writing 📷 : Nagato Iwasaki.

The path stretches into the unseen distance. Its length flanked by ancient trees, their great boughs reaching to form the facade of an arched roof, wrought of branches and leaves. These paths in Lucca and Tuscany are shown in all four seasons. #dnd #ttrpg #writing #fairytale 📷: Massimiliano Lazzi

As though lifted from the pages of a fairytale, Donjon de Septmonts features the iconic aspects of a storybook castle—pale ashlar walls and high towers capped with canonical roofs. The 12th-century keep was the seat of the Bishop of Soissons. 📷: Deflorenne Sébastien #dnd #history #ttrpg #fairytale

This quote by Gildor from The Fellowship of the Ring has informed a lot of my choices in my Middle-earth hexmap project:

Beneath a blanket of winter's works rests ancient Cappadocia (Central Anatolia), that city of stone where the bronze-age Hittites carved dwellings from the hoodoos of a volcanic mountain. Cappadocia has inspired many locations in fantasy. 📷: Dennis Schmelz (IG/dennisschmelz) #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg

Have you seen ridella.xyz? It's like a Wordle for riddles. It's a good place to find solvable riddles for puzzles and sphinxes in your RPGs.

The tower's luminous facade is biomimetic, a strange weave-like surface imitating organic symmetry. The 40-meter Tower of Light (Manchester) was designed by Tonkin Liu, and it offers inspiration for a mage's tower in #dnd, #dnd5e, and #ttrpg. 📷: Beverley Neill, Matthew Burnett, & Dominic Ellis

Hewn by glaciers, Ásbyrgi is a horseshoe-shaped canyon holding streams, ponds, and caves within. At the canyon's center is Eyjan ("the Island"), a plateau of rock. The canyon offers ideas for hidden wilderness exploration. 📷: Örvar Atli Þorgeirsson, Petur Gunn, & Michal Klajban #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg

For those who came before #expedition33

Across the interior, the sweeping curves of polished woodwork reflect the soft amber light. The beautiful carpentry of Bar Raval (Toronto) offers ideas for an elven structure incorporating living trees into the building's frame and furniture. 📷: Jonathan Friedman & Bar Raval #dnd #dnd5e #ttrpg

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Descriptions of mountain terrain in fantasy RPGs are often dull expanses of bare rocks, steep cliffs and treacherous paths. That's an accurate depiction of what's above the tree line, but below the subalpine transition zone (which typically looks like uneven tundra), you get scenes like these.

The Tatra Mountains (Western Carpathians) tower in the distance, their crowns veiled by clouds and their shoulders draped in snow. Weaving through a field of lavender before the mountains is a fitted-stone path. 📷 : Boris Michaliček (IG: borievkyphotogallery) and Piotr Krzeslak #nature #ttrpg #dnd

A veil of snow is draped across the autumnal orange of a deciduous forest where a mountain's slope sets a verge between the two warring seasons. The imagery offers inspiration for games and stories, such as a skirmish between the autumn and winter courts. 📷: Ryan Resatka #nature #ttrpg #dnd

Twilight washes across Mangystau (Kazakhstan), spilling indigo over the desert and sky. Splinters of ancient plateaus stand in the dusk like silent towers. Mangystau offers desert locations for stories and games. Photos by Isabella Tabacchi (isabellatabacchi.com) #nature #ttrpg #dnd #Kazakhstan

From its perch along the towering cliffs of Paro Valley (Bhutan), the white-walled Paro Taktsang Monastery has watched over the woodland vale since 1692. The cliffside monastery offers inspiration for vertical locations in stories. Photos by Daniel Kordan (danielkordan.com) #history #ttrpg #dnd

Corpuscular light spears into the dark entrance of Hang Sơn Đoòng Cave (Vietnam), the world's largest natural cave system. The massive chambers and pristine waterways throughout the network offer locations to inspire stories and games. Photos by Daniel Kordan (danielkordan.com) #nature #ttrpg #dnd

Sharp peaks stand from the depths of swirling mist, their shoulders clad in verdant woodlands. Wulingyuan and the Huangshan Mountains (China) offer examples of beautiful regions with verticality to use in games and stories. Photos by Max Rive (maxrivephotography.com) #nature #ttrpg #dnd

"Just tell them" is such an underrated piece of advice for telegraphing dangers in RPGs. "How can I hint that the hallway is trapped? How can I hint that if they defeat the dungeon lord, they become the next dungeon lord?" Just tell them. Tell them out loud. With your words.

"Autumn in Ticino feels like memory itself. It’s the kind of beauty that doesn’t shout, it lingers — like something you’ve lived before." —Ronald Söthje Here are alpine-valley villages to inspire places in your games and stories. Photos by Ronald Söthje (soethje.com) #fantasy #ttrpg #dnd