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Posts Archive

2026 (24)

June (3)

• A Knight Proven in Battle
• Military Systems Reflect Their Civilian Societies
• Bardic Memory

May (5)

• The Seven Liberal Arts
• Youth Knew No Restraint, and Despised Prudence
• Spears, Glaves, and Halberds
• An Armored Division Can Have Too Many Tanks
• The Influence of the State Did Not Reach Into the Lives of Individuals

April (4)

• The Mystery of Steel
• Blurred Line Between Medicine and Magic
• No Two Copies of the Egyptian Book of the Dead Are the Same
• A Knight Would Have a String of Horses

March (5)

• Potions of Healing Restore One-Quarter of Maximum Hit Points
• House of Bow and Arrows
• Amulets Often Portrayed the Spirit They Were Supposed to Ward Off
• First Law of Kenpō
• Encounters with Military Units in a Feudal Japanese Setting

February (5)

• Receptacles of Enormous Magical Power
• Effectiveness of English Royal Taxation
• Evil Source of Weapons and Shields
• Oath of Knighthood
• The Dangerous Direction From Which Demons Were Most Likely to Swoop

January (2)

• Early Medieval Standard of Living Was Low
• The Noise Was So Great That You Would Not Have Heard God Thunder

2025 (137)

December (10)

• Personal Misfortune or Sickness Was Often Blamed on Witches or Demons
• Beneath the Official Pantheon Was a Layer of Demons
• Fighting Filled the Noble's Need of Something To Do
• Every Time You Step Onto the Training Floor, You Are Being Tested
• Mnhei'sahe
• Converted Map of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Level 1
• Old Egyptian Blessing
• Motte-and-Bailey Castles
• Where Are All The Tapestries?
• Samurai Mount a Horse From the Right Side

November (9)

• Clear a Path
• Subtle Science and Exact Art of Potion-making
• Not Designed to Keep Something Out
• A Typical Medieval Battle: Loud, Violent, and Disorganized
• Moral Authority
• A Royal Household Was Portable
• Some Lessons Cannot Be Taught
• Perhaps One In Six People Were Technically a Clergyman
• Only the Most Devious and Adept Players Survived

October (7)

• Age of the Country at War
• Sumer Was About the Size of Belgium
• World's Greatest Lie
• One Part of Mental Training Is Anticipation
• A Model For Anti-Prince
• Laser Rifles Make Very Little Sound
• Chess Pieces' Movements Reflect Their Counterparts in the World of Warfare

September (6)

• Chamber of Extrospection
• Still the Swordmaster
• Rajadharma
• We'd Take the World Apart If She Asked Us To
• Five Sorcerers Standing As One
• Reasonableness and Force

August (14)

• Magical Weapon Combination
• New Fragment for "Elmö's Obligation"
• Prophecy Is a Guess That Comes True
• I Have an Audience
• Deranged, Murderous Thuggees
• And That I Will Have His Head!
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing #86
• Loosened My Soul and Softened My Piercing Gaze
• White Dragon As Anti-Dragon
• War As a Culture-Shaping Force
• Then What of Our Nightmares?
• Fighting on Horseback Did Not Make a Knight Out of a Soldier
• Even Villages Had a Temple
• Terrain Appreciation

July (12)

• Manslaughtering Hands
• A Warning to Anyone Who Sees It Not to Make the Same Mistake
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing #85
• Very Proper Motive of Revenge
• Anything Swords and Anything Items
• Gifts of the Sumerians
• The Horse Is a Fighter
• Becoming a Techno-mage
• Every Horse Has a Distinctive Personality
• Horse Meat and Milk
• Longer Timescales For Leisurely Roleplay
• RPG Spells Of My Creation

June (11)

• Heathenizing Your RPG Campaign
• Soldier Monks of Japanese Temples
• Walls of Uruk
• Big Power-ups Should Come From Going On a Quest to Get Them
• Viking-Era Silver Neck and Arm Rings
• Samurai Did Not Trust So Much to Their Armor As European Knights Did
• A Real Feudal Battle
• Early Medieval Silver Gilt Bow Brooch
• A Wizard-Hunting Campaign
• Give As Few Orders As Possible
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing #84

May (4)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing #83
• Klingons Should Be a Short-lived Species
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing #82
• Words of Power

April (12)

• Modern Secrecy of the Papal Election
• Wisdom As Sanity
• A New Orc Culture Rises From the Ashes of the Old
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 80
• Heroic Temperaments Were Subject to Excesses
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 79
• Magic Swords Use Their Wielders
• Combat Bonuses For (Nonmagical) Weapon Quality
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 78
• The A'Taran-Orc War, Part 2
• The A'Taran-Orc War, Part 1
• On the A'Taran Race

March (20)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 78
• Intentionally Bent Swords in Warrior Graves
• Dwarves Have Magic Powers and Need Fear No Man on Earth
• Alpine Travel Was Difficult
• Orc Cavalry, Hobgoblin Cavalry, or Both?
• Medieval Swords: Slashing Versus Thrusting
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 77
• Impulsivity, Immediacy, and Atavism
• Overall Size of Army Companies
• Chinese Magic Centered on Transactions
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 76
• Medieval Military Baggage Trains
• Partners With a Sentient Universe
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 75
• Dark Basement of the Heroic World: Mines
• A Knight Might Live Little Better Than His Peasants
• Magic Was Both a Force of the Universe and a Set of Practices
• Only a Select Few Were Permitted Out After Dark
• Stones of Light
• Cartoons From 1981 Wizardry CRPG Manual

February (13)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 74
• Premodern Lockpicking Did Not Require Much Skill
• The Riddle of Steel
• Beware the Beast, Man
• Programming d20 Combat: the Core Function
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 73
• Programming d20 Combat: What Has Come Before
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 72
• Where Are All The Battlefields?
• Being Deceived by Appearances
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 71
• Leap Into Heaven
• Don't Think You Are, Know You Are

January (19)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 70
• The Gods Are Pleased With You
• Guns For Xenograg, Part 4: More on Interchangeable Revolving Cylinders
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 69
• Where Are All The Herds?
• A Great Name Commands Automatic Respect
• On Creative Acts
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 68
• Guns For Xenograg, Part 3: On Ray-guns
• Guns For Xenograg, Part 2: the Lethality Problem
• Guns For Xenograg, Part 1: Existing Lore
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 67
• On Medieval Inns
• Camp Followers and Other Noncombatants
• Blood of the Defenders Hallowed This Ground
• Hostage-taking As a Way of Forming Close Familial Bonds
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 66
• Their Own Shinobi
• Psychic Tension of Fighting

2024 (281)

December (23)

• Where Are All The Granaries?
• Military Leaders Served in the Priestly Role of Sacrificer
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 65
• The Vision To Be Just and the Courage To Be Merciful
• Act Without Attachment
• Troubadours Spread News Through Song
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 64
• Negoro-ji Temple and Its Warrior Monks
• On Killing Students
• Divination Isn't a Very Good Map, But It's an Excellent Set of Headlights
• I Put No Stock in Religion
• A King He Was On Carven Throne
• War Deals Are to be Found on the Borders of Civilization
• All Things Done Before the Naked Stars Are Remembered
• What's Essential Is Invisible to the Eye
• If There's One Thing I Hate, It's Incanting in Latin
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 63
• For Food
• Aim of Initiation
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 62
• Constant Trickeries and Treacheries and Ill-tempered Dangerousness
• Patience Means Restraining Yourself
• It's a Mystery

November (23)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 61
• Why There Are So Many Dead Worlds Out There
• Defensive Wards Came in Different Flavors
• Xenograg With Wrapped Knees
• Such Is the Nature of Magical Constructs
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 60
• Black-figure Band-cup With the Battle of Gods and Giants
• The Whole World Is in Chess
• The Core of Leadership Has Always Been to Set an Example
• More Mouths To Feed
• Ambiguity
• The Montessi Formula
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 59
• Single Solar System As Outer Space Roleplaying Setting
• Golden Hellenistic Greek Ring With an Emerald Entwined in Snakes
• Exceeding Your Limitations
• Without the Eye of Agamotto, We Forfeit
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 58
• ...And Because I Have Poisoned Your Drink
• His First Working
• One Weapon Fighting Against Two
• Where Are All the Windmills?
• Too Much Thought Is a Danger

October (27)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 57
• Cunning Is a Technique Not Well Appreciated by the Young
• What It Is I Have Become
• There Are Some Forces Before Which We Should Not Bend
• Strategic Planning Changed Overnight
• Training Halls Are All Different and All the Same
• Pursuit of the Art Takes Hold of You
• There Is One I Could Call King
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 56
• There Are More and Better Things Than Power
• Eternal Rules For a Cavalry Charge
• Infinite Promise and Goodness
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 55
• Evocative Magical Item Names: Diablo CRPG Series
• How To Navigate the After-Death Journey Safely
• Only a Tiger, Not a Dragon
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 54
• Lifelike Statues Help Bring the Gods to Earth
• Celtic Bronze Daggers With Antenna Hilts
• Heroes Never Go to the Bathroom
• A Quarterstaff Is a Polearm
• Gold Ring Shaped Like a Snake With Ruby Eyes
• Bronze Age Elite Status Came From Being Blessed by the Sun
• No Combat Style Is Complete
• Contracting an Assassin
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 53
• Hellenistic Greek Gold Medallion With a Nereid Riding a Sea Monster

September (18)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 52
• Water Was Great Magic
• Bangsian Fantasy
• Reach Deep Inside and Sacrifice
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 51
• Greek Jeweled Pendant Necklace
• So Particular About the Quality of His Equipment
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 50
• Human On the Outside But Alien On the Inside
• There Are Only Five Weapon Sizes
• Cavalry Logistics: Horseshoes and Nails
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 49
• Swear It On Your Secrets
• Confiscated Gods
• Tempting Gods to Inhabit the Material Plane
• Where Are All the Guilds?
• A Dojo Is a Cherished Place of Learning
• True Technique Through True Training

August (29)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 48
• Magical Attack and Invisibility
• The Great Oath
• Not Steel But Leaded Iron
• The First Rangers
• Grail Lore
• Run an Abridged Version of TTRPG Combat
• Too Valuable To Inter With Deceased Warriors
• I Have No Surviving Enemies
• Durandal
• It Is Always Born in Pain
• Misfire Rate of Muskets
• Recommended External Posts Sidebar Added
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 47
• Your Quality Will Be Known Among Your Enemies
• Wouldn't It Be Much Worse If Life Were Fair
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 46
• Searching For a Successor
• Do You Think We Have No Emotions?
• What Are You Doing This For, Anyway?
• New Magical Item: Gauntlet of Lances
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 45
• Life of the Early Feudal Class Was Rough and Uncomfortable
• Birth of the European Feudal Hierarchy
• The Holy Half-Dead
• 10 Questions to Create Better Dungeons
• Fighting Zombies in a Swamp
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 44
• Origins of European Feudalism

July (41)

• Surrender Yourself to Death
• Discerning the Will of Deity by Inspiration
• I Take Money Out of the Equation
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 43
• Buying Arms and Armor on Credit
• Where Are All the Dams?
• Kata Are Formal Practice Routines
• Dilemmas: Pick or Push
• A Multitude of Amulets and Talismans
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 42
• Be Careful on Holy Ground
• Dwarf Goatherding
• White Dragon As Alpha Predator
• Machine, Heal Thyself
• OSR D&D As a Post-Apocalyptic Setting
• Narrative of Undeath
• How to Write Conflict
• The Authentic Swing
• Story of Red Hair from Conan the Barbarian
• Narrate Combat
• War Is About Men Killing or Men Killed
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 41
• Less Killing
• Where Are All the Eyeglasses?
• Hit Points As a Resource?
• The Iliad as Source Material
• Hireling Loyalty Is a Fun Mini-game
• Castles Are the Dungeons For the Fey and the Gothic
• A Substitute For Lackluster Stakes
• Call Upon the Authority of Your Allies
• Low-level Versus High-level Roleplay
• My Sorcery Is a Martial Art
• Training As a Jedi
• Every Heavy Cavalryman Would Need Several Horses
• Fellow Travelers
• Be Sure to Reward Players For Breaking the Mold
• Because There Are More Spells Out There
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 40
• The Warrior's Highest Ideal
• A Witch Who Had Dealings With the White-fiends
• Modular Armor System in Wizardry CRPG

June (24)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 39
• Throat and Groin
• Some Magic Is Too Powerful to Sustain
• There Are Always Harsh Customs in Hard Lands
• Real Martial Arts Aren't Like That
• We Are Protectors Not Warriors
• The Last Unicorn
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 38
• Not Today
• Not Light in Terms of Protection
• Our Deepest Fear
• Where Are All the Ranches?
• Leaving the Master Behind
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 37
• There Never Is Just One Hobgoblin
• You Died of Your Wounds Later
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 36
• Bow Down Before Your Master!
• Put to Rest the Soul of a Valiant Hero
• Maps Were a Joke
• Where Are All the Holy Grounds?
• Where Are All the Horse Farms?
• Putting Aside the Hurt of the Past
• Clea

May (20)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 35
• Invisible Moons
• Where Are All the Kings?
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 34
• Where Are All the Monasteries?
• More Additions to "Other Fiction"
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 33
• Additions to "Other Fiction"
• Courage of the Heart Is Very Rare
• Classical Greek Armies Grew Out of Classical Greek Societies
• Transcendence, Transformation, and Transactions
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 32
• Some Must Die Or Be Harmed in its Defense
• Where Are All the Vineyards?
• A Six-Demon Bag
• Never Far From a Place of Refuge
• Provisioning a Medieval Army
• Zero-Level Characters, Part 6: Advanced D&D 2nd Edition
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 31
• Where Are All the Mines?

April (21)

• Black Blood of the Earth
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 30
• Danger and I Are Old Companions
• My Fear Is My Concern
• Koku in Dungeons & Dragons: for Daimyō
• You Have No Power Over Me
• Bad Luck To Kill a Wizard
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 29
• Feudal Military Organization Was on the Whole Highly Effective
• Many Defeats and Many Fruitless Victories
• Visualizing Xenograg at His Current Age
• From Mount Olympus to the Himalayas
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 28
• Koku in Dungeons & Dragons: for Samurai
• An Acceptable Balance Between Weapon Weight and Size
• A Hogmanay To Be Remembered
• Plate Armor Should Be Not Just Expensive But Restricted
• I Am a River to My People
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 27
• All Pilgrims Share a Deep Love of Life
• Furniture in Medieval Europe

March (21)

• Hatamoto
• Medieval Food and Drink
• Considerable Logistics of Medieval Knights at War
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 26
• The Surprise Reversed
• Swords Were Thought to Have Miraculous Powers
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 25
• Worldbuilding in Under Two Minutes: Television Cartoon Opening Sequences
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 24
• Fundamental Importance of Foot Soldiers in Battle
• Ready to Unsheathe It Instantly
• Ancient States Did Not Maintain Permanent Embassies
• A Besieging Army Is Vulnerable to Outside Attack
• Zero-Level Characters, Part 5: Rogues
• Origin of the Regiment and Battalion
• Armor Is Unacceptable in Civilian Venues
• Rise of the Japanese Merchant Class
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 23
• Samurai As Generic Term
• Gold Mycenaean Octopus Brooch
• Amputation Threatened Either Death or Lifelong Poverty

February (19)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 22
• The Legend of Skara Brae
• Defensive Magic
• End of Medieval Warfare
• Iron Crown of Lombardy
• Noble Retainers, Common-born Servitors, and Peasant Servants
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 21
• People Are Cheap, Things Are Expensive
• In the Alphabet of Trees They Speak
• Wall of Infinite Elements
• You Are Touched By Darkness
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 20
• Your Men Love You
• Going For the Kill
• The Dice are Not Your Friend
• Shield Proficiency in (OSR) D&D
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 19
• The Battle of Sudden Flame
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 18

January (15)

• A Happy Hunting Ground
• I Kept Dreaming of a World I Thought I'd Never See
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 17
• Separate Spells for Healing Yourself and Healing Others
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 16
• University of Rigel Medical Center at Rhydin
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 15
• Magical Defenders of the Solar System, Redux
• Order Versus Chaos
• Some of the Champions in the War Tales Are Girls
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 14
• Planets of the Rhydin System
• Rhydin Is a Pocket Dimension and Universe
• A Sentient Star
• High Social Status and the Right To Do Violence

2023 (108)

December (15)

• My RPG Character's Bling
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 13
• Fighting With Two Weapons Improves Defense Not Offense
• Fear Is a Superpower
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 12
• Because By Admitting My Weaknesses, I Also Learn My Strengths
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 11
• Whatever It Takes
• Spectacle in the Ancient World
• Using Magical Arms & Armor Mechanic From Chainmail In D&D
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 10
• On D&D Hit Points and Weapon Damage
• Posts Archive Sidebar Added
• Zero-Level Characters, Part 4: Clerics
• Zero-Level Characters, Part 3: Magic-Users, Continued

November (16)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 9
• Guile
• Zero-Level Characters, Part 2: Magic-Users
• Zero-Level Characters, Part 1
• When a Man Lies, He Murders Some Part of the World
• Sixteenth-Century Military Medicine
• It Is Best to Repeat All of Them Exactly and Slavishly Every Time
• When I Get Around To It
• A Year of Dreadful Portent
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 8
• Single Richest Prize of His Swashbuckling Career
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 7
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 6
• Men Who Lived Deeper in the Shadows
• Money in Elizabethan England
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 5

October (16)

• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 4
• Such a Vision Will Be Opposed
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 3
• The Finest Judoka in the World
• Requesting a Lesson
• That's Worse Than Murder
• Mughal Emerald Cup
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 2
• TTRPG Blogpost Archive Sharing, Week 1
• New Category: Social Media
• Training For the Martial Way of Life Began Early
• Warriors Fought Their First Battles At a Youthful Age
• The Cosmos Operated Through Regular Rhythms and Periodic Events
• Reveal Themselves in Word and Action
• Only the Most Skilled Sorcerer Alive Would Dare
• Armor Class Penalty For Not Wearing a Helmet

September (14)

• Religion Is Not Something That Gives Comfort
• Cost of Plate Armor in Modern Money
• I Neither Fear Nor Resist Nature's Power
• A Wand Is Gentle With Power
• Banishing Is Essential in Magical Practice
• In Search of Adventure, Prestige, and Fortune
• I Rather Prefer a Dragon
• Crossbowmen Were Considered an Elite Corps
• Gift Exchange Revolves Around Three Obligations
• I Give That You Might Give
• Unacceptable Magic Is Usually Attributed to Foreigners
• Through Magic We Can Explore Mutuality
• Evolution of Spiritual Powers
• Armies Are Like Prize Fighters

August (9)

• Fear Profits a Man Nothing
• Ancient Gold Signet Ring
• Death and Power Are Close Cousins
• If You Strike Me Down
• The "Johns Quarter"
• Rare Sighting of a Girdle of Giant Strength
• Evocative Magical Item Names: Wizardry CRPG Series
• I Have Submitted to Your Notions of Honor Long Enough
• Apocalypse Box

July (4)

• It Also Obeys Your Commands
• Above All Else, a God Needs Compassion
• And They Taught Me Terror
• On City Walls

June (3)

• Rhydinspace, a Science Fantasy Setting
• The Earliest Cities Were Independent States
• Mycenaean Gold Necklaces

May (6)

• To Conquer By Yielding
• A Puca Was a Stronger Power By Far
• Service Promised Was Service Given
• Reaching Through the Matrix
• The Sands of Nisanti
• They All Have Names

April (2)

• How There Are So Many Dungeons
• Composite War Bow Was Revolutionary

March (6)

• What Really Destroys Armies
• Dorestad Brooch
• Necklace of Troy
• Deflating D&D Experience Levels
• Vowed Himself to the Infernal Gods
• New Category: This. Is. Treasure.

February (7)

• The Temptation of Anakin Skywalker
• Jealous Hoarding of Magic Spells
• Magical Defenders of the Solar System
• While You Train Here, Listen
• Self-protection of Body, Mind, and Spirit
• Blogroll Added
• Trying to Win Wars by Half-Doing

January (10)

• The Dream of Taliesin
• A King Expects To Be Followed
• Captains Held Enormous Power Over Their Companies
• Not All Recruits Were Base-born: the Gentleman-rankers
• Any Troops Could Fight a Battle But It Required Trained Veterans to Win a Skirmish
• It Is Never Too Early to Teach a Future King
• Will You Give Me Your Prisoner, Or Must I Take Him?
• Good Men Don't Need Rules
• Elemental Blade of Fire
• Beasts Hold Important Offices in the Cosmic Order

2022 (119)

December (16)

• War Stories Always Forgot the Dust
• Transmuted From One Form Into Another
• Once They Had Been Greater In Number
• Artificial Distinctions In Fantasy Magic
• Humanoids Would Wear Their Personal Wealth
• Magic Use Elicits Strong Reactions
• On the Living and the Dead
• A Warrior Society Does Not Last Long if the Warriors Are Too Eager to Get Killed
• Inscriptions Charged With Occult Force
• Preserving Magical Knowledge For Adepts As Yet Unborn
• The Magical and Musical Arts Are Entwined
• The Plan, Part One: the Monastery of Arra
• The Great Goddess Cherished Only Life Itself
• Non-Mages Are Amateurs Not Cripples
• Faith and Belief Do Not Matter Much in Most Religions
• To Limit Immersion in the Wells of Power

November (10)

• Using Computers To Play Non-Computer Games Better
• Japanese Versus Chinese Martial Arts Styles
• Motivation Is Emotional Investment
• Human Beings Have Affinities with the Physical World
• Power of Reflection
• The Cossack-Sorcerers
• The Worst Ignorance
• There Can Always Be New Beginnings
• Aims of Magic: Malign Magic
• Aims of Magic: Benign Magic

October (11)

• Domination Magic: Dark Side of the Force
• Heroes Always Emerge In A Time Of Dying
• Tricking Monsters To Death
• Sekigahara
• Subject to Divine, Human, and Demonic Manipulation
• Monsters Are Made To Be So
• A Bad Age For a Man
• The Power To Crush Diamonds
• Load and Fire
• A Thousand Arrows In Its Defense
• That Word Has No Meaning Here

September (11)

• Forced Redemption
• Talents Beyond the Mere Physical
• The Plunder Of The Ages
• Fool! A Mage's Hoard You Enter With A Stick?
• Anti-magic
• To Fire Or to Water
• Life In Every Breath
• I'm a Wizard, Mind You!
• To Be the Best, You Have to Face the Best
• Retinue Versus Followers
• Herleva

August (7)

• Japanese Sword Etiquette
• Officials in a Baronial Household
• The Real Power of the Dark Side of the Force
• Ultimate Sources of Power
• Powers Beyond Human Comprehension
• A Period In Which Politics Did Not Exist
• Compelling Deities To Yield Their Boons

July (7)

• Fictional Timeline Added
• I Don't Believe in Luck
• There Are Still Wonders in the Universe
• Creed of the Anla'Shok
• Why Muskets Supplanted Bows
• Limitations Become Irrelevant
• The Terrain Is Not an Obstacle

June (6)

• If It Weren't For Mob Contracts, Americans Wouldn't Eat Pizza
• There Is No Safety To Be Found In A Sword
• What You Give Up to Your Adversary in the Feet Is Everything
• Strong and Subtle, Restless and Powerful
• Luminous Beings Are We
• Commercializing Armed Violence

May (16)

• I See a Red Sash, I Kill the Man Wearing It
• All Non-Hominids Are Psykers
• The Greeks Were the Vikings of the Bronze Age
• Terrifying Initiation Ordeals
• Jinn: Neither Angels Nor Devils
• The American Spiritual Temper Is Unconsciously Calvinist
• The Cost To Be a Knight
• Odic Shields and Shrouds of Concealment
• One Sharp Knife
• Why There Is No Justice in The World
• To Feed and Protect Our Families
• Never Run From Anything Immortal
• A Weapon Against the Dark But Also a Beacon That Summons It
• 'Woke Up' Has Always Been an Anthropomorphism
• Search Functionality Added
• The Air of the Town Makes You Free

April (13)

• No Rules In Mortal Combat
• To Test Your Powers Or Prove Their Own
• Battle-Hardened But Still a Squire
• Why There Are So Many Dungeons
• Double Winners of the Medal of Honor
• The Wand Is a Symbol of the Will
• Blood Sacrifice Was the Central Religous Ritual
• Blogging About Roleplaying
• Athena Was Not Always a War Goddess
• Everyone Is Religious
• Patriarchal Olympian Dominance
• The Reason for the Seasons
• Violent Logic of Feudalism

March (6)

• Monsters Are Both Real and Metaphorical
• Making a Magical Sword
• Prayer for Forgiveness
• Then You've Learned Nothing
• An Army Open to Talents
• Observed Process of the Causality of Magic

February (6)

• Stacking the Odds in Your Favor
• Only the Spiritually Gifted Are Capable of Flight
• Understanding a Character's Feelings
• Measuring Wealth
• Cowardice, Sloth, and Mendacity
• Everyone Lies

January (10)

• Unarmed Combat in Full Armor
• Retinue of Retinues
• Unseen But Nonetheless Real
• Don't Look For Your Opponent
• Use Your Weakness
• Being Willing
• Men-at-Arms Would Continue To Fight Despite Wounds
• Few Deaths While Combat Remained Undecided
• Medieval Battlefield Medicine Was Not Primitive
• A World Where Chaos Was the Reverse Side of Order

2021 (69)

December (7)

• Hard Bargaining Was the Essence of the Lord-Vassal Relationship
• A Magical Sword Is Used to Command, Banish, and Defeat Spirits
• Military Incongruities in the Iliad
• The Iliad and Dungeons & Dragons
• There Is No Block
• Different Fortifications Against Raids Versus Sieges
• Where the Power for Spells Comes From

November (13)

• Trial by Combat Was a Legal Privilege
• The Composite Bow Did Have Limitations
• Castle Life in Winter
• Magical Practice Required Specialist Knowledge
• Iron Did Not Replace Bronze
• The First Martial Arts Schools in Japan
• Fiefs Were Measured By How Much Food They Produced
• The Risk of Literalizing Fantastical Concepts
• Fire Is a Living Thing
• Sandmagic
• Weapons Are Not Everything
• Always a Toll in the Underworld
• A Locus of Strange Energy

October (7)

• Transporteer
• A Rough, Stark World
• Guerrilla Warfare Is as Old as Mankind
• A Melding of Esthetics and Functionality
• Allowing to Live
• May Thy Knife Chip and Shatter
• Slaying Dragons Is a Western Concept

September (21)

• A Khyber Knife
• Blinkblades
• There Comes a Time
• Our Swords Against Their Swords
• The Demon Who Makes Trophies of Men
• Dreamers, Shapers, Singers, and Makers
• Warmth and Competence
• The Opposite of Impact Is Fluff
• Religion, Socializing, and Gods
• Monster Difficulty Should Increase Slightly Faster Than Characters' Abilities
• Good and Evil Are Moral Extremes
• Druids Can Barely Live in Harmony With Each Other
• The Sorcerer as Terrorist
• Mud Is a Hazard that Is Totally Natural for RPGs
• Magic Is the Opposite of Banality
• The Realm of the Jedi
• Dwarves Before Tolkien and Disney
• A Wildly Unstable Environment
• Dwarves of Belegost
• Ancient War Was More Civilized
• True Masters Are Both Brutal and Refined

August (2)

• Shone Like a River of Steel in the Sun
• The Weapon That Could Not Miss

July (2)

• Japanese Clans as Primary Social Unit
• Guarding the Balance

June (10)

• Kings Glorify State Gods by Conquering
• Kings Depended Upon Their Queens
• Willing to Act as a Guide
• About European Shields
• To Argue With Your King
• Armor and Swords Did Not Change Overnight
• Being Tough
• The Dominance and the Crease
• There Is No Pain
• Walls of Air, Bars of Light

May (4)

• The Armour of Contempt
• Equipment of an Aristocratic Soldier
• Lower-Order Spirits and the Ancestral Dead
• The Magic of the Past Is Reworked For Each Age

April (2)

• To Shed Human Blood and Think Nothing of It
• An Art of War Was Needed

January (1)

• Zakal the Terrible

2020 (13)

November (2)

• Achieving Life After Death
• Shamanism in Ancient Maya Life

September (11)

• A Ruthless Model
• The Game of Arts and Powers
• Too Much Power Expended Too Quickly
• The Lady of the Lake Had a Secret
• Conversing With the Dead
• Ignorance Is Deadly
• You Must Know How to Undo
• To Pass Through Shadow and Fire
• Why Wizards Do Not Rule the World
• Not a Delicate Art
• Playing With Fire

2019 (4)

June (1)

• Greek Missile Tactics

April (2)

• Hunting as War Training
• Byzantine Cavalry

March (1)

• The Odyssey Is a Grand Metaphor

2018 (2)

August (1)

• Suffering Can Only Be Told in Detail

July (1)

• Luck Is a Possession

2017 (3)

April (1)

• Battles Were Fought by Mutual Consent

March (1)

• Poetry and War are Fame Businesses

February (1)

• Water Contains Universal Knowledge

2016 (5)

November (1)

• The Art of Axe-fighting

October (1)

• Inside the Great Keep of a Castle

August (1)

• Life-giving Swords

July (1)

• The Middle Eastern Carpet Is a Kind of Portable Sanctum

March (1)

• A Sword's Sole Purpose

2015 (8)

September (1)

• Snakes Carry Out Divine Demands

August (2)

• Less a State Than an Estate
• To Train in the Martial Arts

June (3)

• Swords Were Items of Regular Dress
• Swords Were Prized Because They Were Expensive
• Swords are Specialized Instruments for Killing

March (2)

• Shaman as Master of Fire
• Hunting Served Several Social Functions

2014 (7)

December (3)

• Haragei
• Any Sensei Is a Bit Mercurial at Times
• Medieval People Were Particularly Vulnerable to Weather

November (1)

• In the Martial Arts, Nobody Owes You Anything

May (2)

• Time Is the Most Neglected Dimension
• Standard Battle Array of Ancient Armies

March (1)

• Wine of Ancient Greece Was Thick Like Syrup

2013 (4)

December (1)

• Dragon as Amalgamated Uber-Predator

November (1)

• Monsters Eat Humans

April (1)

• Imitation as Magical Incantation

February (1)

• Dojo Storming

2012 (11)

December (1)

• A Dojo Is a Miniature Cosmos

November (1)

• In Personal Terms Rather Than in Abstractions

October (1)

• Care And Feeding Of Swords

September (2)

• Alchemist as Master of Fire
• The Act of Sacrifice

August (2)

• Psyche Was Not a Thing But a Process
• Polycentric, Polytheistic, Polyphrenic, and Polyocular

April (4)

• The Principles of War
• Space Was Severely Limited Within a Keep
• Quality and Resilience Determined Victory in Ancient Battles
• Nobles Had Little To Do With Their Children

2011 (17)

October (3)

• The Shield Is the Earliest Defensive Armor
• Prophylactic Magic
• The Appeal of Magic

September (7)

• Nature Takes Life as Well as Gives It
• The Mythological Realm We Carry Within
• Control of Attention Is the First Skill of a Magician
• Too Dangerous To Depict in Art
• Attention as Psychic Energy
• Mystical Explanations Are Not Necessary
• Money in Medieval England and France

August (1)

• Ancient State of Consciousness

July (3)

• Alchemy Means Constantly Transmuting Yourself
• The Subtle Body Has a Location
• The Alchemical Way of Change

June (1)

• The Perilous Journeys of the Shaman

May (2)

• Shamanic Initiation Is a Journey Into Chaos
• Trickery Is Part of the Shaman's Craft

2010 (21)

December (2)

• The Spiritual and the Material Are Two Different Aspects of the Same World
• Alchemy Is a Very Broad Church

November (6)

• The Gods Are Not Ends in Themselves
• Armor Was Designed for Protection Against Glancing Blows
• Cavalry Is an Expensive Military System
• Supernatural Tactics of the Mongols
• Magic and Religion Enjoyed a Symbiotic Relationship
• Purpose and Goal of Initiation Is Gnosis

August (1)

• Rarity of the Set-Piece Battle

July (2)

• The Basic Logic of Alchemy is Relationship
• 3000 Years of Combat with Sword and Shield

June (2)

• Alchemists Want to Change the World
• Magic Armor in the Iliad

February (6)

• Cuirass Versus Lamellar Armor
• War As a Lawsuit Before the Gods
• Heroic Code Says the Younger Generation Is Inferior
• Ancient People Were Deeply Religious
• Bronze Age Greek Art of War
• Composite Bows Were Superior But Expensive

January (2)

• Japanese Spears: Yari and Naginata
• There Is a Disruptive Element in Shamanism

2009 (19)

December (2)

• Vulnerability of Demigods
• Greek Gods' Relations With Man

October (3)

• Cult of the Hero
• Not Quite a Chessboard: the Plain as Battlefield
• Apex of Western Cavalry

September (2)

• A Bronze Age Setting
• A Lucky Find Unsettles One's World

August (4)

• Proving One's Ability to Oneself
• Trickster Stories As Parodies of Shamanism
• Inner Factors of Bujutsu
• Prophecy Concerns Eternal Truths

July (1)

• Find Trickster at the Boundaries

June (2)

• Silk Shirts Lessen Arrow Wounds
• Concept of a Manifest Deity

May (2)

• First Principle of War: the Objective
• The Military Genius of Alexander the Great

April (2)

• More on Hunting as War Training
• Medieval English Currency

March (1)

• My Renaissance Faire Handfasting

2008 (99)

November (4)

• Codex Books Supplant Scrolls
• Libraries as Vessels of Political Power
• Written Language and Political Legitimacy
• Experienced the Sacred in Catastrophe

September (1)

• Fame Was More Important Than Life

August (2)

• In Flanders Fields
• Anticipating Surprise

July (1)

• Holiness in the Ancient Middle East

May (91)

• Silver and Gold Coinage
• Birth of the Caliphate
• A Weak King Was Not a King
• Money in Ptolemaic Egypt
• Pervasiveness of Warfare In Early States
• The Immense Wealth of the Persian Kings
• Three Checks to Autocracy
• Assyrian Bureaucracy
• Chiefdoms Are Powerful But Fragile
• Personal Honor As Instrument of Social Control
• Confucian Mandate of Heaven
• An Immoral Ruler Undermines His Own Legitimacy
• Princes and their Personal Realms
• Warrior or Hired Killer?
• Imagining the Centaur
• Fire, the First Enshrined Divinity
• The Rapier Was the Blade of Choice
• Assyrians Were Ancient Masters of the Siege
• Gods from the Bicameral Mind
• Money and Manpower Wins Wars
• The Iliad Is Not Just a Glorious Poem
• Not a General's Affair
• The Bow Was the Chief Weapon in Japanese Warfare
• Ritual Sacrifice: Establishing Beneficial Relations With Blood
• On Dragoons
• Versatility of the Napoleonic Army Corps
• Romans Made War As Much Business As Art
• Assyrians: the Pioneers with Iron
• Heavy Infantry With a Vengeance: the Greek Phalanx
• Redefinition of Courage
• Bronze: the Plastic of Its Age
• Oracles Work
• Maintaining the Diversity Within the Divine
• On Man's Side
• Ancient Asiatic Spiritual Traditions
• Sacred Power Spots
• Assyrian Army of the Sargonid Period
• Dueling and the God of Peer Opinion
• Courage, Not Manners, Was the Hallmark of a Gentleman
• Distinction Between Shamans, Magicians, and Priests
• Parthian Feudalism
• There Are Nine Types of Generals
• From Jousting for Glory to Dueling for Honor
• Hunnic Bow and Mongolian Release
• No Match for a Well-Trained Aristocrat
• Militant Clergy
• Transformation of the Hoplite Phalanx
• Advantages of Swords Over Pistols in Dueling
• Only Gentlemen Had Honor
• Theme of a Warrior Culture
• Hoplite Shield Was an Engineering Marvel
• The Subject of Heroic Poetry is the Hero
• Prepared to Die But Not to Kill
• Birth of Cavalry
• Cavalry Replaces Chariots in Chinese Art of War
• Backstabbing Assassins, Not Knights of the Air
• From Hunters to Warriors
• Religious Rituals of War
• Hand-to-Hand Combat Was Rare in Ancient Warfare
• Assaulting Cities is the Oldest Expression of Warfare
• Capacities of Commanders
• Five Skills And Four Desires of Generalship
• The Rights-Based System of Medieval Society
• Eight Kinds of Decadence in Generalship
• Birth of the Alphabet
• Zenith of the Castle
• The Fickle Deity, Pan
• Looking At The Enemy
• Inside the Greek Phalanx
• Regimental Proprietary System
• From Ghazi to Sipahi
• The Challenge of Making Steel
• Before the Fencing Master
• Condottieri Usurpation of the Princely States
• Flirting with Deification
• Insuperable Problems
• Earth and the Heavens
• Shamans and Their Inner Journeys
• The Despised Foot Soldier
• War Became an End in Itself: Assyria
• Early Iron Age Armies
• Stay Awake to Death
• Art of Japanese Spear Fighting
• Steppe Ponies, Not Horses
• Beginning of Science
• The Spiritual Hunt and Spiritual Warfare
• Material Cost Versus Psychological Benefit of Sieges
• Exorcism in Babylonia and Assyria
• War Was Made to Pay for Itself Through Pillage
• Covering a Withdrawal
• Astrolabe, Gift Of The Arabs

2006 (1)

September (1)

• Heroic Honor Trophies in Homeric Greece

2003 (54)

November (1)

• Origins of European Army Ranks

April (1)

• War's Appetite for Bronze

March (52)

• Alchemy Had an Unscientific Method
• Battle Casualties in the Ancient World
• Archer-Pair in Assyrian and Persian Warfare
• Magic Is Not Supernatural
• Persian Spirit, Skill, and Resourcefulness
• In Every Army There is a Mob Waiting to Escape
• No Last-Minute Maneuvers
• Disease, the Wild Card of History
• A More Varied Diet Means a Healthier Population
• Seljuk Fiefs Were Not Hereditary
• Acquiring Coup d'oeil, the General's Discerning Glance
• For Byzantines, Strategy Was All-Important
• A God of the State Not the People
• Ottoman Nobility: Pashas, Begs, and Beglierbegs
• Successors to the Caliphate in Muslim Spain
• Roman Worldview
• Babylonian Divination
• Damascus
• Patronage Was the Traditional Princely Activity
• Few Pitched Battles But Many Sieges
• Origin of the Rank and Grades of General
• Ancient Fortifications Were Impervious
• Ideology Of Monarchy
• The Way of Life
• An All-Around Mounted Warrior
• King's Armiger
• Magic of Metallurgy
• Akkadian Conception of the Supernatural
• Horsemanship: Prerequisite for a Military Career
• Not Superior to Man
• Shamanic Paraphernalia
• Greek View of the Cosmos
• Divination Practices
• Seeing the Gods
• Three-Fold Root of Monarchy
• Rise and Fall of the Temple
• Justice with Common Sense
• Decline of Medieval Iraq
• Birth of the Persian Empire
• Amir Grades of Rank
• Web of Interdependence
• Military Systems
• Soldiers of Greece and Rome
• Parthian Cavalry
• Outpouring from the Steppe
• Iron Age Logistics
• Javelins versus Chariots
• A Vast Encampment
• Elephants in War
• Deception in War
• Stone Age of Command
• Chariot Tactics

2002 (4)

June (1)

• Performing Miracles

April (1)

• Mission Tactics: Knowing When Not to Obey Orders

February (1)

• Battle of Leuctra

January (1)

• Demons Fight in Vain Against the Order of Nature

2001 (2)

December (1)

• Forgetful Gods

May (1)

• Three-Tier System of Administration for Military Orders

1999 (4)

November (1)

• To Sleep Forever Among His Own: The Unknown Soldier

July (3)

• Magic Is More Tolerant of Failure
• Warriors for War's Sake: the Horse Peoples
• Slavery in the Ottoman Empire

1998 (12)

November (1)

• Mystics and Magicians

September (2)

• The Wrong Reality Map Can Kill You
• Such A Reputation

July (3)

• For Whom The Bell Tolls
• Contrasting Demonologies in the Ancient World
• The Persian Court

June (6)

• Landlords Were The Elite of the Preindustrial Elites
• Perpetuated Monopolies of the Aristocracy
• Decline of Cavalry in Western Europe
• Early Firearm Tactics: Pike and Arquebus
• Assyria Was Unstrategically Located
• Assyrian Warfare: Iron, Organization, and Espionage

1997 (20)

November (20)

• Invictus
• A Warrior's Creed
• Public Versus Private Sorcery
• Magic at the Inbetween Places
• The Combat of the Thirty
• You and Your Enemy
• Fear Was the Fountainhead of Government Control
• Domain of the Philosopher
• The Purpose of War Is a More Perfect Peace
• How Great Generals Win
• Tactical Capabilities of Medieval Weapon Systems
• An Arsenal of Magic Implements
• Machiavelli on Princedoms
• Perilous Journeys into the Mind
• Your Time Has a Limit Set to It
• Monastic Hospitality for Aristocratic Patrons
• Ten Uses for Cavalry
• Magicians as Intellectuals
• Slavery in the East
• Of Its Kind, the Last