Welcome the blog club! This week we are looking at “HOUSE RULE FOR OSR AND NOT-OSR GAMES + PEOPLE (BLOGS)” by Joesky from the blog Joesky the Dungeon Crawler.
Next week we’ll be reading Patrick Wetmore’s “Session recap, 9/8/2010” from Henchman Abuse.
You can see a list of previous blog club posts here.
If you get in a fight with an online stranger over what alignment really meant way back in 1979 in the comments section or post a long historical treatise on the philosophy of gnolls, someone might tell you to pay the Joesky tax. This means you tack on some playable content to the end of your blog post.
Long before the kids were telling me to log off and go touch grass, this alternative was offering something that could be perceived as useful in exchange for pedantic theory crafting. Today, the Joesky tax has the reputation as a self-imposed wergild offered to keeping a blog in good standing in the community. For me, this highlights some of the tension between the groups of people who play or create content elf games and those that enjoy discussing or studying them.
Did you ever pay the Joesky Tax? If so, why did you feel the need to?
Barnum pays his taxes: Unmarked Battlefield Graves
This derelict field of war contains an untold number of shallow gravesites. While the majority are either empty or contain the remains of soldiers hastily stripped of their gear, there is a slim chance of finding something more interesting.
- Comedian - a notebook containing comedic materials including a draft for a puppet show, a dirty limerick about a much hated duke, pages of notes of thoughtful social reform. Also, a dirty hand puppet wearing a tricorn hat.
- Bugler- A rusty and dented bugle. Once a day when you play the bugle those who hear it will uncontrollably weep.
- Destrier - this grave contains the massive skeleton of a horse and an once opulent saddle studded with gold and gems. A broken lance.
- Lover - a sealed envelope, pierced by an arrow and stained red with blood. Inside contents are illegible. It is addressed to a resident of the nearest major city.
- Scion of a Lesser house - a cracked sigil ring picturing a dog chasing its tail, a fantastically preserved pair of indigo boots stamped with designs reminiscent of ocean waves.
- Hero - Ornate mail armor padded in such a way to disguise the smaller physical build of the wearer, the helm has been damaged from a blow to the back.
- Yeoman - Quiver contains three yew arrows w/ goose feathers marked with a black spot. These arrows will never miss their target but have a 50 percent chance of breaking each time they are fired from a bow.
- Embezzler - Shabby clothes, rusted chains, a small locked chest containing 300gp in looted coins.
- Coward - Skeleton pierced by many broken arrows. A religious relic worn on the neck devoted to a protective saint. Looks cheap, however it can cause the first missile weapon attack that would hit the wearer that day to miss.
- Advisor - skeleton wearing fine robes, missing its head. Scroll case containing a map of the region which reveals a notable secret location but also geographical inaccuracies that could cause those following the map to become lost.
- Tinkerer - Skeleton with damage to the skull cracked in the pattern of a hoof print. Fine tools for leather and metal working.
- Food tester - Skelton clutching two bottles. One is empty, the other is a bottle of wine with a noble’s waxen seal. The wine is poisoned.