Signals in the Margins

An introduction to DISREGARD FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS

2026-10-18T00:00:00Z

It’s about time I make my own system.

I’ve thrown the idea around now and then, particularly in regards to games that get close to genres and playstyles I enjoy and yet do not cross the line successfully into a thing I truly enjoy running and playing on the longer term and actually have fun with telling narratives around.

The biggest gap for my entertainment in this regard is the genre of Weird Fiction. The stuff drawn on by Control, Twin Peaks, Backrooms, and House of Leaves. Yes, there are some great systems out there that do evoke Liminal Horror or aspects of these things themselves, but they never quite tackle it in a way I like; Dungeoncrawling.

I love dungeoncrawls, I think dungeoncrawls are just the right amount of character involved choices and some degree of player skill expression in a slightly meta way. I know it’s not for everyone but it’s a style of play I love. Mothership, Into the Odd, and many more systems have clung to my heart and make me want to create something that fits into this space that I have yet to really gel with in the ttrpg space in an existing system. Thus we get

DISREGARD FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.

DFI is a project I’ve been playing around with for some time, playtesting with some local groups and local hobby groups to help with new game designs. It’s gone alright but I yearned for something more. Which is why I’ve taken the step to learn Affinity properly as much as I can and put together a nicely stylized rule book. Currently at about 60 or so pages for the full core rules as visible to players. It has no art, though I may seek an artist.

In fact, I am kind of desperate to get another person on board in regards to helping create the setting as a whole and find a way to portray things in a way that I cannot through my writing alone, as TTRPGs are in some ways heavily based on visual basis of reference for people to really get into them. In this sense this is a somewhat open call for finding an artist that I can co-author the setting and adventure materials I’ll eventually have to create for proper public sharing, as well as influence mechanics and whatever else, while helping bring a visual language to the game artistically. I’d be open to rev share and paying as much as I can on my own for art, but my pockets are as deep as any average college student. My email for that contact is BuzzMarginBlog26 at proton (dot) me

For now, I present my ongoing nicely laid out document in early form. It is still pending active changes and will be actively updated over time, so certainly revisit this page.

Open the PDF in a new tab

I am also providing a few decent previews of the Supervisor pages, which will be taking more time to fully complete but I still wish to share for the visual factor and to get more design feedback.

This section is meant to be more strange, and it took a lot of me searching a bunch of various graphic design styles to set on this weird look. Largely inspired by ideas I saw from New Wave, Swiss Punk, and Neo-Psychedelia as the final touch resulting in all the wibbly wobbly waves and distortions. A bit of marathon also leaked in, especially with the prominent acidic green coloring used for a lot of parts. It’s also the basis for this blog’s new look, though this blog will stay more toned down for extra readability and compatibility!

It is meant to stand in sharp contrast to the rest of the toned down player-facing book, slamming the gas pedal and charging straight into the odd and peculiar.

(Can’t forget the Black Lodge nods with all the black and white stripes w/ dark red coloring)

I hope people enjoy giving this a read, and if you see this, please feel free to follow my blog here as I will certainly update it with more DFI info as it comes to me. I have a lot I do think I want to write about for it…

Where is the Magic of Spell Slots?

2026-01-29T00:00:00Z

Avigard as a setting is one that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and considering. Mechanics in our favorite classic fantasy game is also something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and deliberating over.

My biggest issue with said classic style of fantasy level based roleplaying systems is that of Spell Slots.

I understand the intention of spell slots in terms of their design. Pre-prepared vaguely ‘balanced’ spells of various levels with various rates of availability as our friendly magic user advances. It makes sense regarding the resource oriented gameplay that these games and systems really enjoyed aiming for.

Despite that, I’ve found that I increasingly hate Spell Slots. Of all game mechanics I despise and have come to loathe, it’s spell slots. Why must we rigidly define magic by a system that is ripped from a very specific form of fiction. How does this form of magic actually feel magical?

Spell Slots are not a hard magic system. Yet they have rigid confines that force any world played with their existence to be defined by rigid spell levels, degrees of when someone may gain the ability to fully control someone by a defined number rather than by something more… Magical?

To this end I have made a magical casting system that’s intended to work with Avigard specifically. The simple summation is as follows:

A caster does not gain Spell Slots. All casters instead get a selection of relevant spheres depending on their practice: Noetics, Psionics, or Theurgics.

Noeticists are those who manipulate the core elements of Avigard; Fire, Air, Metal, Water, Earth, Wood. Psions manipulate the greater cosmic elements of Avigard; Order, Space, Form, Chaos, Time, Void. Theurges meanwhile get the domains as relevant to their deities, a cleric of Iskari will gain influence and power over the concepts of Law, Judgement, Protection, Honor, Kinship, Earth.

All spheres are cast using a casting resource, the name varies depending on the specific type but they all mechanically function as the same form of Points. Fatigue for a Noeticist, Strain for a Psion, and Favor for a Theurge. This stat is equal to the respective mental casting modifier you choose when you become a caster, some classes allow options and some force a specific choice.

A Cleric with 14 Wisdom will have 14 Favor Points.

Fatigue restores quickly, the elements are natural for a person to manipulate. Strain takes longer, hours compared to minutes: A psion can manipulate the fabric of reality and it has quite the toll on the body. Theurges are dependent on the good relationship with their deity, doing things befitting their church, sect, and faith to regain favor.

All spheres have ranks. Casting classes gain ranks at either 1 every level or 1 every two levels for half casters. Ranks measure the skill that a caster has with a specific sphere of influence. A rank 5 Fire Noeticist is truly a master of the flame.

When a caster gains access to spheres they may be given starting selections based on their class. A Wizard gains access to a Primary Sphere at rank 2 and a Secondary Sphere at rank 1. Ranks are capped by the level of a caster:

Caster Level	Full Caster Cap	Partial Caster Cap
1–2	1	1
3–4	2	1
5–8	3	2
9–12	4	2
13+	5	3

When a caster wishes to do something they declare the sphere they are wishing to influence. They describe the effect to the GM and the GM provides the appropriate difficulty depending on what the effect is intending to do, this influences the target of the casting roll.

When a player finally casts, they roll:

1d20 + Casting Ability Modifier + Sphere Rank vs. Difficulty Target

Difficulty	Target	Fatigue Cost	Strain Cost	Favor Cost	Base Damage
Trivial	5	0	0	0	1d4
Simple	10	1	1	1	1d6
Moderate	15	2	3	2	2d6
Difficult	20	4	6	3	3d6
Extreme	25	8	12	5	4d10
Legendary	30	16	24	8	5d10

Of course, simply difficulty targets cannot match the complexity that magic may have. If one wishes to have their spells be something more beyond an instantaneous, noisy, brief effect, the difficulties are as follows:

Modifier Category	Option	Target Adjustment
Targets	2	+1
	3–5	+2
	6–10	+3
	11–20	+4
	21+	+5
Area	Small (10 ft radius)	+1
	Medium (20 ft radius)	+2
	Large (30 ft radius)	+3
	Huge (60 ft radius)	+5
Duration	1 hour	+1
	1 day	+2
	1 week	+3
	1 month	+4
	Permanent	+6
Range	120 ft	+1
	Line of sight	+2
	1 mile	+3
	10 miles	+4
	Planar	+6
Spheres Combined	2	+2
	3	+3
	4	+6
Casting Style	Subtle casting	+1
	Invisible effect	+1
Environment	Very favorable	−2
	Favorable	−1
	Hostile	+2
	Very hostile	+4

And finally of course, the results of casting:

Result	Condition	Effect
Enhanced Success	Beat target by 5+	Effect is enhanced; +1 damage die
Success	Meet or beat target	Effect occurs as intended
Fizzle	Miss by 1–4	Effect fails; full resource cost
Backlash	Miss by 5–9	Effect fails; double resource cost
Catastrophe	Miss by 10+	Effect fails; triple cost + roll on catastrophe table

This makes it rather risky to cast big effects if you’re uncertain of the gamble. I have considered the possibility of Overcasting at the cost of HP but I need to see how the core plays at the table before fully using such.

The Catastrophe tables are still being worked on, I have basic ones made for now:

Noetics 1d6

Roll	Effect
1	Take 2d6 elemental damage
2	Effect targets random creature
3	Minor hostile elemental summoned
4	Fatigue costs doubled for 1 hour
5	Collateral destruction in 30’ radius
6	Vulnerability to opposed element for 24 hours

Psionics 1d6

Roll	Effect
1	Spatial anomaly persists 1d6 hours
2	Take 3d6 damage, confused 1d6 rounds
3	−4 to all rolls for 1 hour
4	Object within 10’ erased
5	Sovereign attention attracted
6	Permanent minor mutation

Theurgics 1d6

Roll	Effect
1	Lose 1d6 Favor
2	Effect twisted to patron’s agenda
3	Rival deity takes notice
4	Patron demands immediate service
5	Cannot use Theurgics for 24 hours
6	Visible brand, −2 social rolls and reactions for 1 week

I have more thoroughly written out in my Avigard Compendium document along with multiple classes made with the intention of sphere-casting as I’ve designed it. This is what I want magic to feel like though, attempting wild feats, growing in skill and manipulation, as once you have a high ability score and high ranks you will have a +10 to attempt many things, even higher if you include relics and blessings for one’s mental characteristics.

Grenzmark and Welcome!

2026-01-23T00:00:00Z

Grenzmark is the first area I decided I wanted to make as a regional playable hex map in Valokus. A small part of my unique fantasy setting. Hexes are 6 miles at the smallest scale.

I imagine whithaven and nearby villages would prove common and good starting locations and then the closer to the Brightfrost Peaks you get, the more dangerous and risky things become. The villages and towns in the mountains are more fortified to protect against the known presence of Goreklings in the region.

Goreklings are rumored by many to have found a home in the ancient abandoned Salkrom ruins, Frostkrone.

Frostkrone passes beneath the active volcano of the region, tunneling towards the other distant side of the Brightfrost Peaks miles away.

Grenzmark’s local history as initially being established and ran by the Church of the Pantheon of Roses means that even with it now being effectively vassalized by the church into the new kingdom of grenzmark, the leader and royal family is expected full loyalty to the Rosanian Church in exchange for the full authority of the church.

Erlholdt to the southwest is a dynastic kingdom that has existed in friction with the Rosanian Church for a while. Crossing the border into the low lying kingdom from Grenzmark offers quite the change in perspective for many.

Whithaven is a big busy trade hub mostly from travellers heading south from Tyshori lands. This means Whithaven and Grenzmark as a whole has a large population of Konurom alongside humans. Friendly relations allows easy passage through established border gates as long as one has proper reason for travel and enough for the gate fees.

All of this is ultimately in the goal of making an area that will be a good introduction to Avigard. My Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment era fantasy setting, one without the usual conventions of elves and orcs exactly.

Here you’ll find the silverfolk of the Konurom, or the broad shouldered flower-headed plantfolk of the Royñi.

Everything has been made from scratch. Even then I hope for it to be approachable and to write many things in this paracosm of my own creation. I’ve spent many years working on it, and believe it’s finally ready to begin sharing. Even if not fully complete.

A full 2E compatible document is in the works, that will include even some new classes like the Wyrdling, as well as an overview of the freeform casting magic system of Avigard that replaced vancian. I shall be posting that here too over time.

I suppose next though would be an inspirations page…

Avigard and Deedwrought Points of Reference

2026-01-23T00:00:00Z

I have spent many years reading, watching, and analyzing various forms of media that I personally enjoyed and continue to enjoy. A lot of this work is fantasy, in some form or another. But my inspirations in writing derive from even certain science fiction and contemporary fiction. Much like AD&D 1e’s Appendix N there’s quite a large number of authors, books, and shows or movies that I have been inspired by. I hope to have this as a decent reference for what truly inspires Avigard, and shows the types of stories I wish to tell.

Reading Materials:

Mercedes Lackey. VALDEMAR SETTING; “The Last Herald-Mage” Series; “The Queen’s Own” Series; et al.
Anne McCaffrey. “Dragonriders of Pern” Series
L. Frank Baum. THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ; “The Oz Books” Series
Ed Greenwood. “Shandril’s Saga” Series; “Elminster” Series; SILVERFALL; et al.
Michael Moorcock. ELRIC OF MELNIBONE; et al.
David Eddings. “The Belgariad” Series
Elizabeth Moon. “Paksenarrion” Series
Naomi Novik. UPROOTED; “Temeraire” Series
Lois McMaster. “Chalion” Series; et al.
JRR. Tolkien. THE HOBBIT; “Rings Trilogy”
George RR. Martin.
Philip Pullman. “His Dark Materials” Series

Visual Materials:

Overlord
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Avatar The Last Airbender
Dragon Ball
Castlevania
Fullmetal Alchemist
Inuyasha
Goblin Slayer
The Sandman
His Dark Materials
The Dragon Prince
Adventure Time
She-Ra: Princess of Power
Agatha All Along
Demon Slayer
Violet Evergarden
The Ancient Magus’ Bride
Dororo
To Your Eternity
Arte
86
Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash
Claymore

Games/Settings:

Greg Stafford. GLORANTHA SETTING
MYSTARA SETTING
FORGOTTEN REALMS SETTING
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Elder Scrolls Series
Bioshock Infinite
Divinity Original Sin
Baldur’s Gate 1, 2, 3
DISHONORED SETTING
ENDLESS Legend 1, 2
Actraiser 1, 2

Historical:

Peter H. Wilson. HEART OF EUROPE: A HISTORY OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
Charles King. THE GHOST OF FREEDOM: A HISTORY OF THE CAUCASUS
Geoffrey Parker. THE MILITARY REVOLUTION
John Lynn. BATTLE: A HISTORY OF COMBAT AND CULTURE
Geoffrey Parker. THE MILITARY REVOLUTION
Plato. THE REPUBLIC