Secret Chamber in Downton Abbey

Over on the bbc.co.uk website there is a recent article titled "'Downton' house could unlock secrets of Surrey history" which discusses the discovery of a secret chamber below the relatively new structure. Read more here!

Terrifying Sea Monster Found in New Jersey River

Over on gawker.com is a recent article on a "Terrifying Sea Monster Found in New Jersey River." Read more here!

Poop-Sniffing Dog Tracks Predators

Want your players' characters to be able to always find the toughest and most elusive monsters?  Make sure someone in the party can follow the poo.  A recent National Geographic YouTube channel video details how they do something similar in Argentina to ensure corridors for predators to hunt safely.  Enjoy!

The Coggalbeg Hoard

You've got to admire the patience and tenacity of real-world Indiana Jones types.  However, in the picture accompanying the article on irisharchaeology.ie titled "Stolen treasure: The Coggalbeg Hoard" when the treasure is revealed which one is mouthing the words, "My Precious?"   Read more here!

Weird Bugs Looking for Love

A recent National Geographic YouTube channel video titled "Weird Bugs Looking for Love" was shared on Valentine's Day but I saved it for awhile so as not to rub my fellow single folks's noses in our loneliness.  BTW, if you're a beetle, this might be considered NSFW.  Enjoy!

"Legends: Fantasy Violin" - Album Release

If you love adding music to your tabletop roleplaying games, then check out this Kickstarter titled "'Legends: Fantasy Violin' - Album Release" and see if it is right for your gaming needs.  See more here!

Chameleon Color Changes and Defenses

In a recent National Geographic YouTube video, you can watch as a female chameleon tries several ploys to ward of a potential threat, and you can mention those behaviors when describing some creatures in your tabletop roleplaying setting.  Enjoy!

Mount Etna Erupts

Even as we marveled in the wake of the meteor which (nearly) fell to Earth in Russia, we are reminded that many natural events of potential devastation come from our own planet as Mount Etna erupted early on Tuesday morning.  Being hailed as perhaps the most studied eruption ever, some believe it will continue to spew forth magma for the next half year.  Keep an eye on this continuing story if you wish to model something like it for your tabletop roleplaying setting.  Read more here and enjoy the many videos around the Internet including the one below from the KdEtna YouTube channel.

Goats Yelling Like Humans

Well, if you can't find a way to work this into your tabletop roleplaying scenarios then there is no hope.  I'm going to have some goats in a room in a dungeon at some central point on a level so that there yells can be heard from many locations.  What the players will think and do is up to them, of course.  This will also give me the chance to occasionally do a goat impression when they turn a corner and scare the snot out of them.  Good time.  Enjoy and read more here!

Weird Little Rainfrog

My friend Benoist has steered me to a YouTube video of a funny little frog that has a weird vocal quality.  Enjoy!

The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael

There is an excellent paper up on publishing.cdlib.org titled "The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael" including some great photos and maps that should inspire some tabletop roleplaying setting ideas. See more here!

Underwater Archaeological Sites

The National Geographic YouTube channel has a recent video highlighting the work being done at Texas State University through The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment regarding Spring Lake, formed by a dam which has collected he outpouring of natural springs and preserved underwater many archaeological sites.  It makes for a fine idea for a tabletop roleplaying setting location in that one can conceive of any number of underwater adventures in submerged ruins and the like.  Enjoy!

Predicting Meteorite Impacts

Given the recent news from Russia, it's not surprising that the National Geographic has a new video up on their YouTube channel titled "Predicting Meteorite Impacts."  Enjoy!

Meteorites in Russia Stir Panic of UFOs

You can make this stuff up but it's more compelling when it happens in real life.  So check out what happened in the Urals that caused such a stir then work this scenario into your modern roleplaying game setting.  See and read more here!

Sand-Casting of a Bronze Age Sword

Over on Claudio Cavazzuti's YouTube channel is a recent video titled "Sand casting of a Bronze Age sword."   Enjoy!

Bronze Age Brew

Over on David Connolly's YouTube channel is a recent video in which he tests a Bronze Age beer.  Enjoy!

Constrictor Snakes

A Facebook Friend recently drew my attention toward a video on the National Geographic Wild YouTube channel on constrictor snakes.  Enjoy!

Wall of Wind

Over on the Miami Science Museum YouTube channel, they show us what a wall of wind can do.  Enjoy!

Spider Storm

Something happening in Brazil, as mentioned on independent.co.uk, should be fun to add to any genre of RPG.  It's raining spiders.  Check it out here!

Death by Clam

Over on the National Geographic YouTube channel is a new video about the once-thought dangerous giant clam.  Enjoy!

World’s Earliest Figurative Sculpture

TheArtNewspaper.com ran a story at the end of last month regarding the "World’s Earliest Figurative Sculpture."  Read more here!

Random Conspiracy Generator

Check out VerifiedFacts.org for all your random conspiracy theory generation needs (refresh page for new conspiracy).  See more here!

26,000 Year Old Sculpture

Over on NewScientist.com, in their Short Sharp Science section, they recently posted a brief article on "World's oldest portrait reveals the ice-age mind." Read more here!

Pompeii Restoration a Go

Over on The Archaeology News Network blog, it is being reported that the restoration project for Pompeii appears to be moving forward.  At the very least, this aerial photo is amazing and could be used a map for some major ruins in your tabletop roleplaying setting. Read more here!

Fantasy Maps Collection

My buddy Chris directed me to A Fantasy Reader blog, where there is a links article collecting maps from many fantasy works, some fan-made, others from the authors or their cartographers.  See more here!

The Dagger and the Coin (from The Dragon's Path by Abraham, Daniel)

Tomb Cluster

As fun as it is to set up a tomb in a Medieval Fantasy setting for a simple encounter or set of them, it is also fun to outline a whole cluster of tombs.  Such an area can be the focus of a great many adventures.  An adventuring party can visit from time to time or repeatedly, run into rival adventurers, and even draw the attention of local officials and commerce interests.  There is a recent story on IndianExpress.com highlighting the discovery of a 1,300 year old tomb cluster in China, much of which was for the interment of infants (a heads up to sensitive readers), that might show ways in which to further complicate the lives of adventurers as they go about what some call business as usual.  Read more here!

Salt Mines

Salt mines are as old a type of mine as mining itself.  If you don't already have plenty of these locations in your tabletop roleplaying setting, check out this video from the National Geographic YouTube channel to get some idea how these might manifest.  Watch!

Stylized Furniture

When is a chair not just a chair?  When it's a part of the story that develops during the game.  Part of what makes anything a potential story element is in the details.  To that end, it's worthwhile adding in some interesting and unusual tidbits like the chair shown off last June over on Gothic.com.  See more here!