The Novel Game Master
@thenovelgamemaster.bsky.social
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TTRPG blogger @
https://thenovelgamemaster.com/
Sci-fi & fantasy author at shannonrampe.com
I have been thinking a lot about pacing in sandbox games and how much leverage the GM should apply. I brought the topic up in the Prismatic Wasteland discord to hear other GMs' opinions and got some really fascinating insights!
www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2026/01/paci...
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Pacing and Random Encounters in the Sandbox
Recently, in my homebrew Worlds Without Number sandbox campaign, the party was camping outside of a corrupted keep they've been exploring th...
https://www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2026/01/pacing-and-random-encounters-in-sandbox.html
1 day ago
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The Novel Game Master
Agreeable Chatter
3 days ago
Wanted to throw my hat into the ring with a functional analysis of treasure in
#osr
and adjacent games
tbr.bearblog.dev/on-the-natur...
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The Novel Game Master
Woefully Encysted Creature
4 days ago
I wrote a comparison of both versions of Dungeon Module B3: Palace of the Silver Princess - Jean Wells's original orange cover version & Tom Moldvay's revised green cover version. I give some reasons why you might run one over the other, then explain which version I prefer & why.
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Which Version of Palace of the Silver Princess Should You Run?
Over on Bluesky I did a readthrough of both the orange cover and green cover versions of Dungeon Module B3: Palace of the Silver Princess....
https://forlornencystment.blogspot.com/2026/01/which-version-of-palace-of-silver.html
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Gila RPGs
6 days ago
Tomorrow
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Prismatic Wasteland
11 days ago
A tale of playtesting and how you don’t really know what mechanics work until you bring ones that don’t work to your table, maybe more than once
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Playtest Early, Playtest Often — Prismatic Wasteland
To design a game, you have to break a few eggs and discard some rules or completely rewrite them. But you won’t know what to discard and what to rewrite until you feed those eggs to your players.
https://www.prismaticwasteland.com/blog/playtest-early-playtest-often
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This is real cool and has me interested in finally running the keep
add a skeleton here at some point
11 days ago
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I'm participating in
#City26
, detailing the town of Myth's Landing, setting for my recent dungeon-lit fantasy novel THE COMPANY and upcoming sequel. Thanks to
@garblag.bsky.social
for kicking this project off and giving me an excuse!
www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2026/01/myth...
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Myth's Landing - A City '26 Project - Introduction
I'm excited to participate in City '26. This is the 2026 TTRPG/worldbuilding project, inspired by prior years' projects like Dungeon 23. Thi...
https://www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2026/01/myths-landing-city-26-project.html
15 days ago
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Garblag Pete
3 months ago
Anyone up for
#City26
in January. Getting a fresh notebook for this one and fleshing out a science fantasy
@mothership.bsky.social
setting.
#ttrpg
#worldbuilding
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The Novel Game Master
Shannon Rampe
19 days ago
My 2025 Wrap-Up newsletter is now live! Includes recommendations for my three favorite brain-melting books I read in 2025.
mailchi.mp/3b30173e3c4f...
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Writers & Recaps
https://mailchi.mp/3b30173e3c4f/writers-robots-refreshed-4960883
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I'm getting hyped for The Bloggies! One of my favorite posts this year was
@dodo-decahedron.bsky.social
's post on The OSR Onion, which sparked some great discussion on Discord and in my in-person group. I'll be voting for it come Feb 1!
dododecahedron.blog/2025/11/22/t...
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The OSR Onion
The OSR may be best understood as a layered approach to design centered around a specific way of writing, refereeing, and playing adventures.
https://dododecahedron.blog/2025/11/22/the-osr-onion/
19 days ago
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Clayton
19 days ago
The blog says "4-minute read." That's a lie. Here's every finalist from the past three years of The Bloggies.
www.explorersdesign.com/the-bloggies...
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The Bloggies Hall of Fame
Every winner of The Bloggies from 2022 to 2025. Want to melt your rpg brain? Start here.
https://www.explorersdesign.com/the-bloggies-hall-of-fame/
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Kati, A Certified Yapper
20 days ago
RELEASE: The complete
#hexmas
map is now available for you to peruse! Download the pdf version to see all the bloggers who contributed to this awesome blogwagon by
@prismaticwasteland.com
.
#blog
#ttrpg
#bloggers
#blogosphere
bakenshake09.itch.io/hexmas-map-2...
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Hexmas Map 2025 by Bakenshake
A hexcrawl of all the hexes created by Bloggers for Hexmas 2025
https://bakenshake09.itch.io/hexmas-map-2025
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Kati, A Certified Yapper
22 days ago
Got my end of year review of games played in 2025! I played a bunch of new systems and ran 30+ one-shots last year. What are the numbers saying, and what am I gonna do differently this year?
#blog
#ttrpg
theplayreports.com/posts/2025-r...
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The Play Reports
A Review of 2025 Play
https://theplayreports.com/posts/2025-review/
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The Novel Game Master
Indie Game Developers Network (IGDN)
24 days ago
The 2025 Indie Groundbreaker Awards are here! Have you published a LARP, table top RPG, card, board, or other analog game in 2025? We want to see it! Submit yours today:
forms.gle/Jgnu7Ev5BnkU...
Visit
www.igdnonline.com/groundbreakers
for more details. Submissions close on January 31st.
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In addition to blogging about TTRPGs, I'm also a sci-fi and fantasy author. If you're interested in my books or blogs, please consider signing up for my author newsletter at
shannonrampe.com
. Click the link at the bottom of the page to sign up and I'll send you a free book!
#indieauthor
#ttrpg
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Home
Visit the post for more.
https://shannonrampe.com
23 days ago
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Clayton
24 days ago
The Bloggies 2026 submissions are now open! Submit your favorite posts, series, and debut blogs via the official Bloggies page between now and Jan 31st! Please share this around. I'll be making regular Bloggies-themed announcements throughout the month.
www.explorersdesign.com/bloggies-2026/
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The Bloggies 2026
A yearly celebration of blogging in tabletop roleplaying games.
https://www.explorersdesign.com/bloggies-2026/
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Idle Cartulary
24 days ago
Two silly big posts today, the first being the Idle Digest for December of 2025, featuring a recap of Critique Navidad for those who couldn’t follow it closely:
open.substack.com/pub/idlecart...
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The Idle Digest #14
Idle Cartulary's Digest for December 2025
https://open.substack.com/pub/idlecartulary/p/the-idle-digest-14?r=11843d&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
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Scored myself a copy of HODAG MAG and it is the best thing to hit my inbox in a long time! Laugh out loud funny and awesome content! Eat like a goblin? Hell yes - I know what my January diet is going to be...
add a skeleton here at some point
24 days ago
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We all need some more HODAGery in our lives, don't we?
add a skeleton here at some point
26 days ago
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The Novel Game Master
jay Dragon 💤💤💤
30 days ago
brilliant seraphina strikes hot with an iron, challenging the paradigm of how people talk about rpgs and what people mean when they criticize d&d for "not supporting xyz"
seraphim-seraphina.itch.io/my-blog/devl...
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What do we mean when we say a game “supports” play?
What do we mean when we say a game “supports” play? This is the first in a series whose placeholder title is “Lunch Break Lectures”. I’m trying to create an avenue for putting my thoughts ou...
https://seraphim-seraphina.itch.io/my-blog/devlog/1200662/what-do-we-mean-when-we-say-a-game-supports-play
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@ktrey.bsky.social
out here still doing the lord's work for the TTRPG community.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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Idle Cartulary
about 1 month ago
Today, for Critique Navidad, it is the odd and wonderful Field Agent Handbook! What if you turned your entire life into a Hilda-meets-SCP larp?
idlecartulary.com/2025/12/24/c...
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Critique Navidad: The Field Agent Handbook
Each holiday season, I review different modules, games or supplements as a thank you to the wider tabletop roleplaying game community. All of the work I review during Critique Navidad is either giv…
http://idlecartulary.com/2025/12/24/critique-navidad-the-field-agent-handbook/
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The Novel Game Master
EN World | D&D/TTRPG News & Reviews
about 1 month ago
As we do every year, it's time to vote for the most anticipated tabletop roleplaying game of the coming year!
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www.youtube.com
It's Time to VOTE for your MOST ANTICIPATED TTRPG of 2026!
https://twp.ai/NTZ81d
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10 TTRPGS I want to play/run in 2026 (in no particular order, and including things I've run before): - Mythic Bastionland - Draw Steel - Daggerheart - BECMI D&D - Shadowdark - Delta Green - 13th Age - Mothership RPG - Microscope - Heroes of Cerulea
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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Kati, A Certified Yapper
about 1 month ago
Finally added my hex, Hearth, to the Hexmas Map for the Blogwagon started by
@prismaticwasteland.com
!
#blog
#hexmas
#community
#ttrpg
#hexcrawl
theplayreports.com/posts/hexmas...
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The Play Reports
Hexmas 2025 - Hearth
https://theplayreports.com/posts/hexmas-hearth/
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Prismatic Wasteland
about 1 month ago
You still have plenty of time to write a hex (or two) for Hexmas 2025! The map of current entries so far is below and here is a link with all you need to know about the prompt
#osr
#ttrpg
www.prismaticwasteland.com/blog/blogwag...
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The Novel Game Master
Clayton
about 1 month ago
Sure, you know about Vancian Magic, but what about Jackian Magic? (Someone please finish this design.)
www.explorersdesign.com/jackian-magic/
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The Jackian Magic System
Experimental mechanics that combine Mausritter inventory, Tetris, and engine-building into an alternative Vancian magic system.
https://www.explorersdesign.com/jackian-magic/
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Prismatic Wasteland
about 1 month ago
New Dungeon (in blog form): Castle Claus, or The Keep on the North Pole A Rankin Bass Christmas-themed dungeon for the Merry Hexmas Blog Bandwagon. Possibly one of my more high effort blog posts to date
#osr
#ttrpg
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Castle Claus: The Keep on the North Pole — Prismatic Wasteland
A Merry Hexmas location: dungeoncrawl through Santa Claus’ castle. Whether you lead an elf and reindeer uprising is up to you!
https://www.prismaticwasteland.com/blog/castle-claus-the-keep-on-the-north-pole
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Rather than doing an ordinary end-of-year best of post, I put together 9 things I've learned running 9 different RPG systems in the past year(ish). What have you learned?
www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2025/12/9-th...
#osr
#dnd
#mothership
#shadowdark
#gmtips
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9 Things I've Learned Running 9 Different RPGs
I've run nine different RPG systems in the year and change (and read twice that many games). A couple of these were one-shots, but most were...
https://www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2025/12/9-things-ive-learned-running-9.html
about 1 month ago
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Our group recently finished a run of Act 1 of Impossible Landscapes, and I couldn't have been more surprised at the poignancy of the unexpected way it ended. FYI - minor spoilers.
www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2025/12/play...
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Play Report: Delta Green - Impossible Landscapes: The Night Floors
NOTE: This post contains minor spoilers for Act 1 of the Delta Green campaign Impossible Landscapes. If you're going to be a player in this ...
https://www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2025/12/play-report-delta-green-impossible.html
about 2 months ago
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Anyone designing an OSR game by starting with Borges is doing something right in my book!
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
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Idle Cartulary
about 2 months ago
I fear you'll all be sick of me this month, but I just published November's Idle Digest! Subscribe to this if you want to keep up with my work and don't use an RSS reader! Or just if you want some recommendations for what to read and what to check out!
open.substack.com/pub/idlecart...
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The Idle Digest #13
Idle Cartulary's Digest for November 2025
https://open.substack.com/pub/idlecartulary/p/the-idle-digest-13?r=11843d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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Shannon Rampe
about 2 months ago
The bloggies are coming, the bloggies are coming!
add a skeleton here at some point
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This looks so fun and cool. I love the aesthetic. I kind of want to hack this into a game of Cyberpunk where the party's netrunner is just playing his own solo game
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
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Prismatic Wasteland
about 2 months ago
I had fun at PAX Unplugged! I played over 20 hours worth of games and went out to the local taverns every night. How did I do it all? That’s proprietary, but you can instead read all about the games I played
#osr
#ttrpg
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PAXU: Cram a Month of Gaming into One Weekend — Prismatic Wasteland
I Played Seven Games at PAX Unplugged and Lived To Tell You the Tales Thereof
https://www.prismaticwasteland.com/blog/pax-unplugged-2025-retrospective
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Personable | Markus
about 2 months ago
I just published my first Mothership module: Twinkle Twinkle little star The module will have your crew investigating a solar research ship orbiting a dying star, can you figure out what happened, and will you complete their mission? Available now on itch!
personable.itch.io/twinkle-twin...
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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Personable
A sunny module for Mothership
https://personable.itch.io/twinkle-twinkle
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It's been a minute since I updated the blog, but that's because I was busy writing an OSR-inspired novel!
www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2025/12/writ...
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Writing an OSR Novel
There was screaming coming from below. Down a short flight of steps was a stone archway opening into some kind of gallery. All Dariel could...
https://www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2025/12/writing-osr-novel.html
about 2 months ago
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This is an amazing piece of work and really fun to explore!
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
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A beautifully succinct take on the soulless void that is generative AI. Aligns with my thinking that content generated by AI is content without meaning behind it, and is hence absent of substance or value. It's philosophically bankrupt.
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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Farmer Gadda
6 months ago
August is here, that calls for a party! A new month means a new Carouse, Carouse! and thats something worth celebrating!
www.carouse.blog/august-2025-...
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August 2025 - A Beast of a Newsletter
Once more landing in your inbox, here's Carouse, Carouse! If you're ever bored and don't know which issue to read, there's now enough to fill a d6 table. However, given that you're reading this now, y...
https://www.carouse.blog/august-2025-a-beast-of-a-newsletter/
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First I played: AD&D (1e) First I ran: BECMI Red Box (DM'd before I played) Played the most: AD&D 2e in ages past Run the most: D&D 3e/3.5e in prior epochs Fave: Call of Cthulhu (or Mothership... or Shadowdark... or OSE...) Most recently played: Shadowdark Most recently run: Delta Green
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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Rise Up Comus - CASTLE AUTOMATIC Crowdfunding Now!
6 months ago
The Worm HUNGERS for the ENNIE. Voting for it is the only thing that will satiate it, and deter it from rising through the Underworld and devouring the mortal lands. Save yourself. Vote for the Worm.
vote.ennie-awards.com/vote/2025/
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Kati, A Certified Yapper
6 months ago
Joined the Blog Bandwagon last minute with the theme of "holes" for something holey must have possessed me to write this debauchery. I give you DEATH. DROP. DELVE.
#blog
#holes
#bandwagon
theplayreports.com/posts/death-...
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https://theplayreports.com/posts/death-drop-delve/
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ktrey
6 months ago
I wonder if this old Table of mine counts for the new Hole Theme 😅
blog.d4caltrops.com/2022/09/d100...
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d100 - What's At The Bottom Of This Pit?
D ecided to go ahead and round out this particular Table that has been lingering on my list for a spell. Sometimes those Pitfalls and Pit ...
https://blog.d4caltrops.com/2022/09/d100-whats-at-bottom-of-this-pit.html?m=1
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Nael Fox -> PAGE
6 months ago
Today we're posting hole on main, and I've written about the humble pit trap, a classic for a reason.
billhook.bearblog.dev/in_praise_of...
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In Praise of the Pit
There are many holes in fantasy adventure games. (dungeons), (dragons mouths), (enormous debt), and (discourse). One of my favorite holes in fantasy a...
https://billhook.bearblog.dev/in_praise_of_the_pit/
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Prismatic Wasteland
6 months ago
For my entry to the “Post Hole” blog bandwagon, I also hereby simultaneously submit to
@diyanddragons.bsky.social
’s 2nd Annual Lego Jam: Lego Rock Raiders as Space Horror (with a focus on the rock monster)
#osr
#ttrpg
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Lego Rock Raiders as Space Horror — Prismatic Wasteland
You are stranded on a hostile planet, but fortunately its subterranean tunnels are rich with the fuel you need to get back home. Less fortunately the tunnels are also home to hulking monsters that can...
https://www.prismaticwasteland.com/blog/lego-rock-raiders-as-space-horror
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Farmer Gadda
6 months ago
Blogpost time! My contribution to today's Blog Bandwagon goes in a bit of an odd direction, but I promise it goes somewhere! I'm Hole-Posting about Digimon World 3 (PSX, 2002) Static Site:
farmergadda.neocities.org/posts/holesp...
Blogger:
farmergadda.blogspot.com/2025/07/hole...
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Farmer Gadda's TTRPG Hayloft : Holes-Posting - I Find An Excuse to Talk About Digimon World 3
A shitty early 2000's liscenced JRPG gives me thoughts about Fast Travel and, well, Holes.
https://farmergadda.neocities.org/posts/holesposting_digimonworld3/
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Wayspell's Monster
6 months ago
Jumping on the band wagon by complaining about something no one has cared about in twenty years: The weirdness of a hole left in your humanity by cybernetics and what I take to instead
wayspell.blogspot.com/2025/07/sws-...
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[SWS] Hole in Your Soul, or Lack Thereof
A thing that ain't ever fully set right with me in cyberpunk games is how the installation of cybernetics always seem to make you 'less' o...
https://wayspell.blogspot.com/2025/07/sws-hole-in-your-soul-or-lack-thereof.html
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Forlorn Encystment also created a "Hole-in-the-Wall" tavern!
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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Magnolia Keep
6 months ago
Sallying out of Magnolia Keep, it's Holes Day on the blogosphere! I decided to take the time to write about how some of my favorite books, comics, and roleplaying game thinkers have dealt with the terror of dying in enclosed spaces underground.
magnoliakeep.blogspot.com/2025/07/fear...
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Fear of Holes (With Due Apologies to Jacob Geller)
My dad is a fan of horror movies. From the cerebral horror of something like The VVitch to low-budget trash like Mourning Wood or Zombea...
https://magnoliakeep.blogspot.com/2025/07/fear-of-holes-with-due-apologies-to.html
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