Like most years, my ambitions far exceeded my calendar. Some games hit the table. Some lived in notebooks. Here's what worked—and my one secret weird trick for campaigns that actually get played. 🎲 Good Monday, Gamers! open.substack.com/pub/playfear...

Legitimately the single best FPS campaign ever made. If you've never played it, get it.

Make a Bond movie casual Live and let Dance!

Last two Mondays of the year are easy to skip. But I’m still here — coffee in hand, Bolognese sauce simmering, writing words... open.substack.com/pub/playfear... #ttrpgs

Dogs walked, coffee brewed. back to discovering the shape of this cyber-hacker deckbuilder thing. Night club system nodes at the top, card 'deck' at the bottom. Thinking about card resolution mechanics, turn structure, stealing from Netrunner and SR:Crossfire until I figure it out. #indiegamedev

🎷✨ Winter Date Night Vibes in KC! Cozy up in igloos, sip holiday cocktails, and enjoy live jazz. Perfect for a magical night out. Naughty or nice, see you at the bar! More info: www.secretkc.com/p/winter-dat... #KansasCity

My friends! The Apocalypse World 3rd Ed kickstarter ends on Friday night. We launched with a Q&A on Reddit and I think we'd like to wrap up with a Q&A here. Ask me anything! Ask @megueyb.bsky.social anything too! www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...

It might be nothing. But it doesn’t feel like nothing. This week’s Monday Musing is about: 🎲 LFG IRL 🕰️ Scheduling is the real end-boss 📚 William Gibson’s Jackpot trilogy ⚡️ dumb random inspiration Scheduling: weekly, bi-weekly, or sporadic? Good Monday, Gamer! open.substack.com/pub/playfear...

Day 14 When the first babe was born glowing, the world changed. We didn’t know, at first. We, who dug in the ruins of What Was, daring monsters & each other. Lilah Blackthorn said it could live, and we would watch to see what would follow. What followed was more. So many more. #AW3rd #ttrpg #pbta

Dumb, stupid, random Inspiration. Comes at you like a train when it's ready. Gets you off track from the thing you doing, the thing you need to be working on. Got ya all wide-eyed, how didn't we see it before?! Happy Saturday. Me, coffee, fresh field notebook, riding this bullet train.

Looking back fondly on the Horde Knight and the Vulture Knight with @newmadras.bsky.social and @madjay.bsky.social, whose young knights were violent jocks from the jump, having just defeated the Ogre... youtube.com/clip/Ugkx7c-...

Easy Sunday morning. Working my Advent coffee calendar and 'discovering the shape of fun' in a prototype for a deckbuilder game that should already exist. Discovering things you can do with a digital card deck that you can not or wouldn't do with a physical one, like destroying a card! 👀🤬 #indiedev

Reminder applications for our yearly turn-based games festival, Steam sale, & showcase are open now until Dec 12th. 412 games submitted so far, hope to see even more #IndieDev / #GameDev applying over the weekend. Gaming content creators, we have visibility + keys for you too, check it out!

Vincent is threatening to write a beginners guid to designing a game the Powered by the Apocalypse way and I'll be honest, I kind of need y'all to step up so that goodness can come into the world. Just, like, 10.000 dollars more to go.

Secret KC: Jazz, Festive Vibes & Cozy Holiday Magic! www.secretkc.com/p/a-holiday-...

Who's making this a game!!

18 Days of the Apocalypse. Let's go. #AW3rd #PBTA #ttrpgs www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...

I had some thoughts post-turkey, and pumpkin pie: Story first is prolly alright, and Break!! RPG is even better! Plus some stuff you might have missed! Good Monday, Gamer! open.substack.com/pub/playfear... #ttrpg

Good morning! Meg and I just added community copies to all of our games on Itch. I always say "if times are tight," but we all know that times are tight. lumpley.itch.io

This week’s Monday Musing is up: • Max turns 18 • Played a Jiangshi one-shot • Built the Anadyomene Artifact Hard Zone for AW: Burned Over • TinyCon is officially back on the workbench Good Monday, Gamer!! open.substack.com/pub/playfear...

Secret KC Cocktail Run: Drinks, Vibes & City Nightlife Adventure! www.secretkc.com/p/the-kc-coc...

This week I’m playing Cairn, running Mekton/Titanfall with Max, prepping Wild Talents, sketching UVG + Burning Wheel, and the Grave Belt Hard Zone for AW: BO in the Kuiper Belt. And a thought sparked by Keith Senkowski: third spaces. I miss them. Good Monday, Gamer! open.substack.com/pub/playfear...

🤯 NICE!!

Veterans Day thoughts. I’m fine — still kicking the ass of diabetes — but a lot of veterans aren’t fine. If you’ve got time, check in with your local VA or social services. Small things matter. 💪🏽 Also: Apocalypse World in space, Wild Talents and a UVG mashup! open.substack.com/pub/playfear...

Normalize Sunday Morning RPG sessions!!

Re-Sharing an oldie PSA for Veteran’s Day weekend. I’m doing fine, still kicking the asses of Diabetes, PTSD, and high BP. I got games to get to. But many veterans aren’t doing fine. Check in with your local VA and social service agencies to see how you can help out open.substack.com/pub/playfear...

Good morning #ttrpg folks! Thank you for the amazing launch for #AW3rd! Y’all have pushed us so far over the stretch goal for the digital e-zine of additional materials we’re going to have to think about what might come next. It’s a lovely day! Let’s see where this thing can go!

Played it! Mythic Bastionland. My takeaway was this game's design focused on simplicity and emergent gameplay, encouraging players to create and play within streamlined frameworks. AND THERE ARE 72 POEMS!!! open.substack.com/pub/playfear...

a|state second edition - out now. handiwork.games/games/astate #astaterpg #ttrpg

And away we go. www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...

IT HAS BEGUN!! Y'all know what to do! www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...

You are too kind!! Loved this episode and now I gotta go listen to the rest! 💪🏾

“Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.” —Thomas Carlyle This week, I wrote about the tools that keep my games running and my ideas organized — and the secret to keeping them sharp! Good Monday, Gamer! open.substack.com/pub/playfear...

I love Campaign Wrap Chats - Normalize this!!

T minus 3! We've got just a few add-ons planned for the campaign, but they're pretty cool. I'm working hard today to pull together the preview for one of them. I can't wait to show you! (If you're on our Patreon, you'll see it early, just saying...)

🚀 One Mo'gin The Apocalypse World 3rd Edition Kickstarter is on the horizon — but before it lands, I’m running one last campaign with Burned Over 2E. This is my farewell tour for AW:Burned Over 2E — a love letter to the game that changed how we gamed. open.substack.com/pub/playfear... #ttrpg

kept on looking for a sign in the middle of the night...

Working on the AW3rd kickstarter (T minus 6 btw) and I notice that listed under Meg's and my name it says "11 created • 347 backed." Okay first of all, 347 backed, wowie. But of those 347, probably around 300 have been PbtA. That's a lot to be confronted with on a Tuesday morning.

There was a time we backed every #pbta #ttrpg project. Then folk's creative drive outpaced our capacity, as well as our shelf-space. It was a wicked cool moment. In 6 days, we're hoping you'll back #AW3rd, and keep the momentum rolling!

Roll for Origin: Supers TTRPG History: Ep. 5 Base Raiders This episode jumps to just after the d20 crash. @madjay.bsky.social & Lowell go over what the game is, gaming history, what was going on in comics media; and general discussion. They cover adaptation and Fate history. #ttrpg

What do a speed-dating event and a TTRPG session have in common? Facilitation. This week’s Monday Muse connects the dots between hosting, and gaming, plus updates on Cairn 2E, Flying Circus, and Apocalypse World: Burned Over. open.substack.com/pub/playfear... #ttrpg

T minus 8, already. Workity-work-work. #AW3rd #PBTA #TTRPG

T minus 9!! Next up, undoubtedly reworking something! Getting our bloody fingerprints all over everything, tinkering with all the bits.

Fighting off a cold last week gave me an excuse to dive into a pile of RPG PDFs: Cold City 2E, Ware Blades, Ghost in the Shell and the surprise of Ars Magica going Creative Commons. This week’s Monday Muse is all about making the most of a snotty week. #ttrpg open.substack.com/pub/playfear...

This week I’m thinking about branded games — the ones that carry big licenses and even bigger expectations. Ghost in the Shell and Invincible just dropped, and I’m wondering if they can break the curse of “safe” licensed RPGs. open.substack.com/pub/playfear...

Every now and again, the universe drops an event that feels tailor-made for TTRPGs. Meet 3I/ATLAS — an interstellar visitor with weird outgassing, a Sun-side blackout, and a trail of mysteries. Read it before the invasion starts. open.substack.com/pub/playfear... #ttrpg #astronomy

It's early, but we're live!

Bright and early with @newmadras.bsky.social and @madjay.bsky.social for an Elf Hunt. Need to listen to the last bit of the previous session at the High Lord's keep to brush up. Knights hunt the Elf. The Order hunts the Lich. Who will prevail? 1/3

Catching up on #inktober #inktober2025 Day 2. Weave. I think I found a nib I like.

Aight, I'm in, #Inktober2025 Mustache.