I am conflicted about what to submit. Do I go with my "I am a very serious scholar" Cold War-as-retrofuture-in RPGs thing, or do I write about Manly Men With Uzis As An RPG Phenomenon? Decisions, decisions!

I feel a submission on twenty-first century RPGs and the use of the Cold War as a setting might be in order (So, Twilight 2000 4th ed et al).

"Operation Epic Fury"? You are fucking kidding me. What next? "Operation I Have an Enormous Wang"? "Operation Toddler's Temper Tantrum"? Dear god, these are such deeply unserious, childish morons with access t almost limitless destructive power.

Scene: No10 Downing Street. Random Labour MP: "Do you think we might be making a mistake with our approach to the electorate?" Starmer (for it is he): "No! As any fule no, the voters are wrong and we must redouble our efforts to alienate them!" The Ghost of Morgan McSweeney: "Trebles all round!"

I would encourage you to follow @tacticalbacon.bsky.social's approach and buy, buy, buy! Many bargains, much cheapness! handiwork.games/product/asta...

Just 1 (one) hour left of Wyrd Science 7 being the @drivethrurpg.com DEAL OF THE DAY, thanks for all your boosts over the last 24 hours but here’s one last push from us. Just £1.50/$2 gets you our beautiful best boy packed with great writing on awesome games, books, music, art, film, TV & lots more

Seems reasonable to me

Get it while the getting is good! Featuring the Trouble Engine as created by @fromthemorgue.bsky.social and now featuring in @olddog.games's Blades '68! handiwork.games/product/asta...

Delighted that people are already playing #HotWar 2nd edition and - apparently - having great fun doing so!

1) Academics frequently get requests for their help and expertise. This is a good thing - it's part of our jobs to share our knowledge and skills. And if a request comes from a charity, a state school, a non-profit heritage group, etc, then absolutely they will get my help pro bono. HOWEVER...

If this was - just to pick a random example - the steel industry, MPs would be crowding into the chamber to "do something". But it's universities, so it doesn't matter that we're seeing a slow-motion disaster for UK higher education.

There's a lot to like about Cold City/Hot War, mechanically. I think there are things about this style of dice pool which are well worth revisiting and updating for 2026. Which non-coincidentally is what @malcolmcraig.bsky.social has done. 1/2

An absurd deal for my favorite-favorite FitD game. Honestly folks, don't sleep on this.

1) In the chapter I'm writing, I'm currently grappling with the excellent work of historian of nuclear culture Daniel Cordle. One of his main angles is "the politics of vulnerability" in nuclear culture (his particular focus is on the literary form).

As usual, @monkeyx.bsky.social is generous, thoughtful, and critical in his review of Hot War.

Grab yourselves a bargain! This is a great deal on a great game (of course, I would say that) that does many innovatives things with the FitD core. And the setting is pretty amazing as well.

This is one of the most heart-breaking & important articles I have ever read - from someone whose voices are so rarely heard, a teenaged girl. If you want to understand online misogyny in all its devastating impact, please read this shattering piece. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"Something something...elite force...something blah...historical interest...rhubarb rhubarb...not all Nazis....blah waffle..."

1950s SF movie edition This Shitpost Earth Forbidden Shitpost Invasion of the Shitposts The Shitpost from Another World When Shitposts Collide

I'm hoping that this is the start of a critical re-evaluation not only of The Robot Brains, but all of Sydney J. Bounds work. SF, horror, thriller, western, whatever you like, SJB has something for you!

And order the new editions of Cold City and Hot War here ->

Read Malcolm's fab paper on Twilight 2000 here ->

Great fun to chat about all this stuff with @breakfastruins.bsky.social!

Check this lot out!

Sometime Paul un-nerves even me.

I knew the little sods were keeping something from us!

Torridon is one of the greatest places in Scotland. So many happy times spent holidaying at my Uncle Dan's house in Inveralligin as a kid. Beinn Alligin, Liathach, and Beinn Eighe were the first three Munros I climbed with my dad. Most other hills kind of pale by comparison.

M'learned colleague @jamescrossland.bsky.social is spot on - "thick, over-privileged nonce whose only purpose is to be mocked" is on the money. I hope Andy is enjoying his processed cheese and slimy tomato sandwich in the local nick.

Research and writing today has meandered through Soviet nuclear civil defence planning, the 1980s white power movement in the US, RPGs and the Satanic Panic, and now I've had to order a book about post-1945 British armoured fighting vehicle development. No, I don't know either.

There's lots of cool stuff in these play packs for both games, things that function both as play aids and in-world artefacts.

One of the great unanswered RPG questions is if one person is doing funny accents & another is talking in the 3rd person, & the GM houserules combat whilst claiming to use the text as written, & then another character becomes the Platonic ideal of simulationism, did the OGL kill your favourite game?

You do not want to know what happened to Reg. Great stuff as always from @paulbourne.bsky.social

I have sympathy for what students had to go through at such a formative time in their lives (also: Down with the current fees system). But we all went through it. I've never worked so hard in my life when COVID hit. I ended up on anti-depressants, I couldn't visit my paralysed, dying father, etc.

Ooohh, it's me old office mate @edwardmair.bsky.social chatting with my down-the-corridor colleague @jamescrossland.bsky.social!

27/3/63. "It took four days before we learned what had become of 8th Platoon. What we found surpassed even our worst nightmares. Their forms were twisted and fused into a grotesque, infernal construct; a sight that left us utterly shaken." #HotWar #HandiworkGames

If you can get over me waving my arms around and talking too fast, then this is remarkably informative.

Diving into some FiveEvil art tomorrow for the new book “Netherworlds”. Really enjoyed working on these - montages and paint overs and assemblages is something I’ve always enjoyed doing, way back to the earliest days of my art foundation course. Nothing is wasted eh? FiveEvil is a handsome book.

It is! (available) You should! (get it)

Remember: Do not mention the war! And stay alert! And remain indoors!

I vividly recall when Graham was a callow youth, and I likewise. We were both striving to make our mark in games land. I now look like I've been to the Gulag and back, while Graham looks exactly the same. How is that justice? He's the British RPG scene's Dorian Gray, I tell you.

This is a smaller point within @rdonoghue.bsky.social's wider thread (which you should read), but this really resonates with me. D&D was not something we (my RPG friend group as a teenager) ever really thought about playing. For me the progression was Fighting Fantasy>Twilight 2000>Traveller>etc.

It's thrilling that the second edition of Hot War is now available in PDF & to preorder in hardcopy. It keep everything that was great about 1st ed, but makes it so much better. Plus the art and design from @paulbourne.bsky.social and @handiworkgames.bsky.social is phenomenal, as you would expect

Just now I’m collecting material from the Cold City Hot War Kickstarter campaign updates to repost on our blog. There’s a lot of material there explaining in detail how the games work. But I’d forgotten I’d made these 3d mockups of the games and supporting material. I could animate these…

Today's book writing has included reference to the work of Camille Flammarion, Lee Gold, H G Wells, Mary Shelley, and Hilda Hannifen. Don't ask me to make sense of it at this stage, it's only the first draft!

Once again it is time to be clear in how much I enjoy Seyed's reviews. I have found them extremely enlightening about our own material. The summaries of systems are really sharp. I've said it before, but I really admire Seyed's ability to engage with creator intentions. Nice.

Random publishing thoughts 🧵 : it’s interesting to do maths and work out how much a crowdfunding effort has made per equivalent item offered or even per page of content. You can then usually also work out some ratios for the size of the team working on it. It can be surprising stuff.

Get this occult action thriller ttRPG for 1-7 people. Perfect if you enjoy playing powerful undead revenants embroiled in breakneck action, interpersonal drama, and occult investigation. Soundtrack by @mollynoise.bsky.social and human-made art by @stregawolf.art. Jump in now for early bird deals!

Ok, let’s do this🙄 We’ll start with an explainer covering: 🕒What is a 15-minute city 🏫What on Earth is going on with Oxford 👽Where the conspiracy theories have come from And then we’ll look at the Telegraph article 🧵 1/25

You can always rely on Honoria Cashe-Arbuthnot to have the hottest of hot takes.