I saw a comment defending Dear Evan Hansen with the defense that “you’re not supposed to like the main character.” Which is hilarious to me because now I imagine the writers pitching the story as, “He’s a depressed, anxiety-ridden teenager with a single mom, and he sucks shit!”

A story in 3 parts:

It's important to recognise a story for what it is: aftermath.site/xbox-sarah-bon...

My local theater has decided to book Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for the upcoming season, which is good for me. Now I can skip buying season tickets (like I've done in years past) and instead use that money on something else.

So excited to see so much activity in the PBTA space, so I had to back BEASTS on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/lat...

Thinking of “prep as play” really changed my perspective on GMing. It shifts world-building, character creation, and systems building as something you have to do to something you *get* to do. Not to toot my own horn, but this was something I thought was so important to mention in S&S’s principles.

Me watching Dungeon Meshi: Laios is autistic Me watching Abbott Elementary: Gregory is autistic Me watching King of the Hill: Hank Hill is autistic Me watching Heated Rivalry, a show with a character confirmed by actor and writer to be autistic: Eh, I don’t see it

It's not just that Newsom sucks, it's that he seems dedicated to GETTING WORSE

The common thinking for PBTA games is that rolling a 10+ on a move is a success, 7-9 is a partial success, and 6- is a miss. And I don’t think that’s generally wrong, but while reading moves from the Bakers, it’s clear that “success” doesn’t have to mean, “the player gets what they want.” (1/6)

This is why I’ve stopped worrying when I find other games similar to mine. Every time I do, I find something that makes me think, “That’s fine, but it’s not what I want.” And it helps me figure out what I *do* want.

man this sucks. idk the specifics but my grandfather was literally doing gender reassignment surgeries at vanderbilt in like the 70s

With the caveat that I never finished Act 3, so maybe this all turns around there, but Shadowheart was the most disappointed I’ve been in a companion writing in a long time. “Oh a character who follows an *evil* god? Surely there’s an interesting and nuanced motivation there!” (There was not)

Today I found out that my 8-year old nephew likes the card game I got him for Christmas (Air, Land, and Sea) so much that he’s been taking it to school to play at inside recess. So I’m going to be riding that high for a while.

So what I’m gathering is that Republicans learned last shutdown that if they inconvenience travel, Democrats will cave. I’m not sure they’re wrong.

Heated Rivalry is fantastic, but I was disappointed to hear that the "real" rivalry it was based on was two straight guys who just didn't like each other. That was, like, the least notable aspect. It's like saying Scooby Doo was based on a real story that story was just real estate fraud.

I keep trying to write about combat in PBTA games, and my writing keeps veering off to unexpected directions. Like I think I’m going to write about one thing, but then it springs into 3 or 4 other things. Interesting, sure, but terribly unhelpful for actually publishing something.

Hey Marius, I got great news for you!

We have two food bowls for our two cats. Occasionally one will be nearly empty while the other will be nearly untouched. And yet my stupid cat will sit by the empty one looking at me. I have to literally pick her up and put her in front of the other bowl for her to eat from it. She’s so dumb.

Pro-tip for Avowed. Don’t just use the godlike features to make your character look like a godlike. Use all the hair, makeup, and facial feature options you have to make your character look odd. I especially like my new envoy’s glowing green eyes.

Avowed is just so dang good. Every part of it fits together so well. Just having the best time revisiting it with the anniversary update.

worth noting that none of the people interviewed here are noted as being communist or leftist when you see people saying the party needs to do better with the candidates, campaigning & overall messaging, it's not your imagined leftist purity testing; it's the increasingly common thought

Being autistic is fun because, with my taste sensitivities, my childhood was based around an extremely limited diet. So I'll get the Ratatouille critic reaction with, like, a plain tortilla.

Me: Casually playing BG3 and having a pretty fun time BG3: “What if a dream could peer pressure you?” Me:

This is an incredibly good article diagnosing the biggest problem with fighting games: they’re genuinely bad *products*, even if/when their gameplay is incredible. This is an incredibly important lens, even outside fighting games and even outside video games. cthor.me/Fighting-gam...

Hey Magpie, hire me for Mask 2e and let me fix your game.

It’s a testament to the depth and scope of these games that, even after watching a five-hour video on Pillars of Eternity and Avowed, my thoughts still go to, “Wow so much was missed.” Don’t get me wrong: NCG’s video is dense and broad, but there are so many interesting conversations to have.

There’s an RPG theory called “RPG essentialism” which states that there’s one platonic ideal of RPG that all RPGs are striving to reach and this is such an incredibly silly theory. It’s akin to imagining there’s one way to describe a tree that all poets who describe trees are striving for.

There is so much good stuff in @noahgervais.bsky.social’s latest video, but I especially loved the discussion of the companions in Avowed. Avowed really did something special there, and I’m glad to see it get its due, especially with Kai. Loved seeing his analysis go beyond, “fantasy Garrus.”

Well, you came in here looking like crap and you haven’t said very much.

SEND HELP is wild.

When they make movies about this in the future they will tone down the cruelty of ICE and border patrol, like Spielberg did with Goeth in Schindler's List, because no one will believe they were actually this monstrous.

This screams, “We don’t need UX writers. Just let the developers write the descriptions.”

Time again to share my Stock Art Artists starter pack (with focus on TTRPG). go.bsky.app/2khFm1H If you happen to fit the bill, let me know.

Been reviewing combat moves in PBTA games, and I'm surprised at how much I don't like the Masks move for it. Not just the design, but, like, how it's written. I hate how, as a player, you can't just refer to the move. You have to also read the book.

New @noahgervais.bsky.social video about Pillars of Eternity and Avowed! Very excited to dig into this later. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmas...

God I hate how Baldur's Gate 3 practically trains you not to be curious. Talking to background NPCs is a waste of time. The vast majority of lore books and notes give you no useful or relevant information, even ones with striking titles like "NO CAUSE FOR ALARM."

Do you remember that story about the city that tried to get rid of snakes by putting up bounties for them, but then people just started breeding snakes to take in for bounties? Anyway, new way to tip your DoorDash just dropped.

Been wondering why I've been lethargic and tired lately on top of my cough coming back. Turns out, I have pneumonia! Probably have had it for the last month (to the day, actually). Sometimes it really is just, "You're sick," and not, "The horrors of the modern day are wearing you down."

Me reading the Mewgenics credits

I have a new name for Scroll & Steel that I feel is a lot better, but the re-brand is going to be painful. Now I know why MCDM called their RPG “MCDM RPG” for so long. Perhaps I should’ve been calling it “Devin RPG” all this time.

Currently stuck in the hardest part of playtesting: having friends who are willing and able to commit to a game.

Thread.

Playing Baldur’s Gate 3 has made me even more annoyed at some of the criticisms of Avowed. “You can just take everything and no one cares!” You mean like most of the items in BG3? How is it more okay in BG3 just because the game sometimes also includes things that you can’t take?

The steam page for Lancer Tactics is now up! Throw us on your wishlist! #lancerrpg #mech #mecha

Man Swashbuckler is such a fun Pathfinder 2e class. You get a ton of mobility, a ton of burst damage, and a ton of personality. Opportune Strike is generally weaker than Reactive Strike, but it’s so much more fun to shut down an aggressive foe getting in your face than one running away.

Blogged about playing the lucrative alien baby trade game when the economy is exclusively made of scams. aftermath.site/space-warlor...

I had a feeling this song would be a great fit for this, and I was right. (Song is Labour by Paris Poloma, game is @deadasdiscogame.bsky.social)

Football is Real-Time with Pause

I’ve been trying to look for more games to play with the wife, and this game where you can play along to music you upload definitely has the best pitch so far. “Look babe, you can play along to your favorite Taylor Swift songs” is a hell of a pitch. youtube.com/shorts/vPXme...

My wife is the only person I know who can be spoiled on things she’s already seen.