The rules and rulesets you create don't have to answer to people who don't choose to use them. They have to answer to the people who do choose to use them.

This is what I mean when I say the concept of "flavor text" is detrimental to TTRPGs. If something is obviously and demonstrably false to any in-universe observer, then asking us to pretend otherwise is the opposite of good roleplay.

RPGs have got to stop writing flavor text like, “You’re the apex of this discipline, all bow before you in awe,” and then the ability associated with it is, “You can do a thing you could do at level 1 an extra time before you need to take a nap.”

The machine is doing what it has done for the last 125 years in Mexico,China, the Philippines, Haiti, Cuba, Vietnam, Iraq and Nicaragua. The lofty justifications change as a matter of convenience, but the objectives are the same. Securing earthly territory and extracting earthly wealth.

Something I see that trips up a lot of PbtA designers is that moves are not "roll to see who has control of the narrative" but "move the narrative in this direction and resolve how hard"

The Rookie itself was a huge win for the humanization of the US police, who are all jackbooted thugs, and anyone who was involved in this from Dropout is only letting the cops take a victory lap. Copaganda made to normalize the evils of policing to woke nerd types.

As Ryan Dancey discourse is crossing the timeline, a reminder of what the OGL was *actually* supposed to achieve. It wasn't some benevolent gift to the community; Dancey was trying to drive system competitors out of the market.

My new OC and ttrpg character for AW burned over, Warriors of the World Ablaze- campaign. Very excited for this! I haven't roleplayed for a long time and I usually RP for dnd but this is not my first time with the Apocalypse World either 😄 #myart #wotwa #lostpriest

Give that fat OC a fat neck right now or so help me

Despite being back at work, Kickstarter is retaliating against our teammates for our legally-protected strike action from last year. Tell Kickstarter’s CEO this is both ILLEGAL and UNACCEPTABLE

Does anyone else remember this old public access board game review show? I thought it was called Flynn’s Quest or something like that… (Courtesy of @leopolitans.bsky.social)

Was spike the dragon the first grungler

Still 40$ away from refilling on gel, I'm cramping too much to be eloquent-_- anything helps

Amazing video. Public Access is such an excellent mystery-horror system, and it really hits the way others don't due to it's grounded characters. I'm actually running a campaign of it on Saturdays through startplaying: startplaying.games/adventure/cm...

This is perhaps the most seen I've felt with regard to erotic TTRPGs in a while. It is such a frustrating but understandable sentiment, though it becomes all the more frustrating when it's the -dominant- sentiment. This is also true for Hawkmoth, and has been true for my own work to an extent.

funniest rules slip up I had in a session today. The Wolf in Monsterhearts is monogamous but the Wolf in Urban Shadows can be poly

Five Tiers of RPG Publishing Hasbro’s annual earnings came out this week, so I took a look. It is truly staggering how much Wizards of the Coast has changed the company since they were acquired; when looking at unadjusted earnings the Wizards of the Coast and Digital Games division was the only…

my white sibs, some of y’all move like “tee hee! nobody notices what I’m doing! I’m gonna get away with it!” and I just need you to know: many people know exactly what you’re doing. maybe more clearly than you do.

if multiple people point out that you’re aligning yourself with whiteness and your reaction is to be like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ or to pretend that you aren’t aware of it… you are opting in to whiteness and it will be noted and remembered by others.

Re: the 2/9/26 Medium post by Dragon detailing her perspective. I + others await (but do not expect) screenshots to match her claims, as it came as a great surprise to Lillie and I that we'd asked for 25k and then 60k. Our email history can't prove it but the year is young. bsky.app/profile/comb...

inb4 white trans fems pull out Hot Allostatic Load/"this is a transmisogynistic attack" -- I'm Mercedes, one of the people quoted in this article. I'm a trans fem of color and many of the people Jay fucked over w yazebas are trans poc. If defense of ur "sisters" ends at other yt trans fems ur racist

Addendum 2.9.26 re: Yazeba's We have furnished Rascal News with the appropriate screenshots to refute and in one case, contextualize, the claims made by Dragon in her (now edited) Medium post accounting the dispute from her perspective. See communications below.

bloody knight

Wow, this really takes me back...

The warping influence of D&D5E on what folks think a "story focused" TTRPG is definitely has a cousin in console RPGs where people who have only ever played Dark Souls clones think a "strong narrative" is when the environmental storytelling toilet skeleton has two paragraphs of lore instead of one.

also I just need to say: this thread from me is NOT a comment on what I think of Jay's statement, which honestly reads to me like a white person doing what white people do best and does not substantially address the most concerning parts of the Rascal piece.

look, please don't tell me to try other games, okay? the neopets ttrpg is what we're all familiar with. we use a homebrew setting instead of neopia and we ignore some of the rules about grappling and using rations during long-distance travel, but other than that it's exactly what we want.

Guile... Guinan... Guilenan

tabletop roleplaying games

I am idly anxious awaiting my session of the Between on Thursday. This game is so goddamn good and I need to see more of my player's backstories.

He was appalled by the examination system, when it was explained to him, he could not imagine a greater deterrent to the natural wish to learn than this pattern of cramming in information and disgorging it on demand.

Fixing your heart is, for us born into our arsenal of privilege in the world's most empire, both a lifelong undertaking requiring discipline, patience, perspective, and good teachers, and a necessary first step toward reclaiming your self. It's our essential duty and our most precious opportunity.

To make a thief, make an owner; to create crime, create laws.

social media tip is to block people making extreme allegations and refusing to back them up with evidence because it's 'not their story to tell' or some other reason.

extremophile's blessing [1/4]

Despite what some adults seem to think, teenagers are fully human.

The end justifies the means. But what if there never is an end? All we have is means.

this is cold as fuck

Thinking about that time the My Little Pony comics, of all things, absolutely bodied Scott Adams.

I’ve seen a lot of awful things in the past few days but this is the first time I’m letting myself feel it, because you’re right, the people of Minneapolis are fucking extraordinary and wonderful. They’re inspiring the whole world right now. Thank you all so much

i know it's 90% off but a warning to potential customers not to buy the steam version of heavy rain. it is not safe. it installs heavy rain on your computer

⚔️🔥🔮 www.kickstarter.com/projects/unw...

Morning

oh yeah could a depressed tgirl do this? [opens steam library and just stares at it]

Time for more Menu Cube posting 😌