An insightful post by @davidblandyrpgs.bsky.social, who I had the pleasure to work with on one of his two new books for ECO MOFOS!! #OSR #NSR #TTRPG

As of this week, thanks to industrious adherents of the Worm, there is now roll20 support for HIS MAJESTY THE WORM! If you create a game, you will see the official adventurer's record sheet with automations. If you need help with roll20's native card functionality, drop in to the Worm discord!

On second thought, I have no notes.

For the Thursday crowd? What can I say about The Explorateur this time... I try to improve it every month. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it's compelling. I always find something new. And it's focused on design—which leads to more curation. Tell your friends (and your enemies). I want both.

I’m enjoying Legend in the Mist! Excited to finally have it in my hands. Here’s something I stubbed my eyes on: The body copy explains “hero cards” and labels its parts alphabetically A to E, but on the corresponding example the labels go B, A, C, D, E. Even polished projects have quirks.

Finally, I'm done with work. Now I can finally work.

A point from @explorersdesign.bsky.social's excellent newsletter, the Explorateur. This is definitely how I'm running my next Star Borg campaign!

This month's Explorateur kicks off the design curation with 10 thoughts too small for their own posts! Thoughts like: The path to greatness is paved in cringe. Kill Luke Skywalker as soon as possible. Let Frontier airlines test your book. Your manifesto needs manifestation. Thanks for reading!

Many of these upcoming features started as community suggestions. 🫶 Here's what's coming next to RPG Trader. Thanks for helping us build a better marketplace! Which feature are you most excited about? ⬇️ support.rpg-trader.com/t/planned-an...

I'm not sure what to write about in this upcoming Explorateur. There's usually an essay or three design ideas at the top, before the links, but I'm stumped on what to write about. Is there something worth chewing the fat over? Let me know. I'm not plugged into discourse or trends right now.

Like Clayton mentions, interior layout opportunities are also more constrained in smaller sizes. As ttrpg layout designers increase their chops, the A5 format is showing its limits: Great for single column, not great for much else.

What’s the right page size for your rpg project? What options are there? What are the pros and cons? I have some favorites. www.explorersdesign.com/how-to-pick-...

For my West Coast night owls and friends in Europe waking up in a few hours: A save vs death mechanic with some extra flavor.

When a dragon has just 1 hit point and a maze of obstacles, combat is like an open-ended puzzle. The challenge: the player characters only have 1 hit point too—and the dragon has a lot fewer obstacles. A small playtesting update about death without hit points:

I'm posting a small sequel to my 1 HP Dragon post tomorrow. It's about dying. It's a super simple system shamelessly stolen from half a dozen different sources—the way it's meant to be. Here's the original post: www.explorersdesign.com/the-1-hp-dra... Tomorrow's post is all about pushing your luck

Zine drop! I'm excited to start fulfilling this Kickstarter. The pledge manager is open until tomorrow if you missed out but still want to snag it! www.kickstarter.com/projects/a-h... #osr #shadowdark

I'm cautiously optimistic about RPG Trader. If you don't know, it's a new platform for buying and selling rpgs just like DriveThruRPG, Itch, and Lulu. What's making me optimistic? It's rpg-focused. It does away with the 5-star rating system. It has coherent product categories. rpg-trader.com

This podcast and host combination was made specifically for me in some kind of off-shore government black site.

You’d think it would be impossible to staff all of TSA with people who’ve never flown before, but they managed it. Not a single TSA agent has ever gone through a TSA line. That’s why they’re so confused about laptops and shoes. They don’t even know we’re getting on planes. Other airports? No way.

Today on Between Two Cairns, @bradkerr.net, @betterlegends.bsky.social and I review Tragedy at Zaya's Theater by @munkao.bsky.social, and ruminate on whether "patching" a module makes it any less good! www.patreon.com/posts/traged...

My second interview in the Violent Delights design series is with @jmstar.bsky.social, co-owner and creative director at Bully Pulpit Games. I ask Jason, designer and publisher of various boxed RPGs, what should other designers know about the opportunities and challenges for boxed RPGs?

Big News: Pilgrimage of the Sun Guard is officially back in print thanks to a publishing partnership with @plusoneexp.bsky.social! Cover art by @tonytranrpg.bsky.social plusoneexp.com/collections/...

The latest Explorateur is live after some server issues. If you read it in your inbox, it was missing some seriously good links! I'll share a few of my favorites below in a thread 🧵👇 www.explorersdesign.com/explorateur-...

Every passing year, I grow more dismissive of the LinkedIn-style adage, "Good design solves problems." Sometimes there isn't a problem to solve. Sometimes the wrong problems are being solved. Sometimes the solution is ugly, dull, and worse than the problem. Don't mistake the weave for a tangle.

Today on Between Two Cairns, @bradkerr.net, @betterlegends.bsky.social and I review The Secret of the Night Market by Sean Foer, answer a mootsack question, and go deep on Perils & Princesses. www.patreon.com/posts/158863...

Now that the discourse has died down, and my birding has lessened, I want to talk about lists in rpgs. I like what both sides of the debate make. So, like everything else, "good" isn't about which side you choose but how you execute the idea. If you choose to use lists, use them well.

Beyond chuffed to see my little adventure end up on a show this good! I’m still working on the updates after playtesting, the full version is coming—until then, check this out 🐙

Sorry my blog has been quiet this month. The bird watching is just too good.

12 years ago, I designed my first RPG book: Symbaroum. For the new edition, I was asked to revisit the graphic design and update it. The design goals included accommodating more text while adding spaciousness, switching some typefaces, and generally adding some atmosphere. And killing some darlings.

This is a well-made online rulebook! Still in development. It reminds me of Butterick's Practical Typography and his book-making process with Pollen (complimentary). Check out the game below. Link to Butterick in the reply. incunabuli.com/rulebook/

My favorite post from last month was a glowing recommendation for the Cairn adventure, Rise of the Blood Olms—a recommendation buried in satire. But I want to set aside the satire for a moment to ask a serious question... 1/4 www.explorersdesign.com/reviewing-bl...

The latest Explorateur is out. Last month was quiet for the design heads. If you're like me and you like to absorb every rpg design idea you can find, Exploratuer is the hyper-specific publication just for you (and a little over a 1000 other subscribers). www.explorersdesign.com/explorateur-...

Wrote a quick review of a Cairn adventure I’ve run a few times now. Give it a look. It’s free. www.explorersdesign.com/reviewing-bl...

@explorersdesign.bsky.social writes a perfect send up of adventure reviewers, myself included. www.explorersdesign.com/reviewing-bl...

As a follow-up to last week's post about writing modules, I wrote another post on writing adventures for Cairn, and how that might be different than other OSR systems. newschoolrevolution.com/writing-modu...

Lot of good posts in this month's issue.

Today on Between Two Cairns, @bradkerr.net, @betterlegends.bsky.social and I are joined by @outridercreative.bsky.social to review Red Gwen's Bandit Hideout by Stonedrunkwizard, answer a mootsack question, and make a ruling. www.patreon.com/posts/155636...

I sat down with the Between Two Cairns crew to yap about games.

Angel Studios and Wonder Project make christian nationalist slop designed to look like movies. We should be critical of actors like Ben Kingsley, Andy Serkis, Jeff Daniels, Jared Harris, and JK Simmons who legitimize their revisionist narratives by starring in them.

Hi, #PortfolioDay! I'm Lone Archivist, a games and graphic designer specializing in branding and visual identity design for the tabletop industry (but open to work with other fields as well). You can see my work in the quoted post or view an in depth Portfolio at: lonearchivist.com

Mausritter and Pico inspiration: Photographer, Charles Brooks, explores the hidden spaces inside instruments, revealing a small world of hidden architecture. www.charlesbrooks.info

I've been re-reading a lot of books on urbanism lately. It's going to be hard not making this profile all about urban design. www.explorersdesign.com/5-urban-desi...

Here's how I like to run a campaign in an established setting: I kill Luke Skywalker. I find a load-bearing character and kill them in the first session. The player characters are the Marty McFly of their universe. The moment they drop in, the timeline changes. Other thoughts on canon by Pris:

For some reason I get this itch when games have me memorizing number values whose sole justification for being that number is meta probability and balance. - OSR games' starting their DC 11, 12 or 13 - PbtA's 2d6 + Stat. Less than/equal/more than - All iterations of "Health starts at 8 + Muscle"

Ape see game. Ape find ape. Ape play.

A decidedly unfunny, non-jokey newsletter for April 1st, it's The Explorateur! This month's issue has a landslide of design links including a call for volunteer judges for The Awards. Oh! And there's a non-rpg link all about book cover art rates 👀 www.explorersdesign.com/explorateur-...

Happy April Fools' Day. Here's something I'm dead serious about. www.explorersdesign.com/cookbooks-le...

It's usually bad execution that triggers the occasional crusade against things like bullet points, typesetting, and line breaks. They're tools. Sometimes you have to put the hammer down, and sometimes you have to hammer in some nails. Though I am tempted to write my grocery list in verse now...

Personally, I think we should go outside and see what the hell is making these shadows.

In addition to being fun playable material, it's also a great little case study for how different systems describe and lay out their locations!