There’s been no “autism breakthrough.” You know what’s more relevant? This proverbial macaroni art from the Iron Age. It’s delightful.

I’m only two or three weeks late to the Appendix N blog bandwagon. With this article, I issue a challenge: List your influences on individual projects. Personal influences are compelling, project-specific influences are usually a lot weirder and more insightful. www.explorersdesign.com/appendix-n/

A good post. I sometimes think megadungeons have a bad reputation, like they’re an antiquated framework, but this article does a great job succinctly indicating why that’s not the case.

Redux of an old post of mine that was borderline unreadable, but which had a nugget of wisdom worth salvaging. There are two totally different types of hexcrawl and nobody else seems to have pointed this out before. knightattheopera.blogspot.com/2025/09/how-...

Another Between Two Cairns today. For Patreon subscribers only. We play Hypotheticals. "What RPG are you running in 2 hours for your normie cousin's bachelor party?" "What TSR module are you running for some old-head work friends who don't care about rules?" www.patreon.com/posts/138140...

It was a fun chat! I hope others enjoy it.

Watch me fumble through a chat.

Amid Stripe's confusing messaging about what they do and don't allow, Rascal talked to its own blog platform about reliance on the payment processor.

Building a dungeon live on YouTube! Come hang out and help me make a weird adventure!!! www.youtube.com/@JPCoovert

Very kind words. This is a great thread covering all of the Appx N jam entries. Get Invaders of Atlantis before it’s updated and the price goes up. explorers.itch.io/invaders-of-...

29. Curs of the Humpback Coast by @outridercreative.bsky.social A thrilling system-neutral cave-crawl to find the lost treasure of a doomed Pirate crew 🧜‍♀️ The cover & map are both gorgeous, and the fate of the Curs is as humorous as it is dark. A salty module that can easily fit any campaign

It's the season 3 finale of "Between Two Cairns" today. We review "Earth and Wine." If you're a sometimes listener of this podcast, I would say this one is pretty good; maybe check it out. Now we're taking a few weeks off. Thanks for listening, listeners! www.patreon.com/posts/135699...

Thank you to everyone who has checked out my new adventure The Eternal Empress! #osr Be sure to read all the awesome new Appendix N jam adventures! If you missed it: weirdwonder.itch.io/empress

Easily one of my top Gen Con highlights, I’m grateful you all ran into me.

Shout out to the doomsday preachers at Gen Con for winning The Biggest Dweeb Here Award.

Stream for the ENNIES

I’m at the ENNIES Booth 114 until 3. Stop by. Find out what I look like. Ask me about these cool games.

The latest issue of The Explorateur is live, but I can’t talk now, I gotta get coffee with about 75,000 other gamers. Also: A kid challenged me to a Yu-Gi-Oh duel in the elevator. www.explorersdesign.com/the-explorat... The Explorateur: Issue #10

On my way to Gen Con. If anyone wants to meet, I’ll be at the ENNIES Booth #114 Friday and Saturday from 1 to 3. Otherwise, DM me! I’ll be roaming most of the con with a makeshift button of the Explorers Design logo.

It's a new "Gamer Blast from the Past" today on Between Two Cairns as we review U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh www.patreon.com/posts/135297...

This is me, I made this. Dungeon Crawl Classics in 1 rule on @shutupshow.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDnL... Go leave nice comments.

We’ve released a new adventure: Keep of the Thrice Crowned King 👑👑👑 Battle your way across the planes. Enter Hollow Keep on the mortal plane, escape a feast of fallen heroes in purgatory & ascend a mound of bones in Infernus. You must destroy the heart of a Demon King! Link below 👇

With 24 hours to spare I just released my submission for the Appx. N Jam: Apparitions in the Mirror Maze 🪞 Made for MÖRK BORG, it takes the players on a quest to retrieve a lost amulet, lost deep in a tomb trapped with magic mirrors!

My friend Elizabeth just released her Appendix N Jam entry, The Norn's Judgement—a micro‑megadungeon. Check it out! ejvc.itch.io/norns-judgem...

This is super slick (as if you'd expect anything less), go grab it!

It was a lot of fun making this cover. Especially because I got to do the classic pulp cover thing for the actual pdf by making Amanda P.'s name bigger than the actual title.

Before I head off to Gen Con this week, I put Invaders of Atlantis (My PWYW pulp-inspired adventure) on Itch, DrivethruRPG, and Explorers Design. If you're a paying subscriber to Explorers Design (thanks) you can just download it there as usual. www.explorersdesign.com/invaders-of-...

Threw together a quick submission to the Appx. N Jam. Orchard of the Owlfather, a two-set incursion for Trophy Gold about stealing the feather of a car-sized owl. unenthuser.itch.io/orchard-of-t...

I've added some more community copies for Penumbral Oasis: Part One to celebrate the Vaarn 2E campaign starting tomorrow! siofragames.itch.io/penumbral-oa... #vaarn #osr #nsr

itch.io/jam/appx-n-j... Have you seen the entries for this pulp fiction game jam? Nearly the whole lot look stellar.

Today on Between Two Cairns (podcast) we review "Grotto of the Golden Gargoyle" and answer a mailbag question about how to justify your life (or TTRPG fantasy heartbreaker, whatever) www.patreon.com/posts/134696...

Hey, do me a favor, give my game a look. I forgot to categorize the damn thing under #physical-games instead of #rpg. Nothing like stealth launching your pulp adventure on Itch because you forgot "games" means "video games." explorers.itch.io/invaders-of-...

My first retro adventure is live for the Appx N jam. It's inspired by Robert E Howard stories (specifically The Devil in Iron) and Tales from the Crypt magazines. Atlanteans have raided the surface for millennia, but now the invaders have become the invaded! explorers.itch.io/invaders-of-...

Thinking about voting in this year's ENNIE awards? WELL you should know that I got the INSIDE SCOOP on His Majesty The Worm — nominated for TWO ENNIES!!! Check out my chat with @riseupcomus.bsky.social. blog.alexrinehart.net/posts/his-ma...

Don't phone in the judges. They'll decide what next year's slate will be. Some of the people who look promising: Katelyn Summers, Fiona Katherine Taylor Howat, Hugo Hernandez, and Guy Caradog Morgan. (They look to have great tastes, and I appreciate how they answered the judging criteria question.)

ENNIES voting has begun, so let's get the word out. What nominees, publishers, or judges do you want others to vote for? Sound off with some quote-posts and comments. vote.ennie-awards.com/vote/2025/

VOD of our Appx N Jam livestream! Our judges get in depth about what makes a good module, we show some of the works in progress, and even have a special announcement at the end! www.youtube.com/live/Ozk0ByH...

Sorry for not posting as much, it's been a rough week, but we’re finally rolling! The Jam kicked off last Monday—64 folks joined so far, and the first submission's already in! Also: The Explorateur Issue #9 gave the Cassette Jam a shoutout, how cool is that?!

We're thrilled and thankful to hear that Heroes of Cerulea is an ENNIES Judges' Spotlight Winner! 💙 If anyone wants to check it out, the PDF is pay what you want. blackfiskpublishing.com/store/ blackfiskpub.itch.io/heroes-of-ce...

After months of reading, playing, and debating RPGs the 2025 ENNIES nominees are here. ennie-awards.com/2025-nominees/ Congrats to this year’s nominees and the countless others who didn’t get nominated but were just as deserving. As always, there were more winners than seats this year.

I find it interesting that despite Hasbro’s focus on digital innovation for D&D, they never attempted to become the Steam of ttrpgs. Maybe that was the long term plan with their VTT, but that would be the long way around for eating Drivethru and Itch’s lunch.

Chuckling at today's dumb thumbnail. www.explorersdesign.com/so-you-want-...

Join the Vintage RPG Newsletter! A digest of all the week's posts and podcasts, plus bonus mini essays about life and other weirdness. www.vintagerpg.com/newsletter/

This is a very good newsletter and I also love the fact that it is not a Substack-based newsletter! VERY easy subscribe.

Explorateur #9 is live and over encumbered with design links. www.explorersdesign.com/the-explorat... I'll share some of the standouts here on Bluesky...

Folks! Check out this review of my Troika! book ARKOS. Yochai and Brad dig into my science-fantasy urban adventure-setting (hyphens! hyphens! hyphens forever!) with some very thoughtful takes. Have a bless'd day of internet wandering!

I got inspired to write a very brief exploration of Tom Bombadil's role in Lord of the Rings and how it can be applied to adventure games. #osr weirdwonder.bearblog.dev/tom-bombadil...

The Cairn 2e box set is officially available for purchase at @spacepenguinink.bsky.social! spacepenguin.ink/products/cai...

The zine-iest looking zine to ever zine.

The cool thing about making a layout template is that you get to be adjacent to incredible designers, artists, and work. This stuff is beautiful.