My daughter and a friend have decided that for their playdate tomorrow, they're playing d&d. I brushed up on 5e, and we whipped up a character. I wouldn't let her make Rumi from KPop Demon Hunters, so she made Rubi, a tiefling bard (with patterns!) who hunts demons and casts spells by singing.

A scavenger rule I'm working on today: taking cover. The rule is that taking cover is an action, and you remain in cover until the start of your next turn. You also have to say what you're hiding behind. I'm now trying to pair cover based talents to one of the twelve "classes", which is neat. 1/2

I've been (finally) finishing up a strong first draft for my post apocalyptic TTRPG, and I've stumbled upon some advice: Don't write the "create a character" chapter until the very end. It's better to know the scope of the game before you write how individual PCs can break it.

My memory might be failing me here, but it was EITHER west end games' d6 Star Wars (great system), or second edition Shadowrun. I do recall not understanding the idea of SR. "What do you mean it's science fiction, but there are no spaceships? That makes no sense!?" (In my defence, I was 9)

Oh man, I love this new episode of Scrubs. It's hitting the format perfectly.

It's super fun when you're writing a rule for a game, and you find a silly little wrinkle that tweaks the math a bit, but if you try to smoothe out the wrinkle, it'll make a bigger wrinkle elsewhere. Making games can be hard.

No lie, I saw this and ~immediately~ got "No Surprises" from Radiohead stuck in my head, starting with the line "you are tired, unhappy".

My history profs from 20-odd yrs ago had a breadth of political leanings. One was a card carrying communist. Another leaned right but had a passion for human Rights. A 3rd wrote his thesis on nazi motorbikes but ended it w "seriously though, fuck those guys". I imagine they're all anti-PP today.

we rescued a turtle yesterday 😍

I need a few people willing to read the first iteration of my (VERY basic) primer on Instructional Design in TTRPGs, to give me "Am I clear on all points involved?", and any other feedback they have. It's six half-sized pages (three actual pages); it'll be free (and there's no money here). DM me!

It might feel good, it might sound a little somethin'/but fuck the game if it ain't saying nothin' Nice one, Flav.

First new episode of Scrubs in sixteen years airs tomorrow. On, like, actual tv. I'm gonna watch it live. I only use the cable box for hockey, so this'll be weird. Looking forward to it, though

29 minutes left to explore your favorite books in a brand new way with this solo journaling game from first time designer: my sister

Question for old school d&d players out there: Back when there was Basic, Expert, Companion, & Master boxed sets, with each building off ideas of the previous - did you enjoy the lower price point per game? The format? Or did you prefer the later (but ultimately cheaper) Rules Compendium hardback?

I think a lot of hockey fans knew this was coming if the US won the gold. We expected it of the Tkachuk brothers, but the depth of the grossness surprised us.

This dang cat.

Hockey fans watching the gold medal game in Toronto loudly booing Gretzky whenever he appears on screen is very pleasing to me.

Complete and utter travesty The world is an unjust hellscape

Got up at 5 am to watch the most important hockey game in 16 years. Not even tired. Let's go, Canada.

I love the post apocalypse genre. But a thing that bugs me is that, in SO MANY of these stories, the world is a barren wasteland. In reality, if humans mostly died out, the world would flourish. Humans can't destroy the world - just themselves.

Fine-tuning some of the combat numbers in #scavenger today, in particular ranged combat, and the damage of weapons. I'm digging a design principal from #ArcRaiders - that no player should be killed by a single shot. I think it's even more sound in an rpg. I think three shots should be the minimum?

If you were playing a game with four hit locations - head, arm, torso, leg (let's avoid right leg vs left leg for now) - how would you prioritize these? Like, what's the "worst" part to hit? What's the best? And what should the percentages be? Like, do you hit the head 10% of the time?

Sometimes you give Dancey the benefit of the doubt because OGL created an industry boom in the '00s. But you have to remember he did it for Machiavellian reasons, and successfully killed any number of young RPG publishers. Late-era capitalism is probably the theme the runs through his history.

One of my favourite things to happen in a game like d&d is when the evil wizard is forced to flee... And the players get his spellbook. Because it does something we rarely see in many games - the NPC has to act in reaction to the PCs. Do they ransom for the book? Attack? It's always fun!

"we should nuke the US from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

One of the cool things I'm doing in #Scavenger involves inventory management. Basically, different backpacks have different configurations, making carrying specific items easier. One, for example, can't carry any large items, but allows you to carry twice as much ammunition. 1/2

The No ICE in Minnesota Charity Bundle has officially LAUNCHED! There are 1,439 games to discover for a $10+ donation to Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota! Purchase the bundle here: itch.io/b/3484/no-ic...

I cleaned the kitchen and drew up the plans and did the groceries. So, 3 out of 5. I forgot that I had to watch my 14 yo nieces hockey game. It was a 1-1 tie, she had a few good moments, and stayed out of the penalty box which is a win for her. So, today was a win.

The music teacher at my kids school has been doing this with "6-7" and it seems to be working.

I have a kid less Saturday! Huzzah! My very exciting plans: * Put mulch on the flowers I planted last week * Draw plans for a bookshelf I'll be building * Clean the kitchen * Do 1,000 words on my ttrpg WIP * Shop for groceries so we don't starve WOOHOO!

New Scavenger lore just dropped:

Holy crap. YouTube just blocked "never gonna give you up" due to copyright. So many people no longer have a joke to tell.

When writing for TTRPGs, write down broad adventures you expect the players to participate in. Don't assume the reader will know! I wrote down a list of ten standard adventure types, such as "trailblaze" and "explore", with examples for each. It really helps frame your design goals!

This. You can take any idea that you find remotely interesting, and if you bounce it off a few fellow creatives, you'll wind up with something that really gets you hyped and is totally unique. Offloading the task of creativity onto a machine is insanity.

Woke up to some high praise for my artist’s work on this. Josh Christoffersen is amazingly talented. Convincing him to work with me was the smartest move I could have made. Check out the Island of 10,000 Flamingos preview to get a better idea of what he brings to the table.

I've learned this week that I get a LOT more writing work done if I: * Write page by page, chapter by chapter, instead of skipping around. * Avoid writing "fill this in later, Dave" * Set a time for one hour. After that one hour, I can play video games. 1/2

Tell me about your character.

RPG Artists: how do you feel when you see a company w a habit of reusing art across multiple products? As in, a cover illo for one book is a chapter illo in another one? Assuming it's all in contract, how do you feel about your art being reused (instead of being commissioned for a new piece)?

Traveller session today, ran the "death station" module. Its a fun "haunted space station" thing, sort of an investigative horror thing. Had a running gag where a PC (whose player wasnt here) kept calling a PC on her cell phone during tense moments. Laughs were had.

We got her animal crossing, but today, she was more stoked w Mario kart. The three of us did a couple of races, and my wife just DOMINATED because she's better at Mario kart than I'll ever be.

My dad just got my daughter a switch 2, with Mario kart, for scouts upcoming birthday. Layne and I are buying her a game. What game would be good for an 8 yr old girl? She: Loves Minecraft Doesn't like pokemon Likes paper doll games Enjoys 3D worlds but isn't great at platforming

A few days ago, I was recommended a bunch of city based adventures coming out of the OSR. Here's a quick overview:

Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind + K Pop Demon Hunters. A powerful woman finds the shape of her convictions through positive interactions with her opposition. Does exposure to our moral opposites strengthen us, or prohibit real change?

No no no. They're saying "pumpkin spice". They're upset that it's off the sbux menu again.

Hey kid, you like books? I bet you've got a couple of them sitting around. Crack 'em open, jump inside. And while you're there, let's see what we can learn, what we can change, and how we'll be affected by our visit this time around. Solo journaling at its best. www.kickstarter.com/projects/201...

Going through my draft, and realize it's time to rename all the placeholder stuff I put in there. The most egregious is "objects of study" - books, films, etc that a post apocalyptic scavenger might read and learn something from (think magazines in Fallout). I hate the name? Any ideas?

as does the Hague

For my entire adult life, I've never really understood why people drink coffee to wake up. I thought it was all in their heads - caffeine just didn't affect me. I could drink coffee at 9 pm and be asleep by 930. Once I hit 40, coffee ~actively~ put me to sleep. Apparently this is a sign of ADHD?

Who's your favorite TTRPG artist when it comes to interior (ie, not the cover) art? What about if it has to be black and white art only? I'm digging Larry Elmore's interior art for BECMI at the moment.