Hurrah! My article on the Twilight 2000 RPG in the Journal of American Studies is now open access (OA), so anyone who wants to can have a read. OA is important to me, as I want my work on RPG history to go beyond the academy and reach the gaming public. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Want to see my recent talk on medievalism and Warhammer from the GW Research Day -- now with slides? It's up as a free post on the Monster Man Patreon; you don't need to be a subscriber to watch it. www.patreon.com/posts/143561...

There's no stopping November 17th! Just three days left to submit an abstract!

Patreon backer Liam brings you this episode all about structuring weird and chaotic environments in RPGs: monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...

They have good stuff at Iglootree. Stuff made by talented, passionate, and dare I say devastatingly handsome people.

I know nothing about Pokemon, but Patreon backer Bob asked me to talk about it, and the Patrons are in charge, so here we are! Pika pika or whatever, I guess. monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...

I have been having weird, intense anxiety dreams for a couple of weeks, and last night's one had a lot of painting in it. I think my brain may be trying to tell me I have not had a lot of time to paint recently. I did buy a new light, so maybe that'll improve things?

Patreon backer Spuzz brings you this special episode all about what happens when the gods of one culture are the devils of another! monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...

When people say that "D&D is like a wargame," and they mean because position is very important in its combat system, that's fine. When they say "D&D is like a wargame," and they mean that the combat rules are very detailed, I can tell they don't play wargames.

Pst, pst, it's here: gamefound.com/en/projects/...

A tremendous resource for anyone running any kind of game even remotely connected to scientific romance.

📣MuppetMeet 2025 Announcement! Join us and a host of fantastic guest speakers on the evening before Dragonmeet (Friday 28th Nov) for an evening of #TTRPG industry networking and knowledge sharing. Be sure to grab your FREE tickets here: dragonmeet.co.uk/tickets 👇Read more about what's on 👇

This Friday! Come and join us at Tate Britain. Details here: www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tat...

A reminder that there are still a few days left to apply for this funded PhD, working on literary and cultural reception of the Vikings. University fees and a budget for conference attendance included in addition to the stipend: it's a great opportunity for someone! www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacanc...

OK, so I am going to do a more conventional fantasy setting for the next season of MONSTER MAN. These days I tend to record a new intro for every season. For Ravenloft I had organ + Bleah! Velcome to Ravenloft stuff, for Spelljammer trippy space music + arr me hearties. So what for fantasy?

Age of Vikings RPG: Rulebook Only $35 (you save $25) #ad miniature-market.sjv.io/qzPj6n

Pre-orders open this weekend for Deepwood Shadows, The Woods RPG. Storytelling adventures in a world of folklore fantasy. Find out more in Friday's edition of The Acorn- oakbound.co.uk/news #rpg #ttrpg #thewoods #oakbound #dnd #wfrp #runequest #darkfolklore #roleplaying #roleplayinggame #fantasy

Patreon backer @amazonchique.bsky.social brings you this special episode all about the baddies of classic(?) 80s RPG Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness! monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...

Maybe I'm just speaking for me, but a Fenris Games gift voucher is an ideal holiday gift!

Magic systems! Lots of fun, but not always very ... what's the word I'm looking for ... ... magical?

it hasn't helped sell any mags but it appears our nonsense on here has just pushed our account over 5K 'followers', so let's embrace that as some kind of achievement! Like & repost this to be in with a chance to win every in-print issue of Wyrd Science & a t-shirt of your choice*

So, Dragonmeet is coming up, and if you want to hear me and @lostpages.co.uk talk about making magic in RPGs more, er, magical, why not come to our talk on Saturday 29 November at 1430? It's part of Seminar Track 1.

#ttrpg as a reminder on Halloween, my friend @gonzohistory.bsky.social one said that if they make a plushy of something it is no longer horrifying. Which is why a lot of horror monsters fall flat imo. Also many classic monsters address fears we no longer care about in the modern age.

Patreon backer @jmulich.bsky.social brings you this special episode all about a vision of another world, a harbinger of disaster, visited upon ... er, Point Pleasant, West Virginia. monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...

I know I mentioned it before, but it's late, which means it's a better hour in the US, so check out this game I playtested, written by my pal Roberto. You play sneaky types doing a heist, it's good fun, and it's PWYW. What more could you ask for? steal-this-game.itch.io/stealthisgame

In 1991, White Dwarf published a set of plans for making your own ork vehicles from card. To celebrate Orktober, I made a Bonecruncha (with variant turret). I'm quite pleased with it!

1) At last! Having submitted last April, the gears of academic publishing have finally ground round and my article on Twilight: 2000 in the Journal of American Studies is now available! And it's open access, so anyone can engage with it! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

With art by the amazing @theartofschwager , the Woods RPG has been a long time in the making. We're so nearly there. #thewoodsrpg #deepwoodshadows #rpg #fantasyrpg #darkfolklore #celticmythology #celticmyth #fantasyroleplay #wfrp #dnd #trudvang #runequest #roleplaygames #indierpg #indiegames

Paranoia RPG enjoyers! A number of classic Paranoia scenarios include songs. Can someone tell me which one contains the one to the tune of Gilligan's Island and maybe snap me a picture of it. A friend asked me about it and I could have sworn I had it but apparently not.

My pal Roberto wrote this PWYW rpg in which you play crooks doing heists. Available in English and Italian! steal-this-game.itch.io/stealthisgame

Patreon backer @eliashelfer.bsky.social brings you this special episode all about using all parts of the monster! monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...

This is good advice! Also true of wargames. You don't have to get fully into it, but playing a wargame or two that isn't Warhammer can show you some interesting design questions and responses to them.

Who's that doing a presentation at Lucca Comics and Games with game designers, manga creators, and historians all talking about Vikings in the Mediterranean? It could only be my friends from the History & Games Lab at the University of Edinburgh!

Patreon backer Tobias brings you this special episode all about the bureaucracy of other planes! monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...

Today's special episode is a version of my talk from last weekend's Games Workshop Research Day! monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...

One thing @brocktoon.bsky.social talked about at the weekend was the idea of something like Warhammer becoming a "platform," and I've been thinking about this sort of totalising approach to gaming all week. It echoes, to me, the thing of playing 5e murder mysteries and 5e political dramas.

@tomasrawlings.bsky.social , this is the image from Ravening Hordes I was talking about. Ravening Hordes (1987) p. 37. The runes on the rock are Gloranthan. Left one looks incomplete, but I think they read Fertility-Air-Harmony. From a Gloranthan perspective, could be a profound act of blasphemy!

Email me now to get the world's SPOOKIEST bundle of print at home zines! (Actually, print them off at the library...they could use your support and these are a bit ink-heavy!) Yowza!

I think one of the things that will stay with me from the current season of Patron Deities is my habit of referring to the mind-shattering madness you get in cosmic horror and Call of Cthulhu and which bears no relationship to real-world mental illness as going "Lovecraft Crazy."

In the case of RPGs, I think this is more about dealing with player knowledge rather than tactics - a bit like memorised attack patterns in video games (I guess; I don't play a lot of video games).

Patreon backer @andrewmreichart.bsky.social brings you this special episode all about meeting other versions of yourself! monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...

Big announcement: Public Access is now Pay What You Want on @drivethrurpg.com! Public Access is our hit game about analog horror and childhood trauma, Carved from Brindlewood. Pick up a copy today! www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/4...

If I found buried treasure tomorrow, I would just sit up here in this office making Rampant or OPR armies out of old unloved miniatures and, like, giving them to school gaming clubs. Well, except I like making the podcast. And I do like tutoring kids. And I like writing games.

The GW Research Day was amazing. Great presentations, great conversations. I had a long journey home, though, and didn't get enough sleep the night before, so I keep dozing off today. My recording didn't come out well, so I will rerecord my presentation for the podcast feed!

Folks. Can you point me towards published work on women in archaeology/ academia being trolled/ harassed online for their research? I appreciate it’s mega hard 2 write abt & most of us stay silent. I know we all have war stories. I wonder about published research on this.

Thoughts here on Internet folklore are well worth a listen (and not just for DnD nerds)!

Starting in late October/ early November I am going to have some free time and maybe some work to promote, so if you want someone to talk about monsters or medieval stuff on a podcast or whatever, I can do that.

Patreon backer Jake brings you this special episode all about the folklore of the modern age - well, sort of! This one kind of got away from me. monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...

I am giving a talk in Manchester on Saturday as part of this event. I believe there still some tickets available? manchestergamecentre.org/events/2025/...

Back in the day, Dragon magazine published articles about bringing literary characters into your #dnd campaign, and now Patreon backer Noah brings you this special episode all about doing the same! monsterman.libsyn.com/special-epis...