Got my autism booster yesterday. Taking autism pills today for the achiness and fever.

Dear friends and fans outside the US. I apologize that our President is such a buffoon. :-/ Be thankful that he isn't yours. And please keep it up with the Trump+Epstein photos! :-D

Role-Playing The King of Elfland’s Daughter Way back in April, I started reading Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter, due to its reputation as a fantasy classic before there were fantasy classics. (The Hobbit wasn't published until 13 years later; Lord of the Rings fully 30 years later.)…

Frankie & Pudge Meet Apep Back in February of this year (2025), I mentioned here, in "Fey and Fedoras, Nixies and Noir," that my old college buddy Tim Ryan and I were using the Fairyland Confidential solo mystery game by Teapot Dome as a GM-less framework for play-testing the d4ce rpg.  Before I…

Too Much Credit Image by Constance Kowalik from Pixabay I have been told by a European buddy that I fret too much about being impolite to objectionable friends and family. And honestly, yeah, before posting, I take a lot of time to think things through, craft my words, and research and reevaluate…

Good Enough Close Enough Isn’t I just came back from a session with a behavioral therapist I see on and off. Last time was months ago, before my autism/ADHD evaluation. I Iet her know the phyciatrist's conclusions (forgive my summarizing them here if you've seen an earlier post), which were: (1)…

Ready for Gamehole Con! Last night I filled a hole my Gamehole Con schedule—things I'm running—so I'm good to go. Some of those events are sold out, others have a slot or two left, and the newest one is wide open, of course. Click the banner or link above to see what all is on the list. The first…

I believe the First Council of Carthage and the First Council of Constantinople tacked on the Book of Revelations because they felt the Council of Nicea's Bible was missing a climax.

Silence the Spire I won't try to defend the randomness of Slay the Spire. Honestly, in general, I don't much care for deck-building games. But this one has me hooked. As frustratingly unpredictable as the card- and artifact-drops can be, I'm finding ways to maximize the potential of individual…

Jesus Wept Okay, if I'm going to be brutally honest -- and today I need a little pressure release -- this Trump worship has taken me from respect for religious faith, to skepticism about religion overall, to outright disgust for American Evangelical Christianity and dislike of the human impulse to…

Too Old, Too Friendly, Too Accomplished So he said, "You have a lot of autism characteristics, but I have young patients who can barely communicate. And you have a lot of ADHD characteristics, but I see young kids who run around this office touching everything." He said a couple of other things I…

Front Seat Backseat Why is "front yard" two words, but "backyard" one? "Front seat" two words, but "backseat" one? 😛 Having spent most of my life (post factory decade) writing, editing, and teaching, I'm just grateful that such arbitrariness gives me iconoclastic stones to throw at pedantry. 😀

I just slew the Spire! It only took 714 plays to accomplish this. 😛 Done with the Ironclad. Time to try it with the Silent, the Defect (my favorite), and the Watcher (2nd fave). 😀 IYKYK

Last Call for the Post-Apocalypse I just noticed that crowdfunding ends today for the GameMaster's Apprentice Post-Apocalypse deck, which includes my Bookmark No HP RPG card and new Post-Apocalypse Sourcebookmark. It's the cheapest way to score a GMA deck at all, let alone with the BNHP cards…

James Pearson’s Slashers vs. Evil! My buddy James Pearson has a knack for weird horror role-playing concepts. If you're a fan of Tales from the Crypt, Creepy, and/or Eerie magazines, for example, you should give Tales from the Terror Tomb a try. You and your friends play the sort of doomed…

That’s Oh, thank god! For three days now, I have had Tammy Faye Baker singing "We are blessed!" in my head. No w severe thunderstorms have knocked out the power here, and I hear Roberta Flack singing, "Walkin' in the dark // Seein' lovers do their thing. . . ." So much better an earworm! (At least…

KoED Role-Play Way back in May, on a whim, I began reading Lord Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter. It's considered a foundational work for modern fantasy, preceding Lord of the Rings by about three decades. Barely a quarter of the way into the novel, I fell in love with it, and I wanted a…

Larcenous Designs’ Post-Apocalypse Deck! Nathan Rockwell of Larcenous Designs is crowdfunding a new oracle deck for his GameMasters' Apprentice line-up, and I'm excited to be involved. Every pledge level in the GMA Kickstarter—including the $1 level—includes not only a brand-new Bookmark HP RPG…

On Separation of Churl and Fete Granted, the wordplay of that post heading is a bit of a stretch. But the point is a perceived somewhat bipolar nature of this website. Let me start by saying that I grew up poor. Not destitute, but noticeably so to my classmates. I'm not complaining, but you know…

I'm attending John Lewis Actions's event, “GOOD TROUBLE LIVES ON:” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/john-lewis-a...

Coping with Criticism I hate to say it, but I've discovered a new personal coping strategy for our current sociopolitical mess. Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a fan of schadenfreude. "Own the Libs" is part of the hatefulness that got us here in the first place, and taking pleasure in…

Happy Independence Day In case it's not obvious, I'm posting this as dark sarcasm. I've mentioned before on this site that the Smith clan has a long history of military service. Which is supposed to be about defense of the US against external forces. For us, to see this sort of militarization of…

Movie you've watched more than six times using a gif. No franchises, sequels, reboots.

Fitzgerald, the Very Rich, and the Game of Monopoly "Let me tell you about the very rich," F. Scott Fitzgerald says, "They are different from you and me. … They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for…

Two Ways to Wisdom – A Complaint "Wisdom begins in wonder," said Socrates. Plutarch said, "from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future." Combining those two, it's a wonder that I didn't have the wisdom to uninstall Wondershare's PDFelement before today. You know…

d4ce doing its due Black Oak Workshop is at Origins this weekend, and the d4ce rpg is there with them, as a freebie at their booth. The game was designed specifically with Black Oak's unique d4s in mind, so I'm thrilled to see it there on the mission it was intended for. So. Very. Cool. Indeed.…

Bookmark the Stars flies higher! Yes, I'm retired, and game publishing is simply a part of my 40-year gaming hobby. But it's always encouraging to see a design get some attention. To feel I'm yet part of the worldwide community of gamers. Bookmark the Stars! is an homage to classic space-faring…

I'm surprised that a web search doesn't bring up the acronym "PO(TU)S." 😲 Maybe I've just now coined it? 🤔 In any case, feel free to use it. 😀

The D13 RPG Solo Play Bundle Let me start by saying that I've long been a fan of Peter Rudin-Burgess of Parts Per Million. I've used his Cut Up Solo titles—based on public domain novels—quite a bit, so far adventuring on Barsoom, in the Wild West, across galaxies, in mythic Aquilonia, and for film…

Black Oak Workshop Advent-ure Calendars 17-19 I love promoting other people's work. It's why I used to write small-press product reviews in Dragon® magazine, demoed those items at conventions (even when on staff at GDW and TSR), and still demo such things in my solo play YouTube videos. And it's…

That is one big pile of shit Perhaps the most frustrating thing at the moment to know that my pastor siblings are more concerned about burning Teslas and a closed Tesla dealership shot at in the wee hours, than about ICE breaking in to drag people out of homes and cars, deporting them without a…

Solo Play Through Thorfinn’s Tomb So what do you do as a solo player, when you're excited about a published dungeon, but now you know all its secrets? Here's one approach I've read about and decided to try out, with Thorfinn's Tomb, from Crooked Staff Publishing. Check out CSP's blog and Patreon…

I have a new video tutorial out! youtu.be/YV3fgDUEbP8 :) #ttrpg #wargames #40k #traveller #stargrave #starfinder #fiveparsecsfromgome #StarWars

Neurodivergent Field Work One month from tomorrow I'm being tested to find out whether I qualify for RFK's registry. I've been dragging my feet on this for about two years, while our oldest daughter has been saying, "Dad, that thing you're doing right there? Classic autism." See you in the…

Julia Baily Rounds Up Cattle Rustlers As you may have noted from blog posts since November, life has been a challenge of late. Gaming has been a comfort, online, at conventions, and solo. And it has led to some joys like the d4ce rpg. This particular video contains a YouTube Live stream from…

The Logic of Socialism Photo by Connor Hall on Unsplash The logic of Socialism seems pretty simple: Wealth is an imaginary tool for the convenience of a civilization. Take away the civilization, and wealth ceases to exist. Gold, diamonds, bonds, bitcoin, NFTs, even picket fences mean nothing…

d4ce gets a YouTube demo Although the sporadic nature of my YouTube channel might suggest otherwise, I love doing demo videos. If only they didn't take so loooong to edit. It's been hard to fit them into time needed for game design work and other writing. Also, my recording setup has been too…

Detective Oliver Mund was shy around women. His captain assigned him to the Police Ball, this year a hoedown. There the detective struck up a conversation with Dr. Rita Morris, who worked in the morgue. Later, when the captain asked, the bartender said, "Oh. Ollie Mund left with the coroner gal."

Why my wife hates me . . . Jennifer has a new doggy, and she told me she keeps waking up to poop on the floor. To which I said, "Please don't wake up and poop on the floor." :-D

DC in the Rearview This post is mainly for those remaining Dark Conspiracy RPG fans, many of whom have recently encouraged me to purchase the IP and resurrect it. I did my best, folks. Made an offer, had it approved, negotiated for some final wording about the state of previous licenses, and…

It's Friday night. Do you know where your dice are? If you laugh at that, you're probably too old for clubbing, so I hope you're tabletop gaming, and that your dice behave.

No Sale As a creative writer and game designer, I'm often warned to keep politics out of my work and social presence. "It'll hurt your sales," they say. "They" typically being people offended by my positions. The thing is, I'd rather be destitute than bend a knee to public opinion. Or even family…

A Con Sequence of My Actions What with great experiences at Gamehole Con and Gary Con of recent, I'm now assembling a calendar of game conventions and game days to attend within about 500 miles of Lincoln, NE.  (Get it? "Con Sequence"?) In exchange for my running about 8 hours of games each day,…

d4ce debut discount! Way back in January, I posted about working on d4ce, new role-playing game rules created especially to celebrate Black Oak Workshop's dice designs. Especially their "mini fig" four-siders, such as that stand of mushrooms in the upper left corner of the photo above. The d4ce…

Zen and the Art of Furnace Repair Here's to my departed stepdad, General Electric, and Robert Pirsig, for helping fix our electric furnace during this winter storm of snow, freezing temperatures, and 36 mph winds. Last night, our furnace began making periodic noises of sheet metal rubbing on sheet…

Fey and Fedoras, Nixies and Noir I played some Fairyland Confidential tonight with my old friend Tim Ryan. It's technically a solo game, using a card deck and dice to solve a Noir murder mystery involving gangsters and fey folk alike. But we used that setup as a springboard for roleplaying a pair…

New! D6xD6 2e RPG, zine edition People have been asking for an update to the best-selling D6xD6 RPG for several years now. And the D6xD6 Dungeons RPG zine let me work out more down-to-earth language and a smoother approach to the rules. As well as discover another built-in "One Roll to Rule Them…

TLDR: If Your Side Has Nazis … it's the wrong side.

Some hope and sanity for the days to come: m.youtube.com/watch?v=9toc...