Ok, this is @friede.bsky.social's fault. She raised the question of *how* people analyze RPG texts, and that is a BIG, HAIRY QUESTION, and it got me thinking. I'm not ready to take a tilt at it yet, but that's because it turns out there are a lot of things I do *before* I read an RPG. A lot.

Ever wanted to design a solo rpg? I can probably offer some advice. This is just how I like to design. A key design point is tension. The player should be trying to do something, but the game should work against their goals and giving them meaningful choices.

I’m an 18th centuryist & thanks to the work of @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social (& others) I’m very aware that D&D is just a visible part of the history of TTRPGs that’s much much older. (The emphasis on wargaming & D&D has often erased other parts of the history of roleplaying)

Indeed. The purchaseable *product* we call the TTRPG begins in the 1970s with Western Gunfight, Chainmail, and D&D. Yet role-playing "parlor games," simulations, and similar are centuries old and draw from a well that resembles all the positive stuff about D&D. Parlor games were feminized...

Probably my last post for 2025. A little look at one of my earliest attempts at homebrewing RPG content. knightattheopera.blogspot.com/2025/12/arch...

Everyone is excited for Toon Second Edition! We've enjoyed seeing all your wonderful comments and feedback, and we can't wait to tell you even more about the amazing project as soon as it launches on December 17. Visit BackerKit today to sign up and be the first to pledge! bit.ly/toon2ebk

Fun this weekend with @samarmstronggames.bsky.social's "Hello Wizard, I Have a Problem": a comedy game of troubleshooting wizards. Zero-prep, light rules (but with random tables for inspiration/structure), with GM hat rotating for each quick-three-scene problem. sam-armstrong.itch.io/wizardproblem

A thread about ExCel feeling "too big" or "empty" as part of Dragonmeet 2025, or at least my understanding through attending the convention for 10 years and founding its #PodcastZone, with a sprinkle of my professional experience with London real estate and exhibition centres planning. 1/x

On Saturday, another fine #Dragonmeet, now expanded at Excel. Lots of traders and some interesting finds; a fun cross-universe caper in my first time with the Cypher system; and post-con meetup for the Ludonarrative Dissidents podcast.

It's been over a decade since the original quantum ogre posts. We use the term, but do we all mean the same thing? In this post I unpack the history of the quantum ogre and propose a modern definition. www.fluoriteguillotine.com/blog/2025/11...

This piece by my friend @malcolmcraig.bsky.social is very much worth your time. Really excited to see where this research goes next. It's free to read. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Game booked at London #Dragonmeet. Many great options - will miss revisiting my early days in the hobby at 1st-edition AD&D with "references to a certain folio of a fiendish persuasion" plus "Nobody's favourite Advanced Fighting Fantasy monster, the wheelies": fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Wheelie

The argument for the value of rules is not (and should mot be) an argument for the value of ALL rules. Some rules are mistakes. Some rules are well crafted, but do not match the situation.

The reason I prefer RAW is that you’re often changing the rules because you want to make less interesting decisions I see every new improvisers making no decisions in their scenes and good rules help push you into story choices you wouldn’t make. We change systems if what we want is different

#34 Lots of GMing advice on Bluesky at the moment - what goes around comes around. A Guide to Dungeon Mastering, by Lew Pulsipher, illustration by Alan Hunter.

Today, I wrote Got Not Game! It's a discussion of system agnosticism in modules, how different modules approach it, and what process to take when deciding whether it's right for your module. Check it out here! idlecartulary.com/2025/07/22/g... #osr

I'd enjoyed the #Amber diceless #RPG, now found an unofficial Amber playset for #Fiasco: actionyann.itch.io/fiasco-amber.... On a read it hits plenty of the right tropes, & I expect Fiasco's focus on rivalries and relationships suits. (And if it ends up more comedic than the original, so be it :-) )

Just posted: The first in a series of blog posts about in-jokes and pop-culture references in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st edition. graemedavis.wordpress.com

Before I actually crack open Daggerheart, I want to talk about a very important related topic: THE BOX. Because I had not been paying attention, it was only when I walked into Games & Stuff that I realized that the hardcover book came bundled with a box. I was very curious about this.

TTRPG DND Thoughts: Elves 🧵 We know them, we love them, too often we fall into the role of letting them just be the "better than everyone else" race and allow them to feel that way about themselves. Another element is there is too often too many flavors of elf.

This has a massive overlaps with something called “Bait and Switch”. It’s generally seen as a bad thing hated in #TTRPGs. Difficult to pull off and lauded in other media, but far far too easy to do in a game. It’s not as clever as we think. And as soon as you give a warning, the twist is spoilt.

Update on Ludonarrative Dissidents, the RPG analysis podcast I host with @rosspayton.bsky.social and @gregstolze.bsky.social. We've just released s3e11, covering stylish technoir epic CYBERPUNK RED, and you can hear it and read the shownotes here www.ludonarrativedissidents.com/season-3-epi...

I have a joke about Midas, it's absolutely golden.

Could tell you a joke about Prometheus but what am I, chopped liver?

I have a joke about Orpheus but, looking back, it's not a good idea.

I've got a joke about Cassandra, but nobody will listen to it.

I have very happily accepted the newly established position of Pelgrane Press Creative Director.

I will never stop telling people to go get the Schema sheet and put it in their GM clipboard:

I'm reading an absolutely fascinating blog post that collects many different kinds of Initiative in RPGs. It's really eye opening. It shows just how hard it is to find a good answer to "who goes first" when a fight breaks out. knightattheopera.blogspot.com/2024/06/ever...

Snapshot of #RPG discourse past (prompted by another thread): 1997 FAQ of newsgroup rec.games.frp.advocacy. Intro (www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/t...), the threefold model (www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/t...), plotting (www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/t...) & diceless (www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/t...)

Not to seem ungrateful but it’s only a +2 sword

Classic Paranoia RPG scenario "Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues" is discussed in latest episode of always-interesting podcast "Ludonarrative Dissidents" (from @jameswallis.bsky.social , @gregstolze.bsky.social, & @rosspayton.bsky.social) www.ludonarrativedissidents.com

Played and enjoyed "The King is Dead" (Meguey and Vincent Baker) for the first time - a GM-less RPG of princes and princesses of royal houses vying for the throne (e.g. through "Intrigue and Muster", "War") alongside other pursuits (e.g. "Conversation over Food", "A Dance") of noble society.

Something different for today's #RandomWhiteDwarfCover Here's the first 10 years of #WhiteDwarf June 1977 to June 1987. Whatever you're doing today make someone else smile, it might make their day.

we used to respect the computer

For the old school #DnD players...

There are two lines in Lord of the Rings that have caused me, specifically, an alarming amount of stress and suffering. (Today’s entry is going to be super inside baseball - apologies)

Pleased to book next month into playing the "Rivers of London" RPG (from @lynneahardy.bsky.social, @paulfricker.bsky.social et al.) based on the @benaaronovitch.bsky.social novels. Good prompt to actually *read* the signed copy I'd picked up at Dragonmeet in 2023... :-)

I borrow ideas from others (I'm careful to credit them in my books' Inspiration section) but I still put some work in. 😅

Thanks @stochasticpath.bsky.social ♥️ Giving credit where it's due (rendre à César...), the collaboration sheet concept is pulled out of Good Society. Thanks @sabinev5.bsky.social for recommending to replicate this for Rosewood Abbey.

Reading Rosewood Abbey, @rolistespod.itch.io's RPG of medieval monastic mysteries (think "The Name of the Rose" & Cadfael). Many neat ideas, including one item on the collaboration sheet - agreeing upfront as a group "How important is actual history?" in the game. drive.google.com/file/d/1NH5H...

MC Escher: the ceiling is also lava

I'm a bit hesitant to offer advice to GMs/creators - I'm no grand authority, and I don't believe there are hard rules. That said, there's a thing I've brought with me from videogame design that I find helpful: Every Place Tells Three Stories. I wrote about it here! buttondown.com/TeethRPG/arc...

D... D... Dr. Dr I- Dr I am- Dr I am sad... Dr I am sad. Aid me? Dr I am sad. Aid me? "See clown!" Dr I am sad. Aid me? "See clown!" That clown...is me! - The Pagliacci Sequence

I think there are a few roots. Greg Stafford has been mentioned and rightfully so. I think a trying to emulate books, TV series and film is a root of narrative design. People realised it felt more like the medium they were going for if it became less procedural. Liscenced games play a role here.

I kind of know where modern OSR games come from, but what about narrative games? What’s their origin story? Are they a recent thing or is there a D&D narrative RPG equivalent?

We’re hosting another one shot night next Saturday - come and take part (and join our growing discord server to discuss pitches and plans - link on the event page): leisuregames.com/collections/... #TTRPG #IndieRPG #RPG #DnD #StoryGames #IndieTTRPG #SmallPressRPG #SmallPressTTRPG

#84 Stave off that post-Xmas lunch torpor by tackling another question from the Miskatonic University RPG examination. Raise your hand if you need an extra worksheet.

Enjoyed my first episode of gaming podcast "Orlanth Rex's Gaming Vexes" (@orlanth.bsky.social) - laid-back chat about RPGs, this time "Star Trek Adventures" - after a mention on podcast I've long liked, "The Grognard Files" (@thegrognardfiles.bsky.social - I started RPGs "back in the day" too...)