Sam Tillis
@stillisgaming.bsky.social
📤 110
📥 161
📝 322
Your friendly neighborhood professional Game Master.
https://startplaying.games/gm/stillis-gaming
pinned post!
At final count, I ran 428 RPG sessions in 2024. Granted, some of those were 1 hr afterschool games for kids. I pound out four 75 min sessions in a row most Saturdays. Then again, others were 9 hr marathons, so it all balances out. Hi. I'm Sam. I'm a Professional Game Master. Follow me for stories.
about 1 year ago
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This is very specific, but I love the feeling of going into prepwork for a D&D session knowing *exactly* what I need to prepare and roughly how long it will take. Sometimes half the work is figuring out what work you need to do; happily, today is not that day.
1 day ago
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I'm a professional Game Master. *My* GM, who is *also* a professional GM, has just launched a new campaign. By the transitive property, if you like me, you'll like him even more, so you should check this out:
startplaying.games/adventure/cm...
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Join Breaking Coruscant (A Star Wars Tale) - Discord / Roll20 - Blades in the Dark | StartPlaying Games
The Emperor is dead. The Empire has fractured. Yet the Rebel Alliance is still far from victory. Over a dozen Imperial warlords each command more ships and men than all the Rebel Alliance combined. Ac...
https://startplaying.games/adventure/cmkbw32vo00yhi204hz9kser3
4 days ago
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There were plenty of good, useful things I could have done this morning instead of working on my tongue-in-cheek James Bond RPG, but here we are.
8 days ago
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I know I'm going to regret thinking this—I've burned out on the system before—but I could really run some Traveller RPG in 2026 if I could find someone to pay me to do so.
10 days ago
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Hey look! It's this game I worked on, spotted in the wild at Geeky Teas & Games, a highly recommended game store in LA.
17 days ago
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I apologize for nothing.
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The Stupidest Dungeon I've Ever Designed
Or, why you should hire a professional DM
https://buttondown.com/stillisgaming/archive/chicken/
19 days ago
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I have made a popular comment on a famous person's post, and unlocked hidden knowledge about how bluesky notifications work.
29 days ago
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@vermooouth.bsky.social
sent this to me, and now I send it to you. All lovers of words should read this.
jsomers.net/blog/diction...
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You’re probably using the wrong dictionary « the jsomers.net blog
https://jsomers.net/blog/dictionary
about 1 month ago
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Gonna have to learn more about chicken anatomy than any (non-rural) man may know in order to write this truly bizarre D&D one-shot...
about 1 month ago
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On Session 100 of an online-only D&D game, we find a way to meet in person, and I build them a deconstructed dungeon out of tarot cards. (For those who recognize some of what's happening in the second image; yes, I am scrambling two influences together.)
about 1 month ago
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This is an objectively perfect piece of writing.
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'Cloud Dancer': A Measured Response
Regarding Pantone's decision, and so on, and so forth
https://johnpaulbrammer.substack.com/p/cloud-dancer-a-measured-response
about 1 month ago
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When one of your teen D&D players designs a flumph cosplay.
about 1 month ago
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When I was growing up, these pamphlet-sized adventure booklets were essentially my introduction to D&D adventure modules. I don't know that they were any good, but I'm immensely nostalgic for them. A link, in case anyone finds themself needing to buy me a present...
www.ebay.com/itm/20567214...
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Lot of 6 Dungeons & Dragons Adventures Alderac Entertainment Group AEG d20 3E | eBay
Strange beasts are said to plague a small town by night. Designed for 4-6 characters levels 2-4. Designed for 5-8 characters levels 2-4. To free the land from oppression, the party must brave the mons...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/205672141467
about 2 months ago
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As a professional GM, for me the answer is inevitably "because that's what 90% of people want to pay me for." Always excited when I can talk a group into trying out literally anything else.
@alexandrian.bsky.social
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Thought of the Day: Why D&D?
In the past few days I've been asked several times why I still play Dungeons & Dragons.After all, I've criticized the rules, the adventures, the design, and even the company. So why am I st
https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/53129/roleplaying-games/thought-of-the-day-why-dd
about 2 months ago
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I keep buying themed decks of playing cards. Guess I gotta start running Savage Worlds again...
about 2 months ago
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I will not prep for a prep-free RPG. I will not prep for a prep-free RPG. I will not prep for a prep-free RPG. I will not prep for a prep-free RPG....
about 2 months ago
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I run lots of D&D for kids/teens, so I have lots of STATS. Here's what the youths are into this season, re: species and class. Tiefling: 12 Dragonborn: 9 Human: 5 Elf (Drow): 4 Elf (High): 4 Aasimar: 3 Gnome: 3 Kobold: 3 Tabaxi: 3 Warforged: 3 Dwarf: 2 Dhampir: 1 Goliath: 1 Hobgoblin: 1 Axolotl: 1
2 months ago
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You can tell the adults I ran a D&D game for last night do not work in child-adjacent professions (or have children of their own) because nobody lunged across the table to throttle me when I described a small detachment up ahead of "6 or 7 enemies."
2 months ago
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My absolute favorite thing that new D&D players say to me after I DM for them, hands down, is "you've inspired me to run my own d&d campaign." Especially when it also involves bringing in their kids.
2 months ago
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When the D&D players realize that the most efficient way through the dungeon is to ignore all the doors and windows and just smash through walls. **chef's kiss**
2 months ago
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The sweet, sweet feeling of having no fucking idea how your RPG players are going to navigate their way out of *this* one... 😈
2 months ago
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Civ VII rolls out an update **on the same day** as Europa Universalis V comes out... and I have two gigs to prepare for and run. 😭😭😭
2 months ago
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The Stranger Things kids have gotta be playing like 4th edition by now.
3 months ago
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Writing email newsletters and then sharing those email newsletters on social media like its 2017.
buttondown.com/stillisgamin...
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"I Like to Watch"
…damn it Tillis, you think in this Year Of Our Lord 2025 you can subject-line a newsletter with a reference to cult-classic ‘70s film Being There and expect...
https://buttondown.com/stillisgaming/archive/i-like-to-watch/
3 months ago
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Professional proofreading is changing "cluster fuck" to "clusterfuck" in a legitimate publication because, incredibly, Merriam Webster has an entry and a strong preference on the matter.
@merriam-webster.com
3 months ago
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That terrible feeling when you've finished your D&D prep-work early, so now you've got nothing to do but wonder what you've *forgotten* to prepare for over the course of several hours.
3 months ago
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Several years later, this middle school history textbook cover of the Silmarillion is still the cleverest thing I ever created and I'm willing to fight anyone who says otherwise.
3 months ago
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I am, apparently, the single person on the entire internet who unironically enjoys playing Civilization 7. Ask me anything.
3 months ago
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Just another Thursday afternoon where I'm inventing a surf-fishing minigame for an RPG I've almost never run before...
4 months ago
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Oh! This is up! Warning: the saddest scene I have ever run as a DM, ever, happens near the end of this episode. (After quite a bit of unbridled joy, natch.)
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The One Ring: Over Hill and Under Hill 2 - The Crowned Hill
YouTube video by Quests & Chaos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eFGRN35N3E
4 months ago
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I now have three (3) different groups lining up trying to get me to run the Cosmere RPG. Guess I finally need to get into Brandon Sanderson...
4 months ago
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Being a professional DM is wishing mid-session that you had a random disease chart, then realizing that you *have* a random disease chart that you printed out for a session 8 months ago, but it never came up and has been sitting in the back of your DM kit ever since.
4 months ago
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The only (and I mean ONLY) downside to running a superhero RPG is having to do the thing where you check everyone's character sheets to make sure they don't have a power that would just let them entirely bypass a session's worth of plot.
4 months ago
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13 yr old D&D player to other 13 yr old D&D player: Bro, you wanna be a korok with me for Halloween?
4 months ago
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Me: Have you thought of a name for your D&D character yet? 8 yr old girl, first time D&D player, without a moment's pause: Mr. Massacre. ...yep. You'll fit right in, kid.
4 months ago
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Hot take: the plural of "cliff" should be "clives."
4 months ago
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Damn. I hate it when I agree with a youtube D&D video. (jk Justin Alexander is great. My leveling rule of thumb is: when everyone knows what they're doing with the abilities granted at this level, it's time to move to the next one)
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The Speed of Leveling | Advanced Gamemastery
YouTube video by Alexandrian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sw8s2vyPPM
4 months ago
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If my toxic trait is writing read-aloud text for my own D&D adventures, I make it even worse by occasionally writing whole sections of that text in stealth-iambic pentameter.
4 months ago
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Sometimes I pick up a D&D books in my hands—a monster manual or players handbook; anything, really—just so I can close it dramatically at the end of a session.
4 months ago
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Piedmont, CA
4 months ago
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Feels pretty cool to be the 6th hit on youtube when you search a pretty common thing. (It's us playing about the first third of the new The One Ring RPG starter set Over Hill and Under Hill, by Free League Publishing. Stay tuned for more. 💍)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0qn...
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The One Ring Starter Set - Over Hill and Under Hill Ep 1 - A Last Tale for the Night
YouTube video by Quests & Chaos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0qn2xMRfWM
4 months ago
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I'm chaotic evil; I use Verdana as a print font.
4 months ago
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Went to an outdoor theatre-show. Seagull shits on me within first minute. 10/10 would recommend see more theatre.
4 months ago
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Hey! Check out this nifty GM-less story game that I have an editing credit on. (And, roundaboutly, made a very good friend once by running on international waters.)
www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Emissa...
4 months ago
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Me, preparing a D&D session for a game that hasn't met in months and months...
5 months ago
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oops i'm gonna do another of these livestream things. monday 9/1, 9/15, 9/22 7pm PST.
www.twitch.tv/questsandchaos
5 months ago
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My toxic trait is abbreviating Mind Flayer in my notes as MFer.
#dnd
5 months ago
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Click to "unsubscribe" from a junk email I received. Unsubscribe page says "you cannot unsubscribe because you're already unsubscribed." This is a bad sign.
5 months ago
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I've said this before and will say this again: 90% of being a professional Game Master is spending entire mornings on four different communications platforms trying to hammer out gaming schedules.
5 months ago
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Wanna play an RPG with me? I've got some Wednesdays free coming up, which means I've got some offerings for you-yes-you!
buttondown.com/stillisgamin...
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An RPG to Occupy Your Wednesdays?
i’ve added some new email addresses to this newsletter list. hello, this is sam. i promise i only send one email per month, maximum. but if you want to not...
https://buttondown.com/stillisgaming/archive/an-rpg-to-occupy-your-wednesdays/
5 months ago
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