Ah, but WHICH professional actor? Personally, I’ve always had my suspicions about Hugh Laurie.

I have survived Tabletop Scotland 2025! #tts2025 Had fun running The Wizards Staff (available as part of the Odd Jobs Microsettings book from Mcguffin & Co. As is usually the case, my players leaned into the absurdity of the situation, and the farce which developed was lovely to behold. 1/

I hate that this made me guffaw, but there you have it.

#RPGaDAY2025 31 - Reward I guess, when thinking about rewards, three things come to mind. 1. Rewards in-game. Treasure, loot, titles, that sort of thing. Bit old school, but a nice way to keep PCs invested, especially if those PCs have to buy armour, weapons, magic ink. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 30 - Experience I’m never going to be a hero. Never going be a rebel. Or an adventurer, a wizard, an ass-kicking martial artist, a time traveller. I’m just a normal(ish) guy living in what is often a fairly unpleasant world. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 29 - Connect I first ran into a game system which prompted the players to think about how their character might connect to other PCs when I started playing the Star Wars RPG in the early 90s. It was basic (“your Smuggler may have the Wookiee as copilot”), but got you thinking. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 28 - Suspense Other than Dread, which creates a sense of real-world suspense through the use of a Jenga tower, are any games pitched at “suspense”, as opposed to “mystery”? 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 27 - Tactic I don’t really do in-game tactics, I’m not smart enough for that sort of thing. Mainly, I’m trying to find my “in” to the game, the thing that’ll keep me engaged and participating, either as an active PC or as an interested player. 1/

Excitedly waiting for the White Ruffalo to appear.

#RPGaDAY2025 26 - Nemesis Prospective GMs - if you’re planning on introducing a NPC nemesis to your PCs, you’d best make darn sure that the PCs can’t just kill them the first time they meet. 1/

Post a Movie GIF from the year you were born.

#RPGaDAY2025 25 - Challenge Challenge Magazine was an RPG magazine which ran for a decade from the mid-80s, covering Game Designers’ Workshops’ own games for the first few years, then expanding out to the wider hobby, lasting 77 issues (though not really as the numbering started from #25). 1/

Jack Kirby knew the score.

#RPGaDAY2025 24 - Reveal It’s always fun to do an unexpected reveal in an RPG. For the GM, it’s a chance to widen the scope of a campaign, take the game off in a new direction, or just shake things up a bit. For the players, it gives them new problems to worry about. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 23 - Recent Most Recent Games I’ve Played: 1. Troubleshooters - current weekly(ish) Sunday game, in which I play a Jason King analogue, hanging around with nosy parkers to investigate mysteries 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 22 - Ally So, we did Patron a while ago. What’s the difference between a Patron and an Ally? I suppose in player terms, a Patron is the person who you do stuff for, in return for money or some other benefit. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 21 - Unexpected. As a player, unexpected events are only to be, er, expected. Unless your GM has been throwing prophecies around left right and centre, the future is filled with surprises, and your best chance to avoid unexpected events is to seize control of the narrative, 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 20 - Enter “Enter freely and of your own free will!” A sure sign that the GM has decided to bring The Spooky to your light-hearted game. Prepare for bats, bodices, bad girls, and BLOOD!! End

#RPGaDAY2025 19 - Destiny I’ve used destiny in a couple of ways as a GM. A vague prophecy that gave some structure to my superhero game, that more or less paid off (it gave the players things to speculate, and me an opportunity to smirk knowingly at them), 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 18 - Sign Signs to look out for, prospective GM! 1. Disengaged players - are they playing with their phones? Reading the paper? Frantically digging an escape tunnel? It’s possible you need to retool your game to better suit their interests. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 17 - Renew In a world that can be exhausting, RPG conventions renew my enthusiasm, for the hobby, and in general. It’s always good to play with new people, hearing the random thoughts that emerge under gaming conditions, and seeing what games are grabbing people’s interest. 1/

Airecon NW Day 1. Ok, technically it’s day 2, but i only arrived last night. So really it’s day 1. So there. Arrived in time to meet the infamous Simon Burley (of Comics Code and Manifold fame), and inflict myself on his code of Steam & Steel game. Hopefully he wasn’t too traumatised. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 16 - Overcome Players don’t like to lose. Or is that only certain types of player, or people whose formative gaming experiences were playing a certain time of game? 1/

“Interesting sign”, I thought as we approached the pub. Then I looked closer. We didn’t go in.

Made it to Manchester. Ready to game? Maybe. Ready for food? Definitely.

#RPGaDAY2025 15 - Deceive Gaming is a social activity. You could be playing with your best friends, or with random strangers, but either way, you’re all trying to have a good time together. In general, we like to have honest relationships with people. 1/

What was the last movie you watched? Caught the second half of this on bbc4 last night. Still amazingly good.

#RPGaDAY2025 14 - Mystery I mean, to an extent, aren’t most RPG sessions a mystery? Usually “what is it that the GM wants us to do this week?”, “where are the breadcrumbs they want us to follow?”, and “just what the hell is this plot about?” all being regularly-occurring questions. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 13 - Darkness I’ve only occasionally delved into the World of Darkness. A friend in Dundee ran an excellent Werewolf game in about 1996, where I played Bill the reluctant werewolf, leaning into the trauma of his situation (at least at first, you can’t be miserable forever). 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 12 - Path Path, eh? Ok. How about, if I were strolling along my personal RPG timeline, what are the games that I’d find along my path? Yes, it’s tenuous, just go with it… 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 11 - Flavour What’s flavour, then? I guess it’s part of the initial pitch for a game, when you and your group are trying to work out what to play next. It’s a sci-fi game? Ok, but is it a jolly space opera? A gritty space war? Horror? Comedy? Can you change the tone later? 1/

4 weeks until Tabletop Scotland, and I *think* I have finished writing up notes for the new Superior Six adventure. Bit of printing to do, and then I just need to not fiddle with it before the con. We’ll see…

#RPGaDAY2025 10 - Origin I’m whispering this one, as I think it might upset people, but honestly, I think spending a lot of time on working out the origin of your PC is usually a waste of time. No no no, hear me out!!! 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 9 - Inspire 3 things that have inspired games what I have run: 1. Doctor Who. Well, of course. That show has inspired most of the creative things I’ve done since I was about three years old…. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 8 - Explore Lately, I’ve been running D&D - the Tomb of Annihilation module. Investigating a mysterious plague, the PCs visit the continent of Chult to find a cure. The first half of the campaign is basically a sandbox: “Go out there and explore, and find out what’s going on.” 1/

Stop scrolling & post two characters who bring you joy and happiness

#RPGaDAY2025 7 - Journey Three “journeys” that aren’t technically related to RPGs, but put me in mind of them: 1. The Cursed Earth. Judge Dredd leads an expedition across the radioactive heart of the former USA, aiming to save the people of Mega-City Two from a deadly plague. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 6 - Motive Three things a GM needs to think about a lot when running a game: 1: The motives of his NPCs. What do they want from a particular confrontation? Why are they attacking the heroes? 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 5 - Ancient It is almost impossible for me to consider the world “ancient” in relation to games, without following that with the world “evil”. Whether we’re exploring temples filled with horrific relics of a bygone age, 2/

#RPGaDAY2025 4 - Message Why do I like playing RPGs? It gives me a chance to be someone I’m not. Sometimes (often) it’s someone better (stronger, smarter, kinder) than me. Othertimes, it’s someone worse (more ruthless, more manipulative), though I try not to play out-and-out horrors these days. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 3 - Tavern My favourite tavern? It’s the Bar With No Name, the supervillain hangout used in many Marvel Comics over the years. Famously shot up by the Scourge of the Underworld, the BWNN provides a handy place for supervillains to hang out in a non-violent environment, 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 2 - Prompt I try to get to four or five conventions a year, looking to run a couple of games and play some others. The scenario descriptions are an important prompt for me, as I’m often signing up to play games I’ve never encountered before. 1/

#RPGaDAY2025 1 - Patron Patrons can be incredibly useful for GMs, acting as the GM’s mouthpiece where needed, pointing them at plot when they are floundering, that sort of thing. This makes them useful to players too, avoiding getting lost in the weeds of plot, giving them a way to talk to the GM.

Don't overthink it: what comic book panels/pages live in your head rent-free? Drop four and tag #comicsdna

Still raining. Good thing we brought games.

Thanks to inclement weather, Holiday objective #2- achieved!

Share the last 4 games you played and expose your gaming habits (TTRPG only version) Troubleshooters Deadlands Star Trek The Great Martian Tripod Race (Manifold)

The rumours of how many bookshops Hay on Wye has do not appear to have been misleading.

Holiday objective #1 - achieved.

Happy Friday and welcome to another “2000 A.Day” In honour of American Independence Day, let’s celebrate everything American about this issue. Ready? #2000AD #2000ADa