Happy Twixmas! We hope you’re enjoying some well-earned time off. If you're craving a little quiet though, why not make a start on your proposal? Our CFP is open til 9th Jan so you’ve still got time. But remember, the more people you show it to, the better! Submit here ➡️ devoxxuk26.cfp.dev

I think that a simpler question is: what are rules for? After all we can role-play without them, and often did as children. The simple answer might be that rules arbitrate outcomes where we want uncertainty to create tension.

I'm often baffled by some folk's antipathy to X-Cards, Session Zero and other things that can make games better "For me, safety tools are not about wrapping the game in bubble wrap. Rather, they create enough trust that everyone feels free to play hard, knowing there’s a brake pedal if needed."

I would like to wish everyone a Very Merry "things published in 1930 will enter the public domain in 6 days." itch.io/jam/gaming-l...

Thanks to @thegrognardfiles.bsky.social for Dirk’s Dossier, which has seen me through the Christmas washing up nicely. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

⚔️SOMETIME LOFTY TOWERS, our first ever novel, is out now! ⚔️ Featuring gorgeous cover art by @azuremeraki.bsky.social, interior illustrations, calligraphy drop caps, and 🩸crimson spray edges🩸, this traditionally printed paperback is a pleasure to hold! 👉 newedgeswordandsorcery.com/product-cate... 👈

Here it is. The final 24 hours. You've helped coax banked embers into a steady flame. Tell me, what is one thing you'll bring with you into What-Comes-Next? Seeds? Thread? A good kitchen knife? What will you make of what's left? Together, let's light up the world. www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...

#GOTOpodcast, @icooper.bsky.social, @davidwhitney.co.uk & Hannes Lowette talk about how architecture really works at scale: • sustainable vs “slash-and-burn” systems • emergent design vs intentional design • why cargo-cult patterns hurt more than they help 🎧 gotopia.tech/podcas

When you drift through some unheralded point in your 40s, you start accumulating actuarial risks. The odds of illness, heart attack, or the chances losing of a parent go up. But there is another risk- particularly acute for men. There is a risk you will lose your capacity for joy.

The other day, I forgot my phone at home. I was in an area I knew had access to funds. No biggie. And it was good to think, in idle moments, overconsumed. What struck me, though, was my inability to look up answers to the questions my thoughts created.

A tragedy that we have allowed hate to triumph at the BBC. The damage to the brand is coming from within the house. A good man, who stood on principle.

For those of you still on V9 of Brighter, our bug fix release 9.9.13 fixes an issue where the stale offset sweeper was not running and clearing stale offsets. (Fix also in 10.0.3)

I scroll through social media, and I see someone talking about advice for prepping - and I naively think, oh, someone with some tips on how to get ready for their weekly D&D game. And then, after investigating, I discover they are talking about the end times...

Brighter team meeting is live: www.youtube.com/live/396IugH...

We have pushed 10.0.3 of Brighter. Mostly bug fixes, but includes support for TickerQ as a scheduler, and EF integration for the MongoDb Outbox. Thanks to all our existing and new contributors: www.nuget.org/packages/Par...

Liminal from @thetweedmeister.bsky.social The Dee Sanction from @paulbaldowski.bsky.social Swords of the Serpentine from @pelgranepress.bsky.social & @kevinkulp.bsky.social Questworlds: Pioneer Space from @chaosium.bsky.social & @icooper.bsky.social

Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.

Look, we also voted for Brexit, and Boaty McBoatface, but my faith in the wisdom of the British people has been given a lift: www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...

Barely a day left in this thing, which means I'll be shutting up pretty soon, one way or another!

Catching up on Mystery of Aaravos S4, whilst doing laundry. It appears that in order to let us know that Claudia’s Elf boyfriend annoying they have made him… Australian.

If you are at Dragonmeet, I will be signing #QuestWorlds books: 11:00AM - 1:00 PM 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

For those asking, we will have hardback QuestWorlds at Dragonmeet, and I will be signing copies

New on the blog this week! Our experimental archaeologist @experimentalkearns.bsky.social has shared a highlight from her recent trip to Italy, where she came face to face with the Copper Age legend himself, Ötzi the Iceman... ❄️ www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/blog/2025/11...

Hey all, do I have any UK based concept artists following me (or who knows anyone) who would be up for a long term 22 month contract working on Dragonwilds at Jagex? Remote with a very occasional day in office in Cambridge. Development experience and fantasy genre work is a must. Mid level role.

Let’s talk about “Move fast and break things.” First of all, Facebook itself changed its motto to “Move fast with stable infrastructure” in 2014. So much for breaking things, at least if you’re a soulless corporate behemoth. 1/12

when we say “Glorantha is mean to be Bronze Age” this is what we mean.

Might I suggest a new industrial strategy for the UK, transition our economy to become world leaders in tabletop.

Order from Chaosium.com by the below dates to receive by Christmas! 🇺🇸: 12 Dec 🇨🇦: 9 Dec 🇬🇧: 12 Dec 🇪🇺: 15 Dec 🇦🇺: 12 Dec 🌍: 1 Dec There's always risk of delays, so early ordering is better! We do appreciate people buying direct, and remember when you do you get the PDF instantly.

I think that Labour MPs must make a stand and call for a leadership election to oust Starmer and his far right cronies from the Labour Party. And we must go to the streets to protest this.

The Labour Government reeling off the same far-right talking points on immigration. And look who is celebrating. The far-right. There is a political alternative that won’t ever scapegoat those fleeing war, persecution and torture join.greenparty.org.uk

A friendly reminder to my friends and colleagues; the kickstarter campaign for Apocalypse World: Burned Over is going strong and now is a good chance to show your support to @megueyb.bsky.social and @lumpley.bsky.social www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...

Want to play a Duck? After appearing as a location and then counters in Greg Stafford's 1975 board war game White Bear and Red Moon ("Ducks, Ducks, and More Ducks"), as #TTRPG creatures Ducks first appeared in @chaosium.bsky.social's first edition of #RuneQuest (1978).

It’s a day to be very glad that I left the Labour party and joined the Greens. Amazed tha no one can see the echoes of the Holocaust in the principle of seizing refugees jewellery on arrival, to fill the public coffers. We voted progressive; we got ethno-nationalism.

1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it). But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that

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...

October was a crazy month for conference travel, work commitments whilst road warrioring etc. Good to see friends on the tech conference “circus” but better to be home. Lovely to just spend time with my daughter, 11, yesterday at the London Youth Games, and just chill in the afternoon together.

I’m a little mixed in Pluribus, but prepared to give it time. The first episode was great, but the character’s varied reactions to the trauma of the event in the second didn’t ring true.

It’s a Saturday, so it must be a cross-country

It's 2025, and we are raising a petition so that children can go to the toilet at school, but here we are. (For those not in the UK, yes, this is real, and as stupid and cruel as it seems.) Please do sign: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/73...

We have released V10 of Brighter. This represents a significant set of improvements and sets the groundwork for other changes in V10.X releases to come. (We will continue to support V9 with bug fixes until V11; Our release cadence for major versions is 1-2 years.) Details below.

Well, I am never going to win a Penguin is better than Tim-Tam argument with an Australian ever again, am I?

What happens when you mash up two of @chaosium.bsky.social 's biggest recent releases? Find out with our one-shot #actualplay of @icooper.bsky.social #Questworlds #AgeOfVikings over on Unconventional GMsa youtu.be/0R1QtixmQRw?...

Sounds awesome

Thank you @icooper.bsky.social for the talk on Responsibility Driven Design tonight at the London DDD group. A great talk as always. Thank you.

If you want hardcore runtime details then I recommend botr (book of the runtime) github.com/dotnet/runti...

Happy about it as @icooper.bsky.social is on my short list of the people I respect the most in messaging and architecture. Plus, he's a cool guy, so feel invited, we'll try to keep it lightweight, but I'm sure that Ian will bring sound insights 🙂

Geek down! So great was the amount of material in Monolith’s Conan Kickstarter shipment (an age of cardboard packaging undreamed of) that I have been injured during the unboxing.

Finally, received confirmation of my resignation from the Labour Party. It took a while. Whilst they have called Reform's deportation plans racist, they continue to appease Reform voters' racism and march to the beat of Nigel Farage's drum. I'm done with them and will be joining the Greens.

Architecture isn’t about perfect diagrams - it’s about enabling teams to decide well when you’re not there. As @icooper.bsky.social, @hanneslowette.net & @davidwhitney.co.uk say: the best architects create culture, not constraints.

So, Gandalf finds Thrain in Dol Guldur. Barley alive. He can’t remember his name. Stripped, tortured, his ring (one of the seven gone). But Thrain has a map to the hidden entrance of Erebor and a key. Where was Thrain hiding that map? What was Gandalf’s account of this to Thrain?