In a bit of shock at the moment and wanted to share: I'm presenting at a professional conference next week about creativity and tabletop game design in the gifted education space. A book publisher just reached out to meet to explore potential "opportunities for collaboration." What is this life?

I might have made stickers out of a 10 minute doodle I did of my head as a coffee mug.

It’s time to update my pinned post: 👋 I’m Travis, am multifaceted, and post about several topics here: • tabletop game design, zines, trains • creativity & ed psych research • inequities in K12 US education • craft coffee, weird books, loud music • my cat, Nox All relevant links in bio.

I need everyone to see this seagull mug I just got.

Now that I have that pesky dissertation behind me (🫠), I received a box full of zines! I love that I wrapped up my crowdfunding campaign 9 days ago, and I already have the game to send out. It’s the best! #TTRPG #zine

Celebrated this momentous occasion today by staying home from work, eating an entire pizza by myself, and playing a new board game. Oh, and watching more Lower Decks.

Just gonna post this update here real quick! #PhD

Looks like I’m finally going to turn into a doctor on Monday! #PhD

This is an AWESOME time to be completing a Ph.D. *cries in academic job search*

🎲✂️ Howdy! @czamboni.bsky.social and I are looking to connect with TTRPG / LARP creators from outside of North America creating games that address oppression and resistance from a cultural perspective. We're putting together a list for potential guests for our podcast-in-progress! #TTRPG #LARP

Tonight! We'll be checking out "this world is not yours" by @travisdhill.bsky.social live on stream! Tune in at 830P EST on Youtube :D youtube.com/live/8Iu-7-i...

Lots of really big crowdfunding campaigns and preorders launching today. Here's to tossing in my little project! You can find RITE: A Midwinter Sacrament #TTRPG #zine below. You can grab it for $7 and receive it before the bleak midwinter. 7 day campaign. Thanks for sharing.

An old friend reached out to interview me about creativity, the tabletop game industry, finances, & indie #TTRPG #zines. He let me talk for like 90 minutes about all the things. If you want some insight into the space I fill up (and me as a designer, a researcher, etc), feel free to check it out.

Stepping into spooky season with these two tabletop RPGs on our livestream! :D OCT 21 - "this world is not yours" by @travisdhill.bsky.social OCT 28 - "Thieves of the Tome" by @dairykillsme.bsky.social Tune in on Tuesdays, 830P EST to join our read-throughs on Youtube :D

Sorry to share such violent rhetoric first thing in the morning. ☕️

Nox would like you to check out this zine.

feels appropriate to share today.

Stacks and stacks of zines are cluttering my desk.

In 11 days, supposedly I’ll be defending my dissertation, which is terrifying to think about. In 4.5 days, this 7-day campaign will be over, which is far less terrifying to think about.

Back on Godspeed You! Black Emperor's "NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD" and I am feeling angsty. Spending the evening drafting a one-page #zine. (Now with alt text!)

An Altogether Different River is still a banger game and I'm really proud of it. You can get physical copies from the Heart of the Deernicorn webstore, along with Spectres of Brocken, another game I'm super proud of.

As an indie designer, I set most of my zine goals at $100. It could seem like I’m artificially inflating “XXXX% funded!” But I’m not. If the campaign only generates $100, that’s a dozen copies of a game of mine out there! I don’t want to chase funding goals, which is why I don’t do stretch goals.

I've been thinking a lot about Godspeed You! Black Emperor (GYBE) lately. To be quite honest, they've had a chokehold on me since 2001. I remember going to a local record store and picking up Lift Your Skinny Fists... being utterly devastated by it. Their LPs were glorious with unique inserts.

And finally @travisdhill.bsky.social put out RITE on kickstarter today. While I haven't played many of Travis's RPGs I love what he is doing in that space - making small, experimental experiences with his own unique vibes. www.kickstarter.com/projects/tra...

When asked "Why play solo RPGs?", I try to hit: - Flexibility: play anytime - Creativity: build your own worlds, characters, stories - Skills: learn systems, practice GMing - Focus: center on one character - Immersion: explore personal experiences and emotions - Community: share your stories

Lots of really big crowdfunding campaigns and preorders launching today. Here's to tossing in my little project! You can find RITE: A Midwinter Sacrament #TTRPG #zine below. You can grab it for $7 and receive it before the bleak midwinter. 7 day campaign. Thanks for sharing.

Not every game is a product. Not every booklet is a zine. Not every idea is a kickstarter. Not every conversation is content. Not every collab is a stretch goal. Not every designer is a peer.

I love this cat.

What if we could fight back?

This new AFI album is exactly the moody, dark wave background music I need while building out this dissertation slide deck.

Just received word that my committee chair was “very pleased” by my dissertation! PHEW Now to hear from the rest of the committee. Maybe a doctor by the end of October! #PhDsoon

I am returning to my TTRPG roots with a game I originally designed 3-4 years ago but never released. RITE is a #TTRPG #zine game? experience? ritual? where up to four players take on discrete roles to create sacraments for midwinter. Launching Oct. 14th 7 day campaign Other RPGs as add-ons

Okay fine! RITE is an up-to-4 player game (experience?) to create 4 sacraments during midwinter. It's a bit ritualistic. It's a bit not-a-game. You can follow it here. I'll probably launch in a week or so! www.kickstarter.com/projects/tra...

Hey @gilarpgs.bsky.social, I'm back. And I'm back on my 7 day, let's-get-this-game-out-there thing.

I’ve been cleaning out some old bins and found copies of games I thought didn’t exist anymore. Two games about death: The Wait and Why the F*** Did They Keep This? Two games about seasons: RITE and STAY Now I’m thinking about crowdfunding Rite since its spooky season! #TTRPG

I am so glad you all have made it this far, to today.

You ever wanted to fight monsters by throwing out some sick spin kicks at a thrash show? Do I have the #TTRPG #zine for you!

I picked up this album when it came out in 2011, which means I have cried to this song for 14 years now. May you have a good cry, too.

I don't mean to brag, but I just submitted my 153-page dissertation manuscript to my committee chair. No paper ever needs to be that long. I am equal parts freaking out and breathing a massive sigh of relief. #PhDsoon

And with this, I am sold out of physical copies of The Portal at Hill House. Apparently traffic was driven by YouTube but unsure where. Grateful for sure. Being said, The Portal Beyond Hill House is the next game. Spouse and I are passively working on it already. January-ish maybe? #TTRPG

Unsure as to why I have had so many orders of the Portal at Hill House recently. Like I've had a half dozen this week alone, which is more than I usually receive in a month. No complaints, mind you. Being said, I only have 10 more in stock. You can grab one here. #TTRPG #cosmichorror

I am in the final push of dissertation writing. Come with me as I spend Thursday-Sunday feverishly converting 32 pages of transcript quotes into an interpretative phenomenological narrative for chapter 4. Thursday’s progress: 6.5 pages of quotes -> 13 pages of text Current page count: 143 #PhD

As the state of social media looks like it’s continuing to disintegrate, I’m grateful for all the micro, parasocial interactions on this app, friends.

Lots of frustrating, very expensive home ownership news today, on top of trying to stay afloat in my job, applying for future positions, on top of staying up late meeting deadlines for dissertation. Definitely am feeling immensely overwhelmed, beaten down, and that I can't take time to feel things.

CHEERS TO A DROP WEEKEND! They're not all solo games, either. New in the shop: @travisdhill.bsky.social duet Astronomical 🪐 Introspective and personal. Congratulations, you’ve got a pen pal on another planet! Exchange missives across the vastness of space and ponder how and why we form relationships

I think I have nailed down my first two #zines. First is A Cat, Adrift is a solo journalling #TTRPG about an outdoor cat exploring memories and finding its way back "home." Second is a zine about belief, cats, and temptation as vignettes into who we are. Will release more info & links in a week.

Excited to make things! Am I ignoring my dissertation writing? Nope, not one bit. #zines #TTRPG

Been getting a bunch of spam texts recently. But this one didn’t really need to call me out like this.

Throwing this out into the Bluesky-sphere. Is there interest in a monthly small-form #TTRPG #zine? Like, old school 1 sheet of paper folded into 8 panels? I usually like giving things away, but considering I'd design, print, and fold each one, what would be a reasonable price? And where? Patreon?

And finally - some hardcopies of some @travisdhill.bsky.social games I've had digitally, plus Ella Lim's game which is DEFINITELY NOT Ken Lowery's game of a similar name, and a post-human post-apocalyptic adventure with a spice blend of interesting and talented contributors.