this is probably a longer conversation about the different kinds of ttrpg content but I just don't think that's a viable or valuable goal for every piece of ttrpg content
I think that 'able to use at the table without having read it' is a metric for adventures only, and just not relevant to others
also as a side note I'm not even talking about the value of the book as art, that's a separate conversation
from a purely utilitarian perspective, I think the value of these kinds of books (not intended to be used directly at the table, like settings) is in the way that they make the reader think
I feel like getting lost in the book is a goal/benefit, not a drawback. you should get distracted by thinking about what it's saying and envisioning what it means and what it's describing
but it should also be noted that I enjoy reading the silmarillion, so clearly I'm an outlier of some kind
I kinda don't. I don't think 'at a glance' is a meaningful or valuable measure for a book that you're expected to read and consider.
ofc there's bad prose out there that does a bad job explaining things, but imo in an ideal research book you should be stopping to think all the time anyway
tbh I don't think 2 is even universally true, or at least, the degree to which it is true varies so much that it might as well not be
it's way more important to be able to do at-table reference for an adventure than for a campaign setting, for example
not quite the same thing, but reminds me of the Dominator trying to escape in Juniper (in the Black Company)
silver is used to get corpses into the keep. gold is used to get corpses into the underworld. that those corpses bring themselves in under their own power is just a bonus.
Only three days left on the MOONCROFT MANOR backerkit campaign! Get in there and get your copy before time's up! #rpg #ttrpg #crowdfunding
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/c...
If you're in any way a fan of what I do: games, fiction, poetry, tweets, curation etc- consider subbing to my patreon or ko-fi! same benefits across both. access to early releases, free games, merch, credits in digital AND print, and more!
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The newest version I had played was Jade I think, this is a new mechanic to me and is very cool!
I can give you a writing credit on a project as long as you don't need to get paid more than a pittance
If there is anything to be learned from this debacle its this- ASPIRING WRITERS OF THE WORLD, DONT GIVE A SINGLE SENTENCE TO A CORPORATION FOR FREE. YOU GET PROMISE OF EMPLOYMENT IN WRITING THE MOMENT YOURE INVITED TO "BE ON A TEAM."
to be fair, that's because 5e combat kind of sucks, even compared to combat in other versions of d&d
but you're right it is still really weird that people can't seem to conceptualize rpgs without combat (makes me want to go actually write my science fantasy iron chef game)
image of text across two pages of a spread with a dividing line in the middle: the left-hand page is all simple basic roman text arrayed in three paragraphs; the right-hand page is one paragraph followed by a set of increasingly-nested bullet points, all with lots of boldings, italicizations, and underlinings
new blogpost! this one's a defense of regular sentences and paragraphs in an RPG world awash with boldings, bullet points, and bolded bullet points. check it out: samsorensen.blot.im/apologia-for...
Strong agree. In general I think the space of 'rules for the GM' is under-utilized; the idea that the GM doesn't need rules and will just do everything themselves just leads to samey games that burn out the GM.
You can give the GM tools, rules, structure, and much more and it's a good thing.
Just a few hours left, git it while the gittin’s good!
A horse is divorced, of course, of course.
hey, so, this is wildly irresponsible "reporting" that seems to be for the express purpose of garnering fear clicks from trans women, and idk why nobody's calling this out. This Is Not Happening, Nor Will It Ever Happen. thread.
Paper cult club is a year old! Happy birthday, paper cult club!
papercult.club
One of the things I think about, remembering games from the 80s and 90s, is how we enjoyed reading the book, discussing what the rules meant, and how they worked together.
Sometimes the process of understanding the game is part of playing the game, and that's lost in formulaic bullet points.
Here's a meme: I want uglier games that are harder to understand made by people who've never read a TTRPG, and I'm not kidding.
I have written a manifesto against understanding. Against bullet points. Against it all.
www.patreon.com/posts/152873...
It's my birthday! That means it's sale time on itch.
Grab any of my games for 38% off, today only.
I have mixed feelings on 'your game has to be done before you can fund it' but certainly whatever this particular catastrophe was doing did not work
Stegosaurus
The government is asking for public comments on whether banks should be able to deny you from buying legal goods at their own whim (i.e. how they're cracking down on art)
Tell them you don't want to be told how to spend your money
www.federalreserve.gov/apps/proposa...
these days it appears to be used the way that 'hottie' would have been used previously
New Patreon post out, containing Protoplastic 0.9. This is the last version I'll be putting out before the final release, so if you wanted to check it out before then, now's your chance!
Hey, alongside contacting your representatives, this seems like another thing worth putting a bit of your time into and sharing around. If we could get "reputational risk" taken off the table, even in this current climate, that could create a chilling effect on these kinds of policies
The promo image for the Idaho trans rights bundle.
[pls share!]
Time for phase 2 of bundle prep—do you (or a company you know) sell games digitally on your own site/DriveThru instead of itch.io but still want to participate in the Trans Rights Bundle? Please DM me here or email rue@ilananight.space to join us as a partner publisher!
