Slide cutting the night before a playtest while crying is the way!
10.03.2026 18:40
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Slide cutting the night before a playtest while crying is the way!
The latest Missive is here! I talk a bit about the freedom of adventure writing in modern-day settings, my Violence scenario AMELIA, recap the MCGW blog, and more cool stuff (Rust Wings, Last Light Station, and more)! Check it out: meatcastle.substack.com/p/the-freedo...
Love that convention! It'd be fun to codify some of these in worldbuilding in a future game. "People only give work to strangers when it would kill their friends."
Some of these conventions can be useful to create exciting gameplay, without earning someone's trust before they give you something interesting to do--but it's worth interrogating when the human imagination is such a boundless expanse.
Furthermore, though, the idea that factions and quest givers are waiting to give complete strangers work to do is not a reflection of most interactions in real life.
For an easy example, most video games do not have any consequence for how long it takes for you to achieve something in a quest. Most quest givers stay in the same place while their order is being fulfilled essentially, and never hire someone else if work takes too long.
Even the most complex RPG video games currently have nowhere near the complexity of what can be replicated at the table. Where this becomes a problem is when we internalize the logic of video game quests into limitations for the tabletop.
I first started thinking about the simplicity of even the most complex RPG quest design after watching this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZft...
The simplicity of video game quest design negatively impacts the creativity of ttrpg players and creators, especially because video games are a much more accessible medium to modern players, and create unhelpful conventions of play at early ages.
Cloud Empress hardcovers spilling from its boxed set in the top left corner, surrounded by Graftbound Press zine games: Glatisant, The Peddler's Prize, Precious Things, and Bonds Between.
New games are in! Cozy Dragons, Arthurian legends, and more from @graftbound.bsky.social + @worldsbywatt.bsky.social's Cloud Empress (now in hardcover!) available at your favorite gaming rat store! 📚 🐀 📚
#CloudEmpress 'Land of the Living' and 'Land of the Dead' hit retail in Canada. Woot!
Kudos @ratti.bsky.social and @worldsbywatt.bsky.social :)
Glatisant spotted. I wrote about how it uses limited communication (in a good way) at Skeleton Code Machine: www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/glatisant
Check this out. I hear they got a really talented beautiful wonderful kind etc etc person in there doing some art, but what do I know.
I'd love to grab this as a print!
Thanks for the enthusiasm!
Thanks so much! I really try to carry Miyazaki's torch into new places without falling prey to copying derivative and heartless Ghibli aesthetics.
watt is one of the only designers out there who, when they say "Ghibli-inspired," really *means* it--they don't just mean the aesthetic, but the themes as well.
Also Rust Wings looks fantastic, the cards are such a great touch!
I just pledged for Rust Wings by @worldsbywatt.bsky.social .A Mausritter hack, but very much its own game.
I think the fulfillment cycle is painfully long, so I almost passed, but the game seems really innovative and interesting
#OSR #NSR
I just backed Rust Wings on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/wat...
Excited for @worldsbywatt.bsky.social to take a swing at a different side of the Ghibli canon
I had the pleasure of doing some early development work on Rust Wings, and I'm excited to be doing even more (and further playtesting) soon! This is a really unique game that I think is really going to connect with a lot of folks. Check it out!
Get out the blocks, let's go explore some ruins for our planes!
I'm excited for some Porco Rosso inspired shenanigans!
Rust Wings bundle pledge
Rust Wings character sheet
After 1.5 years of hard work, Rust Wings, my Ghibli-inspired adventure TTRPG using Mausritter's rules, is live on Kickstarter. Come help make this upbeat and joyous exploration of resistance, ecological survival, and teenage joy a success. www.kickstarter.com/projects/wat...
New Talk of the Table!
Brian and Elliot are joined by @worldsbywatt.bsky.social , the designer of Cloud Empress, to discuss designing inside established systems, Ghibli-inspired games, and their latest project Rust Wings.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
New ep!
Ryan sits down once again with @worldsbywatt.bsky.social to talk Cloud Empress Life & Death, fulfilling Kickstarters in the time of tariffs, and Rust Wings—a Ghibli-inspired adventure roleplaying where you explore abandoned cities on an endless ocean.
watch here 👇
BACK SO I CAN DRAW THIS COVER! PLEASE!
Just launched an AMA over on Reddit for anyone who wants to ask me about indie tabletop roleplaying publishing, crowdfunding, my designs, Ghibli, etc!
www.reddit.com/r/rpg/commen...
Oh hey, Ryan is live with @worldsbywatt.bsky.social to talk Cloud Empress, Rust Wings, and much more!!
go here 👇
www.twitch.tv/theweeklyscroll
I've made the Rust Wings (my Ghibli-inspired standalone Mausritter setting) launch page prettier! Only about two weeks until launch now.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/wat...
I think if you spark a passionate response in people, they are willing to overcome a lot of hurdles to fully engage with the media they love. Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering are complex and unintuitive and dominate their respective markets compared to more accessible alternatives.