This was a hell of a game! Chaotic and action-packed indeed.
10.03.2026 20:36
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This was a hell of a game! Chaotic and action-packed indeed.
Nice
Proud to be the 5,635th backer 😎 on @BackerKit Crowdfunding for Blades '68! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...
We played a game of Blades '68 together! It was a lot of fun.
I used to play a lot of Team Fortress 2, and even made an illustrated fan theory called the Respawn Hypothesis: timdenee.com/Respawn-Hypo...
This was my head canon for the proliferation of in-game micro-transaction cosmetics (hats, in the case of TF2).
So, anyway, I have a long history with hats.
Love Talk of the Table! Had a great time chatting to Brian and Elliot about B68, the design process, hats, and much more.
Section art for the Bonds mechanic. ;)
GYRO SHOOTER! New update on my Patreon which is a free-to-join designer blog right now. This instalment is mostly me talking about the headaches of publishing and pre-production, but don't worry, I'll get back into design sharing soon.
www.patreon.com/posts/gyro-s...
Oh thanks Em! Pleased to hear it. Yeah, I'm trying to put my own preferences aside, a bit, and figure out the utility of different approaches on their own merits.
Hello AP producers, you need to get me running a Blades ‘68 campaign inspired by either Disco Elysium or Metal Gear Solid 3 immediately or you are leaving money on the table
A mockup of the Blades '69 book where the 69 has been crossed out and replaced with 69 in bright purple. Below that, the bio for April Kit Walsh which reads: April Kit Walsh writes games about feelings, vulnerability, and caring for one another, including Thirsty Sword Lesbians and End of the Line. She used to be a swordfighting ballerina, but claims those days are behind her; she has absolutely no idea who that masked heroine with the sword and the tutu might be. When not writing RPGs, April is a civil liberties attorney working to protect the rights of criminal defendants, activists, journalists, and everyone else impacted by the technologies of control or empowerment. Next to the bio, the description for the $420k stretch goal: Blades '69: The Sexual Revolution The 1960s were a time when the counterculture challenged establishment norms around sex, love, family, and a person's right to choose what happens to their own body. How does this conflict manifest in Doskvol? How does the Consensus exercise control through these dimensions of human experience, and what struggles and delightful deviancies does your group want to explore? Blades '69 is a combination of a worldbuilding exercise and safety tool to help you bring themes of both real-world and fantastical sexual liberation to your game.
yeah yeah we saw all you sly posters going "Blades '68? ...just ONE off."
Well we're not COWARDS. Challenge accepted!
At $420k we'll commission April Kit Walsh (designer of Thirsty Sword Lesbians) to write up... Blades '69
Time to put your money where your mouth is.
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...
We're LIVE! Let's break out of Block 99 with some Blades '68!
www.twitch.tv/tainotales
I don't know who keeps doing this but you have to stop I'm begging you
There could be a very special stretch goal at $420k to address this oversight...
At the top, an illustration from the cover of Blade's 68 for Blades in the Dark. Various 60s-inspired characters appear in concentric rings of grey, blue, orange, and yellow. This is followed by a manifesto of player advice. HOW TO PLAY HARD AND HAVE FUN IN '68 1. GO IN BOOTS AND ALL. The campaign will be shorter than you think. Make stuff happen now. Don't wait, pull the trigger. 2. DIG THE OTHER CHARACTERS. Dial in on the other player characters, pay attention to their narrative, and get your own character involved. Be their fan, or be their foil. 3. MAKE THE GM SWEAT. Think of the game like a physics toy, and push the levers you have as hard as you can, just to see what happens. Rattle the cage, jump out the window, don't look down. Move so fast the GM can't keep up. 4. SELL THE PUNCHES. Always choose the bigger reaction. Let your character be changed by the world and by other characters. Let them be upset, emotional, irrational. 5. FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT. If your character dies, they can come back as an echo. If they have to retire, you can always make a new character. The crew cannot be stopped. Act first and think later, make bad decisions, let the chips fall where they may. 6. LEARN TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE CONSEQUENCES. Most rolls are going to have consequences. Wouldn't it be boring to succeed all the time? Embrace consequences, and create consequences, then roll them up in a giant ball of chaos and surf on top. Following this manifesto is an illustration in monotone orange, yellow, and black of a muscle car jumping in front of a speeding tractor-trailer. A woman brandishing a pistol leans out the window of the muscle car and fires toward the truck.
Listen, it wouldn't be the radical, swinging 60s if there wasn't a manifesto.
Blades '68.
Get in, buckle up, and lean forward.
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...
We touched on this idea in the Dice Exploder episode, and I was inspired to write a whole post about metaphorical gears in game design.
High gear, low gear, setting gears, system gears.
⚙️ blog.olddog.games/posts/gears-...
Graphic of me and my bio alongside my pitch for stretch goal content "The Resonant Web"
So there's a week left on the Blades '68 Backerkit campaign and I'm a stretch goal!
I love the world of Blades and I am so excited to be working with people I have been a fan of since I got into making TTRPG's.
Lemme write about weird ghost computing stuff!
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...
Who's Coming to the Table?
This month on Talk of the Table we're joined by:
3/9 - @olddog.games to discuss Blades '68 and wearing many hats
3/23 - @stellaluna.tv to premiere our new VIDEO format and discuss video AP, overlay design, and streaming TTRPGs
I saw a conversation recently where someone wished more designers talked about what a touchstone actually means means for a project, how it transforms into the work. This is a lovely look at exactly that!
What are the chances! Small world. That's awesome.
Do you remember it?? Amazing.
AND ALSO I talked with Matt in a long-ranging discussion; we covered Friends at the Table, the Adventure Zone, Terrace House, the Boyfriend, AGON, Survivor, and much more..!
bsky.app/profile/what...
Very nice!
Four curving lines (orange, yellow, baby blue, turquoise) arc across an eggshell backdrop with a pale blue ink stain. Text in the top right read “Echo Chamber”. Text in the bottom left reads “A Blades 68 miniseries.”
Onboard a glamorous airship casino, the Emissaries of the Echo tear it up on the dance floor, cause some chaos, and strike a deal.
Echo Chamber 03: Kings on High
www.patreon.com/posts/echo-c...
😂 Well if you’re not sick of my voice yet, there are a couple more to come!
It's truly so good
Nice! Emailed.
3. As if Blades '68 doesn't have enough touchstones already, I wrote a design diary about four "meta touchstones".
blog.olddog.games/posts/what-i...
These are less aesthetic touchstones and more creative guides for my own process. Two books, a TV show, and an ad campaign.
2. I also went on Dice Exploder, to discuss "Draw Maps, Leave Blanks" from Dungeon World (something very near and dear to my heart).
bsky.app/profile/dice...
I'm a big Dice Exploder fan so this was a real treat!
THREE THINGS:
1. I had a great chat with @thirdfloorwars.bsky.social about Blades '68.
bsky.app/profile/thir...
One motivation for continuing to make games is the chance to talk to Craig at least once every few years. Always a pleasure.
