"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion." - Francis Bacon
Nicholas Orvis
@nsorvis.bsky.social
Dramaturg, director, critic, and scholar working at the intersection of theater and games. Co-creator @dndramanerds.bsky.social. Opinions my own.
treat your body like a data center. consume as much water, art and literature as possible. upset local municipalities with your existence.
I genuinely mean this. I cannot imagine a more bleak dystopian notion than the idea of all art being turned into slop designed to coddle my exact perceived intentions. The point of literature, film, music, and art is to be exposed to the interior lives of others. Who are these people.
Bugs, Yaoist@bugsmaytrix.bsky.social · 3d agomaybe i'm old fashion but the coolest thing about video games is being taken to new worlds that i hadn't thought up and experiencing something exciting that the artists behind the game want to show me
“If you don’t like public executions just don’t watch it” says the crowd trying to ban drag shows and books
We are still OPEN FOR PITCHES for Issue 2. All experience and backgrounds welcome. We are especially looking for: -pieces not focussed on medieval europe -experimental writing -reviews have a look at our "experimental" and "reviews" sections in Issue 1! playtestmaterial.org/issue-two-hi...
Issue Two: Histories
It’s my great honour as guest editor to introduce the second issue of Playtest Material, “Histories.” The call for submissions for this issue will open to the public September 15 and close October 15....
playtestmaterial.org
Excited to read this!
Evan Torner@guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 5d agoMy free essay "The Self-Reflexive Tabletop RPG" turns 10 years old this year! "[These] games reinforce the idea that collaboration and what Karl Bergström (2012) calls “playing for togetherness” allow TRPGs to look at their own processes with analytic precision." www.gamejournal.it/torner-the-s...
"Opera doesn't make money. Opera’s what you spend money *on*.” “But . . what do you get out of it?” “You get opera. You put money in, you see, and opera comes out,” said Salzella wearily. --Terry Pratchett, 'Maskerade'
Sam Bergman@violanorth.bsky.social · 6d agoI used to feel like half my time as an orchestra musician was spent patiently explaining, over and over, that no, orchestras have never in history paid for themselves through ticket sales; no, cutting concerts or auxiliary trumpets won't balance the books; YOU JUST HAVE TO RAISE THE MONEY.
Playtest Material @playtestmaterial.bsky.social Issue 1 is out, and it's freely available online. But if you can, also consider subscribing - it's a great way to support this kind of great projects! playtestmaterial.org Thank you @laurieoc.bsky.social for creating this resource!
Playtest Material
publishing critical writing about roleplaying games
playtestmaterial.org
This seems like an amazing issue that I can't wait to dive into. I'm honored to be included!
Playtest Material Magazine@playtestmaterial.bsky.social · last wk.Playtest Material Issue One is out now: playtestmaterial.org/playtest-mat...
People think that dice are the engine for RPGs, because they’re so visible. The d20 is so iconic. We think apocalypse world “runs on 2d6.” It doesn’t. It runs on moves. *Moves* are the resolution engine - the dice are *only* the randomizing agent, which is an important piece but not the heart!
Reminder that in Canada upon becoming an engineer you get an iron ring made of a collapsed bridge, purposely designed to be uncomfortable, to remind you that your ethics demand you give a fuck even about the boring grudgework of such as double-checking your math. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ring
Iron Ring - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Matt Ford@mford.bsky.social · 2w agoEzra Klein asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about AI making kids worse at math and reading. Huang’s reply: “Does it matter?” Then he said he doesn’t know his own address or phone number. “We’re going to lose some fine intellectual dexterity.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/o...
My latest essay is up on Playtest Material! Looking at the points of contact between theater and RPGs. If you want a sense of this "gameful theater" thing I've been banging on about, I get into a bit of that near the end!
Playtest Material Magazine@playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 3w agoNew article by @nsorvis.bsky.social Theatre is an art of re-presentation, of displaying a world... for a spectator; RPGs are about inhabiting one. By disentangling the way the two forms are like and unlike, we can expand the horizons of possibility for both." playtestmaterial.org/spectating-p...
Thank you all so much for such an impressive subscription drive so far! We are at 49/75 subs: Nearly two thirds of the way to what we need, and we've more than quadrupled our original subcriber base in less than 24 hours.
Playtest Material Magazine@playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 3w agoA serious one today. "This is a call to our readers and future readers: please, consider before scrolling away, if you think our magazine is worth £18+postage. It is not just an investment in a bundle of paper, but in meaningful critique in the ttrpg space." playtestmaterial.org/playtest-mat...
I've got an essay on theater, TTRPGs, and critical spectatorship in the inaugural issue of Playtest Material, a new quarterly journal of serious RPG criticism. And they're having a subscription drive right now! If RPG crit interests you, check out some of the previews and consider a sub.
Playtest Material Magazine@playtestmaterial.bsky.social · 3w agoA serious one today. "This is a call to our readers and future readers: please, consider before scrolling away, if you think our magazine is worth £18+postage. It is not just an investment in a bundle of paper, but in meaningful critique in the ttrpg space." playtestmaterial.org/playtest-mat...
I truly, deeply, sincerely do think the guy flipping burgers at McDonalds should be able to afford rent, bills, and groceries with his paycheck alone. That's kind of the whole point of having a job and I can't believe this is considered a radical position.🤷🏽♀️
Reader, I sobbed at the end of this. Because ALL our children deserve better than the world we are bequeathing them.
In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? (Gift Article)
A decade ago, I made a decision about my daughter’s education that I hoped would challenge New York City’s separate and unequal school system. Now 16, she thinks I made the wrong choice.
nytimes.com
Good thread altogether but the end is the most important part imo - a boycott needs an *end point*. If you are not gettable, if nothing they do will ever get you to shop there, then they have no reason to change practices in response to the boycott!
the Mountain Goats@themountaingoats.bsky.social · 4w agoand after the union wins? you go back and you tip hard and you show the company it was the workers who made them their money, and that they're nothing without the workers! super simple equation! Solidarity with Starbucks Workers United, 12,000 strong and growing!
it's called "dukkhamaxxing". kids are cultivating attachment at unheard of levels on the streets to experience whole new levels of suffering
"fairness in women's sports" is literally just "ethics in games journalism" like this is the same thing this is part of the same playbook dawg
“I got your ‘eat shit’ loud and clear” is, unfortunately, an objectively very funny statement. Point: AI
when conservatives say “facts don’t care about your feelings” you need to understand that it is not meant to say they are committed to facts but that they are committed to creating a form of epistemological dictatorship where no one is able to disagree with their obvious lies.
Sarah J. Jackson@sjjphd.bsky.social · last mo.The U.S. described updating world maps to show the *correct* size of Africa (and everything else) as a “radical ideological project”
News: I'm very excited to support the new critical journal of TTRPGs, Playtest Material, as guest editor of Issue 2: Histories playtestmaterial.org/issue-two-hi... @playtestmaterial.bsky.social @laurieoc.bsky.social
Issue Two: Histories
It’s my great honour as guest editor to introduce the second issue of Playtest Material, “Histories.” The call for submissions for this issue will open to the public September 15 and close October 15....
playtestmaterial.org
