Briefly alighting on a branch of bluesky to say 1. USA-based fans, For the Queen is back in stock! shop.critrole.com/collections/... 2. Friends at GenCon know that I am with you in spirit <3 <3 <3

For the Queen

Hear ye, hear ye: Your Grace is primed for her voyage, and has chosen you to accompany her! For the Queen is a card-driven collaborative storytelling game that invites you to tell a dramatic narrative...

shop.critrole.com

We host a monthly Story Games evening in Lafayette, CA, on the 2nd Monday at Town Hall Theatre, 3535 School St; we take over the lobby, plenty of tables, and our hosts open the bar for a soda or a beer. Our next is Monday, August 10, 6:30–9:45pm. Free, with a suggested donation to the theatre. 1/🧵

Yes! This is the kind of iteration on my work that gets me really interested - from what Chris aptly calls "the useful kind of wanting," not a frustration at lack but a yearning for more.

Dyvers Hands Productions@dyvershands.bsky.social · 3w ago

My last diary started from the one thing I wanted more of in Alex Roberts' (@helloalexroberts.bsky.social)For the Queen: it ends the instant you answer its final card, no falling action, nowhere to stand. That missing "and then?" is what set me building The Launch. 1/🧵

Hey, Gamers! Anybody who loves Forged in the Dark and Supers (Heroes OR Villains!) and is in the Seattle area, is invited to come join me at Go Play NW and try out the game - Disruptors - in which you can take a stand and try to change the world! (Okay, so a bank-robbery might be involved...)

Auspice: The Launch is a rough ashcan alpha, and what I want most is to watch how it really plays with people I've never sat down with. I'm running it at Go Play NW this Friday at 7pm. Come launch a ship with me: 1/🧵

Auspice: The Launch

goplaynw.org

Avri Klemer's (@nycavri.bsky.social) Descending the Stairs is in the RPG Trader GM-Less bundle, and it is the fourth openly Descended from the Queen game I have found in there. Two things in its design have had me thinking this afternoon. 1/🧵

Avri@nycavri.bsky.social · 3w ago

DESCENDING THE STAIRS is a storytelling game of nightlife and nostalgia for one to six players. In this game Descended From the Queen, players narrate the last night at a beloved and familiar nightclub. What will you take with you as you descend the stairs for the last time?

Wandering more through the GM-less Bundle, discovering new islands of interesting game design ideas: Apropos tonight's movie premier, Ithaca in the Cards, by @ehronlime.bsky.social, is a GM-less Odyssey story game where you "play blackjack against Fate" to get home. 1/🧵

Aaron Lim 林家丰@ehronlime.bsky.social · 3w ago

I've got Ithaca in the Cards: Second Expedition in this bundle, so if you want to play blackjack against Fate, lose and die and haunt your fellow player by standing next to them and whispering in their ear, then you should go check out the GM-less Games Bundle!

Rummaging the GM-less Bundle today: The Solace Solution, by @aratlon.bsky.social is a 2-player game about brewing a potion to repair a relationship one shared memory at a time, then choosing together whether to drink it. The way it is built has stuck with me. That final sip is the whole game! 1/🧵

CiTyKey-Design (@aratlon.bsky.social)

(he/him) left handed, father of Smal-Key and Little-Key, husband to Key-Key, office worker by day, TTRPG creator by night. https://linktr.ee/citykey_desing

aratlon.bsky.social

CiTyKey-Design@aratlon.bsky.social · 4w ago

My first ever writen game and the one with the unique, decisive final move that I would best describe as poker-esques ‘taking a sip'.

For the Queen, and the games descended from it, stop the moment you answer the last card. Ringmaster, a circus game by Pascal Godbout (@pg-yyz.bsky.social), doesn't. When the mob comes for the Big Top, the troupe must answer one question together, and the game is built to carry you there. 1/🧵

MisterG (he/him) 🛠 games 🎲@pg-yyz.bsky.social · 3w ago

@spotlessdice.bsky.social has joined the @rpgtrader.bsky.social community! Ringmaster #ttrpg print-n-play edition will be part of the GM-less #ttrpgs bundle launching Friday. Add this bundle to your wishlist to be reminded - it only last 4 days!

A Brief History of Narrative In RPGs #ttrpg #gmtips #dungeonmaster

Definitely the OG of gmless games — The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, is part of the RPG Trader GM-Less Bundle. Check it out!

James Wallis@jameswallis.bsky.social · 3w ago

The great RPG Trader has launched another amazing bundle: 106 GMless RPGs for a PWYW price of $20+. Plus it includes the very first GMless RPG, 1998's The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen (by, uh, me), in its beautiful 3rd edition. rpg-trader.com/products/670...

My last diary started from the one thing I wanted more of in Alex Roberts' (@helloalexroberts.bsky.social)For the Queen: it ends the instant you answer its final card, no falling action, nowhere to stand. That missing "and then?" is what set me building The Launch. 1/🧵

The Fate You Make

On the empty space where For the Queen ends, and the two things I built The Launch to do about it. My last note ended on a small complaint I could not let go of. For the Queen stops the instant you a...

dyvershands.com

I had the honour of being a developmental editor/consultant on this game, and it really shook up a lot of my game design maxims and preconceived notions. It's one of those games that challenges the bounding definitions of how roleplaying games can work.

jay Dragon is sleepy@jdragsky.bsky.social · 3w ago

SEVEN-PART PACT, my fantastical ornate TTRPG about powerful wizards, asymmetrical board games, and the pressures of masculinity is now launching on kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/sjg...

I had some wonderful discussions on design of social games with @jdragsky.bsky.social last year (at Metagame metagame.games in Berkeley), in particular on asymmetric games, social simulations, and her ambitious Seven Part Pact. 1/🧵

jay Dragon is sleepy@jdragsky.bsky.social · 3w ago

SEVEN-PART PACT, my fantastical ornate TTRPG about powerful wizards, asymmetrical board games, and the pressures of masculinity is now launching on kickstarter! www.kickstarter.com/projects/sjg...

the seven-part pact kickstarter launches TOMORROW! here's the Arcane Edition (mockup, images not final) ! it features a faux leather bound grimoire, hardcover codices, a plastic pull tab on the box, and beautiful art by @teanwitch.bsky.social

My local group has fallen hard for prompt games, the GM-less, deal-a-deck kind. Playing them this spring, I kept circling the designer's question: how does so little do so much? The game that first taught me the shape of an answer is Alex Roberts' (@helloalexroberts.bsky.social) For the Queen. 1/🧵…

For the Queen: a Design Appreciation

On the craft around the prompts, and why Alex Roberts’ little deck seems to run itself. Most summers I give myself a creative project: some corner of game design I want to understand by making someth...

dyvershands.com

This prompt presumes the leak, never the guilt: the accused authors whether they're innocent, guilty, or lying. Presume the verdict instead ("why did you sell us out?") and you've authored their character for them. Prompts guardrail not just the world, but who gets to author what. Where's the line?

In her article on TTRPG worldbuilding, @beckyannison.bsky.social writes: "there are almost no games GMd or GMless which wouldn't be improved by asking good questions." Yes — and I design GM-less games that run entirely on questions. Here's what I've learned about making one do three jobs. 1/🧵

Becky Annison🔜 Kickstarting Black Armada's Advent Adventures@beckyannison.bsky.social · last mo.

Just finished putting up a post about Worldbuilding in TTRPGs. Specifically how system and mechanics deliver setting info. I love the idea that you can seed the world in the mechanics and system so it just slips into the brain.

Yeah, we're now preparing to crowdfund my *next* RPG history books, Designers & Dragons Origins. But I still dearly love this system history that Mongoose and I put out last year on Traveller. Quite possibly the most fun I've ever had writing.

Mongoose Publishing@mongoosepublishing.bsky.social · 10mo ago

The Traveller RPG is nearly 50 years young! In preparation of the anniversary in 2027, we published a complete history of the game, starting with its original GDW roots and on through editions to the modern game today. www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/thi... #ttrpg #TravellerRPG

Take a look at the Designers & Dragons Origin Secret Door for more on what that all means, with a preview of the articles on Supplement I: Greyhawk and the Fiend Folio. www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

Designers & Dragons: Origins - Secret Door - Evil Hat Productions | Other Favorites | DriveThruRPG

From the birth of roleplaying to the discovery of the Forgotten Realms, from the rise of Basic D&amp;D to the fall of Mystara, explore the history of OD&amp;D, BD&amp;D, and AD&amp;D 1e in Designers &...

drivethrurpg.com

Today we are proud to announce our next crowdfunding campaign. Award-winning historian @shannonappelcline.bsky.social examines the roots, artwork, and lore behind each and every product released by TSR for OD&D, AD&D 1e, and Basic D&D with his latest effort, Designers & Dragons: Origins. 1/3

Launching Soon - Designers & Dragons: Origins

From Evil Hat - Launching Soon - Designers & Dragons: Origins

backerkit.com

I just saw “The Majestic” on the big screen last night. When it came out it was 2001 and just felt like a nostalgic feel-good movie. But in 2025 its portrayal of resistance to government “red scare” tactics had the audience gasping with connection to Kimmel. More relevant today!

I've been planning a little "group project" for the @chimerahearts.com server, and I hope you'll join us! October 1 through November 15, we'll be making "tools" to help some of our favorite indie games find a wider audience. Sign up today!

TTRPG Tools Jam

A game jam from 2025-10-01 to 2025-11-16 hosted by Aaronsxl. In the vein of the TTRPG Resource Jam , this jam aims to create tools to bring indie RPGs to a greater number of people. These would likely...

itch.io

Game that features editing the rules? Not precisely an RPG, but Polis Play (PolisPlay.com) is all about rewriting the rules. There are two versions: a competitive one inspired by Nomic, and a cooperative variant that is new (and needs beta testing). I’ve used the competitive as microgame in a LARP.

I had a lovely conversation with @jdragsky.bsky.social during www.metagame.games this weekend. I definitely want to do a deep dive on her new "Expressionist Game Manifesto", but there is one paragraph there that fascinates me, on the topic of "rules that abstractly simulate the social reality" 🧵…

"Do you want to see justice served, or are you just trying to win this case?" VirinaB is working on a new Trial quest for Follow: A New Fellowship. I think it's a very juicy topic, and I could definitely see fellowships tearing themselves apart. Great stuff! www.reddit.com/r/gmless/com...

Reddit - Dive into anything

A place to talk about co-creative tabletop role-playing games, with no Game Master, where everyone at the table gets to participate equally. Share what you played, games you like, or projects you're working on. If you're new to GMless games and you've got questions, ask away!

reddit.com

Full time for 8 years now. These last 2 have been the roughest years by far. What would help me a ton is just a stable, friendly internet to work with. Musk buying Twitter, Kickstarter flirting w crypto, every change Patreon makes, I feel in the pit of my stomach.

I’m Publisher Emeritus, Community Steward, and a co-owner of the venerable RPGnet community.

🍁 Levi Kornelsen@levikornelsen.bsky.social · 2y ago

If you are RPGnet people at all, you might want to tell other RPGnet people you're here and possibly recommend them starter packs: forum.rpg.net/index.php?th...

❤️

Matthew Andre@gugg.bsky.social · 2y ago

I've made a Reaction chart from a Feelings Wheel to be used with #ttrpg #osr. It's made to give variable levels of detail and complexity, depending on how much you need. You can roll anything from 1d6 in any of the categories present, to 7d6+ for all the info (+ if you want more emotions).

I have found that there is a certain set of people that have a hard time switching from immersive stance to director stance, and thus don’t like storygames that have too much player agency involving setting scenes (and don’t like gmless because of this). But they’ll like @lamemage.com’s Microscope.

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd.@flintlock.bsky.social · 2y ago

I think you're diametrically opposed to immersion, but I don't think that's the same thing. (And a lot of narrative RPG and storygame designers very explicitly do not want and do not design for immersion).