Mikel L. Matthews Jr.
@improvgm.bsky.social
Improvisor, actor, director, GM, stand up https://linktr.ee/mikelmatthewsjr Start Playing GM: https://startplaying.games/gm/improvgm
Dioramas by the Miyazaki Mecha Modelers Club (today at the Modelers Dungeon event in Japan)
Catsuka@catsuka.bsky.social · 2mo agoMiyazaki Mecha Modelers Club will be featured in the next issue of the Japanese magazine Model Graphix. This is a group of Japanese fans who have been creating dioramas inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki for years. Pre-orders >> www.catsuka.com/shopping/ind...
Trump is the ultimate proof of concept of my life rule about self respect- never associate with someone who has none because someone who cannot have any respect for themselves is incapable of having respect for anyone else, including you
derek guy@dieworkwear.bsky.social · yesterdaygood lord how can anyone be this whiny; are you not ashamed
Meanwhile the Fighter - and all the other "martials" + Warlocks - are going to be almost as powerful in the last encounter as they were in the first. Notice I included Warlocks? That's cuz the Class Binary in D&D isn't Martial vs Caster. It's Short Rest vs Long Rest.
I solved this by doing the 6ED, which does a couple of things for you. 1. Each encounter is easier to prep while still challenging players. 2. It emphasizes the differences between classes in really satisfying ways. 3. It creates a more satisfying, lived-in story of exploration and heroism.
These are what I call "Nova Fights", because you eventually teach your players that as soon as they roll initiative, they can "go nova" -> burn every resource, spell slot, cooldown, etc. they have to kill the thing. Nothing comes after this, so smoke 'em while ya got 'em.
I told you I didn't forget! I've been absolutely swamped with Hope Dies Last, but I thought it was finally time to put all of my Six Encounter Day thoughts down in a blog post; something that I can always refer folks back to so the knowledge isn't trapped in videos/threads. bsky.app/profile/kras...
Infinite Citadel@infinite-citadel.com · 3d agoWhat? A 5e blog post!? That's right, our very own @krasiph.bsky.social dusts off their D&D knowledge to explain The Six Encounter Day: why it exists, how to use it, and how you can apply those insights to any #TTRPG. www.patreon.com/InfiniteCita...
Just to be clear: we are fine in Minnesota. We are not being taken over, though there are more rabbits in our yard than some years. Also we still need to address creeping bellflower. But otherwise all good. Don’t need rescuing or another murderous occupation.
Laura Bassett@lebassett.bsky.social · 3d agoTrump is desperately trying to incite a riot before the election so he can declare an emergency
Having long been aware of those tech bros who read my work as utopian porn, where they’ve taken that doesn’t exactly surprise me.
Dusk City Outlaws is the 2nd best heist game I’ve found (after Leverage) and Slectaculars is an incredible, easy to play supers campaign game.
Scratchpad Publishing@scratchpadpub.bsky.social · 5d agoIt’s go time! The Spectaculars/Dusk City Outlaws second printing crowdfunding campaign is now live! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
It’s amazing how, at a karaoke bar with lots of people talking, the 70 year old trying to flirt with the late 20 something’s voice comes through clear over everything
While some purists restrict the "OSR" label to games emulating OD&D and/or Mentzer Basic, others consider anything from the hobby's first decade fair game; thus, having first been published only six years after OD&D, under the broader definition you could technically write an OSR game based on this:
Today, in Alien, two PCs ended up with guns on each other and one is now dying of a gut shot. Shit has escalated.
I love Dungeon Crawler Carl, but nothing will make me skip a post more than a DCC fan writing "NEW ACHIEVEMENT!" and then trying to mimic the AI's voice.
I’m at the Pizza Hut. I’m at the house of leaves. I’m at the combi s n e a v t a i e o l n fo esuoh & tuh azzip
ADIOS RETURNS! At the lowest price it will ever go! That's right: it costs less than the price of an Arby's Reuben sandwich! store.steampowered.com/app/1271400/... If you like the game, please leave a review? We're only a COUPLE reviews away from OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE!
Slots are open for Alien: The Draconis Campaign and The One Ring: The Darkening of Mirkwood via startplaying. We're seeing the Shadow return to Mirkwood in The One Ring. In Alien, they've found a distress signal. Things are starting to go wrong. startplaying.games/gm/improvgm
Please share and donate if you have the means. Anything helps 🩵🩷🤍 gofund.me/4522c4e2a
Donate to Help Nerdy find safe housing, organized by Sean Martin
Nerdy (She/Thon/They/It) is a non-binary transfemme living with disability in Toronto, Onta… Sean Martin needs your support for Help Nerdy find safe housing
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PbtA fans, here's my challenge to you. For the next 12 months, when somebody asks how PbtA works, tell them that normally a 10+ is a critical hit, a 7-9 is a hit, and a 6- is a compromise, but that unusually challenging or dangerous situations can bump itdown.
Why didn't these kinds of moves— Pick 3, pick 2, pick 1 Pick 2, pick 1, pick none Exceptional success, success, compromise — become "how PbtA works"? Like I say, I think it's obvious why, but choosing one move to be "how PbtA works" at all was the first mistake.
Not how PBTAs work and I do not think we need to take this criticism seriously. I've been GMing PBTAs for years and every single one of them has a Principle that says "be a fan of the PCs" and explains that means not fucking them on mixes. If a GM is acting in bad faith, game design can't help
Gotta be honest, I’ve never understood the “an experience that will later be told as a story” thing. If you mean it feels closer to a polished narrative when you edit parts out…..I mean….sure, but that doesn’t make it not a story as it’s happening.
Jауѕоn Еllіоt@jaysonelliot.com · 2w agoI have to say I think there's a very fundamental difference between PbtA and OSR. PbtA is a story game, OSR games are adventure games. The difference is in whether the players that day want to tell a story, or have an experience that will later be told as a story.
Slots are open for Alien: The Draconis Campaign and The One Ring: The Darkening of Mirkwood via startplaying. We're seeing the Shadow return to Mirkwood in The One Ring. In Alien, they've found a distress signal. Things are starting to go wrong. startplaying.games/gm/improvm
Games Not (Only) By Cis-Dudes 🧵 (list in progress I keep on my phone & pasting here) * Apocalypse World * For the queen * The quiet year * Yazeba’s bed and breakfast * Seven part pact * Kagematsu & A single man * Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife * Steal Away Jordan * A Mending * Field guide to memory
Julia Kartes-Jagolkowska@juliakartes.bsky.social · 3mo agoThis year I wanna play more RPGs written or created by women or mostly women teams, indies and self-promo extremely welcome. Please drop your recs below, I need help to find hidden gems 🙏 Also looking for one-shot games 👀
The Last Jedi is a movie I thought was….fine… but I’ll defend it because the critics are so wrong about it. Dungeon Crawler Carl is a series I love but I’ll defend takes that don’t like it because the fandom handles critiques poorly and is bad at knowing what a good critique is.
I feel like we are so used to living in a time of madness that we can't grasp just how insane the Kennedy Center dispute is. Trump took something that was running just fine and destroyed it because he couldn't put his name next to the murdered president whose memorial it is. That's completely nuts.
I gave up on D&D: Honor Among Thieves about 30 minutes in No one cares about anything, what they want to be jokes aren't. Not an ounce of subtext in writing or performance. Just stating exposition It wants to be an adventure comedy but won't commit to the first and isn't good at the second.
ME POSTING: Good pussy sound like the Silent Hill radio ME AFTER I NOTICE A FAMOUS PERSON JUST FOLLOWED ME: More than ever it is so inportant to be apprised of all that is to be and furthermore to learn of all that could in the best manner we are able as this is the true delight of Life
You know, I've been saying it for a long time, but it's great to hear Rick Scott say he's useless with his own mouth
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3w agoRick Scott: "With regard to destroying mankind, these companies need to do the right thing on their own. We're not going to get smart enough to regulate them. We're not going to get something done up here."
