You're too powerful... and must be stopped.

So people who actively dislike the Role, the Play, the Game, and the TableTop end up playing TTRPGs for some reason and make the mismatched expectations everyone else's problem.

It's really unfortunate, and i've seen it, too - but your example is FAR more extreme than it ever should be.

And the third kind of person, your guy, don't want emergent gameplay or guided roleplay, they want a captive audience to discuss stories with (since writing a book is lonely).

But when you try to advise people to join fiction workshops to fill that need, they get upset...

I struggle a lot when talking to people about TTRPGs because a lot of people actually deeply dislike the "game" aspect, and would prefer Roleplay Activities. Others deeply dislike playing a "Role" and would prefer to play themselves in Improvisation Activities.

The hate for the above is UNHINGED.

If you're a GM intent on mixing PC backstories into the campaign, remember 3 things:
- Who they were isn't who they are.
- The world won't change overnight.
- "Haunted by the past" isn't as interesting or charming as you may think it is; let NPCs forget, forgive, move on, change.
- Revenge is hallow

If you're a soldier that deserted your battalion because of corrupt leadership and war crimes, yeah, stumbling across a soldier that recognizes you or an officer that wants to arrest you is super cool, I support it.

But MOST GMs try to tie backstories directly into the campaign, to mixed results.

My hottest #TTRPG take these days is:

Character backstories should almost entirely stay in the past.

As a player, I deeply do not want my character to end up "dealing with" backstory stuff during our campaign, but i weirdly see OTHER players struggle to navigate backstory stuff during play.

It'd be a sterling addition to your resume, too.

Let's Talk Religion Hello! This channel aims to educate on the subject of religion from an academic perspective and to open up for informed discussions on the subject . You will find videos discussing the big religions o...

Any fellow religious studies, occultism, philosophy nerds out there? I discovered this channel yesterday, and i've already watched 10 videos. Deeply informative, super interesting material! Great inspiration for tabletop as well >.>

youtube.com/@letstalkrel...

Tangential: if you do watch Undertone and find yourself with some spare time, can you check out Monolith (2022, Prime Video) and let me know if there are eraser marks in the "Name" area of the screenplay? lol

I watched Monolith THE SAME DAY Undertone was announced, which was creepy.

a national geographic photo of a cracked desert ALT: a national geographic photo of a cracked desert

tell you how dry it is in my house

I just squeezed an eyedrop into my eye, watched the world distort from the liquid, and my eyeball soaked up the entire drop as i was looking at it.

BLUESKY IS A WEBSITE THAT TURNS (post by jay.bsky.team claiming that bluesky is made with AI) INTO (picture of bluesky not working)

Nabbed a copy on launch day but executive dysfunction hell has me locked in place. Will review asap.

How's the release been so far???

Harmed.
Unconcerned.
Warning.
Insulted.
Warning.
Aggression.
War.
Shock.

I really like doing this for a huge variety of stuff in TTRPGs, too. What do i want players/readers to feel? How do i want NPCs to react? etc. I appreciate the validation!

If you're struggling with writing dialogue between two characters, play word tennis with them: lob a single word from one character to another, and return a single word.

Mad.
Confusion.
Accusation.
Deflect.
Rage.
Dismiss.
Hurt.
Guilt.
Shame.
Shame.

It can help you understand the SHAPE of the convo

@staffofsage.bsky.social that EXPLAINS IT!

a man is holding a green sword in a forest while another man watches . Alt: In a forest, a man pulls a glowing sword from a stone and looks fearfully at its gleaming blade.

I fear the day that something like "Excalibur" will end up being "King Magic Sword Merlin Wizard Green Knights Medieval Round Tables."

Originally, it was done for the search algorithms to more easily pick up on details about products, then people started naming their dropship companies crap like "HKDOKTTE" and the like. Spread to youtube ("Pregnant Frozen Spiderman Hulk Friendship Marvel"). now it's EVERYWHERE.

Anyone else think the Amazon-ification of item names is to blame for some under-creative names today?

"Silicone Mold Mat large Silicone Sheets Mats for Jewelry, Resin, Liquid, Crafts, Casting Molds Mat, Silicone Placement Mat dinner Table Many Colors"

"Dude, that was my favorite comic of 2026!"

A note on my "overrated" - I struggled. On my list, it comes from a very specific thing that I can't get over which I call "Disrespectful Timesink."

Any time I need to pour hours and hours and hours into attempts until X,Y,Z line up perfectly due to no fault of my own, it feels unjust to me.

List of game perferences. Favorite: Darkest dungeon. Best story: darkwood. Favorite art style: Blasphemous. Biggest Personal Impact: Diablo. Best combat: Cyberpunk 2077. Overhated: Fallout 4. Unerrated: Dune Awakening. Overrated: Blue Prince. Needs a Remake: Caesar 3. Criminally Overlooked: Observation. Favorite Protagonist: Witcher 3. Favorite Antagonist: Bioshock. Best Soundtrack: Halo, Combat Evolved. Best multiplayer: Fallout 76. Not usually my thing but: Mirror's edge. Turn my brain off: Medieval Dynasty. Best with friends: No Rest For The Wicked. Best Retro Game: Dynasty Warriors 3. Nostalgic Childhood Game: Final Fantasy 9. Game Everyone Should Play: X-Com Enemy Unknown.

I limited myself to using a game only once and "Currently have access to in my office right now."

Darkest Dungeon and Metal Gear Solid would probably fill every space otherwise... Its sometimes a problem. lol

We may have to reverse ours?

Jalapeno Ranch Migrant doesn't work.

But Migrant Jalapeno Ranch sounds like a very specific cover band name.

Childfree Creamy Dill? lol

If i could take a pill that would make me completely forget one videogame and replay it as though it were the first time again, I'd pick Cyberpunk 2077 without a second thought.

I understand it had a troubled launch, but it had the BEST emergent gameplay, tied with Fallout 4, i've ever experienced.

what's so frustrating is, if they'd just install like... 3 pedestrian overpasses around us, we could walk to 95% of the places we need to go. But crossing 18 lanes of traffic to go 0.5 miles is just ridiculous.

Buy mustangsart a Coffee Become a supporter of mustangsart today!

Really struggling to make ends meet and every #ttrpg project I applied to either fell through, never replied, or left the internet and never paid me for my work 😅

If you've ever used the Combat Wheelchair, consider tipping me, it helps me pay for rent and the meds I need 💜

ko-fi.com/mustangsart

a cartoon of spongebob laying in bed under a blanket ALT: a cartoon of spongebob laying in bed under a blanket

#TTRPG #GMTip
Unfortunately, a GM cannot MAKE a game tense, scary, or unsettling. That power lies almost entirely with the PCs and the players.

The GM can supply tense moments, scary descriptions, or unsettling circumstances - but if the PCs are flippant and wacky, the game will be, too.

\o/

That re-entry video i saw was... pretty intense. They had to cross half the world to burn off all that extra speed to land safely. I'm very pleased the whole journey was as smooth as it was.

You're for sure, absolutely not alone. 💜

Not only are there fewer projects, but it feels like people are becoming skittish at actually finalizing contracts and moving from concept to creation, too. So there's a lot of false starts that are SO frustrating. Not just me, DOZENS of freelancers I know.

for SURE agree.

Manipulative: A sad woman is wailing, thinking darkly, after her wife is tragically murdered.

Emotional: A woman drops her shoes and purse at the front door, stalks up the stairs, piles all of her wife's clothes on the bed and wallows in it. Recounts wife's funeral to her clothes.

Hey #ttrpg folks, I am looking for work!

My experience includes:
The Witcher TRPG
Cyberpunk RED
Pathfinder 2e
Starfinder
Dungeons & Dragons
Magic and many other systems, too!

email:
saradisabilityrepinttrpgs@gmail.com (please ignore the deadname!)
Thanks!