Conversation last night with some folks in my game group about the various editions of D&D got my brain churning and I wrote a summary of each edition on my blog. Turned out over 5000 words but hopefully its a fun read!
#dnd #ad&d #editionwars
www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2026/04/the-...
Today is the last day of the @narratess.com indiebook.sale!
Don't miss a chance to snag "Assistant to a Judge of Hell & Other Stories" for a buck or hundreds of other awesome indie titles that are on sale!
#indieauthor #fantasy #booksky #indiefantasy
My profile picture is an actual photo of the "Assistant to a Judge of Hell," a Ming dynasty era sculpture and the inspiration for the title story in "Assistant to Judge of Hell & Other Stories." Check it out for a buck!
Looking forward to #norwescon this weekend! Here's my con schedule:
Friday - hang out
Saturday - hang out
Sunday - hang out and sleep
Could not agree with this more. AI is not in any way intelligent - it's an algorithmic system that lacks cognition or intent. As a result, any text produced by AI will lack meaning, because there's no real "author" behind it attempting to convey meaning.
Hot off the virtual press, it's Issue 28 of the Writers & Robots newsletter! Will Shannon survive a week of writing in the rainforest? What new blog posts have arrived for the thirsty GM? What is Shannon Reading? Find out now!
mailchi.mp/97ddadb8fbb1...
#amwritingfantasy #blogging #booksky
As a GM, I want to find a way to have both. I want the narrative to explain to me, the GM, what's going on - particularly the big picture - and I want the bulletpoints to make it easy to reference at the table
Playing @esotericebb.bsky.social and really digging it. I think my take is that I would like more gamey elements - it plays more like a visual novel than a true CRPG - but I am really enjoying the vibes, worldbuilding, and writing. I really like @bakenshake.bsky.social's review as well!
Cover of The Knight Errant: Expanded Edition. The Knight Errant is holding a sword, frozen in place. Behind him are two astronauts, a ghoul, and a shoggoth. Written by IsaacIsaAfraid Art by Citaaticat Published by Copy/Paste Co-op Made for Mark of the Odd
A spread showing Table of Contents, Credits, and premise for The Knight Errant: Expanded Edition.
Isometric map of the locations in The Knight Errant: Expanded Edition.
A spread. The left side shows the Travel, Portents, and Random Encounters explanation. The right side shows Area A. Crashed Saucer, with the flying saucer illustration and Portents table.
A DEAD PLANET, A FORSAKEN KNIGHT AND A GROUP OF STRANDED SPACEFARERS
The Knight Errant: Expanded Edition is now available on itch! A science fantasy old school Tabletop RPG adventure, designed for any Mark of the Odd games.
Published by @davidblandyrpgs.bsky.social Copy/Paste Co-op.
Link below!
That is true! Sometimes managing a table of players can be as mentally exhausting as managing a project, but if you've got good, dedicated players I find it's like having a great project team where it's less work on the GM.
Being a good game master has a lot in common with being a good project manager, and I'd argue that applying some good project management principles to your game can make for a better experience. And no Gantt charts, I promise!
www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2026/03/proj...
#blog #dnd #projectmanagement
Amazing new tool from @ktrey.bsky.social! Can't wait to try this out at the table.
New blogpost, daydreaming of Mythic Bastionland:
A knight can interact with the themes of a myth to draw closer to it.
PLUS 12 myth-specific relics.
#osr #ttrpg #blog
I absolutely love this approach to managing combat encounters - it leverages the best parts of the ICI doctrine and establishes intent before outcome. Highly recommend giving this one a read!
Triangle Agency is gorgeous, titanic, and iconic, there’s nothing quite like it, and I couldn’t do it service if you gave me 20 hours to talk about it (but we did our best with two.) It will challenge you as audience, it will elevate you as a player, and it will teach you as a designer. Come listen!
Gamers! Get yer Hodag Mag! The Mag is short for... MAGIC! by @hodagrpg.bsky.social
Just look at the first half of this sweet comic strip about an arcane and mysterious pastry treat:
@elmc.at serving the greater good again for all of TTRPGdom!
Love this approach for using a d66 table to generate different settlements in a sandbox!
Catch ‘Em All while you can! In commemoration of the 30th anniversary, I’m heistfunding a Poképocalyptic game based on Into the Odd. I call it INTO THE ODDISH!
You can pre-order it now (until ???)
#ttrpg #pokemon #osr
Continuing my little series on basic dice math, I talk about advantage and its variations: idlecartulary.com/2026/02/27/t...
Text on a desert background: Gods of Sky and Dust Shannon Rampe An amnesiac robot A psychic scoundrel A scholar out to change her world
GODS of SKY and DUST
Now on submission!
A jaded treasure-hunter is offered a chance at personal redemption when he and a scholar-friend discover an ancient, sentient robot that may be key to unlocking the secrets of an ancient civilization.
#WSPit #OS #A #SF #F
Learn more: www.shannonrampe.com
Illustration of a mountain town with the words The Company, Shannon Rampe Descriptive text: A human woman with a sword and a dream, A half-gnome thiefwho can’t resist opening every door, And an elf sorcererss who knows more than both of them combined On an old-school dungeon-crawling adventure!
Inspirations Images of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, Dungeons & Dragons red box edition, Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui, and Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree Themes and Tropes Found family, cozy, adventure, dungeon-lit, dungeon crawling, unexpected romance, weird magic
Synopsis: Dariel dreams of becoming an adventurer but quickly learns it's far more dangerous--and expensive—than she'd ever imagined. With help from her friends Quintus and Jase and funding from the questionable Shadow Dwarf Cabal, Dariel braves the megadungeon Mythbarrow, where she discovers wonderous treasures, surprising allies, and an unexpected romance. But dungeon delving doesn't come without risks—slime wizards, drug-addled hobgoblins, and mysterious fairies to name just a few—and to make it out alive with her friends, she'll need every bit of skill and bravery she can muster.
Excerpt: Dariel peered through each open doorway, trying to guess which way she should go and more than a little worried about stumbling into another trap. The opening the first dwarf had gone through led into a chamber filled with stacked pots, most of which looked like they’d been smashed open. The center doorway led down a short hallway that opened into another chamber, this one holding what looked like stone plinths. The third one was another hallway that sloped down further underground. She was about to try the center doorway when she heard a scream and shouting from down the sloped hallway. She yanked her sword out of its scabbard—the loose hilt rattling a little in her grip—and charged down the hall. As she rounded the corner, it occurred to her that most sensible people would have turned and run the other way. Well, no one had ever called her sensible before. There was no reason she should start being sensible now.
THE COMPANY
A dungeon-lit cozy fantasy adventure in the old school style!
#WSPit #Ag #NA #A #F #R
learn more: www.shannonrampe.com
Join us for the last #ZiMo workshop of 2026.
Where do you get good #TTRPG layout?
YOU STEAL IT!
At 3pm et today @clearkeep.bsky.social unleashes his next manifesto of design and invites you to join The Layout Rogues Guild.
twitch.tv/TonyPlusOne
1/2
The final pamphlet job for NULL_SPACE is up! (This is the last week of itchfunding. Get in while you can.)
binary-star-games.itch.io/null-space
From the brilliant mind of Magnolia Keep comes the high-octane third part of Prepping Plots! This time we talk about how to onboard players into the campaign, and some tricks for learning more about the heroes!
magnoliakeep.blogspot.com/2026/02/prepping-plots-p...
Disappeared for two months now I'm back with a post over at Save vs. Worm: FISH-EATERS! a character background and some worldbuildy stuff for my late antique Iranian D&D setting. #OSR savevsworm.blogspot.com/2026/02/fish...
It's been a couple years since Reach of the Roach God was published, and I'm still thinking about how it pulled off stat blocks without stats.
It's a load-bearing piece of tech that's criminally underused.
www.explorersdesign.com/designing-lo...
I'd like to say my comment inspired this fascinating analysis of NULL_SPACE, but reading @binarystar.games's blog post, you can tell this stuff was all there waiting to rise to the surface.
In an effort to bribe you into voting for me, I have once again broken my record for longest post.
Enjoy my review of Daggerheart.
It's full of statements that are approximately true.
valerialoves.com/daggerheart-...
