Serenity Springs - Campaign setting and adventure for D&D What happens when D&D characters have to contend with the horrors of a 1950's suburb?

Funded! Thank you to everyone who supported and shared the project! Now back to work polishing and editing.

#dnd #ttrpg #kickstarter #5e
www.kickstarter.com/projects/gri...

Taking D&D in Strange Directions - Live Interview YouTube video by Tales from Elsewhere

Want to learn more about Serenity Springs? Tune in to @talesfromelsewhere.bsky.social tomorrow at 10:00 am (PST) where Peter and I will discuss the unique blend of history, design, and offbeat ideas that eventually became Serenity Springs. www.youtube.com/live/DV0GdNv...
#ttrpg #dnd #5e

Serenity Springs - Campaign setting and adventure for DnD What happens when DnD characters have to contend with the horrors of a 1950's suburb?

And we're live! #ttrpg #dnd #5e
www.kickstarter.com/projects/gri...

Two pieces of cover art. The one on the left says "Serenity Springs: Realm of Noxious Nostalgia" and depicts a couple sitting down to dinner while a flying bug/pig monster menaces them from just outside their window. The one on the right says "Freaks from Beyond the Hayze: A Serenity Springs Adventure." It shows a suburban street with several Dnd characters in the mid-ground. The foreground is full of people looking scared and confused.

Major kudos to @excalibird.bsky.social for her work on the two covers for Serenity Springs!

The project goes live on Kickstarter tomorrow! #dnd #ttrpg #5e

One of my favorite questions I've been asked about my work.

A woman in 50s clothing standing next to an open dryer and smiling down on it. Behind her is a window and its raining outside. In the corner of the window is an alien holding up a ray gun.

Here's what Serenity Springs' kitbashed artstyle looks like in practice. We took this (archive.org/details/hous...) image from Household Magazine, and added a hand-drawn Alien getting ready for mischief.
#ttrpg #dnd #5e

A woman holding a paint roller in one hand and in another holding up a tiny clock that has a bunch of sharp spikes jutting out of it. She is situated behind the clock giving a mischievous look.

Serenity Spring's artwork is kitbashed from old 1950s magazines. It's not hard to find unintentionally creepy pictures like the one below. She has absolutely murdered someone with that clock and will kill again. Source: archive.org/details/hous...

A simple old fashioned TV remote with four buttons across the middle: + volume, - volume, + channel, - channel

How does one get in or out of Serenity Springs? A magic item called the Universal Remote teleports you there for petty reasons. This vengeful little contraption exists in some form in every plane, sending all manner of life-forms to Serenity Springs. More shapes in the comments!

A large gridded DnD map all in black and white. Its the interior of a circular UFO. There is one large room in the center that leads out to 8 miscellaneous connected smaller circular rooms around it. In order starting from the top and going clockwise the rooms contain: - Some navigation equipment - An engine room - An armory - A room full of strange mold that was taken over by a monster - Cryosleep chambers - A laboratory - Storage for captured people - a space that prints food and spare parts

A 1950s suburb isn't gonna have traditional DnD dungeons, so how about a landed Roswell-coded UFO? Notes to my music guy for this part just reads "Theramin ass theramin."

Intrigued? Check out the Kickstarter for Serenity Springs, launching March 31
tinyurl.com/3pppxe2h #ttrpg #dnd #5e

Coming soon: Serenity Springs - Campaign setting and adventure for DnD What happens when DnD characters have to contend with the horrors of a 1950's suburb?

In Serenity Springs, walking somewhere always takes 1 hour while driving always takes 10 minutes. Its a navigation challenge for the players, and a parody of the car-dependence kicked off in this era.

Intrigued? Check out the Kickstarter, launching March 31.
tinyurl.com/3pppxe2h #ttrpg #dnd

Coming soon: Serenity Springs - Campaign setting and adventure for 5E What happens when 5E characters have to contend with the horrors of a 1950's suburb?

In Serenity Springs, sentient TV static called The Hayze censors all violence and nudity. The spelling is a direct reference to the Hays Code, a real thing that rigidly confined media in the 20th century.

Intrigued? Check out the Kickstarter, launching March 31
tinyurl.com/3pppxe2h #ttrpg #dnd

Coming soon: Serenity Springs - Campaign setting and adventure for 5E What happens when 5E characters have to contend with the horrors of a 1950's suburb?

#SelfPromoSaturday time!
Serenity Springs is my biggest project yet, a setting and adventure for 5E based on 1950s suburban America, launching on KS at the end of the month!

What other #ttrpg projects are folks working on?
www.kickstarter.com/projects/207...

To be clear, this isn’t a framework to apply to shows generally. It’s a glib way of encapsulating one of my core issues with the Boba Fett show.

I like to refer to that show as mathematically wrong. Half flashback + 1/4 Mando episodes = only 25% of the runtime is forward narrative momentum for the “main” character.

graphic that says no ice in Minnesota itch.io charity bundle

The No ICE in Minnesota Charity Bundle has officially LAUNCHED!

There are 1,439 games to discover for a $10+ donation to Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota!

Purchase the bundle here: itch.io/b/3484/no-ic...

No ICE in Minnesota A game jam from 2026-01-07 to 2026-01-27 hosted by jesthehuman. FAQ Can I submit multiple projects? You are welcome to submit multiple games, free, paid, or pay what you can, including new and existin...

This motivated me to finally get my work up on itch.io. I've added my very modest library to the bundle. Fellow game designers: if you can afford it, please consider joining. All proceeds go to the Minnesota Immigration Law Center. #ttrpg

itch.io/jam/no-ice-i...

At the top it says "Masks, a new generation" in font thats slanted off to the right. In the middle are five icons layed out roughly in a circle, starting with an embarrassed face, then (going right) an alien, then a bomb, then an oustretched hand, and finally two hands clasped together. At the bottom it says "Game Master Moves Re-Generated" in the same font as the top section.

Hi folks, I've made another GM moves cheatsheet, this one for #masksanewgeneration

It re-arranges the GM Moves cheatsheet into a more focused and customizable layout. Free on DTRPG.
tinyurl.com/mhandchu

P.S. If you think of other #pbta #ttrpg games that could use this treatment, let me know!

TTRPG 101: An Outsider Crash Course Don't know anything about TTRPGs? start here!

I've recently had to explain #ttrpg adventures to folks outside the hobby several times, so I wrote a blog post I can point them to in the future. Feel free to send it to folks in your life who want to know more about your hobby.

grinningportalgames.com/blog/ttrpg-101

In the upper left at an angle it says "Gabaghoul: A Sleazy Symbiosis." Below that is the key art showing a barrel in a cellar that has sprouted a green toothy mouth, a long tentacle, and several beady purple eyes. Beneath that it says "A monster of the week mystery", followed by the logo for Grinning Portal Games.

My newest #ttrpg project lives!

Gabaghoul: A Sleazy Symbiosis is a #monsteroftheweek adventure where the hunters race against the clock to stop a clan of ghouls from resurrecting (via human sacrifice) the enormous comatose mimic beneath the city.

Check it out on DTRPG
tinyurl.com/45zajwbk

I don't know why the "Piggy" thing is bothering me so much. It's one more unforgivable thing in a list of 20,000 unforgivable things, but I've been mad about it for like 12 straight hours.

A re-organized list of the keeper moves from Monster of the Week. The categories are: Foreshadowing & Tension, Surprise!, Simplify Hunter Goals, Complicate Hunter Goals, Threaten Physically, Pursue Monster Goals, Multipurpose. Each move type has a glyph next to it to indicate its original sorting (basic, location, bystander, minion, monster)

Hi folks. During my recent Monster of the Week campaign I made a resource for myself that I'd like to share.

Introducing Keeper Moves Re-Typed: the same move list you know and love, but organized by pacing/story beats. Free on DTRPG tinyurl.com/2b5ev6r3

#ttrpg #monsteroftheweek

View from the inside of a train looking out the window. There is no one in the seats on either side. Outside the window the view is all misty other than the reflection of a skeletal figure. There is a title across the top that says "No Time for the Wicked: Trapped on the Cyre 1313." On the top right there is a badge that says silver bestseller. On the bottom left is a small icon that says "A Ravenloft Adventure". At the bottom of the image it says "Trap your players in a time loop on a doomed lightning rail"

Looking for a time loop ghost train mystery for Halloween? Thats a weirdly specific ask but fortunately my adventure No Time for the Wicked is exactly that and currently 30% off! www.dmsguild.com/product/4937...

(Stay tuned for my next adventure featuring The Bagman)
#dnd #ttrpg #dnd5e

#WarRavagedPortland

I live and work in Portland. We have our problems, but we're far from "war torn." Americans, regardless of political affinity, should be horrified by a President occupying home soil. Especially when said President is so clearly driven by cruelty, selfishness, retribution, and pursuit of power.

Cover art for 8 different adventures, banner across the bottom that says "5e Adventure Bundle - 56% off"

My ghost train timeloop adventure, No Time for the Wicked, is part of this amazing Bundle on DMSguild. Check it out!
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

#ttrpg #dnd #5e

Check out my latest blog post on making time loops in ttrpgs. Special thanks to @drew-makes-games.itch.io for inspiring this post.

Just happened to schedule a game of Eat the Reich for today without realizing it’s VE Day 😂.

The dismantling of games journalism exactly mirrors the dismantling of the industry it covers.

It’s a very deliberate disassembly - media in general is being actively killed off by myopic and utterly useless vandals.

I sincerely wish ill for those who *indulge* in causing layoffs.

Coming soon: Serenity Springs - Campaign setting for 5e DND Serenity Springs is a new TTRPG horror setting based on 1950’s suburban America.

#WIPwednesday #ttrpg #dnd
Working on the adventure that will come with Serenity Springs, my upcoming suburban 1950's themed horror setting.

Current question: What does the statblock for a classic Roswell-style alien look like? 👽

Intrigued? Follow along here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/207...