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explorersdesign.bsky.social
Designer. Educator. 2025 ENNIES Judge. Roleplaying games. Writes at Explorers Design. Pro-union and cooperatives. He/Him/His.
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Today, I Read Stewpot, a Firebrands game of retiring your Dwarf Paladin to run a fantasy inn. Is it the best cosy fantasy game ever, or is it a bridge too far for your 5th edition playing friends? playfulvoid.game.blog/2025/02/27/i...

submitted 2 days ago • 3 comments

Community is complicated. Especially when we turn to the internet for it. This is a very personal article. It's me musing on my past experiences, my beliefs around organizing, and why BlueSky—albeit great in many ways—is not a community. And that's okay. www.explorersdesign.com/gaming-commu...

submitted 2 days ago • 6 comments

"We'll never have enough and they'll never be good enough, because half of what I think makes community great is the process of making and improving them." @explorersdesign.bsky.social on the whys and hows of building a community for games: www.explorersdesign.com/gaming-commu...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

There will never be peace so long as nazis live.

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

I'm currently chest-deep in day job work, ENnies judging, and wedding planning, so I haven't had a chance to publish anything for Explorers. In the meantime, here's a collection of rpg design assets, tools, and templates I've collected on Itch: itch.io/c/5045542/de...

submitted 10 days ago • 3 comments

Every good table has a little bit of calvinball—moments where we created a house rule—but this is something else entirely. I can already picture the emergent "meta game" of pitching weirder and weirder mechanics, or trying to devise perfect fits for whatever rules were calvinballed last.

submitted 10 days ago • 1 comment

Mila had it coming. Her gumption was her doom.

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

Mila Mal, who has been silently watching her fellow inmates—like a person holding a frog in their mouth—finally says something to the imps. In tongues. "Let's go find something to kill." She raises her finger to the open door as the bitter speech uncoils from her lips—a command and an invitation.

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

Introducing: Mila Mal An assassin with undeniable gumption, who was arrested for speaking in tongues. SWEET SPOT: 79–93 LUCK: 2 ALIGNMENT: Odd STARTING LOCATION: 18 #VALLEY100

submitted 24 days ago • 2 comments

Deep Dive: Stonetop was my favorite review from last year. It renewed my interest in Stonetop and sparked a dozen other ideas about RPGs. Reviews and critique are hard. Often thankless. That’s why you should give Paul a read, he’s doing great work, and it contributes a lot to the hobby.

submitted 26 days ago • 1 comment

Thank you to everyone who voted for The 1 HP Dragon! I’ll write a longer article post-Bloggies soon, but for now: “Slaying the 1 HP Dragon” is coming. I can’t wait to co-host next year’s Bloggies. And a special thanks to the other writers for making awesome posts.

submitted 26 days ago • 4 comments

Wow thanks for the shout out! Glad that my nerdy ramblings on tiktok and instagram are reaching the right folks. 🫶

submitted 27 days ago • 1 comment

There are many curation newsletters, so carving out a niche is important. The Explorateur is distinctly about rpg design for rpg designers. That means no APs, no GMing advice, and no info about sales. (Others do it better anyway.) But it does have a unique section too...

submitted 27 days ago • 1 comment

Narrator: They're not, but now you're reading this awesome article, which was the ostrich's plan all along!

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

Another month. Another issue of The Explorateur, my curation of rpg design links for rpg designers. Looted. Vetted. Curated. This month's issue has a pile of links—including a gauntlet of jams, insightful reviews, and some resources you might have missed. www.explorersdesign.com/the-explorat...

submitted 27 days ago • 2 comments

Huge respect to Rise Up Comus for this resource. Chapter 6 in particular is not an easy thing to write about—there are so many approaches, theories, and conflicting best practices for things like traps, secret doors, and interactive features.

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

Okay, we're off to the races! I've been writing the Indie Game Reading Club a *very* long time but you know what? We've never won anything! After studying the competition I see why. There's a lot of great work out there. Get in there, take a look at the finalists (at the very least) and vote!

submitted 28 days ago • 1 comment

The Bloggies are officially in the finals, and The 1 HP Dragon is in it. Thank you to everyone who supported me in the theory bracket. I would love one final vote. You can't go wrong with anyone. Whoever wins this year hosts the next year. Amanda and I might even co-run it.

submitted 28 days ago • 1 comment

Are there any good jams or contests starting next month? Trying to fill out tomorrow's Explorateur. I know of The Nameless Scriptures Jam, Forever Open Source 2025, Feminonenon Jam, and Enter the Zungeon—but I must be missing something else.

submitted 28 days ago • 5 comments

i've been starting every day this week by watching another one of joseph lewis's Writing a TTRPG Adventure videos. they're golden: youtu.be/s-CB3Iynt8I?...

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

While we all wait for the Bloggie finals voting to open, I hereby present my alternative awards: The Snubbies! My hand-picked favourites of this year's Bloggie finalists that did not get a podium finish. personabler.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-... Please share your own non-winning favourites!

submitted 29 days ago • 1 comment

You can’t go wrong with anything in this year’s review bracket. My article explaining the order behind the chaos of Mörk Borg is one of my favorites I wrote last year.

submitted 32 days ago • 1 comment

Dungeon Crawl Classics is a lot of fun. I wrote a review of it a couple years ago where I got a little philosophical about how DCC delivers on "old-school." www.explorersdesign.com/dungeon-craw...

submitted 32 days ago • 1 comment