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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop

@backwardsttrpg.bsky.social
1.7K followers 497 following 2.5K posts

He/him. Designing indie ttrpgs Newest Project: SPINE - A dark solo ttrpg about losing yourself in a book backwards-tabletop.itch.io/spine www.backwardstabletop.com

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Reposted by Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop
Scare-on Lim 林家丰 @ PAX Aus @ehronlime.bsky.social · 16h
Made a nice update to the summary sheet and play materials for Get In The Dungeon, Losers! in preparation for playtesting at PAX Aus this weekend. This is my adventuregame of lousy dungeon delvers working for horrible Archmage bosses a la Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser or your creatures in MtG.
How to Play summary for Get In The Dungeon, Losers!Rules for Tracks & Encounters, and Creating Your Loser for Get In The Dungeon, Losers!Rules for Capacities and Death, and Usefulness for Get In The Dungeon, Losers!Rules for Advancement in Get In The Dungeon, Losers!
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Scare-on Lim 林家丰 @ PAX Aus @ehronlime.bsky.social · 7h
Check out the newly neat and nicely laid out Get In The Dungeon, Losers! sheets
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Scare-on Lim 林家丰 @ PAX Aus @ehronlime.bsky.social · 7h
Reminder this is happening tonight!
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Reckless Attack Podcast @recklessattack.bsky.social · 13h
Today is our show's 5th Bday!! (yes birth she is our son & we love them) 150+ eps, and even more frogs. It's been a lot of work, but deeply fulfilling. We are so thankful to have gotten to do it together AND with all of you. Say a nice thing to us as a lil treat (for us)
A drawing of a stack of frogs designed to look like a cake with the text "Five years of podcasting recklessly"
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 11h
I think there's a fun opportunity to display the artifacts of keepsake games. To plug one from SPINE, this player created an incredibly beautiful edition during their playthrough: bsky.app/profile/back... I'd be happy to contact them to see if they still have it.
Photos of SPINE by gillidig42.
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Almost Bedtime Theater @almostbedtime.bsky.social · 14h
✨Needed: Solo Journaling #TTRPG Playtesters ✨ 🗡️ Concept: Ex-adventurer reminiscing about the past and running a restaurant 🍔 Touchstones: Legends & Lattes, Stewpot RPG 📝 Solo & solo-together play options ⭐️ Feedback needed by Oct 18 Ping me here if you are interested. Thank you!
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 18h
Robin's videos are always worth a watch, and this is another incredible one with so many great games featured. It's an honor, too, to see SPINE listed among solo RPGs that showcase unique qualities of the genre.
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 23h
In case you missed it, last week I announced the second game in this project... A cursed game-within-a-game. Mousetrap 🪤.
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Robin J | Cozy RPG Reviews @cozyrpgreviews.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Another video some folks here might spot themselves in! A recommendations list thinking about what solo TTRPGs can offer to newcomers, and what games are accessible and representative starting points. Hope someone finds it useful! Or at least interesting. youtu.be/edGC97xaV94
youtu.be
How to pick your first solo TTRPG
YouTube video by Cozy RPG Reviews
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Lorenmakesvideos @lorenmakesvideos.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Solo playthrough of my game, The Final Days of Anne Boleyn! youtu.be/wCcR8JMrR88
youtu.be
I Tried To Change Anne Boleyn's Fate (Solo RPG)
YouTube video by Loren makes videos
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This was very fun to play with a clever endgame. Alex also had an excellent pcio setup for it!
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Have a great day and happy birthday!
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Dr. Emily Friedman @ecfriedman.com · 04/10/2026
This week at @folger.edu Artistic Research Fellow, award-winning clown, & playful co-conspirator Chase Brantley is doing an interactive conversation about his research connecting contemporary clowning to the pre-Restoration history of the practice.
folger.edu
Cocktails & Conversation: "Fools Breaking Rules" with Chase Brantley | Folger Shakespeare Library
Join us for Cocktails & Conversation with Artistic Research Fellow Chase Brantley! Brantley will lead an interactive conversation using contemporary clowning technique as a lens into the Renaissance s...
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Aaron King @aaronmfking.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Trying out my new personality trait: insulting dice collectors.
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Iain McAllister @giantbrain.co.uk · 04/10/2026
Bit of a contemplative one from me today as I look back on a life in games. giantbrain.co.uk/2026/10/04/46/
giantbrain.co.uk
46 - The Giant Brain
Today I bring you an autobiographical piece, steeped in Nostalgia as my 46th brithday passes behind me.
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S. Kaiya J. || Mirror-lock Atelier @mirror-lock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
If you're looking to put some autumn spice into your TTRPG folder, please check out this bundle! Not because I have a game in it (although I do) but because there are FIFTY-ONE other indie games you can get for just fifteen bucks!
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Lorenmakesvideos @lorenmakesvideos.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Bit of a preview of a work in progress for my new game!
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Pidj @pidj.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
piggybacking off of Hugh's 6-month-old post to remind people that I made an anthology of games and game materials based off of Tracy Chapman songs! Titled 'Fiction in the Space Between', it is available digitally from my itch pidj.itch.io/fiction-in-t...
pidj.itch.io
Fiction in the Space Between by pidj
A Tracy Chapman TTRPG Zine
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Holy smokes, Hodag is incredible!
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Once again, as part of the design process, I have been writing essays and conducting interviews around the game’s core intentions. During the pre-launch of the kickstarter, I’ll be releasing these essays and interviews. You can sign up to receive them and any game announcements here:
backwardstabletop.com
Essays on TTRPGs - Backwards Tabletop
On this page, you'll find all of my essays about tabletop RPGs.
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Quinn murphy @gamefiend.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Been feeling frustrated (mostly with myself) about game design lately, so let me take a moment and take a small amount of pride in what ive released in the last couple of years. Here are my beautiful books/trifolds:
Four A5 sized books and four trifolds on a table
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Becky Annison @beckyannison.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Running #ttrpg one-shots - especially for conventions is a real art. @armadajosh.bsky.social. @ickbat.bsky.social and me sat down to talk about our tips for the tight timeslot work! Last UKGE we all ran 1-hour demo games so we talked about how we made that a success too. Check it out! #rpg #dnd
youtube.com
Lunchtime is dicetime: One shots, conventions and campaign ttrpgs - get the pacing right Episode 9
YouTube video by Black Armada Games
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Montford Tales @montfordtales.com · 02/10/2026
This is the month I turn 45, so here's a little celebratory bundle for completing one more journey around the sun. 🎂 Pick up all my games (in PDF) for the bargain price of $45. Available from now until the end of October. Vampires, werewolves, and spooky TV shows, oh my! itch.io/s/202936/tur...
itch.io
Turning 45 sale by Rori Montford
A bundle by Rori Montford, $45.00 for 4 games
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Follow the Kickstarter for a pair of companion games in which Shakespeare’s plays meet the Bakers’ mini-games. With matching covers by Caro Asercion! Pick the one that interests you most or get them both and save on shipping.
kickstarter.com
Coming soon: Mousetrap & Violent Delights
A cursed game-within-a-game that won't go back into its box, and a chess-based RPG about Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.
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Colin/CoMoo 🔜 Metatopia - Sociable Turtle Games @sociable-turtle.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Go check out @nnoa.bsky.social 's article on procedural generation and storytelling, I think it's pretty dang cool
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Coffee All Night Games ➡️ Arcane Con @coffeeallnight.itch.io · 01/10/2026
At 4:00 pm EST today all hell breaks loose. #ttrpg #rpg #indierpg #kickstarter #witchstarter #horror #halloween #thedecay www.kickstarter.com/projects/cof...
kickstarter.com
Coming soon: The Decay: Survival Horror Roleplaying
A tabletop roleplaying game of weird horror and the struggle to survive it.
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
You had me at Carly Rae Jepsen.
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Sarah Doom @scorchadoom.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It's LIVE! Get In the Pines either on my Patreon or Itch. I really appreciate it. www.patreon.com/sarahdoom/po... sarahdoom.itch.io/in-the-pines
patreon.com
In the Pines | sarahdoom
In the Pines by sarahdoom on Patreon. Join sarahdoom's community for exclusive content and updates.
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Prismatic Wasteland @prismaticwasteland.com · 01/10/2026
A lot of people are making their own stuff for Into the Oddish. For those who want to make more types of Pokemon as player characters, I put together some guidelines for how I would design them. It is a lot less formulaic than designing Pokemon as enemies. #ttrpg #osr #pokemon
prismaticwasteland.com
Wanting to Be the Very Best Pokémon: Playable Pokémon for Into the Oddish — Prismatic Wasteland
Guidelines for creating playable Pokemon (essentially classes) for Into the Oddish.
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Clayton @explorersdesign.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This month’s design newsletter might have the most jams of any Explorateur in the last two years. October is always a busy month. www.explorersdesign.com/the-explorat...
explorersdesign.com
The Explorateur: October '26
Monthly jams, critique, theory, and resources for rpg designers.
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A Couple of Drakes @acoupleofdrakes.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
We've completed another orbit, crew. 40 today. Gonna eat a cheesecake and day-drink. In the meantime, y'all can do me a birthday solid and check out a couple crowdfunders that are near and dear to my heart. Like Nova 2e www.kickstarter.com/projects/the...
kickstarter.com
NOVA 2
Pilot mechs on a sunless world in this exciting second edition of the NOVA TTRPG!
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paisley ghostlywhispers @nerdywhispers.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
look at some of these cool illustrations i did! they were commissions for an Under Hollow Hills campaign! #illustration #commission #ttrpg
Burning Jack, a kind-eyed older gentleman dressed in fancy red clothes.Willow Briar, a performer in grandiose purple and gold clothing and large antlers.
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Sticky Doodler 🖍️ Color Jam @stickydoodler.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Play Color Jam with me and VOTE on where to go next: 1. Green in the upper-right tree: all the colors change numbers 2. Brown in the gate: break symmetric monotony 3. Purple next to the fox: give it more tails 4. Dark blue on the steps: make it winter Explainer: youtube.com/shorts/iO79P...
Half-finished coloring page of a torii with numbered spaces corresponding to the text of the post
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Mousetrap has numerous inspirations. Mini-games come from Firebrands-style games with permission from @lumpley.bsky.social & @megueyb.bsky.social. Art derives from John Austen’s Hamlet (1922), and the game is nothing without Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Christie’s The Mousetrap, and Tom Stoppard’s plays.
lumpley.itch.io
Under Hollow Hills presents In Dreaming Avalon by Meguey & Vincent Baker, et al
A Role-playing Party Game of Arthurian Knights and Shakespearean Fairies
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Scare-on Lim 林家丰 @ PAX Aus @ehronlime.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Beware of mimics, the real Playtest Zero is back next week! For our US-friendly session, join us next Thursday, 8 October from 6 pm (PT) / 9 pm (ET) to late over at the Session Zero Discord server to do some 1-hour playtests of TTRPGs/game bits and chat with other designers! (Image unrelated)
Royal Dansk biscuit tin that has been turned into a craft mimic with a fabric tongue and sewing pins.
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Scare-on Lim 林家丰 @ PAX Aus @ehronlime.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Get your sewing tins ready, Playtest Zero is back next week! For our SEA-friendly session, join us next Tuesday, 6 October at 8 pm (GMT+8) over at the Session Zero Discord server to do some 1-hour playtests of TTRPGs/game bits and chat with other designers! (Image unrelated)
Image of a Royal Dansk biscuit tin with a d20 roll table where 1 indicates its contents are a Mimic, 20 gets you Cookies, and 2-19 gets you Sewing gear
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Sarah Doom @scorchadoom.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Somehow tomorrow is October 1st. I’ll be releasing the pdf of In the Pines, my survival horror PBtA game where a group of women go camping to bond, and find…something is there with them. It’s the ashcan, so play it and tell me what you think! I’d like to make it a better game.
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Exeunt Press 💀🎲 @exeunt.press · 30/09/2026
In case you missed it...
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Clayton @explorersdesign.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I’ve been thinking a lot more about freelance design and how mystifying it is to most people, especially if you came through the proverbial back door with rpgs. Today, I’m thinking about the three most popular pricing models and my thoughts on them. www.explorersdesign.com/working-desi...
explorersdesign.com
Design Hireling: Pricing Models
3 pricing models for freelance graphic designers and artists in rpgs.
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nervous demon purveyor 🔥 ndpdesign 🦄 Unwritten Earths Symposium @ndpdesign.com · 30/09/2026
We didn't set out to do a small series of interviews on the show (more conversations, really) but they've been really fun!
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Thank you, Tristan!
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Tristan Zimmerman - Molten Sulfur Press @moltensulfur.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Some friends playtested Mousetrap and won't shut up about how brilliant they found it. :)
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Coffee All Night Games ➡️ Arcane Con @coffeeallnight.itch.io · 30/09/2026
💀⚠️💀 We are launching tomorrow, and we have another contributor to the Mass Grave stretch goal zine: @johnharper.bsky.social John is joining an already stacked list of folks who are going to be bringing their own unique perspectives to this zine. www.kickstarter.com/projects/cof...
kickstarter.com
Coming soon: The Decay: Survival Horror Roleplaying
A tabletop roleplaying game of weird horror and the struggle to survive it.
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Becky Annison @beckyannison.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
5 mins to showtime!
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
COMING SOON: In prelaunch w/ Violent Delights, another game inspired by Shakespeare: Mousetrap is a cursed game-within-a-game that won’t go back into its box. It’s game night. You and your friends have gathered to play a Hamlet-inspired game manuscript from 1983. But there’s a catch…
kickstarter.com
Coming soon: Mousetrap & Violent Delights
A cursed game-within-a-game that won't go back into its box, and a chess-based RPG about Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Mousetrap has several contributors who have helped make it special: Interior art by @stregawolf.art, design consultation by @seraphina.diceexploder.com, cover art by @seaexcursion.itch.io, and editing by @furtsburrow.bsky.social.
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Becky Annison @beckyannison.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
We are going live in about 1 hour everyone! Set your watches. #ttrpg #rpg #dnd #gming #gaming
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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 30/09/2026
In one week I click the button and let slip the dogs of fractal history… Tuesday October 6 www.kickstarter.com/projects/lam...
kickstarter.com
Coming soon: Microscope (2nd Edition)
The fractal game of epic histories
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Awesome quality series with great cameos!
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Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop @backwardsttrpg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Rather than your standard press release, I talk a little bit about what drew me into making Mousetrap, about what feels both Shakespearean and dramatic about Firebrands-style games, about metagames. I hope you'll check it out, via @rascal.news!
rascal.news
In Mousetrap, metagames and Shakespeare meet with Firebrands mini-games
The cursed game-within-a-game has landed on Kickstarter
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