iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

A TTRPG seems to be the only reasonable outlet for this particular idea since, rightly, no one will commission me to create an actual sitcom where the mummy's dialogue is just a series of death rattles and moans while the family gets ready to host the husbands boss for dinner.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

I have written a short ttrpg inspired by I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched called Stay at Home Mummy in which the players assume the role of a 1960s family unit, including the titular bandaged corpse. Here's a look at the front page while the layout is mucked around with.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Oh, I've also recently written a one page ttrpg riffing on sitcoms like I Dream of Jeanie and Bewitched named 'Stay at Home Mummy' in which you players assume the role of a 1960s family, but one of you is a bandaged corpse and your boss is coming over for dinner TONIGHT!!!

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Hello there, void. I've been away a bit. I started a new job- teaching is still awesome. I've also got a trailer for my first videogame, it's a slidey puzzle adventure. Here it is!

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

- A list of ancient, (occasionally comical) misdemeanors that was kept and added to by the staff - A set of keys on a ring, one of which seems in suspiciously good condition for its age - Ancient, well loved dog toys.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

We all had a 'ripping' good time in the end. And an AI slop regurgitating Saturn (of Devouring his Son fame) was executed for Fair Gold, which was nice.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

For my part in this (GM), session intro (thank you, Therapy Vulture), and will be indulging in some of the tropiest of tropes. For satire, of course. And our Emotion Knight has a classic Valley Girl accent "on stream", but is actually from Wigan and no one knows. So that will be fun. 2/2

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

Today we are playing @kierongillen.bsky.social and @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social 's Die TTRPG. Our personas are attempting to start an actual play of Die, pretending they're all good friends who happened to have a game together already, rather than the cynical bandwagon jumpers that they are 1/2

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

I've explained "it's simple, you just..." and then trailed off into minutiae because I've forgotten I've had an idea or system squatting in my brain for ages more times than I'd like to admit. Keep it simple is good advice, so is learning the difference between simple and familiar.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

The puzzle game I've been doing narrative stuff for has a little trailer. Expect fiendish slidey puzzling and [L O R E] galore #gamedev #indiegames

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

She has recently taken to bringing me her toys in the morning. She's very sure of what she wants out of life.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

She's a little bit bigger now, but this is Pib.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

I'm one half of a duo making a sliding puzzle game with unnecessarily deep lore and a story with big existential themes. It's like those pokemon puzzles, but a whole game and sad.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Happy Silksong Release Day to everyone who celebrates.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Fancy sharing this weird d20 of yours? I too would like a punishment shovel.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

What have I been up to, I hear you ask? I've been writing fake ad-reads for the fake Actual Play that is the framing devices for my game of Die this Sunday. This post is brought to you by Therapy Vulture: pick your psyche clean and use my referral code ThisCantCarrion for 10% off your first month.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

1. They often solve a problem without providing a solution (tyrant king: dead, no plan for succession, gives our loot and we'll skedaddle) 2. Goddamn it, I learnt Fireball, so I 'm going to solve this problem using Fireball. I think proper signposting of in-game consequence solves both of these.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

As a teacher (and autistic myself), it really seems that no decisions are made with any consideration of downstream consequences for anything other than the spreadsheet. Especially when it comes to SEND provision. I hope a solution that works for your son and for you is found soon

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

If you're up for something daft and different, I have a chaotic one page that you can play for free here: dbnolan.itch.io/lute-the-body If not me, then Spire: the City Must Fall is pretty great for one shots

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Great game this, everything about it is gorgeous and considered. That is to say, I was going to suggest this too!

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

A bunch of years ago, I wrote a song about a particular intersection of my autism and my mental health. While I am very proud of it, I wish it weren't still relevant to me. It's a screamy (screamo / skramz), song. We're getting around to our next record, slowly. Life, as it does, gets in the way

charlottelightanddark.bandcamp.com

Doused in Petrol and I'm Holding a Match, by Charlotte Light and Dark

from the album Postcards from Anhedonia

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

- We have an agreed day that is the same every week. - We will play our main campaign if 1 player is missing. - We will play a one shot in a different system if 2 players are missing - The whole group shouldn't be punished because someone can't make it. - FOMO is a great attendance driver.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

As long as they're clear that, however the clock moves forward, time will continue to pass - it should be fine. Even better if the challenge at time up is still accessible but ultimately much harder if resource collection has been neglected.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

It's fine, as long as the players are on board. Time pressures naturally preclude a lot of sidequests and "for the sake of it" explorations. This is a double edged sword of a streamlined game that risks feeling flattened and possibly samey as the nature of the deadline drives behaviour.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

The job application dilemma: 1. Declare that I am autistic, invariably do not receive a response. 2. Do not declare that I am autistic, more often than not receive an invitation to interview that I cannot attend because one of my reasonable adjustments for access is enhanced notice of interview.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

It should always be used in conjunction with "no, but" and the very occasional hard "no". Yes, we are creating a shared fiction but we are also playing within a shared rule space. A dependence on "yes, and" can flex, fatigue and eventually break agreed boundaries of both the fiction and rulespace.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Wrong? No, quite the contrary: evil chuckles are like vegetables, you should be aiming for 5 portions of evil mirth every day. Maybe just don't enact every last one, unless they are all particularly good.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Hell yeah. Horrors beyond comprehension and a brightly coloured palette is 100% a vibe.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Pib has discovered the turntable and the life altering power of German screamo.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

The great skramz train has continued long into the day. I've been tippy tapping away at my whimsical game manuscript whilst this phenomenal (and probably my favourite) skramz record by June Paik blasts away in the background.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

This is right up my street, looking forward to giving this a try!

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

The main project I'm working on is a TTRGP in which players play various Fae folk with the aim of disrupting human life in order to become famous within their respective Fae court. It's called Court in the Act and it is coming along quite nicely. Here is the tiniest of tiny snippets.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

I like listening to my records while I write my TTRPG book because it forces me to stand up and turn them over when a side ends. Just a small moment of mental space while I flip the record or choose a new one. Today we're starting with a nostalgic skramz classic from We Came Out Like Tigers.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

I thrown some extreme stuff at my players (whilst being mindful of their triggers, lines and veils, of course), but all of that is meaningless if there is no room to process it, grow from it, or overcome it (even momentarily). After a while the endless misery just becomes cartoonish.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Delivered a neat twist in my regular 5e game at the weekend: The magical assassin the group had been tracking was not a powerful mage or multiclass, but actually just a guy who knows find familiar and inflict wounds. He used a spider to get into bedrooms and deliver the spell to sleeping victims

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Tone and intensity should ebb and flow at least a bit, even the most unrelentingly bleak setting must have moments of respite otherwise it's just tiring and everyone just becomes numb to what we're trying to achieve. This variety also helps the world feel more alive and less like a story corridor

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

We got Pib (our kitten) one of those motorized Ouija board toys from Pets at Home and she loves it. The problem is that she now hovers about an inch off the floor, all the flowers in the house have wilted. Which is fine, but it's also effecting the salad in the fridge.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Looking forward to having a pop at this.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

But I understand centipedes and woodlice.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Sometimes it feels like I'm (conversationally) shining a torch on a dark ritual and seeing its participants scatter into the shadows.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

The tundra-like frost that creeps into some interactions when I am open about being autistic is enough to need several extra pairs of socks. Yet I'm the one with the supposed "communication and interaction disorder".

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Next Sunday we're playing @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social 's Die TTRPG for the first time in a little while. The setup this time is a group of minor online celebrities attempting to pool together their puddles of clout for an extremely ill-advised Actual Play.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Game time in an hour. The post big-arc sandbox moment of "so, what would you like to do" is always exciting. There are so many threads to pull on and I can't wait to see what unravels next.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Which might be a problem if* we're trying to dissuade these behaviours. It could be a bit of a 'giving the villains the cool outfit' vibe. *If that's the context of your campaign and everyone is cool with that, sure: you do you.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Destruction Driven Dynamic Parties works for me, and has the benefit of being shortened down to 3D parties, the 3 Ds or Triple D parties for the Guy Fieri of it all.

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

If I'm thinking metal for something like a dragon, I'd go for something that feels big and cinematic. In the style of post-metal. Get that sense of scale and imposing atmosphere. Groups like Russian Circles and Isis (the band) scratch that itch for me.

youtube.com

Russian Circles - "Gnosis" (Official Video)

YouTube video by Sargent House

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Darran (writes games) @dbnolan.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

I think that being happy to see the spirit of sharing and collaboration can coexist with wanting to see more than simple iteration on an already simple concept. That is to say, I know how you feel.

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