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elmcat

@elmc.at
1.1K followers 509 following 1.3K posts

Blogging about TTRPGs among other things.

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Juniper Harper Lark @juniperhl.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I’ve just spent the last two months prepping a megagame. Its a live text discord RPG set on a space station full of factional intrigue and desperate people, incorporating all the lessons we've learned since the time we all did that last October. Enjoy! thegardenbelow.blot.im/apa-1/so-im-...
thegardenbelow.blot.im
APA-1 / So, i’m running a megagame. - The Garden Below
An announcement of a new live text discord megagame starting October 16th 2026.
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Emily Dische-Becker @emilydische.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
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Ben L @benlaurence.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I just released a 139 digest-sized ruleset for my upcoming Jorune campaign to my Patrons. I'll be sharing some material on my blog next week. In the meantime, if you want to see a ruleset built for large player base, living world campaigns in a psychedelic science fantasy setting, link is in bio.
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J.D. 🤯 @ratbastardgames.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
rat-bastard-games.itch.io/wolves-of-th... HEY DO YOU LIKE THE BRONZE AGE AND HEXCRAWLS? DO YOU LIKE THE MINOANS? CHECK OUT CRETE FOR WOLVES OF THE AEGEAN THE RULES ARE FREE
rat-bastard-games.itch.io
Wolves of the Aegean by Rat Bastard Games
Mythic Bronze Age Hexcrawl
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cannibal princess @yyakamo.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
mashing everything ive made for my megadungeon recently into a zine for my notebook
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J.D. 🤯 @ratbastardgames.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
nctgdotgov.bearblog.dev/wolves-of-th...
nctgdotgov.bearblog.dev
Wolves of the Aegean
A Bronze Age hack of Wolves Upon the Coast by Luke Gearing. <https://lukegearing.itch.io/wolves-upon-the-coast-grand-campaign> Get the PDF and Book 1: C...
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Afraid of Encounters (He/Him) @isaacisafraid.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Ea-nāṣir Must Die! has a release date: 13 October 2026! We are collaborating with @plusoneexp.bsky.social and @davidblandyrpgs.bsky.social Copy/Paste Co-op for a full release on both digital and physical. An OSR (Mark of the Odd) adventure for 3–5 players set in Ancient Mesopotamia! #ttrpg #osr
A copper plate wanted poster of Ea-nāṣir that looks like the meme. And an illustration of Ea-nāṣir by Citaaticat.Ea-nāṣir is a copper merchant from Ur.
Ea-nāṣir sold bad copper.
Ea-nāṣir received many complaint tablets.
Ea-nāṣir made many enemies.
Ea-nāṣir Must Die!Cover of Ea-nāṣir Must Die!

Coming soon on 13 October 2026 from Copy/Paste Co-op UK & Plus One Exp US
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Sandro AD 🔜 PAX Unplugged @sandroad.moe · 22/09/2026
[ ~ Where grief stirs, spirits linger ~ ] Dive into the kaleidoscopic fantasy of Beneath the Floating World, a Carved from Brindlewood game of psychedelic zenpunk exorcism ~ Uncover twisted truths, face supernatural horrors and navigate your mortal woes . . . sandroad.itch.io/restrain-ref...
The cover for beneath the floating world ~ Featuring an onryo-esc figure above two silhouetted exorcistsThe beginning of character creation rulesThe center fold describing the parallel Day and Night phases of playThe 12 Exorcist Moves that can each define a character
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Afraid of Encounters (He/Him) @isaacisafraid.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
If the way you play TTRPGs is basically how a lot of people play, then you shouldn’t go “woe is me” when someone challenges or debates you simply because they play differently. afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev/a-ttrpg-play...
afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev
A TTRPG Playstyle Rant (A Short Blog Post)
Here's a short blog post. More of a rant. If the way you play TTRPGs is basically how a lot of people play, then you shouldn’t go “woe is me” when some...
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elmcat @elmc.at · 19/09/2026
am I a reviewer now???? elmc.at/shadowrun-re...
elmc.at
Shadowrun Review
Thirty years late. I finally review this game.
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Magnolia Keep @magnoliakeep.itch.io · 16/09/2026
Why the fuck does the Questing Beast RPG Survey ask you your political affiliation.
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sam “ludonarrative disinterest” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
[rings bell] theoryslop! theoryslop! come get yer theoryslop while it's still hot!
one page. header reads "RPG DESIGNER THEORYSLOP ALIGNMENT CHARTS & SHEET." gray text under the header reads "You have 20 points to assign to each stat array, Pendragon-style. For tri- or otherwise multi-polar arrays, express the stats as ranges, e.g. “Gamist 1–7 / Dramatist 8–9 / Simulationist 10–20.”
subheaders followed by lines for writing read: "Designer: / Project: / Link:"
subheader reads "Binary Traits," followed by a list of silly game studies paired descriptors and space to write stats: "Ludologist / Narratologist // Game-as-Activity / Game-as-Object // Proceduralist / Anti-Proceduralist // Diegetic / Endogenous // Suitsian / Non-Suitsian // Closed Lusory Goal / Open Lusory Goal // Toy-Game / Meta-Game // Character-Locked / Authorial // Problem-Solving / Story-Telling // Rulebooks / Adventures."
subheader reads "Special Twinned Binary Traits (the Bartle Zone)," followed by gray text reading "Assign 20 points to each axis, but make a single roll when testing the combined traits." following is a two-axis chart, north-south reading "Social / Non-Social" and west-east reading "Aggressive / Passive." 
in the second column, a subheader reads "Multi-Polar Traits" followed by shapes with stats at their corners: triangle, "Dramatist / Gamist / Simulationist"; square, "Agon / Alea / Mimicry / Ilinx"; hexagon, "Classic / OSR / Trad / Nordic larp / Neotrad / Storygames"; square, "Gamer / Actor / Socialite / Immersive." 
a subheader reads "Skills," followed by a big list of 32 skills, with space for stats next to each: Academia, Acting, Art Direction, Blog, Cartography, Copyediting, Credit Rating, Day Jon, Game Studies, Graphic Design, Illustration, Layout, Line Editing, Livestream, Marketing, Networking, Operations, Organizing, Podcast, Printing, Production, Proofreading, Shitpost, Shortform Video, Social Media, Thirst Trap, Video Essay, Web Dev, Writ. (Adventure), Writing (Lore), Writing (Rules), Other: "
gray text reads "Sam Sorensen, September 2026"same theoryslop designer sheet as before, this time filled out in handwritten green, for me, Sam. I skew towards problem-solving, goal-driven play, as well as towards adventures, imaginary worlds, and simulationism. the notable inclusions in my skills lists are a +6 in game studies, a +4 in academic, blog, layout, line editing, and adventure-writing, and a +2 in "museum," my "other" skill
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Garrison @garrisongondek.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Finally blogged. I figured, what better use for a blog than to just ruminate on a topic vaguely publicly, without any real point to make? This time: thoughts about what the hell "problem-solving" even means when all the problems are imaginary. onlyonpaper.bearblog.dev/so-like-what...
onlyonpaper.bearblog.dev
So like... what does everybody mean when they talk about "problem solving?"
Imagine you're exploring an old ruin in real life. You're somewhere deep within this crumbling structure, risking something collapsing on top of you or out f...
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Kenzie @kenzius.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Slightly behind everyone else, I wrote an essay about Magic. snakebiterpg.blogspot.com/2026/09/agai...
snakebiterpg.blogspot.com
Against Magic Systems, Volume I
I don't really like magic systems. In fact, I'll go further: I don't like the idea of even calling magic a "system." I don't like it havin...
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elmcat @elmc.at · 14/09/2026
yea wolves upon the coast is cool elmc.at/rub-my-body-...
elmc.at
Rub My Body in Goose Fat, Daddy, I Want to Fly
Magic has become boring.
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elmcat @elmc.at · 14/09/2026
yea wolves upon the coast is cool elmc.at/rub-my-body-...
elmc.at
Rub My Body in Goose Fat, Daddy, I Want to Fly
Magic has become boring.
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Sharon 🪳🌹 @sharonk.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Overall, if the CIA or whatever other malign force wanted to commit a psyop to undercut the left, I doubt they could do anything more damaging than connecting all of us to social media and convincing us that it is an important front of political struggle and maybe even a way to gain cultural hegemony on the cheap. But the CIA did not do that. Russian bots did not do that. We did it to ourselves, and most of us continue to do so. If everyone on the progressive left simultaneously and permanently quit Twitter-style social media, that would be better. Whatever we would be losing would be more than offset by no longer allowing social media to teach us to be more rude, more arrogant, more stupid each and every day. We might even stand a chance! At the very least, our collective blood pressure would be lowered, our anxiety and irritability decreased, our one finite irretrievable life less thoroughly wasted on stupid arguments about stupid topics carried out in the stupidest possible way.
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Valeria Loves @valerialoves.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I’m going to make a heroic fantasy hack of Rat Fuck. www.paradiso.zone/rat-fuck-rpg/
paradiso.zone
🐀 Rat Fuck RPG
I stumbled into making an RPG, gave it a stupid name, and now it comes with your membership :)
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Afraid of Encounters (He/Him) @isaacisafraid.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Great blogpost from elm the cat as usual~ I wrote The Knight Errant: Expanded Edition for OSR, and ran it using Daggerheart at a local con. They said I was a madman for trying, but it worked.
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The Dusk Witch @duskwitch13.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Another Elmcat banger! Speaking to his first example, I love Sailors of the Starless Sea, but I run it using my own setting and system - if you know how to translate, you can run DCC adventures in anything! Just do it! lairoftheduskwitch.bearblog.dev/dungeon-of-t...
lairoftheduskwitch.bearblog.dev
Dungeons of the Dusk Witch
A rules lite hack for one-shots and dungeon exploration.
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elmcat @elmc.at · 10/09/2026
lot of swearing when they make me blog late night in bed elmc.at/make-it-your...
elmc.at
Make It Your Own
Just fucking do it.
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Afraid of Encounters (He/Him) @isaacisafraid.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
These are the blogposts made for the Indonesian TTRPG Blogwagon, from 17th of August to 10th of September. I used the opportunity to rally the Indonesians and international TTRPG hobbyists to create gameable blogpost related to Indonesia. Enjoy! afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev/indonesian-t...
afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev
Indonesian TTRPG Blogwagon ROUNDUP
Links to all the Indonesian TTRPG Blogwagon blogposts
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Simon Strick @unddieregel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Es gibt Studien dass man keine rechte politik machen soll wenn man keine rechte partei ist, weil es den rechten parteien hilft und einem selbst schadet wenn man rechte politik macht und sagt man wäre keine rechte partei während die rechten parteien einfach sagen wir sind rechts, so sagen die studien
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Luke Gearing @lukegearing.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
did a book for mr ableton g cook of pc music fame innit
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tante @tante.cc · 09/09/2026
Apple couldn't leave the stalkerware market to Meta with their Pervert Glasses. Gonna be fun to see the fanboys twist into knots arguing that this is good akschually.
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Zack Whittaker @zackwhittaker.com · 09/09/2026
Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
a screenshot from an iPhone and Apple Watch showing "recaps" of conversations from ambient audio.
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 08/09/2026
Zohran Mamdani released 170K documents revealing that post-9/11 asbestos levels remained dangerous for months, despite officials saying the air was safe. As we saw at the start of COVID, officials still treat essential workers as expendable. This is a long-overdue step in the right direction.
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Dr. Jonathan Schroden @jjschroden.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
As we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11 & start of the GWOT, it’s worth noting that many of the tactics developed for those wars—in this case, all source fusion intel-driven targeting—are now being employed at home on US citizens Who are not, in fact, terrorists www.404media.co/a-secretive-...
404media.co
A Secretive DHS ‘Predictive Policing’ Unit is Analyzing Americans’ Financial Habits and Pulling Them Over
404 Media is revealing the name of Border Patrol's predictive policing units, which analyze financial data and have local cops pull people over. The people are not suspected of any particular crime.
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Alder Cheems @aldercheems.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
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Afraid of Encounters (He/Him) @isaacisafraid.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Another entry for the Indonesian TTRPG Blogwagon from me. I suuuuuuuuuuck at designing mechanics and procedures, but I'm trying anyway. Here's a magic system based on Indonesian occult practice where you negotiate it instead of casting it yourself! afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev/indonesian-t...
afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev
Indonesian TTRPG Blogwagon: An Indonesian Magic System
Magic system based on Indonesian occult practice
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franc @francfrancfranc.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
joeb.bearblog.dev/confidence-a...
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elmcat @elmc.at · 28/08/2026
your favorite spell from that 80s game and what is not elmc.at/it-aint-blorb/
elmc.at
It ain't blorb
No quantum ogres were harmed.
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elmcat @elmc.at · 28/08/2026
your favorite spell from that 80s game and what is not elmc.at/it-aint-blorb/
elmc.at
It ain't blorb
No quantum ogres were harmed.
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Kati, A Certified Yapper @bakenshake.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Time to feed the machine: theplayreports.com/posts/consum... #blog #ttrpg #hobby #commodity
theplayreports.com
The Play Reports
Creator Consumer Friction
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🎃Farmer GaddAAAHH!!!!🎃 @farmergadda.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Dnd (Brand) blots out the sun despite Dnd (product) being Fine at best, and as a result Dnd (Activity) suffers by (Brand) successfully convincing folks theyre the only game in town. Its the Brand we hate and wish to tear up by its roots.
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(Self) Regulators, mount up! @bankuei.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
I'm playing in two games, running one, and organizing to run another. The game I'm running is 4 years and going. One of the games I'm in is like 3 years and going. I will repeat the advice that allowed me to make this situation happen, and hopefully will help others.
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elmcat @elmc.at · 23/08/2026
fuck it elmc.at/death-of-a-h...
elmc.at
Death of a Hobby
Fuck it.
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barenuckelavee.bsky.social @barenuckelavee.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Wow the response to my first post was so nice, thank you all! I doubt I'll top that manifesto, but for my sophomore slump, here are some rules for playing elves and dwarves and shit, adapted from my best recollections of that campaign barenuckelavee.bearblog.dev/elves-and-ot...
barenuckelavee.bearblog.dev
PRETENDING TO BE AN ELF AND OTHER INHUMANS
Played a game inside. The rules were scraped together from a fading memory of B/X and scratched onto the back of commissary receipts. The dice were made of f...
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Millicent Malice is shrinking her island. @cosmic-chill.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Wrote a wierd class for your OSR games: mmalice.bearblog.dev/fateweavers/
mmalice.bearblog.dev
Fateweavers of the Golden Order
Months back, I began writing my first osr game, code-named Barbaria. One of the main goals of Barbaria was to have a strange post-colonial world made up of v...
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barenuckelavee.bsky.social @barenuckelavee.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I have a blog now and wrote about playing a bastardized version of OD&D in prison and how the DIY spirit of the OSR is most alive when you don't buy anything at all barenuckelavee.bearblog.dev/no-one-can-t...
barenuckelavee.bearblog.dev
NO ONE CAN TAKE YOUR GAME FROM YOU
There is a sickness in the modern tabletop hobby, a kind of creeping, insidious consumerism that tries to convince you that you need things to play. We get c...
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elmcat @elmc.at · 19/08/2026
this was a super fun collaboration and great list 😌
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Joseph Brassey @josephbrassey.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I think about this at least a dozen times a day.
people end up unable to see depiction as anything other than endorsement when their entire cultural diet is escapist fun and reassurance. they see something make them uncomfortable and can only assume people are watching horrible shit as vicarious pleasure and are horrified.
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Magnolia Keep @magnoliakeep.itch.io · 14/08/2026
In Deathbringer, you die three times before going off into the eternal goodbye. In Magnolia Keep, you post three times before you get the garbage out of your brain. Welcome to the last dance. magnoliakeep.blogspot.com/2026/08/deat...
magnoliakeep.blogspot.com
Deathbringer: The Last Dance
This is not an analysis . I'm not even sure if it qualifies as a blog post . It's more of an exorcism. In case you were wondering who the Ma...
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Juniper Harper Lark @juniperhl.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
A new game just went up on my blog about taking (almost) 20 years to make a paint brush out of your own hair. Its also a meditation on durational performance and how games use time. There are pictures of the brushes. I'm quite proud of how they turned out. thegardenbelow.blot.im/strict-recor...
thegardenbelow.blot.im
Strict Records Kept - The Garden Below
Four editions of a lyric games about waiting, and an expansion pack about burning.
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Marcia B. @traversefantasy.itch.io · 09/08/2026
oughhhhhhhhh
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(Self) Regulators, mount up! @bankuei.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
I remember this man showing up on live TV with bruises on his face from falling down drunk. This was before 9/11. All but one Dem voted to support the war. The Patriot Act reshaped our country and was passed within 1 month and none of the senators could say they read it in full.
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Valeria Loves @valerialoves.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
whosemeasure.blogspot.com/2026/08/do-n...
whosemeasure.blogspot.com
(Do Not Distribute) RPG discourse terms 2027-2032
These are the terms we’ll be having people pick up starting in early 2027 and ongoing through the following five fiscal years, to accommoda...
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Golden Achiever @golden-achiever.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I made a template for the people to make fantastical roleplaying game supplements easy. For use with Affinity which is free. Doing layout is easier than you think. Available for free on itch, made in kind co-operation with Vodka Gobalsky.
vodka-gobalsky.itch.io
Generic Product by Vodka_Gobalsky
Generic Templates for making your own Pamphlets, Pocketmods and Zines/Books in Affinity
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cannibal princess @yyakamo.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Doll Weaver's Affluence: A free dungeon crawl presented by The Baying Hog Pit Explore a 35 room mansion haunted by The Doll Weaver and her possessed dolls. Uncover the mansion's treasures before the Doll Weaver turns you into one of her creations? baying-hog-pit.itch.io/doll-weavers...
baying-hog-pit.itch.io
Doll Weaver's Affluence by Baying Hog Pit
An OSR dungeon crawl through a twisted mansion.
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Haus of Decline @hausofdecline.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
A Soccer Ball, basketball, and baseball angrily exclude an American Football. The soccer ball says "get the hell outta here American Football... you're not even a sphere." American football sits dejected on the side of the road. A hockey puck comes up to him and says "don't worry football. we can be friends." American football says "sorry hockey puck, but I fucking hate you."
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