iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

elmcat @elmc.at · 04/07/2026

new rootring feature for blog profiles in addition to the brick you can now add a banner: - 468x60px - png,jpg,gif,webp - yes it can be animated - everyone gets a autogenerated on by default - don't send my gigantic images if you are interested in updating yours reach out to me on discord or here

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elmcat @elmc.at · 27/05/2026

now you can hopefully look up those cool blog posts that you only partially remember! It supports the most common search engine commands

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elmcat @elmc.at · 29/03/2026

One more improvement after some feedback. The inbound link listing will now link to a dedicated blog detail page. Making it easier to find out who links to post without having to search for the blog in the directory.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 28/03/2026

And on a blog's detail page from rootr.ing/directory you can now see which other posts on the ring link to a given post

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elmcat @elmc.at · 28/03/2026

I updated rootring again On the rootr.ing/latest page posts now show when they: - are linked by another blog on the ring - link to another post from a blog on the ring

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elmcat @elmc.at · 23/03/2026

Updated the feed views on rootr.ing. posts are now easier to scan, and grouped by date Hope this makes it more useful

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elmcat @elmc.at · 28/02/2026

This is the second update of the year and here is how the map looks like for 2026 only.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 31/01/2026

Updated the blog map with the first data set of 2026. graph.elmc.at here is what it looks like if you filter for this year

Screenshot of the ttrpg blogosphere map filtered for the year 2026

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elmcat @elmc.at · 30/12/2025

Working on a yearly wrap up but rather than focusing on me I look at overall Blog stats.

Bar Chart showing total blog posts each month for 2024 and 2025. 2025 clearly exceeds in every month but December.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 30/11/2025

There's a new neighborhood view: when it's enabled, the selected node will only show its direct neighbors in the graph (nodes that have a direct link to it)

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elmcat @elmc.at · 30/11/2025

Also snuck in two small features: You can now filter links to only show stronger link weights. That helps declutter the graph a bit, and it works great together with performance mode

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elmcat @elmc.at · 29/11/2025

Here's a new feature I'm working on: it only shows the direct neighbors of a selected blog (i.e. blogs that have an established direct link to it)

Neighborhood view of my blog in the graph. Only showing blogs that have a direct link established.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 18/11/2025

Added a community detection algorithm to the data and it found five clusters. The layout now forms a pentagram unintentionally fitting for this little satanic panic hobby. Here's a fun scroll through the years

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elmcat @elmc.at · 16/11/2025

I'd say so but it's hard to estimate. My data is likely incomplete and many blogs have vanished over the years. Here is what it currently looks like (data is skewed towards the current years because I'm not able to backfill the archive from certain blogging platforms yet):

Table showing the years 1997 to 2025 and how many blogs had their first post in each year.

Data is incomplete and slightly skewed towards 2024 and 2025 as certain blogs on platforms like substack, blot, ghost, self hosted have their archive not backfilled in the dataset.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 16/11/2025

Blogs from 2006 to 2025

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elmcat @elmc.at · 14/11/2025

New iteration of the Blogverse graph. Showing all time link connections. In case you are wondering Grognardia is the sun.

Blogverse graph. Grognardia node selected showing only incoming links.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 12/11/2025

Spent the past week mining my RSS reader to map what I'm calling the "Blogverse" Still adding data and tuning the graph, but I'll share soon Early stats: 1027 blogs, 13393 links, 203918 posts - and counting

Edge graph of all blogs in my dataset.

Each node represents a blog.
Each edge represents an incoming or outgoing link.
The bigger and redder the node the more incoming links it receives.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 16/08/2025

The game is just too much fun

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elmcat @elmc.at · 17/03/2025

Is everyone ready to get schooled by Dwiz on the matter of city crawling? (I am! Let's goooo!)

Screenshot from A Knight in the Opera's post about Urban Gameplay Part 1: the Search for the Holy Grail.

It says:

Posts in this series
Part 1: the Search for the Holy Grail (is futile)
(This part is marked by me in red) "Parts 2-6 forthcoming"
Bibliography

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elmcat @elmc.at · 10/01/2025

I spent the last two hours to create an image you only see if you link to the main page of my blog. Since that almost never happens you get to see it now!

Web banner of the AMONG CATS AND BOOKS blog depicting an angry looking pixel cat next to the blog's title.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 26/12/2024

Oh hey did we get the same Christmas present? I've not read it previously either just started!

Book cover of "The Books of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin. Illustrated by Charles Bess.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 01/12/2024

somebody somewhere This is not a new show but it's a new season and I honestly think this show is terribly underwatched. Super wholesome slice-of-life story about lovely people coming together and make their own community.

Poster of the HBO show "somebody somewhere" depicting the two main characters. In the front is the character played by Bridget Everett smiling and looking leftwards. Behind her out of focus is the character played by Jeff Hiller also smiling and looking at Bridget.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 01/12/2024

Say Nothing Is the dramatized depiction through the eyes of several IRA members during the 70s and 80s. I'm not too familiar with the history here but enjoyed the show very much. One of the best shows I've seen this year.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 01/12/2024

The Day of the Jackal Modern adaption of a book and several movies about an assassin called the Jackal. I didn't think I would enjoy this show as much. It has some redundant side stories but overall shows how both main characters lack any compassion and empathy.

Poster of the TV show "The Day of the Jackal" on a bright red background. Showing the two main characters played by Eddie Redmayne on the left and Lashana Lynch on the right.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 20/11/2024

Finally, I share examples from my own game! I include notes from 5 faction turns, explaining how they impacted my players or how the factions evolved.

Foto of my Faction Turn notes for House Ramius

Foto of my Faction Turn notes for the Nag-Lord

Foto of my Faction Turn notes for House Hogwarsh

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elmcat @elmc.at · 20/11/2024

Factions rarely work alone. I also explore alliances—whether between factions or with other groups like Fairy nobles or locals. These partnerships add depth and complexity to the game world.

Screenshot of Potential Alliances for the Cold Prince

Screenshot of Potential Alliances for the Pluritine Church

Screenshot for Potential Alliances for Ygraine Mordlin

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elmcat @elmc.at · 20/11/2024

Need more? I dive deeper into each faction's potential actions, likely outcomes, future plans, and challenges they face. It's a space for extra ideas to enrich your game.

Screenshot of a snippet from the Further Thoughts section of House Murkin

Screenshot of a snippet from the Further Thoughts section of House Mulbreck

Screenshots of a snippet from the Further Thoughts section of House Harrowmoor

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elmcat @elmc.at · 20/11/2024

You'll notice Agents in the images. These NPCs lead the actions, giving players direct ways to engage with the factions. I've created some detailed new NPCs, but I also use Dolmenwood's when they fit perfectly.

Screenshot of an Agent for House Hogwarsh:

Lady Stella Starling

Screenshot of an Agent for the Witches:

Myrkle Snidehorn

Screenshot of an Agent for the Hag:

Gleambeam

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elmcat @elmc.at · 20/11/2024

The core of the framework? Actions! Each faction has three active ones focused on Goals, Missions, or Tasks. For the examples, I broke actions into smaller tasks with potential follow-ups. These are starting points—feel free to take your own spin on them!

Screenshot of a Mission and its Tasks for House Guillefer:

Infiltrate Chateau Mauvesse

Screenshot of a Mission and its Tasks for House Nodlock:

Investigate Lord Nodlock's illegitimate children

Screenshot of a Mission and its Tasks for the Nag-Lord:

Disrupt the northern trade routes.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 20/11/2024

Next, I cover Resources. These represent a faction's strength. Each starts with at least three unique ones pulled from the book descriptions, plus notes on how they might come into play.

Screenshot of a Resource from the Hag:

Magical Hut: Appears to have a will of its own.

Screenshot of a Resource from House Malbleat:

Extensive Occult Library: A trove of forbidden knowledge.

Screenshot of a Resource of House Brackenwold:

Largest Standing Army: Includes two dozen knights, personal guards, and ample manpower available at short notice.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 20/11/2024

⚠️ Dolmenwood spoiler warning ahead! ⚠️ Each post starts with a faction's Goals—either drawn from Dolmenwood or made up when missing. I also outline potential milestones: events that might happen as goals progress. Nothing is set in stone!

Screenshot of the Hidden Goal of the Drune. Reclaim Dominion Over Lost Nodal Stones.

Screenshot of the Landmark Goal of the Pluritine Church: Locate and Restore the Shrines

Screenshot of the Landmark Goal of House Harrowmoor: Protect their Lands Against the Crookhorns

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elmcat @elmc.at · 17/11/2024

Have you tried enabling this?

Bluesky accessibility settings. Where require alt text before posting is enabled

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elmcat @elmc.at · 13/11/2024

Me deciding what not to back during mothership month due to budget reasons

Wesley Snipes from the movie New Jack City wearing a dark suit and hat. He is crying and pointing a gun towards the camera.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 19/09/2024

Yea perchance won me over when I dug a little deeper and found out you could import from other generators. So I went a little crazy and build a DW generator for my game that rolls all the encounters I have more ideas but no time to finish. Your tables are prime for perchance tho! Love to see more!

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elmcat @elmc.at · 12/09/2024

The plan? Find time during the day job to design your heartbreaker game so that you are getting paid for the process and can call yourself a professional upping your street cred.

Nathan Fielder from Nathan For You sitting across from you in an office chair wearing a suit with a red tie. He is in the process to suggest you his grand business idea.

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elmcat @elmc.at · 17/07/2024

omg what is he about to do with that smile?

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