iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Ghoula RPGs @gilarpgs.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

NOVA 2 is live on Kickstarter! Pilot powerful mechs on a sunless world in this action packed scifi TTRPG. This new edition of NOVA improves on, and adds a ton to the original. Let's get ready to go NOVA! www.kickstarter.com/projects/the...

kickstarter.com

NOVA 2

Pilot mechs in a sunless world in this exciting second edition of the NOVA TTRPG!

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John Harper @johnharper.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Y'all, @scenefour.bsky.social is doing *the work* with short form videos in the #ttrpg trenches -- posting truly insightful commentary while parrying and riposting a barrage of nit-pickers every day. Massive respect and glory to his name! Check him out here: www.youtube.com/@scene_four or on Insta.

youtube.com

Sean Foer

I'm Sean, a professional Game Master and designer, writer and editor of tabletop RPGs!

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Chase @chkurk.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

If you haven't checked out Vesta Mandate yet but you ARE into scifi and political media I want you to take a second to read this: "The amount of delightful friction that this game creates is astounding. This is a gold standard game of politics." from the talented @acoupleofdrakes.bsky.social.

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John Harper @johnharper.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

"If The Odyssey made you want to play a game, it's probably Agon that's gonna scratch that itch." -- Judd Karlman. Couldn't ask for a better endorsement! Jump in to mythic adventures with a game all about epic deeds. Grab the book from the Evil Hat website, or the PDF here: johnharper.itch.io/agon

johnharper.itch.io

AGON by John Harper

Heroic action in the mythic age

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Avery Alder, Buried Without Ceremony @lackingceremony.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Do you love any of the games that I have created? Whether it's Monsterhearts, Dream Askew, The Quiet Year, Going For Broke, or a deeper cut, now would be a great time to hit quote-tweet and tell your friends about it! It's been a slow month. 💕✨ store.buriedwithoutceremony.com

store.buriedwithoutceremony.com

Buried Without Ceremony

My name is Avery Alder, and for the past eighteen years I’ve been designing tabletop roleplaying games. These are games about community, relationships, doubt, queerness, and the collapse of civilizati...

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Wintry RPG ❄️ @wintryrpg.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Final Thoughts: "HIT!!" is a near flawless game for a group vacation. Low prep, snappy system, easy onboarding, and most crucially, minimal time commitment. Perfect for those breaks between the bigger plans of your trip. Find it here! :D honeycupgames.itch.io/hit

honeycupgames.itch.io

HIT! The Blackjack-Powered Space Heist TTRPG by Honey Cup Games

A game about idiot space criminals

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Rad to see people having a blast playing HIT!!

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

GenCon I am at you! Legit no plans, just wandering around and talking to a bunch of really cool people. Super excited for this year after having such a great first GenCon last summer. Say hi! Let’s chat about games!! 😁

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Jon Boo-yle 🎃 @residentbard.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Absolutely rad Digimon homage (that I helped with!) wrapping soon on Kickstarter! Go help tip them over the finish line pretty please?

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Chuubo’s-inspired Digimon-pastiche??? Say no more I’m in Let’s get this thing funded y’all!

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Hell YES a proem!! And is this actually in dactylic hexameter??

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Caleb Zane Huett @calebzane.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

thank u kunihiko ikuhara

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The Stillfleet Studio ☉ more than play 🇵🇸 @stillfleet.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Dear fellow TTRPG nerds/adjacent journos and academics: you may want to go ahead and follow @playtestmaterial.bsky.social This is the account of a new critical journal of TTRPG studies, *Playtest Material*. Read about it here (more information to come soon): playtestmaterial.org

playtestmaterial.org

Playtest Material

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Nostos has officially funded!! I've been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support this campaign has received in the past 24 hours — it has been truly wonderful to see so many people believe in this game and want to see it come to life. Thank you all so much. It means the world!

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Thank you for all your support Tyler!!

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Jon Boo-yle 🎃 @residentbard.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Erica is cooking something really special, and they're so close to funding! Please go give Nostos a look if you haven't ❤️

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

As the Nostos kickstarter enters its final day of pledges, I'd like to share one last piece of art with you, depicting an Island likely to show up towards the end of a campaign of Nostos: Tropaia Station, the Crossroads — a quiet place in the countryside, a perfect setting for a final goodbye.

"Tropaia Station" by Isabel Vasich. A quiet, grassy countryside. Three paths intersect here, at a roadside station similar to a rural Italian rail station: a railroad, a paved road, and a dirt path. Each trails off into the horizon, meeting wide fields of swaying grass. The station has a small coffee shop, branded "Coffee!"; a sturdy wooden bench facing the railroad, on which a gruff old woman sits and works through sudoku; and an antique vending machine that sells glass bottles of soda and cigarettes. In the distance, an elk the size of a skyscraper sits at ease, staring lazily off into empty space.

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jay Dragon is unstoppable @jdragsky.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

please back this game! i think erica is working on a fascinating and beautiful project and i'd love to see it cross the finish line.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Update #4 for Nostos is up as we enter the final 24 hours of the campaign! We are SO close to reaching our goal, so if you're on the fence about backing, please consider helping us make this game a reality!! www.kickstarter.com/projects/hon...

kickstarter.com

Update 4: Update #4: Final Hours · Nostos

Hi everyone! Erica here, with the last update before the Kickstarter wraps up!We've got less than 24 hours left and just under $2,000 in pledges to go to reach the campaign's $10,000 goal. We've alrea...

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Just over 36 hours left to back Nostos, and we're $2000 shy of our campaign goal! Help us get this thing to the finish line!! www.kickstarter.com/projects/hon...

kickstarter.com

Nostos

a tabletop roleplaying game about sailing home and saying goodbye.

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Aaron Lim 林家丰 @ehronlime.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

This is so up my alley it's like a genie granted a wish I didn't know I made.

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The Stillfleet Studio ☉ more than play 🇵🇸 @stillfleet.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

JRPG-inspired/Odyssey/post-apocalyptic/Calvino/innovative story game Nostos by @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social is in its final 48 hours! www.kickstarter.com/projects/hon... We've been lucky enough to work with Erica as an editor, and she's fantastically smart and creative. Check out this game!

kickstarter.com

Nostos

a tabletop roleplaying game about sailing home and saying goodbye.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

4 days left to back Nostos and get a copy of my game about sailing home and saying goodbye Let's get this project to the finish line y'all!!

kck.st

Nostos

a tabletop roleplaying game about sailing home and saying goodbye.

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🦇(grovetender)🦇 @orenshedherskin.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Go back Nostos on Kickstarter!! I wanna go here and I want more art of here :)

kickstarter.com

Nostos

a tabletop roleplaying game about sailing home and saying goodbye.

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Reposted by Erica Bridges

Courtney (they/he) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @courtana.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Another art piece for this game was released. It's freaking gorgeous. I'm going to be torn between keeping the book intact and taking out pages to frame. www.kickstarter.com/projects/hon...

kickstarter.com

Nostos

a tabletop roleplaying game about sailing home and saying goodbye.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

As part of this update, I can share the latest incredible piece of art by Kaysha Siemens, depicting the swirling maelstrom at the Center of the Sea of Irreality. See if you can identify which specific Romanticist artwork Kaysha's riffing on 🤔

A photo of a painting by Kaysha Siemens, depicting the maelstrom at the Center of the Sea of Irreality — one of the possible final destinations a campaign's PCs can set out to reach in their quest to find a way home.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Nice to meet you Hamish!! I had no idea there was a fellow Classicist in this space — I’ll have to check out your games and chat sometime 😁

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Visit Lefka and other strange worlds on the Sea of Irreality by backing Nostos on Kickstarter today! www.kickstarter.com/projects/hon...

kickstarter.com

Nostos

a tabletop roleplaying game about sailing home and saying goodbye.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

In Nostos, you travel across the roiling Sea of Irreality, whose surface is dotted with Islands, tiny microverses with unique laws of reality. Lefka is one such Island: a metropolis torn down and rebuilt every day to match the heavens, where reality itself dictates that work stops at sunset.

An illustration from the TTRPG Nostos by Rosario Mendez. A nighttime scene on the island of Lefka, whose citizens tear down and rebuild the entire city each day and celebrate their hard work each night. In the scene, four young visitors to Lefka dressed in mecha-style flightsuits speak with the locals, learning about their customs and culture. Meanwhile, the fifth member of their party sulks above, perched on a construction beam and angstily staring off into the distance.

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Possible Worlds Games @possibleworlds.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Nostos is a super cool TTRPG & ought to be funded by now! If you like the weird fiction moon-hopping of Realis, Nostos is like a classical lit island-hopping cousin. Check out the blurb I wrote based on the game's ARC, and pledge the campaign while you still can! www.kickstarter.com/projects/hon...

"Erica Bridges is an excellent writer and designer, and Nostos has both of those talents on full display. Its balance of flavor and flexibility is truly impressive, and its player-facing mechanics will help you become a better storyteller without even realizing it. It's a game I personally can't wait to bring to the table." – Tyler Crumrine, Possible Worlds Games

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🦇(grovetender)🦇 @orenshedherskin.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Hi you all should back this for a variety of reasons including it looks like so much fun but most importantly because I want to hold the beautiful hard copy of it in my grubby little hands one day

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Nostos is almost halfway funded!! Thanks so much to all the backers who have pledged to bring this project to life, and if you haven't already, please check out the kickstarter and see if this game is for you!

kickstarter.com

Nostos

a tabletop roleplaying game about sailing home and saying goodbye.

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The Stillfleet Studio ☉ more than play 🇵🇸 @stillfleet.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Hey hey: historian/game designer/Why We Roll alum Dr. Erica Bridges has launched her very cool post-apocalypse/new world/JRPG/Roman philosophy game, Nostos! @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social Go back it, please! www.kickstarter.com/projects/hon...

kickstarter.com

Nostos

a tabletop roleplaying game about sailing home and saying goodbye.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

If you'd like to learn more about Nostos, check out our kickstarter campaign, live now! www.kickstarter.com/projects/hon...

kickstarter.com

Nostos

a tabletop roleplaying game about sailing home and saying goodbye.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

At the same time, none of these prompts dictate WHY each of these things happen. A “story about your old life” could be comedic, tragic, sorrowful, sympathetic, etc. It's all about balance: provide enough specifics to evoke the world AND enough leeway for players to fill in their own gaps.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Each of these prompts is grounded in a concrete action – players are never confused over whether they’ve “actually done” the thing they’re trying to do. Leaving something behind is a totally clear action, as is taking a quiet moment to reminisce.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

"You take a quiet moment to reminisce after something reminds you of the past." "You tell someone a story about your old life." "You leave something from your old life behind." "You make a toast or commemoration to something or someone long gone."

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Let’s take a look at a Conflict and how it evokes that: Here are some of the RP prompts in the Conflict “Thinking About The Past”, which is about grieving over and fixating on what’s gone and can never come back.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

So, how do you adjust those dials? My approach in designing Nostos’ Conflicts was to keep focus on the “What” of an action and leave the “How” and, most importantly, “Why” to be determined during play. Define the action, and let the players discover the emotions behind it.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

When deployed not so well, you end up with designs where the player feels constrained, unable to sync up events at the table with the rules of the game. And if your prompt has too little specificity, then it’s probably so nebulous that either it’ll be too easy or nigh impossible to hit.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

When deployed well, these kinds of prompts direct players to take actions that align with a game’s design ethos. The best PbtA games do this, forcing players to make choices that evoke genre conventions.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Now, there’s a really important and potential tricky design decision to make when designing prompts like this: Specificity. Role-play prompts live and die by their specificity. The more exacting your prompt is, the more it restricts a player’s choices and actions.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

A Conflict is a set of Role-play prompts that share a common emotional thread. When their Ship approaches a new Island, each player picks a Conflict for their character to grapple with. Whenever you hit a prompt, check it off – check off three, and you "close out" that Conflict.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

We’re at the end of Week 1 of the Nostos Kickstarter! Jumping off of that, I thought I’d talk about one of the game’s central mechanics: Conflicts.

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Erica Bridges @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Extremely flattered to hear — and serendipitous, since I'm literally running session 1 of an Inevitable campaign tonight!

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