iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 8h

Guys, I just learnt that Marxman don't believe in gradual change through liberal democratic institutions. I am shook to my core.

060

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 9h

Toon I think is anothe Gamma World for that. Definitely allows for anthromoprhic animals but isn't specifically furry like Albedo is.

020

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 10h

I'd put that in the same category as something like Gamma World I think; early ancestors but not quite there.

020

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 13h

Then its influence on RPGs vanishes, although it remains for the once mighty UK PBM scene. (80s and 90s). It still gets played in its own community, but the design lineage stops dead in the 00s until Commonwealth (2026). It's very much an early RPG path not taken.

030

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 13h

En Garde (1974) is fascinating. Because it's quite obviously a much bigger influence than D&D on Heroes (1979, the first UK RPG). You can see it in Superhero 2044 (1977) and to an extent in Alma Mater (1982)

2122

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 13h

(Interestingly there seems to be at least a causal link between furries and hardcore simulationist crunch. I have no idea why). If anyone else wants me to do one of these dumb "which did it first posts" say. I enjoy doing them.

030

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 13h

Animals get further anthropomorphised in Gamma World (1978) but I think it's pretty much accepted that the first proper furry RPG doesn't arrive until 1988 with Albedo. Furry Pirates and Furry Outlaws are also important benchmarks.

350

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 13h

For my furry friends: The first game where you can play animals is definitely Bunnies and Burrows and Metamorphis Alpha follows a few months later (1976).

140

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 14h

I believe that for the first RPG to mention sex, once again En Garde stays winning. First not to assume that sex would be heterosexual was unfortunately Empire of the Petal Throne, closely followed by Heroes. I'm not including fanzines or Costikyan's unpublished "D&D random kink" table.

140

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 15h

Have "The Coup" considered changing their name to "Gradual reform of our state institutions via participating in the political process"?

120

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 15h

Although some people did try to pick a fight with Libcom for not supporting Corbyn which was quite funny.

010

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 15h

Also seems oddly American. I don't remember anyone being shocked that Crass didn't call for a critical Labour vote or that the Redskins just happened to be Trots.

110

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 15h

Honestly, liberals thinking that Rage Against The Machine were on their side were missing the point as much as the conservatives complaining they've gone political. "Wait, you mean they aren't calling for support for the lesser evil machine?"

1120

Reposted by Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd.

mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 17h

no....no!!!!!

lowly worm is now driving the trolley problem trolley :(

4968881368

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 16h

Algebra. I'm a lot more complexity friendly than many RPGers, but there are limits.

100

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

And honestly, reliability does not seem to be linked that closely to how much serious stuff is going on. I have a player who's been in hospital for surgery recently and she missed a single session.

110

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

It also obviously depends what historical periods. This is mostly a personal comfort zone thing but I avoid WW2 but am fine with English Civil War.

020

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

If you remove slavery from an American Civil War coded game, there's a strong danger you've just recreated the Lost Cause myth from first principles.

130

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I think it needs to be handled sensitively, but my view is that there's no reason games shouldn't be able to tackle the same subjects as books or movies. And I think there's risks in the other direction, where you get games sanitising history, even unintentionally.

240

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Honestly, emergencies are fine, but if you keep skipping sessions because you've decided to do something else I will kick you sooner rather than later.

190

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

It is astounding how many players I've come across who will get angry when you kick them out for missing a session because "my friends invited me to the cinema".

150

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

"When you said it was an early medieval game I assumed that included elves so you have to let me play one" An actual quote from someone who did not last long in my group.

020

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Every time my partner refers to pushing her wheelchair "backwards and then forwards" it is mandatory that I reply with "Eezer is a geezer, he loves to muscle in"

062

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

"How did you get into ttrpgs?" Clutching a four pack of lager and claiming to be a mate of Dave's.

080

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

We need less RPGs inspired by death metal and more inspired by music hall.

160

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I like trying to count how much of this applies to classic horror literature. (I count 3 /12 for Dracula, counting religion themes as 1/2).

040

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Bring back the early 90s indie band "we just make what we like and if anyone else likes it it's a bonus". Yes, it was frequently not entirely true, but it led to better music than "we want as many people as possible to listen to our music". RPG writers, most of you aren't going to get on the radio.

020

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Hmm, new RPG followers. Should probably do another thread about Adrian Chiles to make sure they're committed.

060

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The first ever Fiction First game was Flash Gordon. It was called that because it was FICTION FIRST.

131

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The first fail forward system was actually Vampire the Masquerade because the more dice you got the more likely you were to botch.

060

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I'd argue that AW takes a different approach, but it's roughly the same result. You succeed but something makes things more difficult.

010

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Looking into it I think you're right; James Bond's innovation seems to have been turning it into a universal resolution system rather than the idea itself.

120

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I dig the fact Greg Stolze now seems to be in his "King Arthur on Ice" design stage.

030

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Join me next week when I demonstrate how "fail forward" is in fact the core of En Garde. (Not entirely serious. Not entirely not serious).

1160

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Followed closely by Teenagers from Outer Space which has the twist that it's what happens if you succeed by too great a margin. Levels of success is different I think and I think first was James Bond although I'm less certain on that one.

3110

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

With the recent PbtA discourse I was inspired to look into the history of "success with consequences" and inevitably the third seems to have been Ghostbusters. (See the Three Gregs rule).

2314

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I have four types of TTRPG character: Loveable rogue. Psychopath pretending to be a loveable rogue. Expy of John Constantine. Character min maxed round a skill that will almost never come up in game. (I miss you Lucretia, the best damn dhampir opera singer in London)

190

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

MtG people were always pretty competitive. Illuminati:NWO people generally made themed decks like "can I put Princess Diana's head in a jar?"

1160

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I had great fun with In Nomine. I think the highlight was a short campaign of the original, run by a French GM.

010

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I find it odd that people act like "play to lose" is a storygame thing. I think I first came across the concept in Blood Bowl where people were turning up to actual tournaments with Halfling Teams.

3232

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I've found the best way to run Paranoia as a campaign is to do it without jokes.

010

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Ooo, I know it's some time away but this makes me really tempted to write up my "Mutants in the Highlands" notes as a proper thing. (Yes I statted up Haggis and Nessie. I'm not made of steel).

010

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The d20 issue. When any game becomes a default system people just use automatically it does the original no favours.

020

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I've been to the year 3000. Not much has changed but they live underwater. I am blase about the world and my bar for significant societal changes is impossible to reach.

250

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Being even more cynical I suspect that's *most* likely with IP RPGs whereas people writing their weird obsession project are much more likely to do it properly. (I recommend Bedlam Hall; it's the game that won me over from previously not thinking I liked *any* PbtA games).

142

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

AW is a very well designed game but unfortunately it lead to a lot of really quite badly done PbtA hacks. And the nature of PbtA means that failures tend to crash and burn hard whereas a shit OSR game is generally just really boring.

161

Flintlock. Why do all these nerds follow me? I'm not a nerd. @flintlock.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

On this one I think the "people are misunderstanding how it works" begs the question somewhat. People are misunderstanding that because a lot of PbtA designers don't bother writing out how it works properly.

1122