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Graham Walmsley 🎲

@grahamwalmsley.bsky.social
1.8K followers 502 following 3K posts

I design games, especially tabletop roleplaying games (Cthulhu Dark, Cosmic Dark). I also write books on storytelling (Play Unsafe) and drift into interactive fiction (39 Steps) and LARP (Will That Be All). And I love theatre, art and history.

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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 1h
We got back from Penzance, which was beautiful, but I was especially blown away by Caroline Walker's paintings around mothering at Newlyn Art Gallery. They're so colourful, so skilful and so well-observed.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I'm really proud of the various Cosmic Dark scenarios.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I've often thought that, if you design a game around "10+ success, 7-9 success with complications, 6- bad", you're missing the stuff that makes Apocalypse World great. (I think something similar if you simply translate the original AW moves to a new setting, although there's less of that now.)
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lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
15 years ago when Apocalypse World was new and people were beginning to understand and work with it, it was seductive to look at "acting under fire" and see, not one basic move of several, but the template underlying all the game's moves. Like @kierongillen.bsky.social 's classic gag:
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Go and follow this: @bananachangames.bsky.social always writes the weird horror shit you are looking for.
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K Lam (she/her) @ladylakira.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
You can learn a lot about design craft by reading and playing games that are not to your taste. This is work in the same way as marketing your game is work, so there's def a cost benefit analysis here. It might be worth it to miss out on this, but you *are* missing out.
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Keeper Mav @callmemav.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
To help with my beloved cat's extremely expensive medical bills, I've made a bundle of my #CallofCthulhu scenarios. I hope you will consider picking up my work at a discounted rate and helping me care for my furry little (adorable) eldritch horror. www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...
A tabby cat sits in front of a TV looking all majestic and adorable
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Kate Gray @hownottodraw.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
whenever people say “cancel culture isn’t real, it’s just facing the consequences of your actions” I think about all the people who were the target of the internet’s hate for things they didn’t do, or for things that had much more nuance. it can ruin lives, over things that often do not matter
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Jason Pitre @genesisoflegend.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The kickstarter for Lonely Timbers is now live at www.kickstarter.com/projects/Jag... and I would love your support. La campaigne sociofinancement pour Tire-toi une bûche est maintentant active. Merci pour soutenir ce projet franco-canadien et québecoise.
kickstarter.com
Lonely Timbers - Tire-toi une bûche
A TTRPG about french-canadian lumberjacks in the early 20th century. Un JDR des bûcherons québecoises du début du XXe siècle.
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Colin Le Sueur | By Odin’s Beard RPG @byodinsbeardrpg.com · 23/09/2026
Explore a deadly world adrift from time and space, a genre crash of wild west, horror, fantasy, and sci-fi. We Deal in Lead is an 88-page combat-focused weird west gunslinger TTRPG inspired by Stephen King's The Dark Tower. The PDF is available on Itch. link.byodinsbeardrpg.com/lead-pdf
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I was in an awkward conversation today in which I had to think of a joke about liminal spaces. It took me a moment, but then I said "Let's not talk about liminal spaces, they're neither here nor there", and it may be one of my proudest achievements.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is beautiful and also a textbook example of how to design an image so you can reuse it for a wraparound cover, a Kickstarter banner and much more. (Use the whole thing if you want landscape, use the right half if you want portrait.)
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I like that Kieron mentions the class aspect of Cthulhu Dark here. It's really important to me. Also mentioned: Night Witches, Agon, Baron Munchausen, oh look just read it.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
My dissertation was on creativity. It was critical, suggesting that academics and practitioners both appealed to scientific evidence, but had very different ideas of creativity. It left me wary of things that seem obvious but don't have much evidence behind them.
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Megan Haddock Art @m-haddock-art.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
A timeline of my art over the past few months~ It's satisfying to look back on what used to be the best thing you'd ever made and see how it compares to the new stuff. Feel free to quote post your own progress, I'd love to see! #art #artprogress #landscapeart #nature #smallartist #artistonbluesky
A misty alpine landscape in purple and green. In the foreground, rolling hills are surrounded by pine trees, and a small farmhouse sits on a hill. A large, rugged mountain stands in the mist behind it.An illustration of a scene from JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit. Barrels float quietly down a river, out of the elven forests and onwards towards Lake Town and The Lonely Mountain in the distance.An overgrown industrial landscape. An old cargo train sits in the station upon an underpass. Stairs and buildings lay disused and covered in wildflowers and ivy. Blue butterflies flutter through the underpass and into the distance.A hot summer's day in the French countryside. Dense tall grass coats the hills, broken up by the green and red of small bushes and rows of trees. Amongst the grass on the side of the road, something unpleasant lays.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I think it's the combination. TTRPG players will buy a game on cards, but don't want to play a LARP. LARP players will buy a ticket for an event, but not (generally) a game on cards.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I'm so happy when people play Will That Be All?. I think it's one of the best things I've written, but it tends to get overlooked, because it's a LARP-on-a-deck-of-cards. www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/1...
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I saw three plays this week! Love's Labour's Lost plus flamenco at the Globe, The Story at the National (fast-paced and political), Lear at The Crucible (made it seem like a political thriller, which I liked).
The Crucible theatre, set up for King Lear
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Leisure Games @leisuregames.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Indie Press Revolution ( @ipr.bsky.social ) have been one of our key partners for many years, bringing small press and indie games to you from across the Pond. One of their staffers has recently had an accident. Please contribute to their fundraiser: www.gofundme.com/f/support-ni...
gofundme.com
Donate to Support Nicholas's Recovery and Car Replacement, organized by David Gales
I'm raising funds for my dear friend Nicholas, who was recently in a terri… David Gales needs your support for Support Nicholas's Recovery and Car Replacement
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Jon Ingold @jon.inkle.co · 16/09/2026
Been refreshing my short story collection ready to take a few copies to sell at Adventure X, and added a little bonus story - a short, previously unpublished Tale from the Nebula (like the ones in the novels). 📖 tinyurl.com/joningoldsto...
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Golden Cobra, the competition for writing L. A. R. P. s has started. Ignore the theme, ignore whether you win or not, it's just a good prompt to write a weird game. I've already got an idea that's so awful I might need to write it. www.goldencobra.org
goldencobra.org
Golden Cobra Challenge
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Ross Cowman @rosscowman.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
soft launching UK-based shipping on heartofthedeernicorn.com right now. Free shipping on orders over $200 to the UK and Republic of Ireland. Duty paid shipments to most EU countries. If you want to do me a solid, try ordering something DM me to let me know how it goes.
heartofthedeernicorn.com
Heart of the Deernicorn
Publisher, distributor, and manufacturer of tabletop games including RPGs, Solo RPGs, and Story Games.
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Simon Rogers @simonjrogers.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The prelaunch page for the Campaign Cartographer 4 Kickstarter is live. This is software I've been working on over many versions for 30 years. I'd be very happy if you follow it. #CC4 www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...
backerkit.com
Get Ready for Campaign Cartographer 4
From ProFantasy Software Ltd - Get Ready for Campaign Cartographer 4
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Richard Morris @ahistoryinart.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Laura Knight’s portrait of Corporal Elspeth Henderson and Sergeant Helen Turner captures wartime heroism. Awarded the Military Medal after remaining at their switchboard as their RAF base was bombed, their courage is caught in the patriotic shade of Victory Red by Elizabeth Arden
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
You can sign up for Just A Little Loving in the UK here. It's seminal in every sense of the word. Google it first and make sure it's for you. docs.google.com/forms/d/1Zte...
docs.google.com
JALL SIGN UP FORM
Welcome to Just a Little Sign ups. Following the usual method of sign ups for this larp we will ask you to choose characters you wish to play and then offer you a place on the larp based on our abilit...
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
This is so fascinating. Back in the day, there were various games that *directly* gave a tangible bonus for failure or at least something interesting that happened. But few of them went as far as giving a mechanical bonus to the next roll. Lady Blackbird is a near-exception.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I've been invited to write an article on Cthulhu games. Can you throw a few ideas at me about what I should write?
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I think the ship should literally look like a Jenga tower in space and every time you pull a piece it ejects a bit of the ship.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Banana Chan makes weird shit, which I think you know by now is a compliment.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I've written an article about "Latour and the X-card" in my head, but it'll probably never get written, because I don't really do academic game stuff. Still, "Latour and the X-card', there's a thought for you.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Having coffee in the sun - for probably the last time this year - and writing up the rules of Dragon Dark. I'll probably playtest it at Concrete Cow in a couple of weeks time.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Hi, I'm Graham Walmsley, and I design tabletop RPGs. At the start of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Two Tribes", Holly Johnson, who I thought was called Frankie for many years for obvious reasons, sings "Yea - eh" as the beat kicks in and it's very satisfying to sing out loud.
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Gaz @evilgaz.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Even though British and so genetically disinclined towards self promotion, it is nevertheless #selfpromosaturday and so I'm legally obliged to tell people I have a splendid Regency Cthulhu scenario on @drivethrurpg.com for your delectation: legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/5759...
legacy.drivethrurpg.com
Upstairs, Downstairs - Regency Cthulhu - Chaosium | Miskatonic Repository | DriveThruRPG.com
It’s time once again for the annual Fitzwilliam Masquerade Ball. Guests are on their way, brand new staff employed, an
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I love art. I've just seen the first bit of art for Alien Archaeology and I'm excited! (I'd share it but it'd give away the secret.)
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Tragic news: I'm disqualified from applying for this Writers Grant for Mothership. But you should definitely apply! Mothership is great and this grant looks really fun to work on. Plus there's money.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I'm rereading A Wizard Of Earthsea, which is brilliant of course, but it keeps giving me ideas for Dragon Dark so I have to keep stopping.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Fall of Magic is amazing to play, but it's also a beautiful thing, a game printed on a scroll. A few years ago, I wondered if there were any games I wanted to own physical copies of, and Fall of Magic was the one that really mattered to me.
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James Wallis @jameswallis.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
If you are one of those fools who has yet to acquire a copy of THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN in its resplendent third edition, then be advised that for the next few hours it is the Deal of the Day at DriveThruRPG, a half-priced bargain! legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/3272...
legacy.drivethrurpg.com
The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, third edition - Magnum Opus Press | DriveThruRPG.com
Baron Munchausen's tales of his extraordinary adventures are legendary: riding cannonballs through the sky, sailing to t
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Day 29 of #RPGaDay: Labour. Work is really important to me in my games. Cosmic Dark is all about working for a large, amoral company. For historical games, jobs become a lens to explore the setting. And, of course, it's inherently political.
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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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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
So, for me, BitD and AW are very different. AW is engineered to do things to the story, which is what @lumpley.bsky.social does. Whereas BitD creates an amazing setting, then takes mechanics from other games to make it happen, which is something @johnharper.bsky.social does really well. Still
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
On the Quinn's Quest discord, there was a question about where Apocalypse World and Blades in the Dark were story games or "trad", which I thought was interesting. They're firmly from the tradition of indie/ story games. But
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Oh of course, I should have shared this earlier! Here's the scenario Jolene by @callmemav.bsky.social . www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/4...
drivethrurpg.com
DriveThruRPG - The Largest RPG Download Store!
Your one-stop online shop for new and vintage RPG products from the top publishers, delivered fresh to your desktop in electronic format.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Go and buy something from Avery, she's amazing. I just bought Dream Askew and Going For Broke, which I had in PDF but not hardcover.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This one is basically Keith Johnstone's advice.
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I love this thread. It also reminds me of a time when @jmstar.bsky.social asked us to invent fictional 1980s games and I came up with something called "USA Sniper". (There was a lot of that stuff around in the 1980s)
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Banana Chan 🔜 Portland Retro Gaming Expo @bananachangames.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I made a trilogy of horror solo journaling games. The final game is Sample. It’s about a DJ who meets a tragic end and it’s set during Y2K right before the ball drops. Players create their own music and choose melodies to determine the outcome. Follow here before we launch: tinyurl.com/2af9nnte
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Camilla Zamboni 🔜 Metatopia @czamboni.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
If you understand Italian or want to hear it, come to Ghosts and Goblins Twitch tomorrow for a one shot of Cthulhu Dark by @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social ! We will be at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle and I'll be playing Agatha, a determined archaeologist on a dare. m.twitch.tv/ghostsandgob...
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Play Unsafe is now available from @allrolledup.bsky.social, who are lovely people and good at shipping things to all corners of the globe, if you imagine a globe with corners. www.allrolledup.co.uk/product/play...
allrolledup.co.uk
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Graham Walmsley 🎲 @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Day 24 of #RPGaDAY26: Distance. Travelling, along with eating and sleeping, is one of my favourite ways to punctuate a scenario and explore a setting. It's especially great in historical games, where it becomes in an insight into the time period (stage coaches, railway hotels etc).
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