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Jacob Marks

@jacobmarks.bsky.social
810 followers 1.3K following 894 posts

I make rpgs, programs, 3d art, and other weird things... My largest projects are the Vaarn Atlas, Exalted Order Of The Mystic Moose, and Penumbral Oasis. Find those, and my other games at: siofragames.itch.io Blog at: jacobmarkshasablog

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Josh D | Vaulted Pyramid @unenthuser.bsky.social · 7h
Spooky Season PSA: Don't sleep on Bloodheist by @infrabeige.bsky.social! It's something like "Blades in the Darks meets World of Darkness", but I've never not had a good time with the game. It's incredibly well written and absolutely nails the theme it's going for. graculusdroog.itch.io/bloodheist
graculusdroog.itch.io
Bloodheist by graculusdroog
A tabletop RPG about desperate thieves and despicable vampires.
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Thursday Garreau @keftiu.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
with a little magic from @deeverine.bsky.social, my humble submission to this year's Vaarn jam is now beautiful! i'd love if you checked out the new doc's layout ✨ thursday-garreau.itch.io/blue-mosaic-...
thursday-garreau.itch.io
BLUE MOSAIC Vol. 1 by Thursday Garreau
a small Vaarnish miscellany
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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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Jez Gordon @jezgordon.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The Vatican this time tomorrow:
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Jacob Marks @jacobmarks.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Last four rulesets played: - Dungeon Crawl Classics (playing through Dark Tower) - Dolmenwood (I'm a player in this one) - Dungeon Inc. - Beyond the Wall (also a player in this one for a oneshot)
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Munkao @munkao.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"Trail of the Ten Terrible Trials" I had a typo with Trails and Trials and had to repost. lol.
Southeast Asian Fantasy: A lone woman with a long spear and shield on her back, hikes up long steps. Beside the steps, sotne guardians look menacingly on.
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Jacob Marks @jacobmarks.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
@infrabeige.bsky.social got me thinking about what a minimalist dot-grid character sheet for Vaults of #Vaarn would look like. Doing some tests.
Minimalist character sheet. Mostly a dot grid in a red color. There are several boxes with diamond shapes and blue lines containing text in a light blue groovy looking font. The box at the top says Name. The next boxes are much smaller and have a cross through them to allow for a minimum and maximum value drawn over the text inside. These smaller boxes have the following text in order: HP, AV, STR, DEX, CON, INT, PSY, and EGO.
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Perplexing Ruins @perplexingruins.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Redrew the Golden Knight in my sketchbook tonight - markers and posca
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Jacob Marks @jacobmarks.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
@infrabeige.bsky.social got me thinking about what a minimalist dot-grid character sheet for Vaults of #Vaarn would look like. Doing some tests.
Minimalist character sheet. Mostly a dot grid in a red color. There are several boxes with diamond shapes and blue lines containing text in a light blue groovy looking font. The box at the top says Name. The next boxes are much smaller and have a cross through them to allow for a minimum and maximum value drawn over the text inside. These smaller boxes have the following text in order: HP, AV, STR, DEX, CON, INT, PSY, and EGO.
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Wietrack Softwork @wietracksoftwork.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
We updated our game title! Check out our real time ant colony simulator: store.steampowered.com/app/3016940/... #WishlistWednesday #indiedev #indiegame #pixelart #ants #entomology #RTS
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itch.io @itch.io · 14/09/2026
Jam hosts now have access to "Submission requirements" to control what pages are eligible for submission, including blocking pages that disclose the use of generative AI, blocking paid games, blocking preexisting games, and more.
Screenshot of the 'Submission requirements' field for jam hosts
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Jacob Marks @jacobmarks.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I just published some character sheets for Into The Odd, Electric Bastionland or other Mark of the Odd games. I'm pretty happy with how it came out and am planning on using it for one-shots at a local gaming store. siofragames.itch.io/odd-like-dot... #rpg #osr #nsr #ito
siofragames.itch.io
Odd Like Dot Grid Character Sheet by Jacob Marks
Simplistic character sheets for Into the Odd and Electric Bastionland
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grouse @buddygrouse.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
refining my severian
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Thursday Garreau @keftiu.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
any one of these ideas could've carried a jam entry, but instead i sketched out little one-page versions of each and threw em all in a document together :3
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nico @nicodelort.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
there's something very contemporary about this 1908 painting of Judas by Sascha Schneider (or just a testament to the Symbolists' lasting influence to this day)
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New Alias @newalias.info · 09/09/2026
A new dawn of post-OSR indie TTRPG Thinking Adventure Music publishing
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David Blatt @kopfstoff.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Since Zelda is trending, a friendly reminder how CRAZY good Katsuya Terada is. (1/3)
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Jacob Marks @jacobmarks.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
More Into the Odd character sheet tests. I'm planning a one shot at a gaming store and I really want something to communicate the simplicity, while keeping room for notes and maps. #osr #nsr
Simple rpg character sheet. Most the sheet is dotted paper. The top has a box for the name and other info. The left top side has boxes for HP, strength, dexterity, and willpower. The sheet is filled out with number, items, notes, a little character illustration, and a crude map. None of the text is important, it is for illustration only.
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Nathan Anderson @nathanandersonart.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The Eyes of the World.
A scene from Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun, in which Typhon, a two-headed man is overpowering the protagonist, Severian from the inside of the eye of a mountain sculpted in Typhon's image.
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Reactor Magazine @reactorsff.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
1982's Conan the Barbarian is a movie about Arnold Schwarzenegger kicking ass and fighting snakes...but it also presents a far more thoughtful, sympathetic version of Conan than people realize. Let's talk beefy heroes, Thulsa Doom, and...feminism?
reactormag.com
Conan the Barbarian: An Unexpectedly Nuanced Depiction of Masculinity? - Reactor
Okay, hear me out: this movie kicks ass, but it's also more thoughtful than you might expect...
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puck_psx @puszke.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I've released an all-in-one tool that lets you extract textures from any perspective, turn them into seamless textures, and use them on your 3D models. #gamedev #indiedev #gamedevtools #itchio #indiegame
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RPG Trader @rpgtrader.com · 03/09/2026
⚠️ Accessories are here! RPG Trader just got a big upgrade. Creators can now offer print-on-demand physical accessories for their games - alongside digital downloads & print books. Cards. Dice. Maps. GM screens. Tiles. Character sheets. Game boxes. And it all happens directly through RPG Trader.
Screenshot showing the 7 accessories now available - Screen, Tear-off pad, Sheet, Cards Hex Tiles, Dice and Game box
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Melsonian Arts Council @melsonian-arts-council.itch.io · 03/09/2026
Even though promoting stuff on social media is like selling tupperware to your friends, it doesn't change the fact that we pressed the GO button on this now. www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...
backerkit.com
A Bit O Troika
A street-by-street, door-by-door gazetteer of the Troikan borough of Ripplegate with spider banks, fire cults, population adjusters, and hundreds of other small businesses all mapped and packed with s...
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Bruno Prosaiko | COMMISSIONS OPEN @prosaiko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Character sheet designed for the Brazilian edition of Cairn. The idea here is to use paper clips along the edges to track floating attribute values and hit protection, so you don’t have to keep erasing and rewriting. ^^
Ilustração digital. Ficha de personagem desenhada para Cairn.
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Bruno Dias @brunodias.dev · 01/09/2026
So it's useful to talk about the specific ways in which this argument is dishonest because I think a lot of liberal and left-leaning people are very vulnerable to this rhetorical bludgeon—the idea that you should "listen to experts". But let's unpack what exactly Giggies here means by "experts".
SE Gyges : this was early enough that it was very insightful and is now sort of transparently true if you think the gizmo isn't useful you're ignoring most major software project and all computer security professionals, you basically have to spit on expertise as a concept 


antivax movement but it's left coded and targets machine learning, artificial intelligence, and engineering fields
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Jacob Marks @jacobmarks.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Made the most basic Into the Odd character sheet for reasons. Might make a tiny blogpost to share the pdf and talk about why. After I clean it up and improve it.
Extremely basic rpg character sheet. Mostly just a gray dot grid. In the top left are boxes for Name, Strength, Dexterity, and Willpower. In the top right are boxes for HP and Deprived.
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WatcherDM (He/Him) @watcherdm.com · 30/08/2026
I have to say the stand out module from the Vaarn summer jam for me has been: simiofdoom.itch.io/the-peculiar... The art, writing, design and concept here is just a pure blast of weird sci-fantasy drug! @simiofdoom.bsky.social really knocked it out of the park.
simiofdoom.itch.io
The Peculiar Ecology of the Viridian Chasm by SimiOfDoom
A poison-green science-fantasy setting
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Jacob Marks @jacobmarks.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
I've started a campaign of Jennell Jaquays' Dark Tower using the DCC conversion, I do like some of the additions, but I found the book pretty unwieldy at the table, so I've taken on the task of converting the entire thing into bullet points 😅
Screenshot of a 2 page spread showing rpg room descriptions and a minimap on each page.
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MKSchmidt @mkschmidt30.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Full sized version and how it will appear with the CGA palette in the game... #WaterLizard #Axolotl #CGA
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loren schmidt @lorenschmidt.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
i few recent games have had me thinking about this, so i thought i'd write a fun thread on one of my favorite topics- flow and the architecture of spaces in game environments! this will focus on the interesting atavistic throwback design we're seeing in recent and upcoming ARPGs.
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Jacob Marks @jacobmarks.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I was looking at Exalted Order of the Mystic Moose again and I think this is the best room title I've come up with.
Header says "Bog Body Bear's Body"
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blark @blarkblarkblark.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Dungeons & Dragons isn't about tactical combat or storytelling or found-family or whatever, it's about opening different kinds of doors.
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Brad Kerr @bradkerr.net · 26/08/2026
I released a new adventure on my Patreon. "Where the Black Fern Grows." Cover illustration by @munkao.bsky.social www.patreon.com/BradKerr/pos...
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countless bats @countlessbats.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
caves have varied floors and ceilings--always walkable, though. you should never need to jump or fly in QiD. earlier I teleported to a random cave and it was full of spiderwebs, all rendering as expected--it's so rewarding finding things just working, without having ever been considered directly.
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Complex Oscillator @mfelps.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I wrote a post about thief cantrips. Just in case someone were making a game where everyone is a thief. complexoscillations.blogspot.com/2026/08/thie...
complexoscillations.blogspot.com
Thief Cantrips
All classes of thieves learn cantrips. All but the Occult Thief learn 1 cantrip every three levels, while the Occult Thief learns 1 cantrip ...
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beetle moses @beetlemoses.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
A New Color (1/5🧵)
Page 1: A man is walking home, smoking a cigarette, being quietly trailed by a UFO above him. As he enters his apartment, two aliens watch from inside the ship. Alien 1, who has a large head, says, “that’s him. Let’s move.” Page 2: The man walks upstairs as the aliens watch from the entrance of the building. The man enters his apartment and greets his little dog. Suddenly there is a knock at the door.Page 3: he peers through his peephole, and sees the two aliens standing in the hallway. Alien 1 is holding a briefcase. From behind him, the voice of alien one: “don’t scream.” Page 4: The aliens are seated across the room on the man’s couch. Sadie is in her bed next to them. Alien 1 says, “you’re not in any danger. Have a seat.” The man looks at his dog and thinks, “sadie is unusually calm.” Alien 1: don’t scream, or it’s a problem.
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Jacob Marks @jacobmarks.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Made this graveyard sheet so players can write in their dead characters to memorialize. Just started a DCC campaign so this is very necessary 😂 #rpg #dcc #osr
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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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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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Melsonian Arts Council @melsonian-arts-council.itch.io · 19/08/2026
Daniel Sell's Troikan gazeteer is launching on Backerkit September 1st. Hundreds of locations, every door has someone behind it. www.backerkit.com/c/projects/m...
backerkit.com
A Bit O Troika
Get notified when A Bit O Troika launches on BackerKit!
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garin | comms open @garin.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
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Melissa Louise @emoseal.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Gonzo
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Jacob Marks @jacobmarks.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Reading DCC's Dark Tower conversion and found a rogue "lorem ipsum" 😂
Photo of a D&D map with a random text block saying "lorem ipsum".
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Louie Zong @everydaylouie.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Concert in the Egg
a stylized 3d render/study of a painting attributed to a follower of Hieronymous Bosch. it depicts a large egg with a bunch of people inside, some playing instruments, some apparently arguing, some just standing around.
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Valeria Loves @valerialoves.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
You have been misled. It's a setting, and it rules. valerialoves.com/wages-of-sin...
valerialoves.com
Wages of Sin Gave Me a Midlife Crisis
Should I just run Mothership for the rest of my life?
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Em @emaudible.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
When you play Big Walk you're exploring a real place. To capture that in the ambiences @househouse.com invited me on our own big walk through Wilson's Promontory National Park in Australia. Being there with the team was such a special experience, and a highlight in all my time at @ashellinthepit.com
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Dorian Dawes @doriandawes.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
every time we try and point this out everyone has an extremely normal reaction about it. www.typebarmagazine.com/legends-latt...
typebarmagazine.com
Legends, Lattes, and Lament: The Necessity of Pain in "Cozy" Fiction
Cozy fiction works best when contrasted against harsh emotional, material, or political realities.
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pavora @pavora.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
“Tended to by the witless pests who worship her, or rather, her rotting sickness, as a god. A wretched fate indeed…the poor girl, she never wished for any of this.”
Millicent, nude, being carried by a pest, flanked by icons of needles if unalloyed gold
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countless bats @countlessbats.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
@unormal.bsky.social started porting Qud to Doom this afternoon...got Joppa up and running
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sumrow @sumrow.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Got this tiny study framed. "Miniature Painting" aka Defend the Castle. 10” x 8” Casein color study on canvas panel, ♥️⚔️🎨
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