iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA

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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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Currently occupying the same space... But I made the mistake to look, before I realised what was going on.

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 30/09/2026

In one week I click the button and let slip the dogs of fractal history… Tuesday October 6 www.kickstarter.com/projects/lam...

kickstarter.com

Coming soon: Microscope (2nd Edition)

The fractal game of epic histories

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Reposted by John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA

Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 01/07/2026

I'm making it official: Microscope second edition is in the works. Crowdfunding in October. I swear on this stack of game books arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/52...

arsludi.lamemage.com

I'm making it official: a new edition of Microscope is in the works. I've looked in my crystal ball, laid out my schedule, and set crowdfunding for October. If you've been following this blog, you ...

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Reposted by John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA

Smooth Dunk @smoothdunk2.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

4 panel comic

Panel 1:
A post from “kavishj9611” that reads:

“All the people who are anti-Al or want to slow Al progress, I have one question:
If Al disappeared tomorrow, could you still get through an entire workday without ChatGPT, Claude, or any other
Al tool?
Imagine Al was suddenly banned.
Would you actually be willing to give it up?”

Panel 2:
And Orange Guy and a Pink Guy are standing in a room that has two pipes in it. Both pipes are pumping raw sewage into the room. The characters are waist deep in it.
Orange Guy says smugly “Ok Mr “I don’t want to be in a room that’s filling up with raw sewage” let me ask you this”

Panel 3:
The sewage has reached their chests. Pink Guy is gagging. Orange Guy smugly continues “If all this sewage disappeared right now, could you get through the day without it?”

Panel 4:
The sewage is almost up to their eyeballs. Orange Guys says “Look at that shit floating past your face. Are you willing to give that up?”

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I'm gutted. I was literally a day's work away from completing the alpha playtest pdf and I f*ed up and lost the file. And apparently on an apple it's irrecoverable. I have a backup but it's few days old and I'd done so much good work yesterday... Deeeep breaths...

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Reposted by John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA

Cute Monster Props @cutemonster.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

A week ago at Dragoncon I met Richard Garriott at a panel about his new Ultima game. Long story short he wants to use AI. He already has for concept art and ChatGPT generated fantasy language. I wrote an account with the hope that this could spread to the right people. Please pass this along.

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Reposted by John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA

Phil Szostak @philszostak.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

“Tony [Gilroy] finally turned to me, and he said, ‘Hey, you just got to stop pitching plot. Plot is bullshit. Plot is what happens when you get the behavior right. Pitch me a line of dialogue, pitch me atmosphere, pitch me something visual. Stop pitching stuff that happens.’” 1/2

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Rerun or sequel? Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor on end times fascism How nationalists, religious fundamentalists and tech titans turned their backs on a shared future by Naomi Klein | 17 min read | Sep 5, 2026 smry.ai/https://www....

smry.ai

Read in smry

Open an article in smry.

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Same here! Took me a while to wrap my head around it, but once it clicked I never looked back.

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Reposted by John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA

Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 02/09/2026

Trade xkcd.com/3290/

Comic. [Person standing holding hammer above raised knee.] PERSON: Listen up, leg. I’ve been sending you rich, oxygenated blood for years, while you send me worthless used-up blood with no oxygen. Time to teach you a lesson about not ripping me off! [caption] Tariffs

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Very glad to hear that. I'll give it another read cause my first pass was too quick and superficial.

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I get the loyalty part, I'm a fan of Matt Colville myself although I didn't follow MCDM into Draw Steel. And I agree, that there's a good percentage of people would be more interested in this than DS.

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Question: does purchasing the hard copy come with the pdf as well?

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I'm all for MCDM and congrats for yet another successful crowdfunding. What I don't understand is, does Crows actually cover a gap in the market that I don't understand (given how many osr dungeon crawlers are out there) or is it base loyalty that drives the numbers?

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Reposted by John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA

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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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I didn't quite make it to 24 books like the Odyssey, but got close. If you haven't watched the movie, do. It's an impressive piece of cinema. But, what's really worth doing is to read Homer!! Both the Iliad and the Odyssey... May the gods look favourably upon you. 20/end

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

- Circe's transformation of the men into pigs was too much of body horror for me but it was powerful and much liked by the rest of my group. (Although I was deeply disappointed that no one got to use moly!) - The scene at the temple in Pylos was sooo Conan the Barbarian!! 19/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

- The cyclops was a stunning reference to Goya's painting of Saturn devouring his son - or at least so it looked to all of us. - The scenes on the ship - The interpretation of the siren's call was interesting 18/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I've got many more complaints, but I'll try to close on a positive note. Here are some highlights: - Argos 🐾 - the interior of the palace at Ithaca - looked more Minoan, but still was nice. (Even though on the outside, the palace was unfortunately made to resemble the Acropolis of Athens) 17/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Yet again, the Americans come, take something that's not of their culture & is important to so many people around the world, they beat it down to a pulp, re-package it to serve their needs, internal politics & social issues, and we must be happy that we get to enjoy their billion dollar pulp. 16/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Many have blamed Matt Damon, or the cast, or the bold choices for the various roles. But the actors are not the problem. I am confident that I Nolan wanted a different Odysseus, Damon would have delivered - Jason Bourne is much more of an Odysseus! 15/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Nolan had a anti-war message to preach & found the most useful & commercially appealing vehicle he could to package his message in, with complete and utter indifference to the spirit of the original story, of Homer, Odysseus, even of ancient Greek mythology. 14/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

But perhaps what bothered me the most was the elephant in the room: Odysseus! Where was he? Where was the man of twists and turns? Where was that ingenious, clever man? Where was that men of tall tales? Nolan was not interested in Odysseus, nor in Homer. 13/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Another thing that really bothered me was that Nolan chose two wonderful black actresses to play Clytemnestra and Helen - which I thought was awesome - but then directed them to play like wild animals, with non of the grace that he afforded to other female characters. 12/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Christian moralism. No, the Bronze Age collapse did not happen due to moral and ethical failures that caused the wrath of god. 11/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

- The use of the words veteran, mom, dad. Yes they bothered me, they felt too alien to the time & place, and too american to swallow. - The Christian Eschatological mush of the supposed Homeric world with the historical understanding of the fall of the Bronze Age civilizations, sprinkled with 10/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Other things that really bothered me: - Odysseus distancing himself from the gods (e.g. during the Scylla and Charibdis scene he says "your gods") - The Achaeans chopping off the head of the statue of Athena in Troy!! (WTF!?!) - 'Athena' being nothing more than his guilt or his internal dialogue 9/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

But the most glaring of all was the core of the movie itself. PTSD, guilt (perhaps survivor's guilt, but not really), being a veteran returning from war, which are all such strong American experiences of the last 20-30 years. 8/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

- There's the scene on the beach as they're escaping the Laestrygonians, with all the dead bodies that immediately brought to mind images of the D-Day landing. - And of course you have all the towers collapsing during the sacking of Troy that evoked the twin towers. 7/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Me and the people with whom I watched the movie spotted various references throughout the movie. Most glaring: - First of all there's this (subtle) middle-eastern vibe of Troy and other locations, which, for modern Americans must be a direct reference to the Iraq & Afghanistan wars. 6/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

What Nolan has created is a solid anti-war movie. Yet again, the country that has been the cause of most of the wars that have plagued the world in recent memory, has stepped forward to talk about the pain, futility & destruction of war. Which perhaps is natural: you talk about what you know, 5/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

they preserve the spirit of the books! So when you watch the movies you enjoy them as you enjoyed the books. This film preserves nothing of Homer nor of Odysseus as a character, and I can confidently say, I'll never spend again 3hrs of my life to watch it. 4/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

When we were walking out of the cinema someone said that the LotR didn't preserve intact the story of the books either, but we still liked the movies and we keep re-warching them. And I thought this was such a good example. Because the LotR movies, in spite of any changes, 3/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

To begin with the basics: Yes, cinematically this is a very impressive movie, a huge american production, with stunning scenes, beautiful photography, imposing score, great cast. But it's got nothing to do with Homer, the Odyssey or Odysseus. 2/🧵

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

We just watched Nolan's Odyssey & I have thoughts. So buckle up. First of all, I know I'm one more nobody expressing opinions in the void, but I live in Greece & I've spent the last 10yrs of my life studying Homer & the Mycenaean period for the ttrpg I'm designing. So it's personal. 1/🧵 Spoilers!

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Because I grew up with ad&d2e I would _never_ run anything RAW. But, when I really moved away from d20 games I realized that often you find well-thought & well desighned games that you ought to run RAW cause there's real intention in the rules.

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Reposted by John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA

Abilu Tangwa. @abilutangwa.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

The question was never what YOU can do. The question is when will THEY pay.

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

...the US, the dollar & late-stage capitalism. Instead focusing on bringing AI under control, doing everything possible to tackle the climate crisis, stomping down oil, meds and agricultural mega corps, and establish universal basic income & healthcare... That's the world I'd wish for my daughter..

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I can imagine a world where the EU gets its act together and instead of becoming a bureaucratic Orwellian dystopia, it focused on real human-centric development. Then joining Canada, South Korea, Japan Aussies, NZ, Singapore, etc, we created a new trade and defense organisation, abandoning..

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Human spy has infiltrated local den of smugglers but gotten so involved that he can't safely leave. Been trying to find a way out without compromising himself & is getting desperate. Recently received anonym letter threatening his family if he tried to leave - so someone knows.

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Support if you can. There's a discount running on the annual subscription.

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Reposted by John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA

Miscreant Meow Connoisseur @bankuei.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I'm playing in two games, running one, and organizing to run another. The game I'm running is 4 years and going. One of the games I'm in is like 3 years and going. I will repeat the advice that allowed me to make this situation happen, and hopefully will help others.

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I've concluded that this is a taxonomy used mostly within the trad gaming circles more than anywhere else. For me it's more about what these rules do: Do they resolve actions (usually with binary success vs. failure)? Or do they facilitate the narrative? Cause either could be rules heavy or light.

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John 'Magus of Thebes' - Land Of Myth PbtA @johnhaygood.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I'd seen your posts and I'd bookmarked it to read it! I'll be very happy to hear your views on the game. I was supposed to have finished the alpha playtest a couple of weeks ago but life got in the way. I'm almost done though, so I'll get in touch very soon!

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