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Reposted by Ben Robbins is launching M2

John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 20h

I’ve used the 1st edition to collaboratively build with my group the last two multi-year campaign worlds, and will be snatching this up. Also just great for hanging with creative friends and doing non-rpg creative play.

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 18h

Is Microscope an RPG? The Eternal Question I am pleased to have raised the level of soul-searching in the gaming community 😂

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Reposted by Ben Robbins is launching M2

Caroline Hobbs @chobbs.bsky.social · 20h

So exciting! Microscope is such a foundational game - really psyched for it to be getting a second edition

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 21h

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 Ben Robbins is launching M2

Caroline Hobbs @chobbs.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Playing all the sad women to get emotional revenge for Ben's game KILLING my farm boy

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 28/09/2026

"We’ve gone from DICKENS tooooo AUSTEN!" How @chobbs.bsky.social rocks This Means War

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Reposted by Ben Robbins is launching M2

Pen and Paper Köln e.V. @pnpkoeln.pnpde.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

Die Würfel könnt ihr am 11. Oktober zu Hause lassen, denn an diesem Tag spielen wir nur würfellose Spiele in der Juzi in Köln-Sülz! Meldet euch an, um in einer von sieben Runden zu spielen: forms.gle/LeeK7S6pg3UmfUkD8 #pnpde #Köln @koelngruppe

Ort / Location: JUZI, Sülzburgstraße 112/118, Köln-Sülz
Start: 14:00 Uhr
Ende: 19:30 Uhr

Spielrunden dieses Mal:
Tearable RPG, mit Jan
Ein Homebrew System ("5 Traits"), mit Konrad
Microscope, mit Hannah
Viva la Queer Bar, mit Heike
[in English] Dread: Dredd, mit Dirk
Beak, Feather and Bone, mit Dennis
Good Society, mit Melanie

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 24/09/2026

Hey Kai! Some of both. Only small changes needed to Utgar's Chronicles -- which we were just using last night, by the way. I can send you some info, but obviously no rush until it comes out

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 24/09/2026

Turns out God made the angels *after* the dinosaurs, and specifically charged angels to protect the dinosaurs, back in the golden days of eden Sooo… what did you expect, God?

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Reposted by Ben Robbins is launching M2

Thursday Garreau @keftiu.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

remembered this today and got way too excited

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 19/09/2026

Just read it. Looks simple and solid!

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 18/09/2026

Tapping the Microscope timeline for one-shots in the same setting: confirmed genius.

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Reposted by Ben Robbins is launching M2

Catacombs Gourdeiro🎃 @topmarx.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

using Tinder for its intended purpose: recommending an array of beginner-level GMless story games to someone sick of always being her D&D group's forever-DM

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 17/09/2026

Our Microscope game tonight: "God’s plan was to wipe out the dinosaurs, but rebel angels sabotaged it. Dinosaurs live!"

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Reposted by Ben Robbins is launching M2

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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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 15/09/2026

Yep, exactly. I think if it had been a discussion about AI all along (i.e. it was the topic of the podcast) I might have been a little less polite. Or a lot less polite

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 12/09/2026

Yep, true. I totally rewrote that bit, but haven't released a new draft yet because I still have other changes in the works. If you've got other feedback send it my way!

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 08/09/2026

We talked to Major Wesely about some of this stuff (particularly the final board ambush) a long time ago, and the book seemed to match what he said (nothing about that meeting in this post, but it puts Wesely in context, as, I would argue, the very first GM) arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/10...

arsludi.lamemage.com

Braunstein: the Roots of Roleplaying Games

In 2005 I was standing near the registration booths at GenCon, flipping through the event catalog while the posse debated where to go first. I had already scoured the listings online, but as I glanced...

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 08/09/2026

Just read it recently, definitely an unflattering (but I believe accurate) take on all involved

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 01/09/2026

We had a great talk about the new Microscope, This Means War, and all sorts of other gaming stuff that came to mind. And yes, sock puppets too. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

podcasts.apple.com

Episode 176: Ben Robbins and His Socks Return from Lame Mage

Podcast Episode · Dice in Mind · August 24 · 1h 21m

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 01/09/2026

This is definitely a possible pitfall in GMless designs

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Reposted by Ben Robbins is launching M2

RPG Roots @rpgroots.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Another guest for Season 1 of RPG Roots is Frederik Jensen @thoughtfuldane.bsky.social, author of "Montsegur 1244", "Mars to Stay", "The City," and more TTRPGs and card games. Frederick is based in Sweden and publishes under the name Thoughtful Dane.

In this poster, there is a picture of game designer Frederik Jensen in the foreground, and three pictures of the covers of his story games in the background: Montsegur 1244, Mars to Stay, and The City.

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 31/08/2026

Pottery Shards by @thehintguy.bsky.social is coming together nicely. Summerlab!!!

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 26/08/2026

Slow summer has been slow. There's a lot of distraction in the world I'll put my money down on Perfect and the weirdness it oozes.

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 26/08/2026

I have to constantly ask myself, what is Severian's (the main character) canonical age? Because he's barely an adult himself (if even). And he spent his whole life in weird torture-monastery He sounds adult, because he is the author talking his past self, but he is not a fully developed human

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 24/08/2026

No really, quite a bit about socks. I forgot all about the socks Short pitch: it's actual play, you keep the original audio, but replace the video with sock puppets I would watch that

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Reposted by Ben Robbins is launching M2

Dr. Emily Friedman @ecfriedman.com · 23/08/2026

While it doesn’t explicitly focus on GMless/GM-full games, this is as elegant an encapsulation of the pleasures of those systems as I’ve ever come across. (Which is why I counter the “I’m cooking dinner” model of GMing with “potlucks and cookouts exist”)

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 20/08/2026

My theory is that there was plenty of trash back in the day too, it just doesn't survive. Time is the great curator

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 19/08/2026

Sometimes after I read Gene Wolfe other authors look… lazy… A totally unfair comparison, I know

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Reposted by Ben Robbins is launching M2

Jason Morningstar @jmstar.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Games You Should Play Before Playing Fiasco, in no particular order. * Play whatever you like * Even games that suck teach you stuff * Also play games that scare you sometimes * Distrust taste-makers * As a taste-maker I highly recommend Rusałka by Nick Wedig

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 17/08/2026

He had a very sheltered life before this 😆

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 13/08/2026

Hard agree about the setup: it is manna from heaven for a table of people who have no ideas (or are very tired) but would like to play. It puts you in motion

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 11/08/2026

omg that is such a human mistake I've seen people fall into the "reading aloud feels not adult, I'll just explain everything" *three hours later…*

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 09/08/2026

What if you did the same thing but GMless: each player can tap into a pool of establishment power if they cave and support the status quo, which gives them more ability to push their particular change agenda Do you stand united or give in to temptation?

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 02/08/2026

ooooh, that's an idea: Game meetup, con, etc, but the agreement is we only play games older than X years (10? 20? 30?) What's the secret agenda? Rediscover design ideas that sparkled but were lost and forgotten. Dig up past wisdom and reincorporate it for the future (or learn from others' mistakes)

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 26/07/2026

What surprises me is when it happens and I don't realize it for a bit. Like "hey, this is really just another angle of that idea that stumped me three years!" But now it's working, maybe because I discarded all my baggage.

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 26/07/2026

A possibility we considered along those lines would be rolling *some* of the dice, but saving the rest for later. Or maybe just rolling one side but not the other.

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Ben Robbins is launching M2 @lamemage.com · 26/07/2026

I find that sometimes my abandoned ideas re-emerge as other new games. They can be sneaky like that.

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