Sign in

lumpley

@lumpley.bsky.social
4.5K followers 1.9K following 1.6K posts

D. Vincent Baker, longtime indie ttrpg creator. Co-creator of Apocalypse World, Under Hollow Hills, and many more. Disarm, defund, abolish. He/him. lumpley.games

PostsRepliesMedia
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 16h
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:
5401148
Reposted by lumpley
Authenticity Trip | 200-Proof Games @200proofgames.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is the skeleton key to every mid PBTA game and session - people look at the moves and think they’re equivalent to, like, initiative mechanics or something. Like an optional add-on for flavor. No, man, they’re the *whole deal.* Ignore them and everything falls alll the way apart
110023
Reposted by lumpley
TheDevinTeam @thedevteam.itch.io · 30/09/2026
As others have said, this is an example of a certifiably bad move or bad GM call, but I think it’s worth delving into why this example feels so relatable and pervasive. Because though you can pretty easily point out how this is against the rules and principles of PBTA, it’s also pretty common.
47710
Reposted by lumpley
paisley nerdywhispers @nerdywhispers.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
even more illustrations for under hollow hills characters! #illustrations #ttrpg #underhollowhills (I'm still trying to make rent, if you can support me, anything helps)
0129
Reposted by lumpley
paisley nerdywhispers @nerdywhispers.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
look at some of these cool illustrations i did! they were commissions for an Under Hollow Hills campaign! #illustration #commission #ttrpg
Burning Jack, a kind-eyed older gentleman dressed in fancy red clothes.Willow Briar, a performer in grandiose purple and gold clothing and large antlers.
11911
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
CW: Food The season's turned. I know this because our farm share isn't requiring every patron to take a 5lb bag of tomatoes like they were the last few weeks. To celebrate we're having BLTs (for those of us who partake) and MLTs (that's mushrooms, for those of us who don't).
1490
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
In the old days I had a reputation for controversy-for-controversy's-sake (mostly undeserved, genuinely; it should have been a reputation for putting my foot in it). Anyhow I'd be a little surprised if there's anything in this one that ANYone would take exception to.
35511
Reposted by lumpley
Tanya Floaker @floaker.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
@lumpley.bsky.social knocks out pt2!
youtu.be
AW & PbtA pt 2
YouTube video by Vincent Baker
0317
Reposted by lumpley
Quinn murphy @gamefiend.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Ok, time to introduce y'all to some of my favorite dance battles and battlers. Meet Norah and Yarah, who are bad as hell (Norah is white shirt, Sarah green): youtube.com/shorts/_U1zz...
youtube.com
Winners 2vs2 Hiphop Battle | Norah & Yarah Free Spirit 2025
YouTube video by LET IT HAPPEN
1185
Reposted by lumpley
Sarah Doom @scorchadoom.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Check out @madjay.bsky.social & I's podcast - Muses of Play! It's all about creativity and work in a creative field. Our first guests were @lumpley.bsky.social & family. See all the episodes so far here: www.patreon.com/collection/1...
patreon.com
Muses of Play | Collection from Mad Jay, GM-at-Large | 6 posts | Patreon
Sarah Doom and I talk about creativity within the TTRPG community. We also invited a few industry friends to share their thoughts. Explore Muses of Play, a…
0107
Reposted by lumpley
J? @jquestionmark.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It's really exciting to see that Mars Watch funded!! And there's still a bit over 2 days left, so maybe that number can keep going up and Ash can get paid for all their hard work! www.kickstarter.com/projects/wun...
kickstarter.com
Mars Watch | PBTA space military + survival horror
An almost tenth-anniversary second edition of award-winning RPG The Watch by Ash Kreider, with a new setting and playbook
035
Reposted by lumpley
Ishtar Labryssa de Sapphe ⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🎲📝 @labryssa.myatproto.social · 20/09/2026
You should back this game. because it's going to be awesome.
kickstarter.com
Mars Watch | PBTA space military + survival horror
An almost tenth-anniversary second edition of award-winning RPG The Watch by Ash Kreider, with a new setting and playbook
063
Reposted by lumpley
Phil Nobile Jr. @philnobilejr.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Michael Berryman lost everything in a house fire 💔 www.gofundme.com/f/support-mi...
gofundme.com
Donate to Support Michael Berryman After House Fire, organized by Nicole Kinzie
Good afternoon, Horror fans. For those of you who have ever attended… Nicole Kinzie needs your support for Support Michael Berryman After House Fire
3184155
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Elliot got a photo today of our yard neighbor Big Chump eating some cabbage. Cool, huh?
Our yard neighbor Big Chump, a woodchuck, eating a cabbage leaf.
2451
Reposted by lumpley
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 14/09/2026
Cis people do not understand how much trans people's rights have regressed in just 5 years. 5 years ago, there were none of these restrictions. 19 states banned legal recognition 21 states have bathroom bans 8 states ban gender marker changes on DLs 25 ban gender affirming care for trans youth
11077513615
Reposted by lumpley
J? @jquestionmark.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This extremely cool game is currently struggling on Kickstarter (and asking a comically reasonable total to fund). If this is even a little your jam, please help make it happen: www.kickstarter.com/projects/wun... #ttrpg #pbta #no-ai
kickstarter.com
Mars Watch | PBTA space military + survival horror
An almost tenth-anniversary second edition of award-winning RPG The Watch by Ash Kreider, with a new setting and playbook
11618
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Make a band edible: Baohaus
0654
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Ooh, check this out: www.historic-deerfield.org/events/confe... If you're in the neighborhood, I'll see you there.
historic-deerfield.org
Revisiting King Philip’s War - The War for New England after 350 years - Historic Deerfield
Historic Deerfield, with support from the Massachusetts Historical Society, is hosting a one-day conference: “Revisiting King Philip’s War/The War for New England after 350 years.” Scholars, knowledge...
0202
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Yesterday I got my flu shot so today I spend the day forgetting the fact and going, "am I coming down with something? I think I might be coming down with something."
2361
Reposted by lumpley
CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective @crimethinc.com · 07/09/2026
It is demeaning to be forced to sell away our time and creativity rather than being free to do things that are intrinsically meaningful. On the scale of the planet, the name for this problem is capitalism. From the vantage point of the individual, the name for it is work. crimethinc.com/antiwork 🧵
A drawing by Walter Crane, the libertarian socialist, edited to read:

The Cause of Anti-Work Is the Hope of the World


All of us deserve to make the most of our potential as we see fit, to be the masters of our own destinies. Abolish work.
121076
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I learned this the hard way. It cost me several good friendships. ...If I've even actually learned. I'm still pretty vulnerable to it.
2686
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Maybe a little Dick Gaughan tonight. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nf1...
youtube.com
Dick Gaughan - Revolution
YouTube video by shaminy
030
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A chance meeting this afternoon inspired me to design a tabletop card game. It's called "Peter Needs a Lyricist." It's a cooperative game where our goal is to stop Peter from getting a lyricist. Maybe tomorrow, it being a long weekend and all, I'll make a prototype and give it a try.
2621
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Amazing!
0240
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I've just backed Mars Watch, of course! www.kickstarter.com/projects/wun...
kickstarter.com
Mars Watch | PBTA space military + survival horror
An almost tenth-anniversary second edition of award-winning RPG The Watch by Ash Kreider, with a new setting and playbook
02411
Reposted by lumpley
Tanya Floaker @floaker.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
HWFG! It's @lumpley.bsky.social
youtu.be
AW & PbtA pt 1
YouTube video by Vincent Baker
02511
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I got a picture of him!
A photo of Big Chump, our woodchuck yard neighbor, mostly hidden in tall grass
3521
Reposted by lumpley
RPG Roots @rpgroots.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Two more guests that we interviewed together for Season 1 of RPG Roots are Vincent and Meguey Baker - @lumpley.bsky.social and @megueyb.bsky.social - the beloved authors of Apocalypse World, Under Hollow Hills, The King is Dead, and many more TTRPGs.
In this poster, there are pictures of Vincent and Meguey Baker in the front, and covers of three of their games in the back: Under Hollow Hills, The King is Dead, Apocalypse World. Their names are written at the top, and the background is dark gray.
14111
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I went a week without seeing Big Chump and I was beginning to fear the worst, but nope! There he was, sitting under the birdfeeders, monching apple falls like the happiest marmota that ever monaxed. Still shy though, he scumbled off under the burdock before I could get a picture.
1230
Reposted by lumpley
Indie Press Revolution @ipr.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Back in Stock! Apocalypse World 2e (softcover) (our last copies ever!) www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/
04919
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Something like this, more or less. whereidlive.com/t/us-states-...
190
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
For a while in Monsterhearts I was playing two characters, Gerard (a Witch) and Terrifying Fake Gerard (a Hollow that some fey power or other created from his mirror image). "So Vincent, what's Gerard up to this morning? What's Terrifying Fake Gerard up to?" Like this.
1749
Reposted by lumpley
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...
12593364
Reposted by lumpley
Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Part of treating children as human beings means simply reminding yourself that the younger version of you would have hated to have been surveilled 24/7, and that your sense of self is formed in part through privacy from others. We parent well when we let our children find themselves.
7280110
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
No cheating. Post the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.
A photo at dusk in Shelburne Falls MA, on the Deerfield river. The sky's reflected in the river, and so is a moodily-lit building under the trees.
2240
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Good stuff!
0223
Reposted by lumpley
RPG Roots @rpgroots.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Another guest for Season 1 of RPG Roots is Danielle Lewon, the award-winning co-designer of "Kagematsu" - another TTRPG that came up very frequently in our conversations with various authors! 1/
1157
Reposted by lumpley
Lisa @lisalessthan3man.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Under Hollow Hills is absolutely delightful! The circus rolled into Buttondown to officiate a Breaking of the Ice ceremony. Despite the local brownies insistence on keeping their nemesis giant encased in a frozen waterfall, the players called upon the river to speak, and it demanded to run free
2141
Reposted by lumpley
Luke Wildwoods @wildwoodsgames.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Least-lovely creature under the sun. Haunted, hunted, hated, Afraid—like you—of what I may become. the Pariah is one of 4 bonus playbooks from the Shrine playset—a weird outcast; maybe feared, maybe pitied, always unsettling. which 4 rights would you give them? sevencrowsgames.itch.io/dark-ages
35023
Reposted by lumpley
Andrew Gillis @andrewgillis.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I'm going to be playing the playtest of Dark Ages with my friend @distractedelf.bsky.social and company this Sunday, for anyone that wants to see the game in action. In addition to the video, I'll be doing weekly posts about my prep, and general thought process around playing the game.
5338
Reposted by lumpley
Rascal News [Unofficial] @rascal.news.web.brid.gy · 20/08/2026
rascal.news
AITA because I (fairy prince, 1573yo) can't stop wiping people's memories?
Moves in Under Hollow Hills are a double-edged sword, creating passive geasa that encourage fundamental, magical truths about characters.
0112
Reposted by lumpley
Ash the Stampede @ashthestampede.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Launching September first! Mars Watch is the re-skinned 2nd edition of The Watch - an award-winning TTRPG about women and non-binary people literally destroying patriarchy. To learn more, watch the trailer, and follow the campaign: www.kickstarter.com/projects/wun...
Image of an explosion on the surface of Mars; cover of The Watch with text of awards nominated and won.

A second edition nearly 10 years in the making, Mars Watch launches on Kickstarter September 1st!
23219
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I've been reading Ambrose Bierce's Civil War short stories, collected in "In the Midst of Life," and friends, they're remarkable. If you're in the US, you probably read "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" in high school. It's worth a reread...
2261
Reposted by lumpley
MegueyB 🔜Metatopia @megueyb.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Just another round of #FuckCancer, while we're at it. Spare a healing thought for my friend M, if you can.
0724
Reposted by lumpley
Five Points Games @fivepointsgames.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
You can purchase A Monster’s Tail at the following stores below! rpg-trader.com/products/826... fivepointsgames.itch.io/a-monsters-t...
rpg-trader.com
A Monster's Tail on RPG Trader
A PbtA game of friendship, finding out, and growing up
032
Reposted by lumpley
Judd Karlman (he/him) @juddthelibrarian.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Dark Ages Playtest: Behold, Gideon the Dragon-Herald I was excited when I read about Luke and Andrew taking over the development for Dark Ages (previously known as Apocalypse World: Dark Ages). When I read the Dragon-Herald playbook, I showed it to Janaki the moment I had the printed out playtest…
githyankidiaspora.com
Dark Ages Playtest: Behold, Gideon the Dragon-Herald
I was excited when I read about Luke and Andrew taking over the development for Dark Ages (previously known as Apocalypse World: Dark Ages). When I read the Dragon-Herald playbook, I showed it to Janaki the moment I had the printed out playtest documents. We jumped on the prep with both feet. Link to Dark Ages playtest We created the Dragon Stone shrine from its situation sheet, a Household where the shrine's champion lives and the 3 peoples in the area.
1165
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
This has been my absolute experience too.
0675
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
We have a very cool yard neighbor this year! We call him "distinguished gentleman," "Big Chump" or "that freak (extrem. affectionate)". Our human neighbors have a shed up against the fence. Big Chump makes his home under its foundation, but his front door is in our yard under our pear tree.
2380
lumpley @lumpley.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Something randomly reminded me to share this! lumpley.games/2019/10/21/g...
A simple graph showing two parallel skill acquisition lines. As you practice a skill, you don't improve steadily, you improve in steps: a sudden improvement, a long plateau, a sudden improvement, a long plateau...
This chart shows "creative skills" and "critical skills" improving out of step with one another, leapfrogging: your creative skills suddenly improve while your critical skills plateau, then your critical skills improve while your creative skills plateau. Creative skills: design, development, production; critical skills: analysis, interpretation, vision.A simple graph showing two parallel skill acquisition lines. As you practice a skill, you don't improve steadily, you improve in steps: a sudden improvement, a long plateau, a sudden improvement, a long plateau...
This chart shows "creative skills" and "critical skills" improving out of step with one another, leapfrogging: your creative skills suddenly improve while your critical skills plateau, then your critical skills improve while your creative skills plateau. Creative highs and lows: when your creative skills outpace your critical skills, "my game is amazing!" But when your critical skills outpace your creative skills, "my game is terrible!" ...When of course it's the same game.
211734
Reposted by lumpley
Bsky Kreuger @lammatic.hellthread.vet · 02/08/2026
If you haven't heard the fires in East Washington aren't anywhere near full containment. We're talking fires 2.4x the size of Seattle I was off for a day or so. But my tribes relief fundraiser is at 66% of goal. These funds help Natives displaced from the Colville Rez www.zeffy.com/en-US/donati...
zeffy.com
Cedar Fund Wildfire Recovery Campaign
Colville Wildfire Relief & Recovery Fund ***OFFICIAL KAISER CANYON FIRE DONATION ACCOUNT***The Cedar Fund of the Colville Indian Reservation has established…
0149