iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

it's Mythic Bastionland: The Novel

Cover image of The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

just remembered that at the very end of our time playing 5e years ago I started tracking turn lengths and would present them to the group at the end of the session

A spreadsheet control panel, with four sections. A detailed round by round time per turn, a bar chart with total times for each character, and pie charts with a percentage of time per combat (one with the GM characters, one without)

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

I'm revisiting this post and... I kinda cooked with these merchants

Porcelain skin, cracked in places and put back together with veins of gold. The doll steps forward, her movements stiff and slightly delayed, as if she has to queue them up and then execute them all at once. On her back, a winding key endlessly tick-tick-ticks, crafted in the design of butterfly wings. Her eyes are icy blue, and her head tilts with a small smile as she greets you. Behind her, three clockwork porters carry her goods, devoid of the spark of sentience that fills her eyes. Her dress and coat are of the finest quality, cut, and lavender coloring. A jar attached to her hip is perhaps the strangest thing on her person—or rather, its contents are: a human skull.

Miss Martine is a living doll, commissioned by a travelling merchant years ago. When he met an untimely end, she knew not what to do, and could only carry on his work. He rests now, at her hip, and she’ll speak to the skull when she thinks nobody is around. She knows that the merchant had a son, and she desperately wants to get a letter to him. She hopes to one day meet the person she considers her “brother.”

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

If anyone was wondering, this is what I see when I video call @nornnoszka.bsky.social

A picture of Norn and Susan, a cat, staring at the phone camera.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

It's messed up that they made @nornnoszka.bsky.social and I such a powerful couple they had to nerf us with long distance

A photo of Ty and Norn in a game store. They are both very happy and holding each other close.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

It's the zork map by someone named drsushi! (Hill Cantons blog used it as an example I believe)

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

I love everyone giving (good) advice but this is a shit post of a famous dril tweet

A tweet:

Food $200
Data $150
Rent $800
Candles $3,600
Utility $150
someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying

Replies are: dril spend less on candles, to which dril replies "no"

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

This is what stares back at me as I edit THE CASTLE AUTOMATIC if anyone was wondering

A ceramic worm with a top hat on top of the book HIS MAJESTY THE WORM

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

just chatting on discord with @nornnoszka.bsky.social (norn not pictured)

Phone screenshot of a video call. Ty is in the top right corner smiling. The main video shows Susan, a beautiful tabby cat, staring into the camera at Ty.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

man worms... worms that are also men........... hmmm.... 🤔

Image of Leto II Atreides as a Sandworm; cropped from the 1987 Ace paperback cover of God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert, itself a reuse of artwork from the 1978 paperback edition. Original artwork by Bruce Pennington.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

🚨 do not be alarmed 🚨 NEW AVATAR UNLOCKED (a perfect birthday gift from @nornnoszka.bsky.social 🤍)

Art of Ty, drawn by Norn Noszka. It is in black and white, and shows Ty with big eyes, a plaid shirt, medium length hair and a beard. It has Scott Pilgrim style vibes.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

They've already capitalized on scenting up the game table we're almost out of time to move on the bookscent

Powered by the Scent engine. Insert the vial and dial into the adventure.

Below, a picture of someone shovelling a scent canister into the hexagonal scent engine.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

There are hexcrawls everywhere for those with the eyes to see.

A very close up shot of a screen door in a hex layout. There is a blurry porch and dog in the background.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

time to get in the dungeon losers

Chapelle Roan in her "Roan of Arc" outfit, which is platemail and chainmail. She's holding a crossbow, her red hair is braided, and she's got a badass look on her face.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

TTRPG cons in 2025? Sorry, gencon, I got a better offer from my budgeting app

An email detailing the "You Need a Budget" Fan Fest that is happening in San Diego on April 26.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

just use bears, but this is the bear

A picture of a very large grizzly. The caption says "The Boss has emerged from hibernation."

Text reads: "The Boss" has emerged from hibernation in Alberta's Lower Bow Valley. This 650-pound grizzly is the region's undisputed alpha- famous for feasting on other bears, surviving two train collisions, and fathering around 70% of the local cubs.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

This Atlantis art by Rocío Espín Piñar is ready to hot drop right into your RPG game

An artist rendition of Atlantis, with concentric circles that alternate between waterways, buildings, and a horse racing track. Around the city is farmland. Made by Rocío Espín Piñar.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Whenever I hear someone dogmatically saying "the moves MUST begin and end with the fiction" I always want to crack open Apocalypse World and pull out pretty much any example from the book.

Bran wants Keeler’s backup in an ill-considered raid on Jackabacka’s junkyard. Keeler knows how ill-considered it is, though. “Oh come on, it’ll be fun,” Bran’s player says. He hits the roll with a 7. “So, the carrot or the stick?” Keeler’s player says. “The carrot,” he says. “You’ve got hard highlighted, yeah? The way I figure it, with that, plus one from me, this raid could give you enough experience to get a whole improvement.” “Hm,” Keeler’s player says. “at’s an interesting point.”

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

I love love love this piece that Hodag did for Swineheart Motel!

A giant hog hanging from a hunting stand.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

ATTENTION EVERYONE!!! I'VE WON THE BLOGGIES!

Six panel meme. A men gets a medal, bites it, kisses the presenter, gives everyone the finger, sprays champagne, and then drinks the champagne out of the bottle. The reveal on the last panel is that he only got 3rd place.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Throwback to November with two weird little guys in love @speedballhippie.bsky.social

Norn and Ty in suits for a wedding. Outside in the greenery, with the sun coming down. Norn is in burgundy and Ty is in navy

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

One of my biggest hits on the old site 😂

A tweet from Ty saying the duality of "you can do that with 5e" and "there's a powered by the apocalypse hack for that"

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Thanks, and I like that game for exploration of the topic! If you wanted to play with a battlemap you could use the hues & clues board 😤

The hues & clues board game, with many different colors on a grid.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

I was attempting this for my dungeon24 thing, but didn't get too far on the specifics (or the rooms lol) But the jist was that it was a hostile dungeon school and you had to depth crawl routes to classes

Each day is played out, 1 free slot, go to classes (4 slots) five days a week then 2 slots afterward
Weekends you have 8 slots
1 slot of time to get to class and 1 back

You either have "learned" a verb or not. No percentage. Verbs are pretty specific. Can only hold so many at once, based on wizard power.
You can make specific spells. Doing so bumps the casting?? Anyone can learn specific spells, doing so is easier than learning the school.
D100 table of failed casting mishaps. Not necessarily all earth shaking bad, since every time a spell is failed, the table is rolled.
Exam: roll type 4 times. On a success, gain +d20. Study blocks can be used to reroll -or_ just make additional rolls. (Needs math work) --- how about: Roll your type, ona success you get your roll +25.. Nah. Roll to generate exam dice. On a success, a good dice, on a failure a less good dice. Spend study blocks to generate good dice automatically. Must choose to use study blocks before rolling to generate exam dice.

Block activities:
- Class. As above.
Study. Gain 1 reroll for a class or exam. Socialize. Gain +1d10% to your Social. Intimate time. Roll on close friend table? Event Die, end of day (?)
1
3
4 Social stat decreases by 10% 6
Pre-prepped "event sheets" that are like one page sessions to run that break up the usual procedure.
NPC index cards for easy reference. Generator gives them required info (descriptor and demeanor) along witha high percentage type + a few verbs

Each week, "supplies" are needed from the Supply Common Rooms. Need to find a path there, too. Can grab up supply. Supply can be used to make curios and potions and stuff, and you also must spend 1 supply for each class or roll at disadvantage. A waypoint cantrip someone must learn on day 1. Use it to cast a finding spell that will guide you through a route to a destination of your choice. Destinations have DCs. A "sponsor" mentors you enough to get tuition to the school. These sponsors are like 13th age lcons. They can show up at the school, have their own plans, and are pillars

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

My friend has started designing a game for the first time and I got to witness this beautiful moment in real time

Nick: What would happen if you took the Nature, History and Religion skills out of D&D 5e? Like... you kind of _need_ knowledge skills, right? Or at least a single skill you can roll to know things? What if you didn't want a skill like that? How would knowing things work? For example, if we see a Hag in Tomb of Annihilation and a player goes "Would my character know anything about hags?" the answer kind of has to be "Give me a _something_ roll." right? The other option is to just tell them yes or no, and elaborate accordingly.

Disregarding D&D 5e, just TTRPGs in general... do dice need to be involved when a PC wracks their brain for in-universe knowledge they _may_ know but aren't guaranteed to know? I feel like the answer is yes, but I'm trying to entertain the idea that the answer could be no.

Ty: Congratulations, game designer. You have stumbled upon one of the Great Discourses of TTRPG design. There are still more to find! Good luck.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

I never posted this here, so an old blog post for your consideration: SPELL FRIEND AND ENTER: a framework for populating your world with dungeons, opening them with scrabble tiles, and building Tears of the Kingdom inspired problem solving contraptions! www.mindstormpress.com/spell-friend...

A college of Gandalf from Lord of the rings and a Zelda dungeon entrance. Above it, in neon scrabble tiles, reads "Friend."

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Truly unbeatable aesthetic

Art by Faith Schaffer of a woman kneeling. A glowing green sword hovers in front of her. She has a magical swirl of green power around her head. She's wearing a brown dress.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

This is really rad and the largest amount of nested hit dice monsters I've seen! Check it out, it's a really fun "play instantly" kind of book.

A page from the book called Hell of a Party about playing as a wizard attending a dorm party.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

🚨 New mindstorm post!! 🚨 Happy Blog Friday to all who celebrate! I've created a little mini game for bartering with the weird merchants you find in odd places. At the end of the post, you'll also find three merchants to drop in your game! www.mindstormpress.c...

A newspaper illustration depicting a man engaging in barter, paying his yearly newspaper subscription to the "Podunk Weekly Bugle" with various farm produce.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

It's true here's me and Tony standing beside each other

Tony sitting on a chair while Ty stands beside him.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

In case you were wondering I'm actually incredibly tall and not a little guy at all (see evidence below)

Ty standing in front of a very short door you'd have to duck to get through.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 27/09/2024

I kinda cooked on the Swineheart map despite not really knowing what I'm doing when it comes to art

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 09/07/2024

🚨 New Blog 🚨 The somata engraving kit will find you when it wants to be found, offering powerful, permanent spellcraft to those willing to carve away their flesh. You only have so much room on your body for the runes. What magic will you work into your soul? www.mindstormpress.com/the-somata-e...

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 05/07/2024

KORIKO is such a beautiful book! I can see why it got nominated for best production value, from the paper wrap it came in to the incredibly genius-brained bookmark. Can't wait to really dig in and play through it. The art is mesmerizing.

The cover of Koriko and a bookmark with the table of contents on it.

The Koriko book, bundled in a custom printed paper wrap.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 04/06/2024

Living up to my reputation 😂

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 04/06/2024

🚨 New blog post alert 🚨 You've got a brand new adventuring party and you're looking for something a bit more spicy than the typical "Uhhh? I guess we met adventuring?" This framework bonds the characters together with superglue and adds a splash of drama for fun. www.mindstormpress.c...

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 21/05/2024

🚨 New blog post!!! 🚨 You got collaborative worldbuilding in my OSR GMing! And... it works? Here's a way to share the worldbuilding between the GM and the players, but with just enough structure to supercharge the creativity on all sides.

Exploration and discovery are going to be a major part of the game. Even if only make 15 hub locations, making each of those interesting, interconnected, and exciting is a challenge. And doing it all by myself is like an engine running on one cylinder when could be firing on all six. With five other players around the table, it's time to tap into their creativity for my own nefarious purposes. As an added bonus, players taking over a bit of the worldbuilding means that they can surprise and delight each other and me.

Let's lay out the design goals so can address each one:

Light collaborative worldbuilding between the GM and players.

The players get to add to scenes and make them come alive.

The other players and the GM have a chance to be "wowed' by the added elements.

There is structure, provided by the GM, to the way elements are added.

A element can be added, incorporated, and then gameplay can quickly resume.

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Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 12/05/2024

After such a long drought of in person gaming this was borderline magical

A gaming table full of sheets for a blades in the dark game.

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