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Wednesday we started a two-shot of @gayspaceship.bsky.social's Thirsty Sword Lesbians (hi April!) by dramatically winning a leg of a marathon sky-ship race (we literally slid in sideways)... only to find out our thingummie has been broken! And also all our exes are in town!

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Tuesday started a quarterly run of The Witching Hour, an in-progress Firebrands hack based on the The Midnight Club. I'm playing the Broken Ace, whose past excellence means nothing in the hospice, and for some reason was set on being a figure skater... a sport I know only a little about. 😅

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In Monday's Court of Blades Bianca got herself into major trouble by killing the ward of a mercenary who's a much better fighter than she is... and things just went downhill from there. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u9G...

Court of Blades: Rule of Rooks S5

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Sunday Stonetop was absolutely on a knife's edge the whole time as we dealt with the revenant who'd taken the town hostage... and her Claw girlfriend coming to save her. We ended session with two of us at two hit points and were a single roll away from having the Claws raise the place. 😱

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Saturday night I ran @sharkbombs.bsky.social's Goblin Errands. This is the 3rd time I've run it & I especially love doing a little "dotted line on the map to get to the place" montage. (Maybe someone will pick the Square one day! It's my favorite playbook but I haven't seen it at the table yet.)

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Saturday afternoon was a oneshot of Lady Blackbird. I played Naomi Bishop this time, Lady Blackbird's bodyguard. (I played Captain Cyrus last time, so I only need another three games to work my way completely through the cast.)

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Saturday morning I played Sky Racers unlimited, a hack of @clarkvalentine.bsky.social's Tachyon Squadron. Shout out to Lowell for some incredibly graceful GMing. It was a very smooth session even with my inexperience and players dropping in and out. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPUH...

Sky Racers Unlimited: Shared Hearth

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Friday night I got to play @lumpley.bsky.social's In Dreaming Avalon (always a treat!). My sweet idiot of a knight did not realize despite *heavy* hints that the lovely fairy he was pining after was in fact a dragon he'd slain, which was delicious to play out.

On Friday I facilitated @beckyannison.bsky.social's History Dig Live! for the shared hearth and we excavated a "roman fort" (actually a market town) in what is now Tunisia. We leaned slightly wackier, which I thought worked well for a one-shot, esp since only half the players were Time Team fans.

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Tea @tea-amat.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Play report, week of Oct 2. 📆 This week I had ten sessions & ran or facilitated three of them, which even for me is quite a lot of sessions. @openhearthrpg.bsky.social 's Shared Hearth event was running Fri - Sun, which definintley juiced the numbers a bit. 😉

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I'd recommend roasting & freezing. You can basically use them like tomatillos and they'll shrink a bit during roasting so it's more space efficient.

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I'm sure we will, looking forward to it! 😁

If you're not familiar, the Open Hearth is an online community focused on (mainly indie) ttrpgs. They have a strong community code of conduct and require use of safety tools at the table. I've run & played a ton with the community and it's a great group of folks. We'd love to have you join us! 😁

And then on Nov 18th & 25th I'm running a two shot of @avalynramsaygames.bsky.social's The Best Around, a firebrands game - Play as a face, heel or mysterious meddler - Make friends out your rivals - Compete in the Tournament! app.playabl.io/games/2274/o...

Find communities and roleplaying games to match your style. Connect with game designers and explore new games.

On Nov 11 I'm running a one-shot of @dungeonofthedragon.bsky.social's Bad Blood. You'll play as a coven of vampires locked in a cycle of violence with a nearby town. 🧛‍♀️ Who is the hunter and who is the hunted? Can you find a way to escape the cycle? app.playabl.io/games/2275/o...

Find communities and roleplaying games to match your style. Connect with game designers and explore new games.

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I've got two fresh games up on the @openhearthrpg.bsky.social's calendar for November... ...and for the first 48 hours I'm holding slots for folks who are new to the community (perhaps that is you! 👀)

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And that was all for this week, but @openhearthrpg.bsky.social's Shared Hearth event is currently in full swing so I'll have an extra long report next time. 😁

In my Tuesday Armor Astir: Advent game we wrapped up the sortie that my previous channeler died during (rip), and I introduced my new character, his younger sister. I currently have her as a scout but I plan on her becoming a channeler as well at some point. (Revenge arc!)

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Tuesday we wrapped up our game of @lamemage.com's This Means War playtest. Conveniently the war ended mechanically as well after second season in a row with the Invader strengthening control, after a total of 7.5 hours playtime. (At some point next week I'll type up feedback notes more cohesively.)

Monday we returned to Ilrein in Court of Blades, joined by a new coterie member recently recalled from exile. After another successful, and stealthy, mission of (arguably) piracy, we took some well-earned downtime. My Bravo is beginning to grow restless though... www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdNd...

Court of Blades: Rule of Rooks S4

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For Sunday Stonetop our Heavy is still off a-witchhunting, and my Fox and our Would Be Hero got into what was intended to be friendly-ish discussion with a revenant and--a disastrous series of roles later--it's all gone horribly wrong. (It does seem to be a theme with them, poor thing.)

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Sunday (after some miscommunication where me & another person both thought the other were running 😅) we ended up starting a Cairn two-shot. (Thankfully I had my notes & character sheet from the last time we played Cairn on me so we had a warm start at least.)

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Friday evening I wrapped up the 12-session run of Stonetop I'd been running & it was a really lovely final session. Really felt like each PC had their own arc and growth and felt very satisfied with where things left off.

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Friday started with the forth session of @kierongillen.bsky.social's scions. Touched on quite a few new mechanics: - season of rest - love letter (for a player who missed a session) - picking new assets - a returning threat/asset www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb9B...

The Scions (v0.82) Open Hearth Playtest (4/12)

YouTube video by Kieron Gillen

Tea @tea-amat.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Play report, week of Sept 25. 📆 This week I played seven TTRPGs, two of which I facilitated/ran two of those.

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ty, I'm looking forward to facilitating it! 😁

Tea @tea-amat.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Would YOU like to play a one-shot of 's @crackerjackalope.bsky.social's ABODE, a TTRPG of building a gothic family tree? Are YOU new to the @openhearthrpg.bsky.social online TTRPG community? Good news: I'm holding 3 spots for new folks. (That's you!) Come play! 👇 app.playabl.io/games/2263/o...

Find communities and roleplaying games to match your style. Connect with game designers and explore new games.

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Tea @tea-amat.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Maiya, one of the facilitors who was in the camp! app.playabl.io/games/2249/o... (although I also got a the digital playkit during the kickstarter which has been lurking in my to be played queue for a while; I was very happy when she picked it to bring to the table 😁)

Find communities and roleplaying games to match your style. Connect with game designers and explore new games.

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And in Hootowl we rounded it off a session of @lumpley.bsky.social's MF0: Firebrands. The facilitator did great but we all agreed that two hours is a bit short to get a full experience of the game. (I usually plan for 6ish.) On a side note: my 11th session of the game this year. 😅

Wednesday were the last two sessions of the game facilitators camp! In Lark we played @sam.diceexploder.com's Band-aids and Bulletholes, which was a blast & the faciliator ran very well: got through a satisfying game in two hours. (and the playingcards.io room was slick as hell!)

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Tuesday was the penultimate session of @lamemage.com's This Means War. I missed last week and while I was gone one side surrendered (!) and I came back to scattered insurgency/counterinsurgency fighting. I also spotlit someone else on my player turn & found the text very clear about how to do that.

In Monday Court of Blades the coterie enjoyed some downtime. My Bravo uncovered a plot of the house that her rival and former patron is at... and we learned that the Eye's dead lover was killed by my Bravo (against her wishes) at the order of that same patron. 👀 www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhef...

Court of Blades: Rule of Rooks S3

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In Sunday night Stonetop, my Fox and the Would-be-hero slew a Hagr while the Blessed grasped a revenant in the public house and, many many miles away, our Heavy found an ally in a witchhunter who was--wouldn't you know it--on the trail of the same witch.

Sunday was the finale of my college friends' Avernus campaign which started in 2024. We had a lovely reflective finale/skill challenge that we (just!!) beat to redeem Zariel and fought our way out in climactic final battle. A lovely way to send off those characters. :)

Friday evening was the penultimate session of the Stonetop short campaign I'm running. The party entered the domain of one of the four chieftains, and we ended with our Fox passionately kissing the Fey noblewoman who's been courting her... and our Heavy pulling a knife on her younger sibling.

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Friday (my) morning we continued our play test of @kierongillen.bsky.social's Scions with a special guest star. Kicked the tires a bit on the dueling rules & I really enjoyed it! (Also v. excited for Aurex's eventual descent into madness. 😁) www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E08...

The Scions (v0.82) Open Hearth Playtest (3/12)

YouTube video by Kieron Gillen

Play report, week of Sept 18. 📆 This week I played eight TTRPGs & ran or facilitated two of them. (I also got to play Root for the first time but I'm not counting boardgames. ;)

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You might get lucky at an Asian or Latin grocery story, especially in late winter. (I think custard apple is the more common name.) Their close cousins soursop/cherimoya are usually easier to find and taste similar.

Sam D @sam.diceexploder.com · 24/09/2026

Reposted by Tea

I wrote about some more things I try and do as a player in RPGs to make the games good. Specifically: - have goals - listen to what your other players are telling you they want - reincorporate everything - everyone at the table plays several and/or shares minor characters

diceexploder.com

RPG Table Skills: Goals, Listening, Reincorporation, and Sharing Characters - Dice Exploder

Today I’m continuing my series on RPG Table Skills: skills that’s going to be used primarily at the table rather than during prep and used by many or all people...

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And finally on Thursday I played a one-shot of @smallredrobin13.bsky.social's Buried Deep, about (un)covering dark family secrets. I enjoyed the rotating gm-ful play. We had four players & it was actually really nice to have a round to sit out and peanut gallery.

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For Camp Hootowl we played @lackingceremony.bsky.social's Dream Askew. The facilitator did great & we had a really good talkback afterwards about how facilitators can help with pacing and guiding play. (Also, protip if you play on Discord: the jamboard activity is great for drawing a shared map.)

Wednesday was the first week of the facilitator's camp campers running games! For Camp Lark we played @voxparlour.bsky.social's English Eerie second edition. The facilitator did a great job (🥳) and the system really captured the classic English countryside gothic horror vibe.

In Monday's Court of Blades, our coterie (mostly) seamlessly pulled off a heist to recruit an alchemist capable of transmuting wine into... much better tasting wine. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjHy...

Court of Blades: Rule of Rooks S2

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In Sunday stonetop our heavy it still out witchhunting with his wife & the rest of the party arrived home to find it occupied by a Hagr. We managed to defeat it, but not before my poor fox got grievously injured by dint of being picked up & squeezed like a toothpaste tube.

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Sunday I ran D&D for my college friends. It's a lovely group but I was reminded why I stopped running the system; too much mechanism between me & the parts of running a game I enjoy the most.

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Saturday I facilitated @dannyplaysrpgs.bsky.social's Sword Saga. We made a shield that was used as a dicing surface, pillow, wall ornament, diplomatic gift and ended its life as a punch bowl at a military college.

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