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paul

@thecastlebuilder.bsky.social
126 followers 505 following 406 posts

he/they. once a software guy. ttrpg designer. I blog about video games and ttrpgs biweekly(-ish) blog: thoughtsabout.games games: thecastlebuilder.itch.io

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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
automating tasks is often motivated by laziness, but the job of building the automation requires understanding the process very well. when you're writing automation for yourself, it's also rewarding! "I figured out this task so good I don't have to do it anymore" feels good
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Casey S. Pumpkins 🎃 @caseyexplosion.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The cluelessness of this reminds me a lot of the NFT grift. The thing about NFTs was that it was mainly something finance bros were into, and when they were trying to worm their way into gaming, their pitches were an abyssal trench of bad ideas because they couldn't grasp why people played games.
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Jared Yates Sexton @jysexton.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Just helping with editing here. These bots aren’t sentient. They’re doing what they’re programmed to do. OpenAI, a private company supposedly bound by laws, committed federal crimes.
Screenshot of BBC article: OpenAI bots (struck through) meddled with multiple US government agency sites
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I tend to be kind of allergic to the macrohistory style of lore that it opens with and I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling kind of... unsure what to do with a lot of that section, especially the early parts
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I keep up with anime less than I'd like but I still needed to limit myself to series (no movies) to narrow it down my9animes.com/en/share/efb...
3x3 grid of anime covers/titles: Darker than Black, Nichijou - My Ordinary Life, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Steins; Gate, Trigun, Kill la Kill, Kino's Journey, Hunter x Hunter
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Jennifer/Aster Unkle 🏳️‍⚧️ @spookycutewitch.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Fuck Microsoft
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Spooky Poltergeist Ghouls 🎃 @sandypuggames.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
esp in Affinity the juice with styles is the ability to pile on and combine and tweak a ton of decorations and finetune the font till it looks slick as hell, then apply it to the whole doc very easily. I really liked how styles let me make, like, GM Advice style Asides in boxes and stuff
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I've been away from software for a couple years, but old coworkers tell me that they're "writing"/"reviewing" *more* code than before through a haze of summaries & prompts. Certain ascendant tech leads dump massive mostly-generated PRs on others to deal with. New forms of drudgery and alienation.
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headfallsoff @headfallsoff.com · 19/09/2026
also. the thing people hate is not ‘the technology’ it is the tech industry. they hate move fast and break things. they hate having everything they say tracked and processed while companies do whatever they want. they hate every single ideological value that animates silicon valley
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Nicholas ➼ visiting The City! @omophagic-beast.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
My fweaking car 😭😭😭 A moment of silence for this beautiful beast. She gave herself life for mine, and for many of our games as well. 😔 I am ok though! Made it out with 15 stitches and some bruises. Light work 😎
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
IPR has been one of my first brushes with wider distribution in the indie ttrpg world and Nic was kind, helpful, and professional throughout our correspondence. he's truly given me a wonderful welcome into this space, please please please help him out!
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Imagery first, both literal and symbolic; explanations later (or better yet, never)
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I'm not always satisfied with how I deliver horror at the table but one thing that can be effective is to work outward from imagery. Take a dramatic moment to describe something in sickening detail, and leave broader implications to be puzzled out.
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Eric @mokkograd.net · 13/09/2026
It's been a week since I published the Steam page for Eswahr Eternal. I can't see the game's numbers, so I just assume that it is, as the people might say: "trending". Have you visited said steam page? You should go there and do what needs to be done: store.steampowered.com/app/5198420/...
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
it looks so sick!!!
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Connie @conniewhatever.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
mspaint mech
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Connie @conniewhatever.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
mspaint mech 2
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Eric @mokkograd.net · 06/09/2026
"Eswahr Eternal" is a fantasy role-playing game about becoming a King. You will travel an empty land, slay Giants, sacrifice your principles for power and then you will rule. For Eternity. Go and wishlist it on Steam, or else: store.steampowered.com/app/5198420/...
store.steampowered.com
Eswahr Eternal on Steam
Eswahr Eternal wants you to become a King. You will wander across an eternal Kingdom. You will slay the four Giants of the Land. You will sacrifice your Principles for Power. You will take the Throne....
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VƎX Werewolf @vexwerewolf.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Blowing a D&D purist's mind by pointing out that newspapers are more anachronistic than guns in medieval settings.
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
*does not slap. hardly even pats tbh*
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This is a long post, but I think it's worth sharing a bit more widely than I usually do. @househouse.com's Big Walk found me at a time when I had a lot of particular feelings about walking, and was a lens through which to process them.
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I'm behind on my blogging, so here's a big one to justify the delay. This starts with a video game and goes into some other stuff that's been going on in my life recently. To everyone I regularly play games with, or go on adventures with: know that I love you thoughtsabout.games/blog/posts/b...
thoughtsabout.games
Big Walks, Taken and Not
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I liked the earlier single a bit more but it felt like it had more restraint, despite still being uhh.. let's say "maximalist" with the production choices. New one doesn't hit for me either
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Kim Hu @kim-hu.com · 01/09/2026
For everyone else as well; Currently fully booked until November, but still plenty of availability in 2027 🩷
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headfallsoff @headfallsoff.com · 01/09/2026
an honest brutal legend 2 would be the saddest game of all time. i would play it but just thinking about rod halford recording alone in the booth fucks me up
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🐾Skitty🔥 @sugrrnspice.art · 28/08/2026
friendslop.....💙
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
gosh thank you for playing and sharing! I did a lot of loose tuning of the numbers but they depend a lot on player behavior too, so hearing how it balanced out for your group is helpful feedback
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Open Hearth Gaming Community @openhearthrpg.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Open Hearth Podcast Ep 22: Basic Fantasy RPG, Fearful Symmetries, Void Technicians Host Tea talks Moria and Shane about things they recently played, cover three RPGs in more depth, and then the group finishes up with some things they've been digging recently. #ttrpg
aroundthehearth.openhearthgaming.com
Around the Hearth | Open Hearth Podcast Ep 22: Basic Fantasy RPG, Fearful Symmetries, Void Technicians
In this episode of the Open Hearth Podcast, host Tea talks with a couple of community members about their gaming. This time Moria and Shane discuss things they recently played, cover three RPGs in ...
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
None of this is to say that her work speaks only to/about queer identity (nor am I any authority to make claims like that to begin with) but it's one recognizable expression of the emotional richness and thematic specificity that I find across her work. pick up *something* from her for sure 5/5
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I also have great fondness for Brave Sparrow (+ others collected in Variations on Your Body) just for it's imagination and it's encouragement. I consider myself like 95% cis but reading Brave Sparrow makes me want to express myself more curiously and courageously 4/5
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
And though the next rec is notably a free game and doesn't serve the quote-tweet call to action: I really really recommend reading A Place to Fuck Each Other. It's poignant, engaging, thought-provoking work that I really need to find the right occasion/group to play with 3/5
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
My analysis was for a non-ttrpg audience so it was shallower than I'd like, but her body of work is remarkable and it was really cool to look deeper and make comparisons. If you haven't picked up and read Monsterhearts you owe it to yourself to do so, it's both eloquent and full of sharp design 2/5
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I took a queer literature course at my community college in spring and had a pretty freeform final project, so I explored queerness (and invitations to roleplay within and around it) in several of Avery Alder's works 1/5
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I missed this boost from Tomas when the game first launched, but his testimonial is one of the ones I used on the itch page and it was some of the first feedback that made me feel confident that players would see what I was going for, even without me at the table. thanks again for playtesting!!
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IWGB @iwgbunion.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Don’t boycott GTA VI. Fight for justice for the people who made it: youtube.com/shorts/hhIES... T-shirt preorders open now! All proceeds from the t-shirts, which are ethically made and designed by us, will go towards the fired Rockstar workers’ legal funds. bit.ly/4xLc4IP
youtube.com
Don't Boycott GTA VI. Fight for justice for the people who made it.
YouTube video by IWGB Union
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Indie Press Revolution @ipr.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
New! Ridge City Riders is a GM-less RPG for 3-5 players of building hoverbikes from scrap and racing them into the dream of a brighter future. www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
My first printed TTRPG, Ridge City Riders, is now available at @ipr.bsky.social! That means that if you want a physical copy and don't have direct access to me irl, you can now get one! www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Ridge-...
indiepressrevolution.com
Ridge City Riders [Print+PDF] :: Print+PDF Bundles :: IPR
Indie Press Revolution (IPR) is a direct sales network of quality independent publishers, dedicated to bringing you the best of small press tabletop roleplaying and storytelling games.
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
it's just nakedly about output velocity to the detriment of process and quality, and that's true in almost every application of the tech
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
The other side of this coin is the way that AI was at one point pitched to software engineers as saving them time, so they could focus on interesting parts of the job and/or simply work less. but no, the goalposts just moved and they're expected to use it to simply do way fucking more in a day
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Joshua Rivera @jmrivera.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I don’t want to pick on this person, this is just a really illustrative reply. something happened along the way where arguing from a place of conviction—believing that your opinion is correct — is received as prescriptive, an imposition. This is not a great development, imo
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
absolutely! one of the big distinctions for me is RPG-style progression; I always dig the metroid angle of having none of that and being limited to what you find. One of the reasons something like Hollow Knight works for me is because the charm system makes finding things in the world so impactful
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I agree with your distaste for the genre name, but one fascinating thing about it is that you have some evident affinity for the "vania" part of the lineage in a way that's totally opposite me (the metroid influences speak to me most). My own list would probably swap some of your Cs and Ss lol
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eash @eash.dev · 16/08/2026
a song & some art to go with it music.eash.dev/track/primer
a person with glowing armor and a large curved sword stands between two dark blue pillars that have orange glows. Between the two pillars on the ground the person stands on, a bright yellow/white sandstone path leads to a large structure in the distance with an unbelievably massive hole. two guards stand on either side of the hole.
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
funny, I'm just gearing up to run an online Lancer campaign soon and one of my friends in that group is in Montreal
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
... and if anything it's all the more reason to give attention and support to small indie criticism that state their principles plainly and stick to them
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I don't think it's fair to aim this criticism at the author, who is writing about art she connects with for publications that disregard the boycott anyway, but I do think it's fair to hold independent media to a higher standard. Kotaku and other pubs with big corporate owners will just be like this
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
...and it left me with a weird feeling. I'm glad that game is out of MS' claws! I do want to go play it now! But tagging the article with 'BDS Boycott' and also linking to prior writing on it that was overtly ignoring the boycott's calls is still doing this shitty "consumerism above all else" thing
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paul @thecastlebuilder.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I appreciate writing like this that reiterates why the line drawn by the BDS boycott is both reasonable and important. Kotaku's recent article about South of Midnight being untethered from Xbox was useful informational reporting but still felt so much like have-and-eat-your-cake enthusiast press...
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