Adam
@afcbrodie.bsky.social
Blog here: https://afcbrodie.mataroa.blog/. I write about TTRPGs and history and probably other things.
Listen to @mealofthorns.bsky.social
February 11, 2026 at 8:51 AM
Listen to @mealofthorns.bsky.social
Feel pretty sure Storm of Wings is the bleakest Harrison book. Expanding his motif of a momentary impossibility of communication into a constant cosmic reality is an act of some awesome pessimism. Eden Kupermintz is right about scale.
February 11, 2026 at 8:50 AM
Feel pretty sure Storm of Wings is the bleakest Harrison book. Expanding his motif of a momentary impossibility of communication into a constant cosmic reality is an act of some awesome pessimism. Eden Kupermintz is right about scale.
overcast.fm/+ABDNpY3yI14
Listening to this Strange Horizons pod on book clubs, and chiming with the value of a book club being a space for discussion where, uniquely, a book does not have to preemptively justify its presence through what it may contain. Its import derives from my friend’s interest.
Listening to this Strange Horizons pod on book clubs, and chiming with the value of a book club being a space for discussion where, uniquely, a book does not have to preemptively justify its presence through what it may contain. Its import derives from my friend’s interest.
overcast.fm
February 7, 2026 at 9:41 AM
overcast.fm/+ABDNpY3yI14
Listening to this Strange Horizons pod on book clubs, and chiming with the value of a book club being a space for discussion where, uniquely, a book does not have to preemptively justify its presence through what it may contain. Its import derives from my friend’s interest.
Listening to this Strange Horizons pod on book clubs, and chiming with the value of a book club being a space for discussion where, uniquely, a book does not have to preemptively justify its presence through what it may contain. Its import derives from my friend’s interest.
Reposted by Adam
I say this with real sincerity: While I think we've pulled certain parts of The Train to the forefront with our take on Sangfielle, moving them towards Horror Entitites actually makes them much, much less powerful and scary than they are (and especially were) in the real world.
February 3, 2026 at 9:01 PM
I say this with real sincerity: While I think we've pulled certain parts of The Train to the forefront with our take on Sangfielle, moving them towards Horror Entitites actually makes them much, much less powerful and scary than they are (and especially were) in the real world.
Reposted by Adam
Been thinking about @explorersdesign.bsky.social's recent post ("Against Dominant Mechanics") and what we can strip away to maximize the RPG experience.
Yes, there's a backhoe in this.
Yes, there's a backhoe in this.
My Dream RPG
In search of mechanical-narrative coherence.
open.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:54 AM
Been thinking about @explorersdesign.bsky.social's recent post ("Against Dominant Mechanics") and what we can strip away to maximize the RPG experience.
Yes, there's a backhoe in this.
Yes, there's a backhoe in this.
It is wild, reading MJ Harrison’s Pastel City after having read Climbers and Course of the Heart, how “he” is in there - particularly in a classic M John refusal to speak - and also how the fantasy is a wall between “him” and me.
February 1, 2026 at 11:19 AM
It is wild, reading MJ Harrison’s Pastel City after having read Climbers and Course of the Heart, how “he” is in there - particularly in a classic M John refusal to speak - and also how the fantasy is a wall between “him” and me.
I submitted one post for the Bloggies, in the reviews category. It's a review I wrote of All That You Know, an actual play podcast, and how it as a low-documentary actual play communicates its images despite my inevitably wandering attention.
The Bloggies 2026 submissions are closing this Saturday night!
Please submit your favorite blog posts, blog series, and newcomers on this year's official web page:
www.explorersdesign.com/bloggies-2026/
(And please, share this far and wide 🙏)
Please submit your favorite blog posts, blog series, and newcomers on this year's official web page:
www.explorersdesign.com/bloggies-2026/
(And please, share this far and wide 🙏)
The Bloggies 2026
A yearly celebration of blogging in tabletop roleplaying games.
www.explorersdesign.com
January 31, 2026 at 9:06 AM
I submitted one post for the Bloggies, in the reviews category. It's a review I wrote of All That You Know, an actual play podcast, and how it as a low-documentary actual play communicates its images despite my inevitably wandering attention.
Harrow’s The Everlasting absolutely rules, goddamn what a book
January 29, 2026 at 8:58 AM
Harrow’s The Everlasting absolutely rules, goddamn what a book
Reposted by Adam
Gary Larson: In my cartoon I invented Cow Tools as a cautionary tale
Cows: At long last, we have created the Cow Tools from classic newspaper comic Cow Tools
Cows: At long last, we have created the Cow Tools from classic newspaper comic Cow Tools
January 19, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Gary Larson: In my cartoon I invented Cow Tools as a cautionary tale
Cows: At long last, we have created the Cow Tools from classic newspaper comic Cow Tools
Cows: At long last, we have created the Cow Tools from classic newspaper comic Cow Tools
I really liked B. Catling's The Vorrh, and also, I plan to pass it back into charity book circulation. I kind of wish I could cut the Muybridge storyline out of it as its own thing. Perhaps that would diminish the effect, but, with Ishmael et al. even as I enjoyed reading, reading felt like wading.
January 24, 2026 at 9:31 AM
I really liked B. Catling's The Vorrh, and also, I plan to pass it back into charity book circulation. I kind of wish I could cut the Muybridge storyline out of it as its own thing. Perhaps that would diminish the effect, but, with Ishmael et al. even as I enjoyed reading, reading felt like wading.
Not only does this blog’s topic relate closely to what I want to do with my in-progress game - short version: what if BitD Scores were made of relationships - but also tasker.land’s grounding of theory in TTRPG history, enriches that theory significantly.
tasker.land/2026/01/22/maps-m...
tasker.land/2026/01/22/maps-m...
Maps made of People
Over Christmas, I listened to an episode of Thomas Manuel’s Yes Indie’d podcast in which the YouTuber Quinns remarked that dungeons function as a kind of lingua franca within the roleplaying hobby.…
tasker.land
January 22, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Not only does this blog’s topic relate closely to what I want to do with my in-progress game - short version: what if BitD Scores were made of relationships - but also tasker.land’s grounding of theory in TTRPG history, enriches that theory significantly.
tasker.land/2026/01/22/maps-m...
tasker.land/2026/01/22/maps-m...
Cool game idea by @Bakenshake! Can see myself having a fun time with this.
theplayreports.com/posts/epis...
theplayreports.com/posts/epis...
The Play Reports
Epistle Maps, An Exquisite Hamlet
theplayreports.com
January 20, 2026 at 6:27 AM
Cool game idea by @Bakenshake! Can see myself having a fun time with this.
theplayreports.com/posts/epis...
theplayreports.com/posts/epis...
Reposted by Adam
Six warmups for TTRPGs (mostly from improv):
1. Indigo Montoya
Each player creates an introduction for their character in the style of Inigo Montoya, as if it were directed at their main motivator - Greeting, Name, Personal Connection, Action To Be Expected.
1. Indigo Montoya
Each player creates an introduction for their character in the style of Inigo Montoya, as if it were directed at their main motivator - Greeting, Name, Personal Connection, Action To Be Expected.
January 18, 2026 at 1:22 AM
Six warmups for TTRPGs (mostly from improv):
1. Indigo Montoya
Each player creates an introduction for their character in the style of Inigo Montoya, as if it were directed at their main motivator - Greeting, Name, Personal Connection, Action To Be Expected.
1. Indigo Montoya
Each player creates an introduction for their character in the style of Inigo Montoya, as if it were directed at their main motivator - Greeting, Name, Personal Connection, Action To Be Expected.
The constant delight of the TTRPG blogosphere is finding essays that express points you have been edging towards for ages, with far more sophistication and thoroughness than you could ever have managed. This is one of those essays (HT Patchwork Paladin).
lichvanwinkle.blogspot.com/20...
lichvanwinkle.blogspot.com/20...
Yes, you ARE telling a story.
A blog about table-top role-playing games after a break of two decades.
lichvanwinkle.blogspot.com
January 17, 2026 at 7:22 PM
The constant delight of the TTRPG blogosphere is finding essays that express points you have been edging towards for ages, with far more sophistication and thoroughness than you could ever have managed. This is one of those essays (HT Patchwork Paladin).
lichvanwinkle.blogspot.com/20...
lichvanwinkle.blogspot.com/20...
Immediate Bloggies addition. In full agreement about laws - they’re in my game and now so is this. Determined to show the thing. Fascinated by where the chain of argument ends.
wasitlikely.blogspot.com/2025...
wasitlikely.blogspot.com/2025...
COTTONMOUTH LAW, THE 400 BLOWS & KUNG FU CAPITALISM
wasitlikely.blogspot.com
January 9, 2026 at 8:10 AM
Immediate Bloggies addition. In full agreement about laws - they’re in my game and now so is this. Determined to show the thing. Fascinated by where the chain of argument ends.
wasitlikely.blogspot.com/2025...
wasitlikely.blogspot.com/2025...
Reposted by Adam
god help me someone asked what i'm looking for in short fiction. how do i say: horror but not like that, questions without answers, short, and fucking weird. the thing that makes good short fiction to me is that the final act of the story is in your head, not on the page
January 5, 2026 at 11:34 PM
god help me someone asked what i'm looking for in short fiction. how do i say: horror but not like that, questions without answers, short, and fucking weird. the thing that makes good short fiction to me is that the final act of the story is in your head, not on the page
Reposted by Adam
please fund my startup which provides political advisory services. yeah it's called Wormtongue.
December 29, 2025 at 9:34 AM
please fund my startup which provides political advisory services. yeah it's called Wormtongue.
So amped for this. Really diving into TTRPG blogs was one of the best things I did in 2025, and can't wait to see what more there is to read!
The Bloggies 2026 submissions are now open!
Submit your favorite posts, series, and debut blogs via the official Bloggies page between now and Jan 31st!
Please share this around. I'll be making regular Bloggies-themed announcements throughout the month.
www.explorersdesign.com/bloggies-2026/
Submit your favorite posts, series, and debut blogs via the official Bloggies page between now and Jan 31st!
Please share this around. I'll be making regular Bloggies-themed announcements throughout the month.
www.explorersdesign.com/bloggies-2026/
The Bloggies 2026
A yearly celebration of blogging in tabletop roleplaying games.
www.explorersdesign.com
January 3, 2026 at 4:45 PM
So amped for this. Really diving into TTRPG blogs was one of the best things I did in 2025, and can't wait to see what more there is to read!
Reposted by Adam
It's counterintuitive, because there's a generation that's accustomed to James Cameron being the interior decorator of their inner landscape. But with this series he just... did not do that. They make a ton of money and have zero fandom, and that's no different from a lot of other successful series.
December 27, 2025 at 7:21 PM
It's counterintuitive, because there's a generation that's accustomed to James Cameron being the interior decorator of their inner landscape. But with this series he just... did not do that. They make a ton of money and have zero fandom, and that's no different from a lot of other successful series.
Reposted by Adam
I mean, is there any question about the world about which our uncertainty is lower as a result of the estimate? Is there any sense in which the results are added to the general stock of human knowledge?
December 16, 2025 at 7:27 PM
I mean, is there any question about the world about which our uncertainty is lower as a result of the estimate? Is there any sense in which the results are added to the general stock of human knowledge?
Reposted by Adam
I'd missed this until the indie RPG newsletter linked to it - Cannibal Halfling writes on the OSR onion structure and compares and contrasts how you can view Burning Wheel and DIE RPG's structure tweaking the layers, both putting character at the centre. Er... that's not the best paraphrase.
Coring the Onion: OSR structuralism and non-OSR games
The RPG theory ship sails on unbidden, even as RPG networks of practice seem to be drifting apart. In November, there was a great post over on The Dododecahedron which bucked the trend and pulled t…
cannibalhalflinggaming.com
December 21, 2025 at 11:10 AM
I'd missed this until the indie RPG newsletter linked to it - Cannibal Halfling writes on the OSR onion structure and compares and contrasts how you can view Burning Wheel and DIE RPG's structure tweaking the layers, both putting character at the centre. Er... that's not the best paraphrase.
#BlogsOfTheWeek
1. 'Three decades ago, most extremely poor people lived in Asia; today, most are in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the coming years, this trend is expected to continue.' Max Roser
ourworldindata.org/end-progress...
1. 'Three decades ago, most extremely poor people lived in Asia; today, most are in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the coming years, this trend is expected to continue.' Max Roser
ourworldindata.org/end-progress...
The end of progress against extreme poverty?
In the last three decades, the world has made progress against extreme poverty faster than ever before. But unless the poorest economies start growing, this period of progress against the worst form o...
ourworldindata.org
November 24, 2025 at 2:35 PM
#BlogsOfTheWeek
1. 'Three decades ago, most extremely poor people lived in Asia; today, most are in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the coming years, this trend is expected to continue.' Max Roser
ourworldindata.org/end-progress...
1. 'Three decades ago, most extremely poor people lived in Asia; today, most are in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the coming years, this trend is expected to continue.' Max Roser
ourworldindata.org/end-progress...
#BlogsOfTheWeek
1. 'John Gerard’s 1597 botanical reference book explains that the [horsetail] plant’s roughness "is not unknowen to women, who scowre their pewter and wooden things of the kitchen therewith".' Erin Braid.
tinyurl.com/dcrjv8zv
1. 'John Gerard’s 1597 botanical reference book explains that the [horsetail] plant’s roughness "is not unknowen to women, who scowre their pewter and wooden things of the kitchen therewith".' Erin Braid.
tinyurl.com/dcrjv8zv
Washer woman - Works in Progress Magazine
In 1965, married American women did 34 hours of housework weekly. By 2010, that fell to 18 hours. The dishwasher helped.
tinyurl.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:48 PM
#BlogsOfTheWeek
1. 'John Gerard’s 1597 botanical reference book explains that the [horsetail] plant’s roughness "is not unknowen to women, who scowre their pewter and wooden things of the kitchen therewith".' Erin Braid.
tinyurl.com/dcrjv8zv
1. 'John Gerard’s 1597 botanical reference book explains that the [horsetail] plant’s roughness "is not unknowen to women, who scowre their pewter and wooden things of the kitchen therewith".' Erin Braid.
tinyurl.com/dcrjv8zv
#BlogsOfTheWeek
1. "To start, I want to pull on some threads from the incident two weeks ago, when I—and many Palestinians—came very close to being lynched by a mob of Israeli settlers." (Jasper Diamond Nathaniel)
infinitejaz.substack.com/p/a-lynch-mo...
1. "To start, I want to pull on some threads from the incident two weeks ago, when I—and many Palestinians—came very close to being lynched by a mob of Israeli settlers." (Jasper Diamond Nathaniel)
infinitejaz.substack.com/p/a-lynch-mo...
A Lynch Mob in the Olive Fields—and the State Behind It
Pulling at the threads of the attack in Turmus’ayya
infinitejaz.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:31 AM
#BlogsOfTheWeek
1. "To start, I want to pull on some threads from the incident two weeks ago, when I—and many Palestinians—came very close to being lynched by a mob of Israeli settlers." (Jasper Diamond Nathaniel)
infinitejaz.substack.com/p/a-lynch-mo...
1. "To start, I want to pull on some threads from the incident two weeks ago, when I—and many Palestinians—came very close to being lynched by a mob of Israeli settlers." (Jasper Diamond Nathaniel)
infinitejaz.substack.com/p/a-lynch-mo...