Afraid of Encounters
@isaacisafraid.bsky.social
He/Him, Game Dev (Narrative Designer/Game Writer), Tabletop RPG Designer. I write, roleplay, and roll dice to tell stories.
https://isaacisafraid.itch.io/
https://afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev/
Nusantara, Maritime Southeast Asia
https://isaacisafraid.itch.io/
https://afraidofencounters.bearblog.dev/
Nusantara, Maritime Southeast Asia
Pinned
The Knight Errant ranked 1st out of 227 entries in the Appendix N Jam 😭 This feels surreal!
Huge thanks to @dankdungeons.bsky.social & @jorphdan.bsky.social for hosting the jam, and to everyone who rated my first OSR adventure!
And congratulations to all the amazing participants and their works!
Huge thanks to @dankdungeons.bsky.social & @jorphdan.bsky.social for hosting the jam, and to everyone who rated my first OSR adventure!
And congratulations to all the amazing participants and their works!
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
Introduced my friend Apoleen to Mothership at the end of last year. And now it's his favorite Tabletop RPG this year, which made him write this blogpost.
The Indonesian Tabletop RPG blogging scene is growing!
distractedatthetable.substack.com/p/the-most-h...
The Indonesian Tabletop RPG blogging scene is growing!
distractedatthetable.substack.com/p/the-most-h...
The Most Human Part of Space Horror? Redundancies.
Real horrors of space start long before the monster arrives. Redundant systems, manual overrides, and ugly industrial design reveal a deeper truth: before we feared aliens, we feared the vacuum.
distractedatthetable.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Introduced my friend Apoleen to Mothership at the end of last year. And now it's his favorite Tabletop RPG this year, which made him write this blogpost.
The Indonesian Tabletop RPG blogging scene is growing!
distractedatthetable.substack.com/p/the-most-h...
The Indonesian Tabletop RPG blogging scene is growing!
distractedatthetable.substack.com/p/the-most-h...
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
TURN ON THE ORB! THEY HIT THE FUCKING SPIRES!
December 29, 2025 at 12:01 AM
TURN ON THE ORB! THEY HIT THE FUCKING SPIRES!
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
So will someone tell me what happened on X? What’s the newest exodus about?
In other news, welcome, new people! Great to have you here. Hope you enjoy random posts about ttrpgs.
In other news, welcome, new people! Great to have you here. Hope you enjoy random posts about ttrpgs.
December 28, 2025 at 12:13 PM
So will someone tell me what happened on X? What’s the newest exodus about?
In other news, welcome, new people! Great to have you here. Hope you enjoy random posts about ttrpgs.
In other news, welcome, new people! Great to have you here. Hope you enjoy random posts about ttrpgs.
Introduced my friend Apoleen to Mothership at the end of last year. And now it's his favorite Tabletop RPG this year, which made him write this blogpost.
The Indonesian Tabletop RPG blogging scene is growing!
distractedatthetable.substack.com/p/the-most-h...
The Indonesian Tabletop RPG blogging scene is growing!
distractedatthetable.substack.com/p/the-most-h...
The Most Human Part of Space Horror? Redundancies.
Real horrors of space start long before the monster arrives. Redundant systems, manual overrides, and ugly industrial design reveal a deeper truth: before we feared aliens, we feared the vacuum.
distractedatthetable.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Introduced my friend Apoleen to Mothership at the end of last year. And now it's his favorite Tabletop RPG this year, which made him write this blogpost.
The Indonesian Tabletop RPG blogging scene is growing!
distractedatthetable.substack.com/p/the-most-h...
The Indonesian Tabletop RPG blogging scene is growing!
distractedatthetable.substack.com/p/the-most-h...
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
I hear there's lots of new folk, so might be a good time to pass around this Mothership Creator starter pack again:
go.bsky.app/QZnMevN
go.bsky.app/QZnMevN
December 28, 2025 at 9:46 AM
I hear there's lots of new folk, so might be a good time to pass around this Mothership Creator starter pack again:
go.bsky.app/QZnMevN
go.bsky.app/QZnMevN
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
A new post, so that this idea can be the focus. Most of the campaigns I've run or played in fizzle out for all sorts of random reasons. Such is life!
December 27, 2025 at 9:35 PM
A new post, so that this idea can be the focus. Most of the campaigns I've run or played in fizzle out for all sorts of random reasons. Such is life!
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
I made a small Troika character generator for use in my open table game, and updated my name generator. Saves a lot of time: www.dsell.me/troika-chara...
Troika Character Generator - Daniel Sell
www.dsell.me
December 28, 2025 at 1:04 AM
I made a small Troika character generator for use in my open table game, and updated my name generator. Saves a lot of time: www.dsell.me/troika-chara...
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
oh ALSO im on the everyday anarchism podcast to discuss my complex feelings around "agency" and how games can be used to untangle political philosophy www.everydayanarchism.com/174-rules-ga...
174. Rules, Games, and Anarchy -- Jay Dragon
Ever since C. Thi Nguyen appeared on the podcast, I've been trying to use games to understand more about the relationship between rules and life. Jay Dragon, whose game Wanderhome is almost ruleless, ...
www.everydayanarchism.com
December 26, 2025 at 2:06 PM
oh ALSO im on the everyday anarchism podcast to discuss my complex feelings around "agency" and how games can be used to untangle political philosophy www.everydayanarchism.com/174-rules-ga...
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
Yochai going full-time writer and publisher should be headline news in TTRPG land!
Cairn Press 🔥🔥🔥
Cairn Press 🔥🔥🔥
I wrote about my plans for 2026, both under the @cairnrpg.com umbrella and Between Two Cairns.
newschoolrevolution.com/cairn-in-2026/
newschoolrevolution.com/cairn-in-2026/
Cairn in 2026
Every year I try and write a little post about what folks should expect from me in the coming year. I suppose a small part of me feels that once I've announc...
newschoolrevolution.com
December 27, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Yochai going full-time writer and publisher should be headline news in TTRPG land!
Cairn Press 🔥🔥🔥
Cairn Press 🔥🔥🔥
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
I've been talking about Castle Automatic a lot, but I want to make sure I pull the camera back and talk about the game system it's built for, HIS MAJESTY THE WORM, too. Gonna make a 🧵 about the core game's principles and add to it over the coming week.
(First post below!)
(First post below!)
December 26, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I've been talking about Castle Automatic a lot, but I want to make sure I pull the camera back and talk about the game system it's built for, HIS MAJESTY THE WORM, too. Gonna make a 🧵 about the core game's principles and add to it over the coming week.
(First post below!)
(First post below!)
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
It's just that---maybe when you spend your days actually doing good in the world, spending effort to measure people's hearts against the shape-sorter-toy of "most moral type of elf game" feels faintly absurd.
December 27, 2025 at 9:04 AM
It's just that---maybe when you spend your days actually doing good in the world, spending effort to measure people's hearts against the shape-sorter-toy of "most moral type of elf game" feels faintly absurd.
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
In TTRPGs I've met:
labour organisers, worker-coop & affordable-housing advocates; lawyers working in immigration & human rights; card-carrying communists; etc
The Venn diagram between them and the folks who go: "If you like a certain style of game you are a Nazi" are two separate circles.
labour organisers, worker-coop & affordable-housing advocates; lawyers working in immigration & human rights; card-carrying communists; etc
The Venn diagram between them and the folks who go: "If you like a certain style of game you are a Nazi" are two separate circles.
December 27, 2025 at 8:07 AM
In TTRPGs I've met:
labour organisers, worker-coop & affordable-housing advocates; lawyers working in immigration & human rights; card-carrying communists; etc
The Venn diagram between them and the folks who go: "If you like a certain style of game you are a Nazi" are two separate circles.
labour organisers, worker-coop & affordable-housing advocates; lawyers working in immigration & human rights; card-carrying communists; etc
The Venn diagram between them and the folks who go: "If you like a certain style of game you are a Nazi" are two separate circles.
Finished running @losing.games Mausritter: Honey in the Rafters for my wife (a Tabletop RPG player) and her two nieces (10 yo and 5 yo). They had to find honey to cure illness that afflicted the village's mice. In the end, they succeeded! But... the villagers are now worshippers of the God of Sugar!
December 27, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Finished running @losing.games Mausritter: Honey in the Rafters for my wife (a Tabletop RPG player) and her two nieces (10 yo and 5 yo). They had to find honey to cure illness that afflicted the village's mice. In the end, they succeeded! But... the villagers are now worshippers of the God of Sugar!
Big catfish
December 27, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Big catfish
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
I wrote about my plans for 2026, both under the @cairnrpg.com umbrella and Between Two Cairns.
newschoolrevolution.com/cairn-in-2026/
newschoolrevolution.com/cairn-in-2026/
Cairn in 2026
Every year I try and write a little post about what folks should expect from me in the coming year. I suppose a small part of me feels that once I've announc...
newschoolrevolution.com
December 27, 2025 at 2:29 AM
I wrote about my plans for 2026, both under the @cairnrpg.com umbrella and Between Two Cairns.
newschoolrevolution.com/cairn-in-2026/
newschoolrevolution.com/cairn-in-2026/
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
It seems to me, that what makes an OSR game good (entirely in my opinion), is the "stuff" in it, not the rules.
It's the adventures, tables, monsters, magic items, setting.
Probably the rules very much stay out of your way most of the time. So you can use all those good bits instead.
I like it.
It's the adventures, tables, monsters, magic items, setting.
Probably the rules very much stay out of your way most of the time. So you can use all those good bits instead.
I like it.
December 24, 2025 at 11:35 PM
It seems to me, that what makes an OSR game good (entirely in my opinion), is the "stuff" in it, not the rules.
It's the adventures, tables, monsters, magic items, setting.
Probably the rules very much stay out of your way most of the time. So you can use all those good bits instead.
I like it.
It's the adventures, tables, monsters, magic items, setting.
Probably the rules very much stay out of your way most of the time. So you can use all those good bits instead.
I like it.
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
SEX AND THE SPACE MARINE
So feedback on CHAPTER SERF (fan RPG where you play as peons that wait hand and foot on Space Marines) has been pretty positive. The one critique of it I've seen?
"OMG this has space marine sex??? That's against all established lore! You'll make fans angry!"
1/
So feedback on CHAPTER SERF (fan RPG where you play as peons that wait hand and foot on Space Marines) has been pretty positive. The one critique of it I've seen?
"OMG this has space marine sex??? That's against all established lore! You'll make fans angry!"
1/
December 24, 2025 at 11:17 AM
SEX AND THE SPACE MARINE
So feedback on CHAPTER SERF (fan RPG where you play as peons that wait hand and foot on Space Marines) has been pretty positive. The one critique of it I've seen?
"OMG this has space marine sex??? That's against all established lore! You'll make fans angry!"
1/
So feedback on CHAPTER SERF (fan RPG where you play as peons that wait hand and foot on Space Marines) has been pretty positive. The one critique of it I've seen?
"OMG this has space marine sex??? That's against all established lore! You'll make fans angry!"
1/
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
Sure, you know about Vancian Magic, but what about Jackian Magic? (Someone please finish this design.)
www.explorersdesign.com/jackian-magic/
www.explorersdesign.com/jackian-magic/
The Jackian Magic System
Experimental mechanics that combine Mausritter inventory, Tetris, and engine-building into an alternative Vancian magic system.
www.explorersdesign.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Sure, you know about Vancian Magic, but what about Jackian Magic? (Someone please finish this design.)
www.explorersdesign.com/jackian-magic/
www.explorersdesign.com/jackian-magic/
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
I've been reading about the Public Land Survey System and other large-scale survey projects all week and it's left me fascinated with the logistics of managing a bunch of scoundrels traipsing around swamps and mountains to draw squares on the earth.
tbr.bearblog.dev/stewardship-...
tbr.bearblog.dev/stewardship-...
Stewardship: A Hireling Subsystem
I have been deep in the development mines this month. I've made good progress on a roughly testable version of the Mad Biographers, but I've been recently se...
tbr.bearblog.dev
December 23, 2025 at 8:44 PM
I've been reading about the Public Land Survey System and other large-scale survey projects all week and it's left me fascinated with the logistics of managing a bunch of scoundrels traipsing around swamps and mountains to draw squares on the earth.
tbr.bearblog.dev/stewardship-...
tbr.bearblog.dev/stewardship-...
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
🚨WORTHY ESSAY ALERT🚨
"but i’m more interested in a different question. what happens when a spell becomes cheaper than a worker."
The traditional magic=tech worldbuilding question has always bored me. Add class analysis to the mix? I'm in.
beeboobubie.substack.com/p/the-infras...
"but i’m more interested in a different question. what happens when a spell becomes cheaper than a worker."
The traditional magic=tech worldbuilding question has always bored me. Add class analysis to the mix? I'm in.
beeboobubie.substack.com/p/the-infras...
the infrastructure of magical convenience
notes on roleplaying magic, class, and control
beeboobubie.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:38 PM
🚨WORTHY ESSAY ALERT🚨
"but i’m more interested in a different question. what happens when a spell becomes cheaper than a worker."
The traditional magic=tech worldbuilding question has always bored me. Add class analysis to the mix? I'm in.
beeboobubie.substack.com/p/the-infras...
"but i’m more interested in a different question. what happens when a spell becomes cheaper than a worker."
The traditional magic=tech worldbuilding question has always bored me. Add class analysis to the mix? I'm in.
beeboobubie.substack.com/p/the-infras...
New blogpost from my friend Habeeb, this one talking about magic in Tabletop RPG, infrastructure, convenience, and... generative AI?
I'm just going to keep hyping him up here until he posts on Bluesky 😂
beeboobubie.substack.com/p/the-infras...
I'm just going to keep hyping him up here until he posts on Bluesky 😂
beeboobubie.substack.com/p/the-infras...
the infrastructure of magical convenience
notes on roleplaying convenience, class, and control
beeboobubie.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:21 AM
New blogpost from my friend Habeeb, this one talking about magic in Tabletop RPG, infrastructure, convenience, and... generative AI?
I'm just going to keep hyping him up here until he posts on Bluesky 😂
beeboobubie.substack.com/p/the-infras...
I'm just going to keep hyping him up here until he posts on Bluesky 😂
beeboobubie.substack.com/p/the-infras...
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
"Nobody is taking our toys away ... Our magic circle is still unbroken, but now we can understand more about how the circle came to be."
@harbowoputra.bsky.social , on dungeons: diceless.substack.com/p/embracing-...
@harbowoputra.bsky.social , on dungeons: diceless.substack.com/p/embracing-...
Embracing Colonialist Dungeons
Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Crawl
diceless.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 5:19 AM
"Nobody is taking our toys away ... Our magic circle is still unbroken, but now we can understand more about how the circle came to be."
@harbowoputra.bsky.social , on dungeons: diceless.substack.com/p/embracing-...
@harbowoputra.bsky.social , on dungeons: diceless.substack.com/p/embracing-...
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
Flatline on the Blocks has been such a fun project! I hadn’t written for Mothership in a while after writing Resonant so it was a good time to work with everybody. #osr www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
FLATLINE ON THE BLOCKS: A dicey district for Mothership RPG
Eighteen Mothership veterans tear open the Spinal Crux District, a 56pg zine detailing the EYE and its twenty Blocks on Prospero's Dream.
www.backerkit.com
December 23, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Flatline on the Blocks has been such a fun project! I hadn’t written for Mothership in a while after writing Resonant so it was a good time to work with everybody. #osr www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
Would you look at that. Another dungeon & colonialism blogpost as a response to mine and Habeeb's blogpost. This one is from my friend @harbowoputra.bsky.social!
"Embracing Colonialist Dungeons"
diceless.substack.com/p/embracing-...
"Embracing Colonialist Dungeons"
diceless.substack.com/p/embracing-...
December 22, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Would you look at that. Another dungeon & colonialism blogpost as a response to mine and Habeeb's blogpost. This one is from my friend @harbowoputra.bsky.social!
"Embracing Colonialist Dungeons"
diceless.substack.com/p/embracing-...
"Embracing Colonialist Dungeons"
diceless.substack.com/p/embracing-...
Reposted by Afraid of Encounters
I struggled for a really long time to decide what the first Solar Cataphracts game blog post was gonna be. I needed something in depth enough that it couldn't just be a discord message. How about a four thousand word breakdown of #Over/Under 's economics?
open.substack.com/pub/tangentj...
open.substack.com/pub/tangentj...
Solar Dev Log 1:
Learning some valuable lessons from the Economics of Over/Under, and how I plan to apply them to my next Live Text Roleplaying Game.
open.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:10 PM
I struggled for a really long time to decide what the first Solar Cataphracts game blog post was gonna be. I needed something in depth enough that it couldn't just be a discord message. How about a four thousand word breakdown of #Over/Under 's economics?
open.substack.com/pub/tangentj...
open.substack.com/pub/tangentj...