Jesse Burneko
@jburneko.itch.io
Professional video game developer. Self-publisher of Gothic and psychological horror themed RPGs. Avid reader of early Gothics, mid-20th century fantasy, and crime fiction.
Bloodthorn Press
https://jburneko.itch.io/
Bloodthorn Press
https://jburneko.itch.io/
Bluebeard's Bride's Bestie.
your best friend with whom you have unresolved sexual tension just got married to a dude whose beard is a rich and shocking blue and she wants to invite you to explore his whole house with you except for one forbidden room wyd
February 17, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Bluebeard's Bride's Bestie.
Reposted by Jesse Burneko
"Conan doesn't have motivations" is right down there with "the Cthulhu Mythos beings are unknowable" as far as shit nerds repeat that doesn't hold water upon reading primary texts.
February 17, 2026 at 2:43 AM
"Conan doesn't have motivations" is right down there with "the Cthulhu Mythos beings are unknowable" as far as shit nerds repeat that doesn't hold water upon reading primary texts.
Games played at Strategicon (OrcCon):
Moonlight on Roseville Beach
Fedora Noir
One More Thing
Tacklebox
Eat The Reich
Estimated Prophet
In Dreaming Avalon
Moonlight on Roseville Beach
Fedora Noir
One More Thing
Tacklebox
Eat The Reich
Estimated Prophet
In Dreaming Avalon
February 16, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Games played at Strategicon (OrcCon):
Moonlight on Roseville Beach
Fedora Noir
One More Thing
Tacklebox
Eat The Reich
Estimated Prophet
In Dreaming Avalon
Moonlight on Roseville Beach
Fedora Noir
One More Thing
Tacklebox
Eat The Reich
Estimated Prophet
In Dreaming Avalon
There is more than one negative review of a couple of my scenarios that boil down to "This doesn't pre-play the game for me." No, I'm not going to pre-write the plot and "cool scenes" for you. That's called playing.
Real Conversation.
Me: ...but why include a plot and instructions to ignore the action for a pre-written series of events. You just need NPC motivations and capabilities.
Them: Good GMs can do that.
Me: So youre implying they are bad and are providing bad examplesa?
Them: well uh umm
Me: ...but why include a plot and instructions to ignore the action for a pre-written series of events. You just need NPC motivations and capabilities.
Them: Good GMs can do that.
Me: So youre implying they are bad and are providing bad examplesa?
Them: well uh umm
February 13, 2026 at 6:18 PM
There is more than one negative review of a couple of my scenarios that boil down to "This doesn't pre-play the game for me." No, I'm not going to pre-write the plot and "cool scenes" for you. That's called playing.
I don't know why every theater has the cool plays in Feb/Mar. Spread the awesome out!
February 12, 2026 at 2:28 AM
I don't know why every theater has the cool plays in Feb/Mar. Spread the awesome out!
I’ve been working with an artist for almost a year where I send them a spec, they send me an invoice, I send them money, they send me art. Weird how that works.
Don't be intimidated by contracts. You don't need to be a lawyer to write up "I agree to do X work for Y dollars, sign on the dotted line".
Friends in the TTRPG sphere, if you are invited onto a project and there is: no contract, no structure, no deadline and you have been brought on while things are still being figured out: do not do the work until you have those things.
Signed, a freelancer who has been shafted many times!
Signed, a freelancer who has been shafted many times!
February 11, 2026 at 6:13 AM
I’ve been working with an artist for almost a year where I send them a spec, they send me an invoice, I send them money, they send me art. Weird how that works.
Reposted by Jesse Burneko
Some creators intentionally make their work difficult and inscrutable and strange, because they know great art (Shakespeare, Sylvia Plath, Dalí, Hilma af Klint, Basquiat, etc) feels like those things when you don't understand it, and they want to be perceived as great artists. But they...
February 10, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Some creators intentionally make their work difficult and inscrutable and strange, because they know great art (Shakespeare, Sylvia Plath, Dalí, Hilma af Klint, Basquiat, etc) feels like those things when you don't understand it, and they want to be perceived as great artists. But they...
Me, every time I think about starting a personal side project.
Ah shit this takes a long time.
February 10, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Me, every time I think about starting a personal side project.
Other than the power outage that happened 15 minutes before the end of Act I, Sweeney Todd was great.
February 9, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Other than the power outage that happened 15 minutes before the end of Act I, Sweeney Todd was great.
I saw this exact production (Angela Lansbury, George Hearn) live at the Dorothy Chandler when I was 5.
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 AM
I saw this exact production (Angela Lansbury, George Hearn) live at the Dorothy Chandler when I was 5.
The fact that I’m going to see Sweeney Todd while everyone else is watching the superbowl says… something.
February 9, 2026 at 12:07 AM
The fact that I’m going to see Sweeney Todd while everyone else is watching the superbowl says… something.
“Night’s Master” is one of the most poetic works of fantasy fiction I have ever read. Breathtaking. But he’s not kidding about the content warnings or the demonic dwarf on giant spider sex.
It's weirdly upsetting to me that the Wiki page for "dark fantasy" doesn't include any mention of Tanith Lee. Which reminds me that my perception of Lee is heavily biased since I randomly discovered her Flat Earth at age 14 (she ruined me). But that doesn't mean most other folks know who she is.
February 8, 2026 at 9:05 PM
“Night’s Master” is one of the most poetic works of fantasy fiction I have ever read. Breathtaking. But he’s not kidding about the content warnings or the demonic dwarf on giant spider sex.
Reposted by Jesse Burneko
Basing play around con scenes, more than not, leads to shallower/trendy/disposable experiences.
The designer is like a bad GM who has chosen the theme/experience, you are there to enjoy it, agree with it or follow the prompts. Your group is creatively subordinate to the product.
The designer is like a bad GM who has chosen the theme/experience, you are there to enjoy it, agree with it or follow the prompts. Your group is creatively subordinate to the product.
February 8, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Basing play around con scenes, more than not, leads to shallower/trendy/disposable experiences.
The designer is like a bad GM who has chosen the theme/experience, you are there to enjoy it, agree with it or follow the prompts. Your group is creatively subordinate to the product.
The designer is like a bad GM who has chosen the theme/experience, you are there to enjoy it, agree with it or follow the prompts. Your group is creatively subordinate to the product.
Reposted by Jesse Burneko
LESS THAN $300 AWAY FROM GOAL LET'S GOOOOOOO AAAAAAAAAA www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaz...
Extra Ordinary TTRPG Softcover Print Run
Physical copies of Extra Ordinary, a TTRPG about kids with extraordinary powers on the run from danger in the ordinary world!
www.kickstarter.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:24 AM
LESS THAN $300 AWAY FROM GOAL LET'S GOOOOOOO AAAAAAAAAA www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaz...
Reposted by Jesse Burneko
Real excited to rubberneck the neopets ttrpg situation
February 7, 2026 at 12:52 AM
Real excited to rubberneck the neopets ttrpg situation
1) Studio Art
2) History of Technology
3) Compiler Construction
4) Topology
5) Metaphysics
2) History of Technology
3) Compiler Construction
4) Topology
5) Metaphysics
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1) Music Theory (crashed out)
2) Arabic I (got an A, forgot everything)
3) Magic, Religion, and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe
4) Modern Theatre
5) Psycopathology
Light! More light!
Veritas est lux
1) Music Theory (crashed out)
2) Arabic I (got an A, forgot everything)
3) Magic, Religion, and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe
4) Modern Theatre
5) Psycopathology
Light! More light!
Veritas est lux
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
1) Europe Between the Wars
2) Race in the Law
3) Fundamentals of Logic
4) Modern Ethical Theories
5) fuckin WINE APPRECIATION
Hail hail to old Purdue all hail our old gold and black etc
1) Europe Between the Wars
2) Race in the Law
3) Fundamentals of Logic
4) Modern Ethical Theories
5) fuckin WINE APPRECIATION
Hail hail to old Purdue all hail our old gold and black etc
February 2, 2026 at 4:24 PM
1) Studio Art
2) History of Technology
3) Compiler Construction
4) Topology
5) Metaphysics
2) History of Technology
3) Compiler Construction
4) Topology
5) Metaphysics
Those who do design directly into Affinity Publisher/InDesign please stop.
I am not doing layout before initial playtesting. I am not doing layout before initial playtesting. I am not doing layout before initial playtesting.
February 1, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Those who do design directly into Affinity Publisher/InDesign please stop.
Reposted by Jesse Burneko
There is recurring chatter on ttrpg advice forums for folks seeking help about social interaction issues. Not about ttrpg themselves - bad actors, problem behaviors, or power trips.
It speaks to subcultures within the hobby, but also on folks struggling with how to handle bad social interactions.
It speaks to subcultures within the hobby, but also on folks struggling with how to handle bad social interactions.
January 31, 2026 at 4:32 PM
There is recurring chatter on ttrpg advice forums for folks seeking help about social interaction issues. Not about ttrpg themselves - bad actors, problem behaviors, or power trips.
It speaks to subcultures within the hobby, but also on folks struggling with how to handle bad social interactions.
It speaks to subcultures within the hobby, but also on folks struggling with how to handle bad social interactions.
There is an interesting adaptation of Frankenstein waiting to be made that focuses on the Henry/Victor friendship over the Elizabeth/Victor romance
I do think it’s a special case with Frankenstein, and the biggest sin of GDT’s Frankenstein is that it plays at accurate book adaptation while clearly doing its own thing.
It occupies the space of “classic monster” and “book that is kinda awkward to adapt into a movie”
It occupies the space of “classic monster” and “book that is kinda awkward to adapt into a movie”
A friend has a theory that we’re getting adaptations of famous books (Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights) that are more about the writer/director’s “feelings” or memories of the books rather than an actual interrogation of or engagement w. what source material is doing bc only IP is getting greenlit rn
January 30, 2026 at 5:10 PM
There is an interesting adaptation of Frankenstein waiting to be made that focuses on the Henry/Victor friendship over the Elizabeth/Victor romance
You can share more of your authentic self than you think. Most people will be delighted at best or indifferent at worst.
If you’re over 30, quote this with some life advice 🤌🏼
January 28, 2026 at 8:06 PM
You can share more of your authentic self than you think. Most people will be delighted at best or indifferent at worst.
This is what happens to me when I try to read the books.
Every year around this time my roommate and I decide we're going to rewatch the Lord of the Rings extended edition and we get to Rivendell and are like "okay that's enough for one night" and then we never get back to it
January 27, 2026 at 3:31 AM
This is what happens to me when I try to read the books.
Slightly diminish a game.
Cyberbrat.
Cyberbrat.
Slight diminish a game:
kill poppies for seitan
kill poppies for seitan
Slightly diminish a game:
3:15 Carnage Amongst the Star
3:15 Carnage Amongst the Star
January 24, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Slightly diminish a game.
Cyberbrat.
Cyberbrat.
I never wanted this. Worse, I feel like it’s extending into adulthood. Too many contemporary “adult” novels where late twenty/early thirty something’s still haven’t sorted themselves out.
i don't want to read about 18 year olds discovering themselves 😌
January 22, 2026 at 9:55 PM
I never wanted this. Worse, I feel like it’s extending into adulthood. Too many contemporary “adult” novels where late twenty/early thirty something’s still haven’t sorted themselves out.