Alexander "SquidLord" Williams
lextenebris.bsky.social
Alexander "SquidLord" Williams
@lextenebris.bsky.social
Journalist, game designer. writer, general ne'er-do-well. Judgment is not just something to pursue, it's something necessary for intellectual survival.
#TTRPG #Ironsworn #SunlessFane #soloRPG

What was a lovely stroll up a riverbank reaches the end in a fight against the red worm, which ends more horrifically than expected.

grimtokens.garden/Game+Play/Th...
004 - Grim Tokens
Brynn finishes his trip up the riverbank with horrific results.
grimtokens.garden
November 13, 2025 at 8:38 PM
#TTRPG #publishing #reviews

Every single RPG reviewer should have at least one thing that they do well, and that thing is: love to play.

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/Rev...
November 7, 2025 at 8:51 PM
#TTRPG #publishing

Why does anything go out of print anymore? In fact, why has any RPG gone out of purchasable circulation in the last two decades?

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/Pet...
Pet Peeve - Unpurchaseable Historical RPGs - Grim Tokens
No RPG should ever go out of circulation if it has ever existed in PDF form, and yet here we are.
grimtokens.garden
November 3, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Reposted by Alexander "SquidLord" Williams
Boundless Tides, my free pirate soulslike TTRPG using the Boundless system was ported to the latest version of the engine with Attribute as health and all that good stuff.

Download for free on itch at farirpgs.itch.io/boundless-ti...
Boundless Tides by Fari RPGs
Soulslike dark fantasy pirate RPG
farirpgs.itch.io
October 29, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Alexander "SquidLord" Williams
I’d highly recommend picking out a lightweight TTRPG and seeing where it takes you. These books are full of great starting points that act as a jumping point flesh out your own stories rather than relying on a more rigid world to steer you. I’m definitely going to try digging deeper myself. 3/2
October 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
#TTRPG #Ironsworn #SunlessFane #solo

Ironsworn: SoloFane continues as the lovable con man Brynn meets tight lips and takes a short stroll up a long river to find "something nasty."

grimtokens.garden/Game+Play/Th...
003 - Grim Tokens
Brynn takes a lovely walk up the river north of Stagkirk with Masias and discovers something nasty.
grimtokens.garden
October 29, 2025 at 6:08 PM
#TTRPG #Ironsworn #SunlessFane #solo

Session two of Ironsworn: SoloFane, where Brynn encounters a certain problem in that, despite being a really good conman, no one seems to believe the lie he tells—just the one they want to believe.

grimtokens.garden/Game+Play/Th...
002 - Grim Tokens
Brynn tries his con one more time to no success, swears a vow, and gets a task, but not the one he expected.
grimtokens.garden
October 29, 2025 at 6:25 AM
#TTRPG #Ironsworn #SunlessFane #solo

Having met Bryn, the best con man in all of the Ironlands, it's time to get him on his way to Stagkirk. On the way, he runs into some rustlers, some farmers, and a club. It's an awkward meeting.

grimtokens.garden/Game+Play/Th...
001 - Grim Tokens
001 - You Can't Fool All the People Rustling.jpg And so, we step forward through a few setup situations to finalize a few more from 000 - Explanation and Setup. Before things go hot, we need to defin…
grimtokens.garden
October 23, 2025 at 10:51 PM
#TTRPG #Ironsworn #SunlessFane #solo

I went through the trouble of doing the basic porting, so I might as well actually set up to play the thing. Actual play of the Sunless Fane in Ironsworn, or at least the Session 0.

grimtokens.garden/Game+Play/Th...
000 - Grim Tokens
Session 0 of the solo Ironsworn conversion of the Sunless Fane, a scenario for ShadowDark.
grimtokens.garden
October 18, 2025 at 7:48 PM
#TTRPG #design

CF provides an opportunity to discuss a taxonomy of RPG adventure design, which I do not object to in the main, but I think it misses a fairly significant aspect.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/Adv...
Adventure Design 102 - Grim Tokens
Meta commentary on CF's most recent video talking about architectures of adventure design. Bah, adventures!
grimtokens.garden
October 12, 2025 at 4:11 AM
#TTRPG #DnD #SunlessCitadel #dungeon

Chubby Funster continues his analysis of old school D&D modules by taking on the Sunless Citadel. Perhaps not surprisingly, I have some thoughts of my own about his thoughts and the scenario itself.

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/The...
The Sunless Citadel - Continuing the Meta-Meta-Commentary - Grim Tokens
Is it weird to comment on someone else's commentary about a D&D 3.0 module? Because that's what happened here.
grimtokens.garden
October 7, 2025 at 1:51 AM
#TTRPG #ShadowDark #Ironsworn #dungeon

So Chubby Funster posted his analysis of his own first ShadowDark scenario, and I promised him that if he did so, I would convert it into Ironsworn. I really need to stop agreeing to things.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/Dun...
Dungeon Remanifest - The Sunless Fane - Grim Tokens
A reimagining of a new classic of ShadowDark scenarios in Ironsworn.
grimtokens.garden
October 4, 2025 at 12:55 AM
#TTRPG #RipCrypt

We have here another lightweight, high-speed, low-drag game put together by someone unsatisfied with D&D. Cool. Creation is fun, but is it necessary?

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/_da...
RipIt With RipCrypt - Grim Tokens
Does RipCrypt fall prey to the "I've never seen another RPG than D&D" syndrome?
grimtokens.garden
September 19, 2025 at 4:42 PM
#TTRPG #TriangleAgency #MSG

When Quinn's Quest is right, they are so right. Why is Triangle Agency not in my library? What would I suggest for yours instead?

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/Tri...
Triangulating an Agency and Ascending to Management - Grim Tokens
Reviewing a review of Triangle Agency and suggesting a couple of better choices.
grimtokens.garden
September 18, 2025 at 4:53 AM
#TTRPG #FrontierScum #AcidWestern

You ever have a moment where a review actually catches you sideways because the presenter does something entirely new and shows you something you've never seen? The acid western Frontier Scum made me hunt it down.

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/Fro...
Frontier Scumming It in the Acid West - Grim Tokens
What is the Acid Western and how do you become Frontier Scum?
grimtokens.garden
September 13, 2025 at 9:47 PM
#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025

Well, it's the end of the month for me, and RPG A Day 2025 is over. I've cranked out a ton of words on a pile of subjects and even a little fiction. Want all of it in one place? It's right here.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...
RPG a Day 2025 - Grim Tokens
The month-long celebration of creativity that is RPG a Day 2025.
grimtokens.garden
August 27, 2025 at 3:07 AM
#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #experience

It's been a long month, but RPG A Day is over, at least for me. We end it with a philosophical consideration of multiple ways to approach experience and why.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...
Day 29 - Connect, Day 30 - Experience, Day 31 - Reward - Grim Tokens
Connect, experience, reward. It's not just a series of words or themes. It's a topic.
grimtokens.garden
August 25, 2025 at 6:14 AM
#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #writing

Another triptych of articles as I move toward DragonCon today. It's all about narrative theory and execution, whether it be regarding your nemesis, what the true purpose of tactics, and how to keep someone in suspense and why.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...
Day 26 - Nemesis, Day 27 - Tactic, Day 28 - Suspense - Grim Tokens
RPG A DAY 2025: Day 26 / 27 / 28 - Nemesis / Tactic / Suspense tags: #thoughts #thoughts/RPGaDay/2025 RPG a Day 2025 (illo).png We continue to set a brisk pace with three more bits covered today beca…
grimtokens.garden
August 24, 2025 at 5:26 AM
#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #starforged #coriolis

By necessity, I have to pick up the pace. We'll fold three articles into one today, targeting recent acquisitions, a revelation of gifts, and exactly what is a challenge rank supposed to do?

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...
Day 23 - Recent, Day 24 - Reveal, Day 25 - Challenge - Grim Tokens
Recent acquisitions, the revelation of a gift, and what is a challenge rank?
grimtokens.garden
August 23, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Reposted by Alexander "SquidLord" Williams
#RPGaDay2025, Day 22, Ally: "Making Friends & Influencing People" - Here's a relatively painless way to use a persistent reaction rating to monitor their relationships with notable non-player-characters...
hexed.press/rules/making...
#ttrpg
Making Friends and Influencing People - Hexed Press
Allies are hard to come by in the harsh worlds represented by most tabletop-roleplaying games and systems don't always provide mechanisms for tracking the frien
hexed.press
August 22, 2025 at 4:49 PM
#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #ally #coop #solo

Everyone at this point knows that Starforged and Ironsworn are excellent for solo play, but not a lot, or at least not enough, has been said about how good they are for co-op and guided play, particularly co-op.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...
Day 22 - Ally - Grim Tokens
What happens when you take allies into space with you in Starforged? Generally, you just have a good time. But what does it mean mechanically?
grimtokens.garden
August 22, 2025 at 5:29 PM
#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #unexpected

What is truly unexpected in a tabletop experience? And where does that fortune come in? At the beginning, in the middle, or at the end?

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...
Day 21 - Unexpected - Grim Tokens
The unexpected can come at you from the front, in the middle, or even up from behind. How does fortune play into mechanics?
grimtokens.garden
August 21, 2025 at 5:13 AM
#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #recruitment

People in the hobby spend a lot of time asking one another, "How can we get more people in," and then criticizing one another for their answers. Perhaps the question itself is flawed.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...
Day 20 - Enter - Grim Tokens
How shall we bring new people into the hobby? Where shall they enter? Perhaps the question is flawed in itself.
grimtokens.garden
August 20, 2025 at 4:42 AM
#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #destiny #writing

How many times have we told the chosen one story? What happens if we invert it, turn it upside down, twist it around? What else can we make of it? Should we bother?

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...
Day 19 - Destiny - Grim Tokens
Destiny is cruel, but the use of destiny as a narrative crutch is more so.
grimtokens.garden
August 19, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Reposted by Alexander "SquidLord" Williams
Rebellion Space is my submission to the 1PageRPG Jam

Basically solo Han Solo - using #ironsworn -lite mechanics. You play as the Ship! get upgrades, missions, recruit operators.
Includes map to travel around filling missions.
Might change some things, but knocked all out in a day. needs testing
August 18, 2025 at 12:22 AM