Seyed P. Razavi (aka Syd)
@monkeyx.bsky.social
This is my rocket 🚀
This is my gun 🔫
I use this site 🦋
Mostly for fun 😜
https://blog.srazavi.com/
https://poems.prazavi.com/
https://blog.monkeyx.games/
This is my gun 🔫
I use this site 🦋
Mostly for fun 😜
https://blog.srazavi.com/
https://poems.prazavi.com/
https://blog.monkeyx.games/
My DM philosophy in a short: youtube.com/shorts/mXakn...
I'm sure they will get it... eventually. #dnd #gmlife ##ttrpg
YouTube video by NameIsInUse
youtube.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:19 PM
My DM philosophy in a short: youtube.com/shorts/mXakn...
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains.
December 28, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains.
It's been a relaxing year of reading. The days of reading on average 2-3 books a week are gone as I relax from the philosophy and into leisurely reading.
Top categories were science fiction, historical fiction and non-fiction. I don't track TTRPG books on Goodreads otherwise reckon that'd be win.
Top categories were science fiction, historical fiction and non-fiction. I don't track TTRPG books on Goodreads otherwise reckon that'd be win.
December 27, 2025 at 6:16 PM
It's been a relaxing year of reading. The days of reading on average 2-3 books a week are gone as I relax from the philosophy and into leisurely reading.
Top categories were science fiction, historical fiction and non-fiction. I don't track TTRPG books on Goodreads otherwise reckon that'd be win.
Top categories were science fiction, historical fiction and non-fiction. I don't track TTRPG books on Goodreads otherwise reckon that'd be win.
If “post-apocalypse but no guns, just spears, pine forests and reality glitches” sounds like your thing, you might want to look at After. a review digging into the stonepunk setting, the OSR-ish rules, and how it compares to my other rebuilding-after-the-end games. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/26/a...
After: Stonepunk Dreams at the End of the World
Every few months I get the itch for “my” post-apocalyptic game. I’m not looking for the one with gun-nuts in ice-cream vans or zombies in tactical vests, but something stranger: broken worlds…
blog.monkeyx.games
December 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM
If “post-apocalypse but no guns, just spears, pine forests and reality glitches” sounds like your thing, you might want to look at After. a review digging into the stonepunk setting, the OSR-ish rules, and how it compares to my other rebuilding-after-the-end games. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/26/a...
How I actually run Session Zero these days: what we talk about, how I handle safety tools, and why skipping it has bitten me more than once (especially online). blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/23/h...
How I Run Session Zero
There was a time when my “session zero” was about fifteen seconds of nervous throat-clearing followed by, “Right, you’re all being hunted / fighting some gobbos / on a job for BigCorp. Go.
blog.monkeyx.games
December 23, 2025 at 3:45 PM
How I actually run Session Zero these days: what we talk about, how I handle safety tools, and why skipping it has bitten me more than once (especially online). blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/23/h...
Voted for my three most anticipated RPGs for 2026:
1) Land of Eem: Dungeoneer Adventures (Exalted Funeral)
2) Invincible Superhero Roleplaying (Free League)
3) Hot War (Handwork Games)
A few entries on the list already in my hand so couldn't really say they were anticipated.
1) Land of Eem: Dungeoneer Adventures (Exalted Funeral)
2) Invincible Superhero Roleplaying (Free League)
3) Hot War (Handwork Games)
A few entries on the list already in my hand so couldn't really say they were anticipated.
It's Time to VOTE for your MOST ANTICIPATED TTRPG of 2026!
As we do every year, it's time to vote for the most anticipated tabletop roleplaying game of the coming year! Here is last year's Top 10 (spoiler: the winner was Legend in the Mist). Previous winners ...
www.enworld.org
December 20, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Voted for my three most anticipated RPGs for 2026:
1) Land of Eem: Dungeoneer Adventures (Exalted Funeral)
2) Invincible Superhero Roleplaying (Free League)
3) Hot War (Handwork Games)
A few entries on the list already in my hand so couldn't really say they were anticipated.
1) Land of Eem: Dungeoneer Adventures (Exalted Funeral)
2) Invincible Superhero Roleplaying (Free League)
3) Hot War (Handwork Games)
A few entries on the list already in my hand so couldn't really say they were anticipated.
The #1 movie when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 is going to go…
(better back that Toon 2nd edition KS I guess)
(better back that Toon 2nd edition KS I guess)
December 20, 2025 at 2:41 AM
The #1 movie when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 is going to go…
(better back that Toon 2nd edition KS I guess)
(better back that Toon 2nd edition KS I guess)
Dolmenwood review up: pixie boots on firm old-school ground. Simple d6 checks, rich travel/exploration rules, and 200+ pages of hexcrawl content. Less “generic toolbox,” more “campaign with a pulse” Verdicts, comparisons to OSE, vibes. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/19/d...
Dolmenwood: Pixe Boots on OSR ground
There are books you leaf through and think, “Lovely art, someday.” Then there are books that smell like a campaign, the kind that squat on your shelf and mutter rumours until you give in.
blog.monkeyx.games
December 19, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Dolmenwood review up: pixie boots on firm old-school ground. Simple d6 checks, rich travel/exploration rules, and 200+ pages of hexcrawl content. Less “generic toolbox,” more “campaign with a pulse” Verdicts, comparisons to OSE, vibes. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/19/d...
This is pretty cool - a hack of Mythic Bastionland for a sci-fi setting. Makes me excited for Cosmic Bastionland when it drops.
www.revenant-quill.com/2025/12/hack...
www.revenant-quill.com/2025/12/hack...
Hacking Mythic Bastionland for a sci-fi adventure
www.revenant-quill.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:04 PM
This is pretty cool - a hack of Mythic Bastionland for a sci-fi setting. Makes me excited for Cosmic Bastionland when it drops.
www.revenant-quill.com/2025/12/hack...
www.revenant-quill.com/2025/12/hack...
I love Call of Cthulhu’s idea of chases way more than I love running the actual rules at the table. So I stole some tricks from other systems and boiled it down to one simple track and two rolls that actually keep things moving.
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/16/c...
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/16/c...
A Simple Call of Cthulhu Chase System
I like Call of Cthulhu’s chases in theory. On the page, they’re clever: abstract locations, hazards, vehicles, movement rates. At the table, though, I always hit the same snag: I can’t remember the…
blog.monkeyx.games
December 16, 2025 at 1:11 PM
I love Call of Cthulhu’s idea of chases way more than I love running the actual rules at the table. So I stole some tricks from other systems and boiled it down to one simple track and two rolls that actually keep things moving.
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/16/c...
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/16/c...
Hunger meets consent
December 14, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Hunger meets consent
Cosmic Dark: run-tonight space horror with a clean investigate roll, personal corruption (“Changed”), and a Golden Thread campaign that actually ends. Guided, eerie, humane GM tools. If you want story over spreadsheets, this is it: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/12/g...
Cosmic Dark - Golden Scars, Bad Decisions
The phrase “cosmic horror in space” covers a multitude of sins and a fair number of excellent games. What makes Cosmic Dark interesting is not just the corporate-hellmouth vibe, but how confidently it...
blog.monkeyx.games
December 12, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Cosmic Dark: run-tonight space horror with a clean investigate roll, personal corruption (“Changed”), and a Golden Thread campaign that actually ends. Guided, eerie, humane GM tools. If you want story over spreadsheets, this is it: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/12/g...
I did a quick review of this a little while back so worth sharing again: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/10/27/w...
December 11, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I did a quick review of this a little while back so worth sharing again: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/10/27/w...
Excited to read this from @ickbat.bsky.social
Layout + art are hitting the spot. The theme is derived from one of the best novellas I've read in recent years.
Never played an epistolary RPG before (although no stranger to pbp) so going to be interesting finding a collaborator to dive into this.
Layout + art are hitting the spot. The theme is derived from one of the best novellas I've read in recent years.
Never played an epistolary RPG before (although no stranger to pbp) so going to be interesting finding a collaborator to dive into this.
December 10, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Excited to read this from @ickbat.bsky.social
Layout + art are hitting the spot. The theme is derived from one of the best novellas I've read in recent years.
Never played an epistolary RPG before (although no stranger to pbp) so going to be interesting finding a collaborator to dive into this.
Layout + art are hitting the spot. The theme is derived from one of the best novellas I've read in recent years.
Never played an epistolary RPG before (although no stranger to pbp) so going to be interesting finding a collaborator to dive into this.
Reposted by Seyed P. Razavi (aka Syd)
Once again a fantastic review from Seyed. I’m really grateful for any review who takes this amount of time to engage with what’s there in the book, understands mechanics very well, and even considers the creator’s intention as they perceive it. Along with loads more. This is contentful reviewing.
Muck, myths, and mutual aid: my a|state 2e review. Come for the art; stay for the Hope track, nasty consequences, and sandbox corners worth fighting for. Not for power fantasy; perfect for crews lifting a neighbourhood. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/05/a...
a|state 2e: Hope and Grit (Quick Review)
I’m the kind of GM who likes frictionless rules and plenty of texture: fiction first, mechanics that nudge rather than nag, and a setting that gives me a reason to care whether the power stays on in a...
blog.monkeyx.games
December 9, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Once again a fantastic review from Seyed. I’m really grateful for any review who takes this amount of time to engage with what’s there in the book, understands mechanics very well, and even considers the creator’s intention as they perceive it. Along with loads more. This is contentful reviewing.
You will be visited by three spirits.
December 9, 2025 at 2:04 PM
You will be visited by three spirits.
Some nights I have node graphs. Some nights I have 3 names and a dream.
New post on getting comfy with GM improv, keeping it coherent, and forgiving yourself when it wobbles.
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/08/h...
New post on getting comfy with GM improv, keeping it coherent, and forgiving yourself when it wobbles.
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/08/h...
How to Actually Improvise at the Table
I run games in two completely different modes. On one side, there’s my Children of Fear campaign: a glorious monstrosity of prep. I’ve turned the book into episodic node graphs for an open table.
blog.monkeyx.games
December 8, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Some nights I have node graphs. Some nights I have 3 names and a dream.
New post on getting comfy with GM improv, keeping it coherent, and forgiving yourself when it wobbles.
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/08/h...
New post on getting comfy with GM improv, keeping it coherent, and forgiving yourself when it wobbles.
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/08/h...
Great listen and great magazine. Please support them by buying their entire back catalogue. Totally worth the price!
shop.wyrd.science
shop.wyrd.science
December 6, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Great listen and great magazine. Please support them by buying their entire back catalogue. Totally worth the price!
shop.wyrd.science
shop.wyrd.science
Muck, myths, and mutual aid: my a|state 2e review. Come for the art; stay for the Hope track, nasty consequences, and sandbox corners worth fighting for. Not for power fantasy; perfect for crews lifting a neighbourhood. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/05/a...
a|state 2e: Hope and Grit (Quick Review)
I’m the kind of GM who likes frictionless rules and plenty of texture: fiction first, mechanics that nudge rather than nag, and a setting that gives me a reason to care whether the power stays on in a...
blog.monkeyx.games
December 5, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Muck, myths, and mutual aid: my a|state 2e review. Come for the art; stay for the Hope track, nasty consequences, and sandbox corners worth fighting for. Not for power fantasy; perfect for crews lifting a neighbourhood. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/05/a...
I've come across entire tables where only the GM knows the rules or even worries about the character sheets... so the players can focus on the roleplaying!
Imagine if that happened with board games... "Nah bud you don't need to put your meeple down... I'll do it for you... you just vibe!"
Imagine if that happened with board games... "Nah bud you don't need to put your meeple down... I'll do it for you... you just vibe!"
In the RPG community, statements that shouldn't be controversial in any way -- like "you should read the rulebook before playing the game" -- are instead seen as radical and unreasonable because D&D's core rules are 900+ pages.
It's like everyone's first board game was Advanced Squad Leader.
It's like everyone's first board game was Advanced Squad Leader.
December 5, 2025 at 9:55 AM
I've come across entire tables where only the GM knows the rules or even worries about the character sheets... so the players can focus on the roleplaying!
Imagine if that happened with board games... "Nah bud you don't need to put your meeple down... I'll do it for you... you just vibe!"
Imagine if that happened with board games... "Nah bud you don't need to put your meeple down... I'll do it for you... you just vibe!"
This looks like an interesting tool for online investigation RPGs www.patreon.com/posts/murder...
MURDER BOARD - Collaborative Investigation Management for Foundry VTT | Fuligin Heart
Get more from Fuligin Heart on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:39 PM
This looks like an interesting tool for online investigation RPGs www.patreon.com/posts/murder...
Inspired by @thegrognardfiles.bsky.social podcast on Spotify...
Everybody’s grumbling ’bout
Crit-tables, fumble-tables, spell-fail, wound-labels,
Chart-ism, part-ism, elf-weight, pack-prism,
Page-flipping, math-dripping, pace-killing schism…
Everybody’s grumbling ’bout
Crit-tables, fumble-tables, spell-fail, wound-labels,
Chart-ism, part-ism, elf-weight, pack-prism,
Page-flipping, math-dripping, pace-killing schism…
December 4, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Inspired by @thegrognardfiles.bsky.social podcast on Spotify...
Everybody’s grumbling ’bout
Crit-tables, fumble-tables, spell-fail, wound-labels,
Chart-ism, part-ism, elf-weight, pack-prism,
Page-flipping, math-dripping, pace-killing schism…
Everybody’s grumbling ’bout
Crit-tables, fumble-tables, spell-fail, wound-labels,
Chart-ism, part-ism, elf-weight, pack-prism,
Page-flipping, math-dripping, pace-killing schism…
"Will AI take my job?" (or a common variant, ""Will AI take child's hoped-for job?")
What’s the worst question someone can ask after you tell them your profession? For linguists, it’s definitely “how many languages do you speak?”, but I’m curious what else is happening to the rest of y’all out there?!
December 2, 2025 at 6:58 PM
"Will AI take my job?" (or a common variant, ""Will AI take child's hoped-for job?")
A bit of GMing advice on how I prep published adventures depending on the type of module I'm dealing with. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/02/h...
How to Prep a Published Module
There’s a particular sadness in the eyes of a GM halfway through a 250-page campaign book. You can see the journey: they bought the shiny hardback, they decided to “run it as written…
blog.monkeyx.games
December 2, 2025 at 1:23 PM
A bit of GMing advice on how I prep published adventures depending on the type of module I'm dealing with. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/02/h...
Found this - really interesting way of running a game againstthecultofthecommodity.blogspot.com/2025/11/how-...
How I ran Gradient Descent as a Black Box (or Diegetic vs. Narrative Logic)
My black box campaign for Luke Gearing's Gradient Descent recently wrapped up. I didn't plan on it ending before the end of the year, but ...
againstthecultofthecommodity.blogspot.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Found this - really interesting way of running a game againstthecultofthecommodity.blogspot.com/2025/11/how-...