Dissonance
@mothlands.bsky.social
Ennie award winning tabletop rpg designer, pin lover, polyamorous person, Seattle
Check out my work at Mothlands.com
Check out my work at Mothlands.com
Pinned
Dissonance
@mothlands.bsky.social
· Mar 17
For folks just following me, hi, I’m Justin and I write and design #trrpgs under the moniker Mothlands!
You can find my work in Cthulhu Deep Green, External Containment Bureau, and the upcoming comic tie-in game, CHEW: The Roleplaying Game.
You can find my work in Cthulhu Deep Green, External Containment Bureau, and the upcoming comic tie-in game, CHEW: The Roleplaying Game.
Tell Your Members of Congress: Halt the ICE Terror Machine act.indivisible.org/sign/ice-out...
Tell Your Members of Congress: Halt the ICE Terror Machine
On January 24, federal forces with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. This was just over two weeks after the killing of Renee Good. These killings are a direc...
act.indivisible.org
February 14, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Tell Your Members of Congress: Halt the ICE Terror Machine act.indivisible.org/sign/ice-out...
Reposted by Dissonance
This is your regular reminder that in the year 2000, Paul Rudd, with frosted tips, appeared in the Hong Kong film GEN-Y COPS as a bad guy (kinda). In the movie, he does martial arts, fights a robot, and, most shocking of all, does an entire scene in Cantonese.
February 12, 2026 at 10:47 PM
This is your regular reminder that in the year 2000, Paul Rudd, with frosted tips, appeared in the Hong Kong film GEN-Y COPS as a bad guy (kinda). In the movie, he does martial arts, fights a robot, and, most shocking of all, does an entire scene in Cantonese.
By the way, it’s super cool to see members of the Blades design discord getting backer tier slots.
Props to @acoupleofdrakes.bsky.social and Ema, in particular 🩷
Props to @acoupleofdrakes.bsky.social and Ema, in particular 🩷
February 11, 2026 at 12:05 AM
By the way, it’s super cool to see members of the Blades design discord getting backer tier slots.
Props to @acoupleofdrakes.bsky.social and Ema, in particular 🩷
Props to @acoupleofdrakes.bsky.social and Ema, in particular 🩷
Does this call for another Unusual Suspects playbook jam?
LIVE NOW! Blades '68 grabs the setting of Blades in the Dark and catapults it forward into the swinging 60s.
Tense spy operations, action-packed heists, and brain-twisting paranormal encounters all mix in this 450-page expansion.
Join the electroplasmic revolution:
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...
Tense spy operations, action-packed heists, and brain-twisting paranormal encounters all mix in this 450-page expansion.
Join the electroplasmic revolution:
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...
February 10, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Does this call for another Unusual Suspects playbook jam?
Very weird to see so many people making comments, even POSITIVE ONES, mind you, about not being able to understand Bad Bunny’s music because it was in Spanish.
Have you seriously never enjoyed music in another language?
It seems so improbable if you care anything for music.
Have you seriously never enjoyed music in another language?
It seems so improbable if you care anything for music.
February 9, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Very weird to see so many people making comments, even POSITIVE ONES, mind you, about not being able to understand Bad Bunny’s music because it was in Spanish.
Have you seriously never enjoyed music in another language?
It seems so improbable if you care anything for music.
Have you seriously never enjoyed music in another language?
It seems so improbable if you care anything for music.
My housemate and I watch the hot new anime together on their time off.
When we started “Sentenced to be a Hero” we were initially skeptical but each episode has won us over.
Key pluses:
1. Cool dark fantasy premise
2. Good character development
3. It doesn’t commit the sin of over explanation
When we started “Sentenced to be a Hero” we were initially skeptical but each episode has won us over.
Key pluses:
1. Cool dark fantasy premise
2. Good character development
3. It doesn’t commit the sin of over explanation
February 8, 2026 at 9:53 PM
My housemate and I watch the hot new anime together on their time off.
When we started “Sentenced to be a Hero” we were initially skeptical but each episode has won us over.
Key pluses:
1. Cool dark fantasy premise
2. Good character development
3. It doesn’t commit the sin of over explanation
When we started “Sentenced to be a Hero” we were initially skeptical but each episode has won us over.
Key pluses:
1. Cool dark fantasy premise
2. Good character development
3. It doesn’t commit the sin of over explanation
Cairn is a beautiful, if melancholic, game.
At every point it tells you to slow down, be cautious. To take in your surroundings.
But then the impatience slips through. The eagerness to push yourself. To let the adrenaline seep in and wash away your anxieties.
And that’s when you’ll fall.
At every point it tells you to slow down, be cautious. To take in your surroundings.
But then the impatience slips through. The eagerness to push yourself. To let the adrenaline seep in and wash away your anxieties.
And that’s when you’ll fall.
February 7, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Cairn is a beautiful, if melancholic, game.
At every point it tells you to slow down, be cautious. To take in your surroundings.
But then the impatience slips through. The eagerness to push yourself. To let the adrenaline seep in and wash away your anxieties.
And that’s when you’ll fall.
At every point it tells you to slow down, be cautious. To take in your surroundings.
But then the impatience slips through. The eagerness to push yourself. To let the adrenaline seep in and wash away your anxieties.
And that’s when you’ll fall.
Really enjoying Cairn but, man, when you have a big fall and it’s been twenty minutes since you saved … devastating
February 5, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Really enjoying Cairn but, man, when you have a big fall and it’s been twenty minutes since you saved … devastating
Was enjoying the learning Deadlock. It's got cool character design and fun movement. But then I got to the point where people started dropping slurs and I realized it's just another sweaty ass moba so it got the delete.
February 4, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Was enjoying the learning Deadlock. It's got cool character design and fun movement. But then I got to the point where people started dropping slurs and I realized it's just another sweaty ass moba so it got the delete.
I’m in a love-hate relationship with the world
February 1, 2026 at 3:17 AM
I’m in a love-hate relationship with the world
Now and again random folks ask me what I’m doing for the weekend and often I tell them I’m playing/running a role playing game.
50/50 chance they immediately think it’s a sexy thing.
Wasn’t all that long ago the number of people who were aware of sexy roleplay but not RPGs was approaching zero.
50/50 chance they immediately think it’s a sexy thing.
Wasn’t all that long ago the number of people who were aware of sexy roleplay but not RPGs was approaching zero.
February 1, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Now and again random folks ask me what I’m doing for the weekend and often I tell them I’m playing/running a role playing game.
50/50 chance they immediately think it’s a sexy thing.
Wasn’t all that long ago the number of people who were aware of sexy roleplay but not RPGs was approaching zero.
50/50 chance they immediately think it’s a sexy thing.
Wasn’t all that long ago the number of people who were aware of sexy roleplay but not RPGs was approaching zero.
Just watched a “Deadlock for beginners” video. The dude started by reassuring players it wasn’t complicated and then went on to soft ball more than a dozen intricate mechanics and systems while alluding to a dozen more that we “don’t need to worry about yet.”
MOBAs, man
MOBAs, man
January 28, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Just watched a “Deadlock for beginners” video. The dude started by reassuring players it wasn’t complicated and then went on to soft ball more than a dozen intricate mechanics and systems while alluding to a dozen more that we “don’t need to worry about yet.”
MOBAs, man
MOBAs, man
No justice, no peace. For anyone.
January 24, 2026 at 4:20 PM
No justice, no peace. For anyone.
Excellent essay by Clayton
www.explorersdesign.com/dominant-mec...
The existence of these mechanics is one of the reasons I feel you HAVE to playtest your game.
Sometimes even good ideas can disrupt the flow of play.
www.explorersdesign.com/dominant-mec...
The existence of these mechanics is one of the reasons I feel you HAVE to playtest your game.
Sometimes even good ideas can disrupt the flow of play.
Against Dominant Mechanics
Some rules guide play. And some rules monopolize it. Designing by omission.
www.explorersdesign.com
January 20, 2026 at 10:40 PM
Excellent essay by Clayton
www.explorersdesign.com/dominant-mec...
The existence of these mechanics is one of the reasons I feel you HAVE to playtest your game.
Sometimes even good ideas can disrupt the flow of play.
www.explorersdesign.com/dominant-mec...
The existence of these mechanics is one of the reasons I feel you HAVE to playtest your game.
Sometimes even good ideas can disrupt the flow of play.
My partner demands I tell people I started doing pixel art less than two weeks ago
January 13, 2026 at 7:22 AM
My partner demands I tell people I started doing pixel art less than two weeks ago
Reposted by Dissonance
You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.
This could be you.
This could be you.
January 8, 2026 at 12:15 AM
You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.
This could be you.
This could be you.
Making sprite art is fun
January 6, 2026 at 3:11 AM
Making sprite art is fun
If there’s anything certain about the unprovoked attacks on Venezuela by our government, it’s that the ill wind we sow now will blow back in our direction.
If not tomorrow, then in our children’s time.
If not tomorrow, then in our children’s time.
January 3, 2026 at 5:40 PM
If there’s anything certain about the unprovoked attacks on Venezuela by our government, it’s that the ill wind we sow now will blow back in our direction.
If not tomorrow, then in our children’s time.
If not tomorrow, then in our children’s time.
Excellent video on the modern history a specific slice of indie role playing games
youtu.be/dm0dnjbQzD4?...
youtu.be/dm0dnjbQzD4?...
The Golden Age of Indie RPGs: 2010-2025
YouTube video by A.A. Voigt
youtu.be
December 30, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Excellent video on the modern history a specific slice of indie role playing games
youtu.be/dm0dnjbQzD4?...
youtu.be/dm0dnjbQzD4?...
My friends and I are gonna dip our toes into video game design and it’s bound to get weird!
December 29, 2025 at 10:18 PM
My friends and I are gonna dip our toes into video game design and it’s bound to get weird!
Introduce yourself with 4 comics
December 28, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Introduce yourself with 4 comics
Not me tearing up at 8:30 in the morning tat the Fionna and Cake season 2 finale
a cartoon of a lemon laying on the floor with a cn logo in the corner
ALT: a cartoon of a lemon laying on the floor with a cn logo in the corner
media.tenor.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Not me tearing up at 8:30 in the morning tat the Fionna and Cake season 2 finale
I think there is this weird mainstream American sentiment that being culturally Christian and secular is a paradox of some sort.
If you believe that it follows that your cultural celebrations aren’t inherently Christian.
If you believe that it follows that your cultural celebrations aren’t inherently Christian.
My no-fun-at-parties take is that "christmas is a secular holiday" is an uncomfortable way of assuring me that christianity is the status quo and everything outside of that is an aberration. Sorry! It's still a christian holiday!! Just because you're an atheist doesn't make it secular!
December 22, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I think there is this weird mainstream American sentiment that being culturally Christian and secular is a paradox of some sort.
If you believe that it follows that your cultural celebrations aren’t inherently Christian.
If you believe that it follows that your cultural celebrations aren’t inherently Christian.
Designing classes for the Realis ruleset is pretty fun
December 15, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Designing classes for the Realis ruleset is pretty fun
Reposted by Dissonance
Ever since I read it this dialogue back in 2021, I've always made a commitment to document my process for onlookers.
Furthermore, it's helped me cope with the idea of releasing something not 100% complete because someone will appreciate that creation process.
And that, is a beautiful thing.
Furthermore, it's helped me cope with the idea of releasing something not 100% complete because someone will appreciate that creation process.
And that, is a beautiful thing.
December 12, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Ever since I read it this dialogue back in 2021, I've always made a commitment to document my process for onlookers.
Furthermore, it's helped me cope with the idea of releasing something not 100% complete because someone will appreciate that creation process.
And that, is a beautiful thing.
Furthermore, it's helped me cope with the idea of releasing something not 100% complete because someone will appreciate that creation process.
And that, is a beautiful thing.