Retrolosopher
@retrolosopher.bsky.social
Game Master, Cosplayer, Star Trek enthusiast, vocalist
I've recently seen some GM's make no-initiative-combat way more complicated than it needs to be.
Just let players always go first unless surprised, BUT they can't use their actions to directly attack enemies, i.e. swinging or fireball etc. So they can set up buffs/debuffs, get in position, etc.
Just let players always go first unless surprised, BUT they can't use their actions to directly attack enemies, i.e. swinging or fireball etc. So they can set up buffs/debuffs, get in position, etc.
November 14, 2025 at 3:47 AM
I've recently seen some GM's make no-initiative-combat way more complicated than it needs to be.
Just let players always go first unless surprised, BUT they can't use their actions to directly attack enemies, i.e. swinging or fireball etc. So they can set up buffs/debuffs, get in position, etc.
Just let players always go first unless surprised, BUT they can't use their actions to directly attack enemies, i.e. swinging or fireball etc. So they can set up buffs/debuffs, get in position, etc.
scrapped my plans for an mtg video about nazgul builds. I'm 100% done with the game, sold everything off. Call me a boomer for losing interest in a game that turned into smash bros, but wotc clearly lost faith in its own brand and its own IP. I get more out of my time with OSR and Conan TTRPG
November 5, 2025 at 3:19 AM
scrapped my plans for an mtg video about nazgul builds. I'm 100% done with the game, sold everything off. Call me a boomer for losing interest in a game that turned into smash bros, but wotc clearly lost faith in its own brand and its own IP. I get more out of my time with OSR and Conan TTRPG
I see so many adventures and dungeon maps that are kind of stuck in the days of gridline mapping. When's the last time you've entered a room or cave like in the attached image? And the layout actually mattered, and impacted the exploration? 1/x
November 5, 2025 at 2:46 AM
I see so many adventures and dungeon maps that are kind of stuck in the days of gridline mapping. When's the last time you've entered a room or cave like in the attached image? And the layout actually mattered, and impacted the exploration? 1/x
About a dozen of these big player option books creep into crowdfunding websites every year, and I still can't figure out whose gaming table could possible benefit from them. Who needs that many subclasses? Or 300 new (and redundant) spells? All these books do is add bloat. #ttrpg #dnd #5e
November 4, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Conan TTRPG by Monolith finally showed up! I got two core books, two adventure books, a bunch of battlemaps, a GM screen, and a big box of minis. Rules are far and away from the d20 system but are surprisingly simple and quick to pick up. #conan #ttrpg #conanthebarbarian
October 13, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Conan TTRPG by Monolith finally showed up! I got two core books, two adventure books, a bunch of battlemaps, a GM screen, and a big box of minis. Rules are far and away from the d20 system but are surprisingly simple and quick to pick up. #conan #ttrpg #conanthebarbarian
Long-Running 'D&D News' Website Outed as AI-Generated Slop illomens.com/2025/07/25/l...
Long-Running ‘D&D News’ Website Outed as AI-Generated Slop
Boston, Massachusetts — A long-running news website that covers Dungeons and Dragons products and events has been unmasked as an AI-generated engagement mill, ILL OMENS has learned. The site—which …
illomens.com
July 30, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Long-Running 'D&D News' Website Outed as AI-Generated Slop illomens.com/2025/07/25/l...
Finished the Rick Dias! Awesome-looking gunpla kit, though the maneuverability leaves a little bit to be desired
July 14, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Finished the Rick Dias! Awesome-looking gunpla kit, though the maneuverability leaves a little bit to be desired
Flawed beauty of a system that I want to learn. MegaTraveller always fascinated me but as a child I was too impatient to learn the rules. Only obstacle is that there is no such thing as a free lunch in this game, you must build your entire universe from scratch.
July 11, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Flawed beauty of a system that I want to learn. MegaTraveller always fascinated me but as a child I was too impatient to learn the rules. Only obstacle is that there is no such thing as a free lunch in this game, you must build your entire universe from scratch.
Reposted by Retrolosopher
I haven't fleshed it out into a full article, but at DiGRA last year I presented this talk which was a Marxist analysis of the tendency of (indie) developers becoming publishers after a big hit. Maybe of interest to the current discourse I'm seeing around publishers
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ey014...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ey014...
July 6, 2025 at 10:49 PM
I haven't fleshed it out into a full article, but at DiGRA last year I presented this talk which was a Marxist analysis of the tendency of (indie) developers becoming publishers after a big hit. Maybe of interest to the current discourse I'm seeing around publishers
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ey014...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ey014...
Reposted by Retrolosopher
re: generative AI
I have finally fully and accurately explained my problem with how it’s marketed and used.
And now, you can use it, too.
I have finally fully and accurately explained my problem with how it’s marketed and used.
And now, you can use it, too.
July 6, 2025 at 5:23 PM
re: generative AI
I have finally fully and accurately explained my problem with how it’s marketed and used.
And now, you can use it, too.
I have finally fully and accurately explained my problem with how it’s marketed and used.
And now, you can use it, too.
I watch this close to every Christmas
July 7, 2025 at 3:54 AM
I watch this close to every Christmas
Current #gunpla project, Quattro's Rick Dias from Gundam Zeta. On the fence as to whether I'll go all the way doing the panel lines and painting the eye...
July 7, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Current #gunpla project, Quattro's Rick Dias from Gundam Zeta. On the fence as to whether I'll go all the way doing the panel lines and painting the eye...
Had an epiphany. 100% stepping away from mtg after 31 years of it occupying a large chunk of my brain. Focusing again on video games, ttrpgs, painting models, and building gunpla
July 7, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Had an epiphany. 100% stepping away from mtg after 31 years of it occupying a large chunk of my brain. Focusing again on video games, ttrpgs, painting models, and building gunpla
I'm still mad about this. #dnd and #pathfinder both need to make forest druids good again lol
I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that in both #DnD AND #Pathfinder, the quintessential archetypal forest druid is somehow the WORST version of druid. On top of that, both systems have very few spells that actually deal with plants! And of those few, only one or two are actually good.
April 25, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I'm still mad about this. #dnd and #pathfinder both need to make forest druids good again lol
Currently scripting a YouTube video detailing #mtg deck techs for running nazgûl in something other than Sauron, Smeagol, Lord of the Nazgul, or Ratadrabik
April 25, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Currently scripting a YouTube video detailing #mtg deck techs for running nazgûl in something other than Sauron, Smeagol, Lord of the Nazgul, or Ratadrabik
made a quick #mtg video responding to Commander Mechanic about mutate and infect in a sultai deck, for Kotis The Fangekeeper. Not that it's a big deal, maybe 30 people tops see it. But at least it helped me get comfortable with my recording equipment again youtu.be/1rDxQZLf6bI?...
Kotis is the new EDH hotness — are mutate and infect worth running?
YouTube video by Retrolosopher
youtu.be
April 13, 2025 at 11:43 PM
made a quick #mtg video responding to Commander Mechanic about mutate and infect in a sultai deck, for Kotis The Fangekeeper. Not that it's a big deal, maybe 30 people tops see it. But at least it helped me get comfortable with my recording equipment again youtu.be/1rDxQZLf6bI?...
weird #ttrpg question. What do players want exactly from a GM, if it's true that most players consider any sort of attempt at narrative framing or story beats of any kind to be railroading that robs players of agency? What about the GM's participation and agency? Or do they deserve any?
April 13, 2025 at 11:40 PM
weird #ttrpg question. What do players want exactly from a GM, if it's true that most players consider any sort of attempt at narrative framing or story beats of any kind to be railroading that robs players of agency? What about the GM's participation and agency? Or do they deserve any?
Two games I need to get around finishing. In fact there are several ps3 games I need to play, but these two (and their sequels) I feel like I should play first... most of my unplayed games are long a-rpg's which I have a habit of putting off lol
#Playstation #ps3 #transformers #ratchetandclank
#Playstation #ps3 #transformers #ratchetandclank
March 2, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Two games I need to get around finishing. In fact there are several ps3 games I need to play, but these two (and their sequels) I feel like I should play first... most of my unplayed games are long a-rpg's which I have a habit of putting off lol
#Playstation #ps3 #transformers #ratchetandclank
#Playstation #ps3 #transformers #ratchetandclank
campaign idea: mummy lord in a setting which his civilization is so ancient that the concept of mummies is lost upon modern academics, who manage to steal its preserved heart. The arrogant transgressors, self-assured in their moral superiority, use it as a power source for their city. Mayhem ensues
January 17, 2025 at 12:25 AM
campaign idea: mummy lord in a setting which his civilization is so ancient that the concept of mummies is lost upon modern academics, who manage to steal its preserved heart. The arrogant transgressors, self-assured in their moral superiority, use it as a power source for their city. Mayhem ensues
Hot take. Classes should be vocations, not intrinsic powers like a sorcerer or a plot thing like a warlock. And yes, cleric is a vocation. Your spells come from a combination of faith, clerical study, and service to the church/deity.
The classic paladin is a vocation, the 5e take walks a fine line
The classic paladin is a vocation, the 5e take walks a fine line
January 8, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Hot take. Classes should be vocations, not intrinsic powers like a sorcerer or a plot thing like a warlock. And yes, cleric is a vocation. Your spells come from a combination of faith, clerical study, and service to the church/deity.
The classic paladin is a vocation, the 5e take walks a fine line
The classic paladin is a vocation, the 5e take walks a fine line
My #ad&d campaign came to a close. Players defeated the baddie (not quite a big baddie, the story was more complex than that).
So I'm starting a NEW campaign, 5e this time, and I've already conceived of a new setting and story (story, more like backdrop. No central conflict or villain in mind yet)
So I'm starting a NEW campaign, 5e this time, and I've already conceived of a new setting and story (story, more like backdrop. No central conflict or villain in mind yet)
January 1, 2025 at 12:53 AM
My #ad&d campaign came to a close. Players defeated the baddie (not quite a big baddie, the story was more complex than that).
So I'm starting a NEW campaign, 5e this time, and I've already conceived of a new setting and story (story, more like backdrop. No central conflict or villain in mind yet)
So I'm starting a NEW campaign, 5e this time, and I've already conceived of a new setting and story (story, more like backdrop. No central conflict or villain in mind yet)
Another consideration for designing ttrpg combat is unifying attack and defense rolls into the game's other already-existing parts. I.e. instead of the attack roll being its own thing, melee & ranged attacks are just skills in the skill list. Some %-based systems like Star Frontiers already do this
December 22, 2024 at 2:55 PM
Another consideration for designing ttrpg combat is unifying attack and defense rolls into the game's other already-existing parts. I.e. instead of the attack roll being its own thing, melee & ranged attacks are just skills in the skill list. Some %-based systems like Star Frontiers already do this
The more I dwell on attack bonus vs armor class systems for #ttrpg games, the more I think Games Workshop's weapon skill system makes more sense and would be more engaging. A modified variant would be great, where it's WS vs WS when facing armed enemies. And WS vs toughness when facing big monsters.
December 22, 2024 at 2:44 PM
The more I dwell on attack bonus vs armor class systems for #ttrpg games, the more I think Games Workshop's weapon skill system makes more sense and would be more engaging. A modified variant would be great, where it's WS vs WS when facing armed enemies. And WS vs toughness when facing big monsters.
The sheer preponderance of for-sale stock art advertised to #ttrpg writers tells me that A) demand for art for professional projects is high, and B) art's skill barrier of entry is way higher than writing.
Which is a fancy way of saying, we should probably pay artists more and not lowball them 🤷♂️
Which is a fancy way of saying, we should probably pay artists more and not lowball them 🤷♂️
December 14, 2024 at 5:00 PM
The sheer preponderance of for-sale stock art advertised to #ttrpg writers tells me that A) demand for art for professional projects is high, and B) art's skill barrier of entry is way higher than writing.
Which is a fancy way of saying, we should probably pay artists more and not lowball them 🤷♂️
Which is a fancy way of saying, we should probably pay artists more and not lowball them 🤷♂️