Rise Up Comus - 🔜PaxU
@riseupcomus.bsky.social
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Hello! My name is Josh and I like RPGs.
Here's an overview of some of my current projects:
His Majesty the Worm - A new/old-school, tarot-based, megadungeon crawler
Dungeon Design Course - Make a dungeon with me!
Knock! - Adventure gaming bric-a-brac
Here's an overview of some of my current projects:
His Majesty the Worm - A new/old-school, tarot-based, megadungeon crawler
Dungeon Design Course - Make a dungeon with me!
Knock! - Adventure gaming bric-a-brac
This rules
Got a player who can't always make it reliably? Well, now there's a class where their absence is a feature. Sort of.
wayspell.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
wayspell.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...
The Leaper
Every Table has that one friend who wants to play, and we want them to play, but their awful schedule makes committing to anything nearly im...
wayspell.blogspot.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:04 PM
This rules
The first John Wick uses a great storytelling tool: “I gave him an impossible task...the bodies he buried that night are the foundation of what we are now."
You don't have to tell me what that is. It's better left unsaid.
Do this while running games.
You don't have to tell me what that is. It's better left unsaid.
Do this while running games.
November 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
The first John Wick uses a great storytelling tool: “I gave him an impossible task...the bodies he buried that night are the foundation of what we are now."
You don't have to tell me what that is. It's better left unsaid.
Do this while running games.
You don't have to tell me what that is. It's better left unsaid.
Do this while running games.
Some new (?) tech to track persistent states via random tables with memory. Like Ladder Tables, but simpler in execution.
Behold, the Stepladder Table!
Behold, the Stepladder Table!
Stepladder Tables
I am not certain that I am the first to have this idea. In fact, I most certainly am not; there's nothing new under the sun (especially in R...
riseupcomus.blogspot.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Some new (?) tech to track persistent states via random tables with memory. Like Ladder Tables, but simpler in execution.
Behold, the Stepladder Table!
Behold, the Stepladder Table!
Reposted by Rise Up Comus - 🔜PaxU
I got to run a couple sessions of His Majesty the Worm this weekend at Arcanecon and it was a BLAST! Huge thanks to @arcanesword.bsky.social for putting on the best con and to @riseupcomus.bsky.social for writing/designing a fantastic game!
November 9, 2025 at 2:09 AM
I got to run a couple sessions of His Majesty the Worm this weekend at Arcanecon and it was a BLAST! Huge thanks to @arcanesword.bsky.social for putting on the best con and to @riseupcomus.bsky.social for writing/designing a fantastic game!
Reposted by Rise Up Comus - 🔜PaxU
Jumping onto the #indiegame meme bandwagon with #Crownbreakers! Here's about two years of development.
And as always, wishlist!
shorturl.at/SinB9
And as always, wishlist!
shorturl.at/SinB9
July 31, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Jumping onto the #indiegame meme bandwagon with #Crownbreakers! Here's about two years of development.
And as always, wishlist!
shorturl.at/SinB9
And as always, wishlist!
shorturl.at/SinB9
Hi I'm away from the big computer so I just want you to know you can buy HIS MAJESTY THE WORM from hismajestytheworm.games. The book is back in stock at Exalted Funeral! It is a good game and you should buy it.
His Majesty the Worm
His Majesty the Worm is a new-school game with old-school sensibilities: the classic megadungeon experience given fresh life through a focus on the mundanities and small moments of daily life inside t...
hismajestytheworm.games
November 8, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Hi I'm away from the big computer so I just want you to know you can buy HIS MAJESTY THE WORM from hismajestytheworm.games. The book is back in stock at Exalted Funeral! It is a good game and you should buy it.
Reposted by Rise Up Comus - 🔜PaxU
This is focused on video game design as far as I can tell, but there's loads of good wisdom in there for us RPG designers too.
(Most notably, on like line two, "some things we play are *better* than others".)
(Most notably, on like line two, "some things we play are *better* than others".)
Game design is simple, actually. Except when it isn't. Here are the 12 things you need to know.
Game design is simple, actually
So, let’s just walk through the whole thing, end to end. Here’s a twelve-step program for understanding game design. One: Fun There are a lot of things people call “fun.” But most of them are not useful for getting better at making games, which is usually why people read articles like this. The fun of a bit of confetti exploding in front of you, and the fun of excruciating pain and risk to life and limb as you free climb a cliff are just not usefully paired together.
www.raphkoster.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:54 PM
This is focused on video game design as far as I can tell, but there's loads of good wisdom in there for us RPG designers too.
(Most notably, on like line two, "some things we play are *better* than others".)
(Most notably, on like line two, "some things we play are *better* than others".)
Reposted by Rise Up Comus - 🔜PaxU
Pre-ordering this gave me the PDF instantly which made me GASP. 🔥
November 7, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Pre-ordering this gave me the PDF instantly which made me GASP. 🔥
In Tolkien's writings, just about every character on screen for more than a sentence has a name: lieutenants, door-wardens, orcs, trolls. Tolkien Gaming Principle #39: Name every NPC.
November 8, 2025 at 12:44 PM
In Tolkien's writings, just about every character on screen for more than a sentence has a name: lieutenants, door-wardens, orcs, trolls. Tolkien Gaming Principle #39: Name every NPC.
It's ya boy, Joshy McCroo aka Worm McGurk aka Big Baby Jeshua, back at it again with another Middle-earth Hexmap post (feat. @skerples.bsky.social).
The Southfarthing has it all! Wicker-hobbits! Lobelia Sackville-Baggins! Pissing contests!
The Southfarthing has it all! Wicker-hobbits! Lobelia Sackville-Baggins! Pissing contests!
A Tour of the Southfarthing - Middle-earth Hexcrawl
An installment of my hexmap for Middle-earth project. Follow the "Middle-earth Hexmap" tag for all entries in this series. The Southfarthin...
riseupcomus.blogspot.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:18 PM
It's ya boy, Joshy McCroo aka Worm McGurk aka Big Baby Jeshua, back at it again with another Middle-earth Hexmap post (feat. @skerples.bsky.social).
The Southfarthing has it all! Wicker-hobbits! Lobelia Sackville-Baggins! Pissing contests!
The Southfarthing has it all! Wicker-hobbits! Lobelia Sackville-Baggins! Pissing contests!
Reposted by Rise Up Comus - 🔜PaxU
Need a gift-level multiplayer game? May we humbly suggest HIS MAJESTY THE WORM by @riseupcomus.bsky.social 👑🪱 A deluxe megadungeon RPG. Cloth hardbound w 400+ pages of Underworld-delving, City-exploring, creature-fighting, magic-casting goodness. And it's diceless! BC IT'S TAROT-DRIVEN!!!
November 7, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Need a gift-level multiplayer game? May we humbly suggest HIS MAJESTY THE WORM by @riseupcomus.bsky.social 👑🪱 A deluxe megadungeon RPG. Cloth hardbound w 400+ pages of Underworld-delving, City-exploring, creature-fighting, magic-casting goodness. And it's diceless! BC IT'S TAROT-DRIVEN!!!
I'm going to Pax U for the first time this year! For people who have gone before: Do you have to shake the Penny Arcade guys' hands as you go in?
November 7, 2025 at 1:23 PM
I'm going to Pax U for the first time this year! For people who have gone before: Do you have to shake the Penny Arcade guys' hands as you go in?
Reposted by Rise Up Comus - 🔜PaxU
It's time for more BETWEEN TWO CAIRNS featuring special guest @explorersdesign.bsky.social. We review "Warped Beyond Recognition" by @traaa.sh. Enjoy your delicious moments, folks.
www.patreon.com/posts/142727...
www.patreon.com/posts/142727...
Warped Beyond Recognition | Between Two Cairns
Get more from Between Two Cairns on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
It's time for more BETWEEN TWO CAIRNS featuring special guest @explorersdesign.bsky.social. We review "Warped Beyond Recognition" by @traaa.sh. Enjoy your delicious moments, folks.
www.patreon.com/posts/142727...
www.patreon.com/posts/142727...
Reposted by Rise Up Comus - 🔜PaxU
choose your familiar!
November 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
choose your familiar!
Reposted by Rise Up Comus - 🔜PaxU
ARRIVING TOMORROW: deluxe (diceless! tarot-driven!!!) megadungeon RPG tome His Majesty the Worm by @riseupcomus.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 7:03 PM
ARRIVING TOMORROW: deluxe (diceless! tarot-driven!!!) megadungeon RPG tome His Majesty the Worm by @riseupcomus.bsky.social
Isidore of Seville wrote in his encyclopedia: "it is taken from the dragon’s brain but does not harden into a gem unless the head is cut from the living beast; wizards, for this reason, cut the heads from sleeping dragons."
Cut off a dragon's head to turn its brain into a precious gem. That's rad.
Cut off a dragon's head to turn its brain into a precious gem. That's rad.
November 6, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Isidore of Seville wrote in his encyclopedia: "it is taken from the dragon’s brain but does not harden into a gem unless the head is cut from the living beast; wizards, for this reason, cut the heads from sleeping dragons."
Cut off a dragon's head to turn its brain into a precious gem. That's rad.
Cut off a dragon's head to turn its brain into a precious gem. That's rad.
I just want everyone to think I'm funny and laugh at my jokes
November 5, 2025 at 11:37 PM
I just want everyone to think I'm funny and laugh at my jokes
Reposted by Rise Up Comus - 🔜PaxU
Front toward enemy
November 5, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Front toward enemy
Just as a reminder: the totally free Designing Dungeons Course (Or, How to Kill a Party in 30 Rooms or Less) covers these kinds of rooms--and more!
dungeons.hismajestytheworm.games/docs/chapter1/
dungeons.hismajestytheworm.games/docs/chapter1/
November 5, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Just as a reminder: the totally free Designing Dungeons Course (Or, How to Kill a Party in 30 Rooms or Less) covers these kinds of rooms--and more!
dungeons.hismajestytheworm.games/docs/chapter1/
dungeons.hismajestytheworm.games/docs/chapter1/
Of the different types of dungeon rooms, "Special" can be one of the hardest to write towards. This list of sub-categories of special rooms has great prompts!
In a🧵 below, I delve into examples from CASTLE AUTOMATIC for each sub-type of special rooms. (Warning: Spoilers for the dungeon!)
In a🧵 below, I delve into examples from CASTLE AUTOMATIC for each sub-type of special rooms. (Warning: Spoilers for the dungeon!)
The 10 types of special rooms
"A Special is anything not exactly a trap, but placed for special reasons." Moldvay Basic pg. B52 Traps, monsters, secret doors, and treas...
traipse.hexarcana.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Of the different types of dungeon rooms, "Special" can be one of the hardest to write towards. This list of sub-categories of special rooms has great prompts!
In a🧵 below, I delve into examples from CASTLE AUTOMATIC for each sub-type of special rooms. (Warning: Spoilers for the dungeon!)
In a🧵 below, I delve into examples from CASTLE AUTOMATIC for each sub-type of special rooms. (Warning: Spoilers for the dungeon!)
Part of the information architecture for CASTLE AUTOMATIC is repetition of information. Rooms are both numbered AND have a name. The numbering makes it easy to see on the map. The names make it easy for the GM to remember.
It has a cost of space, but I think it makes it easier to RUN.
It has a cost of space, but I think it makes it easier to RUN.
November 4, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Part of the information architecture for CASTLE AUTOMATIC is repetition of information. Rooms are both numbered AND have a name. The numbering makes it easy to see on the map. The names make it easy for the GM to remember.
It has a cost of space, but I think it makes it easier to RUN.
It has a cost of space, but I think it makes it easier to RUN.
Why do you explore the terrible CASTLE AUTOMATIC?
You might go in search of the four world-defining treasures.
You might go in search of the legendary dwarven inventor, Taitale, who is said to have built it.
You might quest to kill the vampiric hierophant who schemes to conquer the world of Flesh
You might go in search of the four world-defining treasures.
You might go in search of the legendary dwarven inventor, Taitale, who is said to have built it.
You might quest to kill the vampiric hierophant who schemes to conquer the world of Flesh
November 4, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Why do you explore the terrible CASTLE AUTOMATIC?
You might go in search of the four world-defining treasures.
You might go in search of the legendary dwarven inventor, Taitale, who is said to have built it.
You might quest to kill the vampiric hierophant who schemes to conquer the world of Flesh
You might go in search of the four world-defining treasures.
You might go in search of the legendary dwarven inventor, Taitale, who is said to have built it.
You might quest to kill the vampiric hierophant who schemes to conquer the world of Flesh
The thing I like the best about Frank Franzetta's EOWYN VS THE NAZGUL LORD is that Eowyn was disguised as Dernhelm, just another one of the boys. Which means that this is how all the Rohirrim were dressed.
November 3, 2025 at 5:13 PM
The thing I like the best about Frank Franzetta's EOWYN VS THE NAZGUL LORD is that Eowyn was disguised as Dernhelm, just another one of the boys. Which means that this is how all the Rohirrim were dressed.
I ordered some stickers of my pfp so I can stick 'em on my badge at PaxU and folks can recognize me as the wonky eyed Gandalf who won't shut up about his game from Bluesky!
November 3, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I ordered some stickers of my pfp so I can stick 'em on my badge at PaxU and folks can recognize me as the wonky eyed Gandalf who won't shut up about his game from Bluesky!
Fighter class feature: When they battle someone, their health bar and true name literally appear over their head--they call it the "blood sight"
November 2, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Fighter class feature: When they battle someone, their health bar and true name literally appear over their head--they call it the "blood sight"