Rutskarn
@rutskarn.bsky.social
RPG DESIGNER:
Deniable Assets | Bone Orchard | Discord's D&D Module | [...]
VIDEOGAME WRITER:
Unrest | WFF:SAS
[he/they]
Deniable Assets | Bone Orchard | Discord's D&D Module | [...]
VIDEOGAME WRITER:
Unrest | WFF:SAS
[he/they]
Pinned
It tickles me that in theory, British panel shows are about seeing the guy you know from the thing doing some light banter out-of-character. Except I mostly watch panel shows, so every time I catch a scripted program I feel like I'm watching a clip of a fake movie from a show where the MC's an actor
January 8, 2026 at 6:48 PM
It tickles me that in theory, British panel shows are about seeing the guy you know from the thing doing some light banter out-of-character. Except I mostly watch panel shows, so every time I catch a scripted program I feel like I'm watching a clip of a fake movie from a show where the MC's an actor
Think I'm gonna do alright this year
January 1, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Think I'm gonna do alright this year
Reposted by Rutskarn
Most of us did not choose to write or draw or design so that we could put products on the shelf. We chose to do it because it’s a set of skills we enjoy exercising, that give us fulfillment.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
December 18, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Most of us did not choose to write or draw or design so that we could put products on the shelf. We chose to do it because it’s a set of skills we enjoy exercising, that give us fulfillment.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
It’s like asking a pro pitcher to just let a machine pitch for them. Fuck off and give me the ball.
Reposted by Rutskarn
This is such a misunderstanding of why writers, artists, and designers do research to begin with, which is to find something unexpected, not capture the average or find reference for the default.
And, as always, the biggest misapprehension: We don’t want to NOT do this part. It’s fun to learn shit
And, as always, the biggest misapprehension: We don’t want to NOT do this part. It’s fun to learn shit
Anyone who supports this is an embarrassment. "Instead of typing it out they'll generate their idea"? Are you insane?
Call yourself whatever you want but you aren't creatives, that's for sure.
Call yourself whatever you want but you aren't creatives, that's for sure.
December 18, 2025 at 5:40 PM
This is such a misunderstanding of why writers, artists, and designers do research to begin with, which is to find something unexpected, not capture the average or find reference for the default.
And, as always, the biggest misapprehension: We don’t want to NOT do this part. It’s fun to learn shit
And, as always, the biggest misapprehension: We don’t want to NOT do this part. It’s fun to learn shit
Remembering when Succession ended and you'd run into takes like "I am crushed that Siobhan did not get her dream job, which was foreman of her dad's sexism factory"
December 16, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Remembering when Succession ended and you'd run into takes like "I am crushed that Siobhan did not get her dream job, which was foreman of her dad's sexism factory"
Been writing a series on running D&D games this year, and this point feels like something I've been trying to sum up for a lot longer than that
December 10, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Been writing a series on running D&D games this year, and this point feels like something I've been trying to sum up for a lot longer than that
About to play in a second edition campaign and I'm messaging the GM how he feels about Player's Option: Skills and Powers. For reference, this is like if he said "let's go get brunch" and I said "sounds good, and afterwards let's ram-raid a gun store"
December 8, 2025 at 6:41 PM
About to play in a second edition campaign and I'm messaging the GM how he feels about Player's Option: Skills and Powers. For reference, this is like if he said "let's go get brunch" and I said "sounds good, and afterwards let's ram-raid a gun store"
People should use whatever skill or stat for any check they can justify, to be honest.
"But what happens when everyone's rolling Bluff to attack by feinting or Stealth to hide their smirk from the crowd or Arcana to magically light a fire"
It fucking kicks ass? Do you hear this shit?
"But what happens when everyone's rolling Bluff to attack by feinting or Stealth to hide their smirk from the crowd or Arcana to magically light a fire"
It fucking kicks ass? Do you hear this shit?
November 14, 2025 at 6:22 PM
People should use whatever skill or stat for any check they can justify, to be honest.
"But what happens when everyone's rolling Bluff to attack by feinting or Stealth to hide their smirk from the crowd or Arcana to magically light a fire"
It fucking kicks ass? Do you hear this shit?
"But what happens when everyone's rolling Bluff to attack by feinting or Stealth to hide their smirk from the crowd or Arcana to magically light a fire"
It fucking kicks ass? Do you hear this shit?
JUST FOUND A FULL REPORT OF DEATHS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 1856, BABY, LET'S FUCKING GO
November 9, 2025 at 6:08 PM
JUST FOUND A FULL REPORT OF DEATHS IN NEW YORK CITY IN 1856, BABY, LET'S FUCKING GO
I thought I liked old documents. Then I started working on a project about old documents, and it turns out I'm eerily passionate about them in a way I'm struggling to process
November 9, 2025 at 5:49 PM
I thought I liked old documents. Then I started working on a project about old documents, and it turns out I'm eerily passionate about them in a way I'm struggling to process
Fucking howling imagining actually trying to play this. Like you're having a stroke while driving a bumper car
Oh my god some fucking tech dingdong posted this on Twitter with the caption "AI games are going to be amazing" totally seriously, you have to watch it. You have to. In full screen.
October 24, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Fucking howling imagining actually trying to play this. Like you're having a stroke while driving a bumper car
Honestly I think a GM who sucks when they make unfair rulings kinda just sucks anyway. By extension, I think unfair rulings don't really matter. I honestly don't know if this is just me or what
October 23, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Honestly I think a GM who sucks when they make unfair rulings kinda just sucks anyway. By extension, I think unfair rulings don't really matter. I honestly don't know if this is just me or what
Something I find mildly but increasingly annoying is when we say someone's doing something for "views" or "clicks" or as though the value of these things was intangible. It's not! It's money! They are, most of the time, doing it for money!
October 10, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Something I find mildly but increasingly annoying is when we say someone's doing something for "views" or "clicks" or as though the value of these things was intangible. It's not! It's money! They are, most of the time, doing it for money!
One of the things that's so dumb about everyone wanting their own streaming channel is that it depreciates content super, super quickly. Like I would've said "The Da Vinci Code" was worth a few bucks until it was put behind a thin curtain and vanished completely
October 4, 2025 at 7:29 PM
One of the things that's so dumb about everyone wanting their own streaming channel is that it depreciates content super, super quickly. Like I would've said "The Da Vinci Code" was worth a few bucks until it was put behind a thin curtain and vanished completely
Been working on more of these lately and the WIP thumbnail haunts me
September 28, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Been working on more of these lately and the WIP thumbnail haunts me
Sometimes people get the mistaken idea that an old-school campaign means there's no "GM kayfabe" happening.
Lethal games benefit from showmanship as much as story games! Whatever the actual threat level is, a canny GM learns to sell it as well as possible.
Lethal games benefit from showmanship as much as story games! Whatever the actual threat level is, a canny GM learns to sell it as well as possible.
September 26, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Sometimes people get the mistaken idea that an old-school campaign means there's no "GM kayfabe" happening.
Lethal games benefit from showmanship as much as story games! Whatever the actual threat level is, a canny GM learns to sell it as well as possible.
Lethal games benefit from showmanship as much as story games! Whatever the actual threat level is, a canny GM learns to sell it as well as possible.
Reposted by Rutskarn
This here: GM Kayfabe is a whole, extensive thing, to the point that some games ought to address it way more directly.
Paranoia's another one where I use a wrestling analogy. The GM should be an asshole in Paranoia, but in a kayfabe way. Not an actual dick to the players, a fun villain to suspend your disbelief and shake your fist.
September 26, 2025 at 4:14 PM
This here: GM Kayfabe is a whole, extensive thing, to the point that some games ought to address it way more directly.
When I'm feeling well, I watch mysteries so I can try to work out the solution. When I'm sick, I watch mysteries because the solution gets worked out even if I nap through most of it. Two very different fantasies at work here
September 24, 2025 at 8:39 PM
When I'm feeling well, I watch mysteries so I can try to work out the solution. When I'm sick, I watch mysteries because the solution gets worked out even if I nap through most of it. Two very different fantasies at work here
I've discovered an exercise routine that works for me, and it is, unfortunately, swinging free weights in front of a mirror while blasting fantasy metal
September 11, 2025 at 2:40 AM
I've discovered an exercise routine that works for me, and it is, unfortunately, swinging free weights in front of a mirror while blasting fantasy metal
The best tabletop RPG dungeons are, basically, environmental storytelling puzzles. They're testing how well you can put yourself in the scene and ask yourself: "What should I do to avoid being killed?"
September 1, 2025 at 5:39 AM
The best tabletop RPG dungeons are, basically, environmental storytelling puzzles. They're testing how well you can put yourself in the scene and ask yourself: "What should I do to avoid being killed?"
These days when you say a game is "experimental," it means it's like soup-flavored ice cream. Daggerfall was experimental like the first caveman to eat a mushroom.
August 22, 2025 at 8:47 PM
These days when you say a game is "experimental," it means it's like soup-flavored ice cream. Daggerfall was experimental like the first caveman to eat a mushroom.
A fun fact for Spoiler Warning viewers is that my catchphrase from Alan Wake ("Coffee? I love coffee!") was borrowed from my then-girlfriend, now-wife, who said her version every time she found a can of Cram in New Vegas.
Remedy 30th Anniversary artwork revealed (Valentina Paz).
Remedy 30th anniversary collection merch announced for iam8bit (Thermos up Aug 20th 9 AM PT. Full collection Aug 21 9 AM PT)
Alan Wake Design Works today at 10 AM PT at Lost in Cult
Remedy 30th anniversary collection merch announced for iam8bit (Thermos up Aug 20th 9 AM PT. Full collection Aug 21 9 AM PT)
Alan Wake Design Works today at 10 AM PT at Lost in Cult
August 18, 2025 at 5:48 PM
A fun fact for Spoiler Warning viewers is that my catchphrase from Alan Wake ("Coffee? I love coffee!") was borrowed from my then-girlfriend, now-wife, who said her version every time she found a can of Cram in New Vegas.
Reposted by Rutskarn
still rattled by the sheer giddy glee with which some queers are coming for itch.io, one of the largest collections of queer games in existence. i know it's scary to accept, but we do actually have good things worth defending. we have things it would damage us to lose
August 13, 2025 at 8:15 AM
still rattled by the sheer giddy glee with which some queers are coming for itch.io, one of the largest collections of queer games in existence. i know it's scary to accept, but we do actually have good things worth defending. we have things it would damage us to lose
As I get older, and as gaming stumbles through eras of empire and decadence and collapse, the number one thing I look for in a title is an assumption of mutual respect. "You'll pay attention, and I'll reward you for it. You'll figure it out, and I'll stay out of your hair."
get psyched: I played through too many Ass Creed games and wrote a big blog post about it.
i don't really like ass creed that much. but i might love it?
www.joewintergreen.com/asscreedodys...
i don't really like ass creed that much. but i might love it?
www.joewintergreen.com/asscreedodys...
July 31, 2025 at 3:31 AM
As I get older, and as gaming stumbles through eras of empire and decadence and collapse, the number one thing I look for in a title is an assumption of mutual respect. "You'll pay attention, and I'll reward you for it. You'll figure it out, and I'll stay out of your hair."