Harbinger of Doom
brandesstoddard.bsky.social
Harbinger of Doom
@brandesstoddard.bsky.social
Early 21st century game designer, freelancer writer, stay-at-home dad. I talk about #DnD and other games. He/him.
Reposted by Harbinger of Doom
Rare footage of St Paul’s Cathedral testing its giant flamethrower
December 21, 2025 at 8:37 AM
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It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.

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December 21, 2025 at 2:51 AM
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Sign, sign, sign!
this is a Canadian petition to uphold charter rights for transgender and minority communities

if youre Canadian, please sign it. if youre not Canadian, please share it.

www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
December 20, 2025 at 1:06 PM
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It still stands as an affront to me that we couldn’t even get the Bakers one (ONE!) million dollars after everything they’ve given the hobby, but if you haven’t backed Apocalypse World yet, you have to do it now!
Here it is. The final 24 hours. You've helped coax banked embers into a steady flame. Tell me, what is one thing you'll bring with you into What-Comes-Next? Seeds? Thread? A good kitchen knife? What will you make of what's left? Together, let's light up the world.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...
Apocalypse World: Burned Over
The 3rd edition of the groundbreaking original.
www.kickstarter.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:05 AM
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Since yesterday, many people have DM’d to say that they were strongly affected by my essay & wished they could share it.

So I've revised, expanded, & posted it for free on both Substack & Patreon.

Please feel free to share.

www.patreon.com/posts/this-i...

catvalente.substack.com/p/this-is-wh...
December 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
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Guess I'll post this again
December 18, 2025 at 7:55 PM
As friends (“friends”) of Dorotea, the story of the Ten Who Were Taken is an LGBTQ+ narrative. In this essay I will
December 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Grinception
My Dinner with Grinch
December 18, 2025 at 4:07 PM
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Man literally says "idk it might kill us all and doom the human creative spirit but if I can produce my game faster and fire all my employees then hell yeah brother fire up that new data center"
"It’s time to face reality, AI is here to stay" - Kingdom Come: Deliverance head Daniel Vávra says Larian got a "crazy shitstorm" for doing what "absolutely everyone else is doing", and that while he's "no fan of AI generated art" it's going nowhere.

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/its-tim...
‘It’s time to face reality, AI is here to stay’: Kingdom Come Deliverance studio head responds to Larian backlash | VGC
Daniel Vávra says AI is a frightening prospect but has its uses, and that “absolutely everyone else” is using it…
www.videogameschronicle.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:23 PM
In the troubled days of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Basileus often had to give direct cash donatives to the army to shore up support as their legitimacy collapsed.
In a nationwide address that major US TV networks are carrying live, President Trump announces 1,450,000 military members will receive a "warrior dividend" of $1776 before Christmas.
December 18, 2025 at 3:07 AM
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An incredible joy and honor to work on this season along with the dream team @brennanleemulligan.bsky.social, @nightlingbug.bsky.social, @brandesstoddard.bsky.social, @dandillon.bsky.social, @thatsrickperry.bsky.social, and the rest of the D20 gang! 💕🏚️
Coming soon -- Dimension 20: Gladlands! ☀️😃

Join Brennan Lee Mulligan and the Dusty Do-gooders (Ally Beardsley, Kimia Behpoornia, Vic Michaelis, Oscar Montoya, Zac Oyama, Jacob Wysocki) for a feel-good apocalypse adventure!

Dimension 20: Gladlands premieres Jan. 7th, 2026!
December 17, 2025 at 6:56 PM
I worked on this! It is so frickin' cool, y'all!
December 17, 2025 at 6:52 PM
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I think I'm close to getting my first medal on @drivethrurpg.com with "Be A Better Player vol one". So I'm putting it on sale for rest of the Christmas season. Only 75 cents right now! #ttrpg legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/2531...
Be A Better Player Volume One - Truly Rural Productions | DriveThruRPG.com
Compiled from an article series that first appeared in blog format from 2011 to 2012.  Many times failed games and grou
legacy.drivethrurpg.com
December 16, 2025 at 9:40 PM
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consider my feedback: i loved working at @larianstudios.com until AI. reconsider and change your direction, like, yesterday. show your employees some respect. they are world-class & do not need AI assistance to come up with amazing ideas.
December 16, 2025 at 4:21 PM
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government is not a business and I will die on this hill. it should not make a profit, it should provide a service. the point of taxes is to pay for that service
FOX: The ACA has never been more popular. Republicans are losing on this messaging. How do you talk to Americans who say the Republicans don't have a plan?

REP. BUDDY CARTER: You explain it by explaining it's not working. When the govt has to subsidize a program, that means it's not working
December 16, 2025 at 1:18 PM
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Kindness and empathy aren’t weaknesses, they are strengths. 300,000 years of human evolution hinge on our caring about and protecting one another. Hold onto it. Never let them make you forget it.
December 16, 2025 at 9:39 AM
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A Christmas prayer for all freelancers: May that payment you've been waiting months for, even though you invoiced for it in September, finally arrive in your bank account this week. 🙏🙏🙏
December 15, 2025 at 7:06 PM
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As you may know, I have stopped using Twitter, and have decided to reproduce some of my more memorable threads here for posterity. Here’s one I hold wrote after a particularly engaging swordfighting lesson.

Buckle up, swordfighting fans, because I *have* studied my Agrippa!

[BIG ASS THREAD]
a man reading a book to a young boy
Alt: a man reading a book to a young boy
media.tenor.com
June 5, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Now reposted to my free-to-everyone blog!

(but it's still fashionable to become a Patreon backer and support my work. I'm just sayin'.)

www.brandesstoddard.com/2025/12/upda...
December 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
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Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
December 15, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Turns out, all the rumors of Wake Up Dead Man being extremely good are correct in every detail. I love all three Benoit Blanc movies.
December 15, 2025 at 4:43 AM
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Oooh, you know what you could do? Go to this link and buy stuff. It’s all as good as I could make it, I promise. I worked hard.

www.drivethrufiction.com/en/browse?au...
DriveThruRPG
www.drivethrufiction.com
December 13, 2025 at 11:12 PM
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Give a cannibal a billionaire and he will eat for a day (or more depending on size of billionaire). Teach a cannibal how to find billionaires and you will have the premise for a solid B movie.
December 13, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Post-Dragon Heist Session 101

The PCs met with Davil Starsong to conclude a deal they had made before leaving Waterdeep: they loaned him 5k gold out of the 50k they got to keep from the whole haul of Dragon Heist, so that he could improve the Doom Raiders' gear and go back to raiding.
Post-Dragon Heist Session 100

The PCs used Arcana, Religion, and History checks to decipher some of the prophecy they received at the end of the last session, and concluded that it meant Manshoon was up to something involving a drow, one of the Seven Sisters, and potentially Davil Starsong.
Post-Dragon Heist Session 99

The PCs continue to explore the tiny demiplane they reached through the obsidian door.

By saying the right things and making ability checks, they figure out that the entity testing them is a storm giant, and they convince him to emerge from the Border Ethereal.
December 13, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Updated Bastion Special Facilities, pt 1

That's right, friends, today I am Back On My Bullshit with reworking the D&D 2024 Bastion rules, this time covering five more special facilities.

Backers get it now, everyone else in three days! Become a backer for as little as $1!
December 12, 2025 at 5:30 PM