Carlos Salazar➡️PAXU
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carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Carlos Salazar➡️PAXU
@carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
670 followers 840 following 850 posts
By night, your friendly barrio TTRPG designer. By day, a far left bilingual ed teacher. Detroit based. Latin and Jewish. Pronouns TBD. Free Palestine 🇵🇸

You can find my socials and projects here: https://linktr.ee/carlos.makes.games
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carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Rascal News, bringing moments of nerd connection like this.

@rascal.news
A text conversation between two people Person 1: Rascal Radio Hour, episode 20, timestamp 1:25:30. Is that you?? Person 2: LOL the one about Gamma World? Person 1: And White Wolf, yes Person 2: Yep…That’s me Person 1: Lmaooooo Person 2: You know I’m a sicko for Gamma World Person 1: He said Carlos and I thought “I wonder…” and then he said Gamma World and I thought “ladies and gentlemen… we got ‘em”
November 6, 2025 at 11:48 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Retrato nuevo …no se porque estoy gritando y sonriendo a la misma vez

New portrait…I don’t know why I’m smiling and screaming at the same time
A Pencil portrait of me drawn by a student…I appearing to be wearing a robe, I have happy eyes and a fully open mouth
November 6, 2025 at 12:58 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Ah yeah! This looks great @satelitesnaturales.bsky.social and @evlynmoreau.bsky.social …can’t wait to dig into this nastiness
Gold leaf A Feast for Sphinx cover with the Sphinx in a braided circle
November 4, 2025 at 4:11 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
How we do, even when space in a house with two kids is hard to come by! Los ancestros presentes!
A small día de los muertos altar
November 3, 2025 at 1:20 AM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Like I said, advantages

Como les dije, tiene valores
Vaso de arroz con leche Cup of arroz con leche
October 31, 2025 at 5:00 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Ser Maestro tiene sus valores

Being a teacher has its advantages
Pan dulce en forma de calabaza relleno de calabaza Pan dulce in the shape of a pumpkin with pumpkin feeling
October 31, 2025 at 3:36 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Nearing the end of spooky season and so the last of my Wednesday on Wednesday pins

Also, unafraid to show papada on main 🤘🏼
A pin showing Wednesday in front of the black and white half of a window and Enid in front of the colorful half
October 29, 2025 at 5:05 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Who robbed the Louvre? Right answers only.
The Time Bandits in a forest holding up the map as well as various things they stole
October 19, 2025 at 9:36 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Join me, Vixie Bell, Danny Mendoza, Julia Labusch, Castle Writes, and Andrew Teller of Tales as we explore the whimsical and the spooky! Come get your Halloween on early, tomorrow, 8PM EST twitch.tv/thepocketdra...

@vixiebelle.bsky.social
@dannyrmendoza.bsky.social
@queenjulia11.bsky.social
A promo image showing the cast for this AP on an autumn background
October 16, 2025 at 9:29 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
🧵1/2 I want you 🫵 to playtest #PuppetRun. Puppetrun is a surreal horror game where your player wakes with a living puppet attached to their hand. Based on M. Baker's ( @megueyb.bsky.social ) game PSI*RUN,...
Part of the Risk Sheet for Puppet Run. There are 4 boxes, goal, reveal, puppet, and harm. Goal, Do I achieve my goal? 6: Move control 1 towards runner. Runner acheives goal. GM has first say. 4-5 Runner achieves goal, GM has first say. 1-3 Runner fails goal. Player has first say. Reveal, Do I receive a memory from the puppet? 6: Move control 1 towards the runer. Runner receives a memory from the puppet that answers one of their questions. Player has first say. 4-5 Runner receives a memory that answers one of their questions. Other players have first say. 1-3: Move control track 1 towards puppet. Puppet receives a memory from the character. GM has first say. Puppet * Do my puppet's powers cause harm? 5–6: Power causes no trouble. Player has first say 3-4: Power does what the player wants but the puppet turns it towards their ends. GM has first say. 1–2: Move control 1 towards puppet. The puppet takes over for a moment and uses its powers toward. HARM * Is anyone hurt? 5–6: Runner is unharmed & unimpaired. Player has first say 4: Runner is hurt & impaired for the rest of this scene. GM has first say. 3: Runner is hurt & impaired for the rest of this session. GM has first say. 2: Runner is hurt & impaired for the rest of the game. GM has first say. 1: Runner is dying. GM has first say. A tracker with six boxes that represents who has more control, your character or the puppet.
October 13, 2025 at 11:54 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
The Mexica (Aztecs) had the most beautiful shields in history. These are all feathers

Les Mexiques tenían los escudos mas bellos en la historia. Que se puede ver aquí son todas plumas.
A Mexica shield with a blue clawed animal on a red field, all made of feathers
September 14, 2025 at 12:32 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Thank you, @evlynmoreau.bsky.social ! I can’t wait to rock these at #PAXU …I don’t know why dripped out masks aren’t more of a thing!
A collection of n95 masks on a green background. Each one has an illustration by Evlyn Moreau. They are (clockwise from top) various little guys, goblins throwing dice, an adventurer opening a treasure chest, space explorers around a flying saucer, and a cat climbing a hill.
September 13, 2025 at 7:23 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
The episode of Little Bear in which they wanted to make sure that the parents watching knew that Mother Bear and Father Bear still got. It. ON!

El capítulo de Little Bear en que querían asegurar que los padres que miraban sabían que Mother Bear y Father Bear todavía se cogian
August 22, 2025 at 5:12 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
My oldest wanted me to wear one of her dresses
Me a light Latin-Jewish person with curly hair, I have an Elsa dress held up around my neck with one hand
August 17, 2025 at 2:58 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
🧵15/18 But the folk knowledge, the common story, is that if you’re trans or genderqueer, and you played #D&D or any other #TTRPG , one of the first places that you realized you weren't cis was at your gaming table.
A tumblr post Dr Scrimble says: Are all male DND groups still that common? DnD gender demographics routinely say female-identifying players make up between 40-60% of the player base. Mighty bob the Mighty Says : My current group was all male the first time we played. Now it's 50-50. There have been no changes in roster. DrScrimble Says: "Teams have been auto-balanced"
August 10, 2025 at 9:00 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
🧵1/18 These guys are playing Patolli, an ancient MesoAmerican board game similar to parcheesi. Let’s follow the path of patolli to explore divination, #TTRPGS, folk knowledge, and gender identity.
A stylized image of two people seated on petates playing Patolli, signified by 4 marked beans and an X shaped board filled with double squares. The one on the right has the air glyphs indicating that they are speaking.
August 10, 2025 at 9:00 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
🧵3/13 Cuitlapanton is another monster from the Florentine Codex, a goblin who hides in poop and tries to scare you while you empty your chamber pot at night. She rocks.
An Aztec man happening on the tiny goblin Cuitlapanton, a monster who lived in piles of poo.
August 7, 2025 at 6:54 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
🧵1/13 This monster is called Night Axe, and he spooked the people of pre-Conquest MesoAmerica, his chest flaps sounding like an (you guessed it) axe as he stalked the woods. Come with me and Night Axe on a journey of #TTRPGS, monsters, and the largest destruction of information in history.
Image from the Florentine Codex, showing an Aztec Man with a word cloud speaking to the Night Hatchet, a headless man with a large opening in his chest
August 7, 2025 at 6:54 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Instead of magic that's an off or on light switch what if you had to put it on an altar, or bury it, or feed it? What happens if it gets dug up, or taken off the altar, or what if it gets hungry because you have neglected it? Items like that are a a lot more interesting than a +1 magic sword. 🧵5/7
A codex style book of Amate cut paper
August 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
This and other sources have given me thoughts about process. Because of a very specific tradition not even of European folk belief, but of European fantasy, TTRPG magic is focused mostly on magic words or practices, when in so many folk traditions it was material, based around objects. 🧵4/7
Two pages of Amate cut paper
August 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
unfolding themselves to help a party, or from some hidden place in an enemy's cloak, much like Zeniba's paper figures in Spirited Away. Like those figures they could also have other aspects, both ally and portal. 🧵3/7
Amate fertility figures Still of paper birds in Spirited Away
August 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
The idea of paper magic, especially magical paper figures, I feel like is underutilized in TTRPGs, especially because it was so common throughout the world. Amate figures are interesting because they themselves are magical but also transportable. You could easily imagine one of these guys 🧵2/7
Cut paper pineapple spirit
August 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
In Mexico, a precursor of papel picado is Amate cut paper, used to create magical effects before the arrival of the Spanish. I'm going to be sharing some of the figures that are still used today, and discuss how this concept might be used in your #D&D , #MorkBorg, or other fantasy #TTRPG. 🧵1/7
Cut paper of a plantain spirit
August 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Image of Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mirror) with the caption ¡ORALE!
August 5, 2025 at 6:51 PM
carlosmakesgames.bsky.social
Just working on a little something that GMs can use for #Maizeborg and hopefully #KOKOTÖNA or any other #Borg if they're interested
@blackmarketpress.bsky.social @elchupalabras.itch.io
Role playing table to create the powers of a magic mirror it reads. **What does the mirror do (Each mirror works only once)? Roll 1dX** 1. Summons the spirit of an ancestor, who will answer truthfully one question that the character puts to them. 2. Transport the character to the nearest safe place. 3. Cast a room into darkness 4. Illuminate a room. 5. Transform your appearance to something innocuous until you speak. 6. Transform your appearance into something terrifying (Instant morale role from enemies) until you move your feet 7. Speak a sentence to someone else who has held the mirror. 8. Summon the figure that the mirror is crafted like, who will assist the player for an encounter/scene and then disappear (Roll 1d6 1. Child of Quetzalcoatl 2. A jaguar 3. An Eagle 4. Alux 5. An Imperial Warrior (1d4 for type) 6. A child of Cipactli) 9. Fill an area with water. Role Playing table that that says how you use your magic mirror, and if it works. The text reads **How does it work? 1d4** 1. Put the mirror on an altar. The person who placed it there can use its effect once.. If the mirror is truly magical, if it is ever removed, suffer some minor calamity. 2. Break the mirror. 3. Cut your finger on one of mirror's edges (-1 Agility and Presence until the person person receives healing) 4. Sacrifice something of value before the mirror (mininum value 5 cacao or the size of a guinea pig) **Does it work?** Each mirror only works once, or depending on the roll never. When the player Roll 1d8 1-4: Works as described 5: Does not work at all 6-7: Has a random effect (Reroll on the table above, but keep some aspect of the original effect. For example if the mirror was supposed to cast a room into darkness, but instead transports that person to safety, a shadowy spirit may grab up that one player and take them to the nearest safe location) 8: Has the intended basic effect, but causes some hardship for the player.
August 5, 2025 at 6:35 PM