Darran (writes games)
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dbnolan.bsky.social
Darran (writes games)
@dbnolan.bsky.social
Body horror enthusiast, tea drinker, maker of noise and RPGs.
Autistic, XVX, and a proud forever GM.
- A list of ancient, (occasionally comical) misdemeanors that was kept and added to by the staff
- A set of keys on a ring, one of which seems in suspiciously good condition for its age
- Ancient, well loved dog toys.
September 11, 2025 at 1:08 PM
We all had a 'ripping' good time in the end.

And an AI slop regurgitating Saturn (of Devouring his Son fame) was executed for Fair Gold, which was nice.
September 8, 2025 at 8:05 AM
For my part in this (GM), session intro (thank you, Therapy Vulture), and will be indulging in some of the tropiest of tropes. For satire, of course.

And our Emotion Knight has a classic Valley Girl accent "on stream", but is actually from Wigan and no one knows. So that will be fun.

2/2
September 7, 2025 at 9:45 AM
I've explained "it's simple, you just..." and then trailed off into minutiae because I've forgotten I've had an idea or system squatting in my brain for ages more times than I'd like to admit.

Keep it simple is good advice, so is learning the difference between simple and familiar.
September 6, 2025 at 5:58 PM
She has recently taken to bringing me her toys in the morning. She's very sure of what she wants out of life.
September 5, 2025 at 3:34 PM
She's a little bit bigger now, but this is Pib.
September 5, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I'm one half of a duo making a sliding puzzle game with unnecessarily deep lore and a story with big existential themes.

It's like those pokemon puzzles, but a whole game and sad.
September 4, 2025 at 9:02 PM
I can't believe it is real
September 4, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Fancy sharing this weird d20 of yours? I too would like a punishment shovel.
September 4, 2025 at 12:44 PM
1. They often solve a problem without providing a solution (tyrant king: dead, no plan for succession, gives our loot and we'll skedaddle)

2. Goddamn it, I learnt Fireball, so I 'm going to solve this problem using Fireball.

I think proper signposting of in-game consequence solves both of these.
September 4, 2025 at 12:01 PM
As a teacher (and autistic myself), it really seems that no decisions are made with any consideration of downstream consequences for anything other than the spreadsheet. Especially when it comes to SEND provision.

I hope a solution that works for your son and for you is found soon
September 4, 2025 at 11:52 AM
If you're up for something daft and different, I have a chaotic one page that you can play for free here:
dbnolan.itch.io/lute-the-body

If not me, then Spire: the City Must Fall is pretty great for one shots
September 3, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Great game this, everything about it is gorgeous and considered.

That is to say, I was going to suggest this too!
September 3, 2025 at 4:40 PM
- We have an agreed day that is the same every week.
- We will play our main campaign if 1 player is missing.
- We will play a one shot in a different system if 2 players are missing
- The whole group shouldn't be punished because someone can't make it.
- FOMO is a great attendance driver.
September 3, 2025 at 1:48 PM
As long as they're clear that, however the clock moves forward, time will continue to pass - it should be fine.

Even better if the challenge at time up is still accessible but ultimately much harder if resource collection has been neglected.
September 3, 2025 at 12:12 PM
It's fine, as long as the players are on board. Time pressures naturally preclude a lot of sidequests and "for the sake of it" explorations.

This is a double edged sword of a streamlined game that risks feeling flattened and possibly samey as the nature of the deadline drives behaviour.
September 3, 2025 at 9:33 AM
It should always be used in conjunction with "no, but" and the very occasional hard "no".

Yes, we are creating a shared fiction but we are also playing within a shared rule space. A dependence on "yes, and" can flex, fatigue and eventually break agreed boundaries of both the fiction and rulespace.
September 3, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Wrong? No, quite the contrary: evil chuckles are like vegetables, you should be aiming for 5 portions of evil mirth every day.

Maybe just don't enact every last one, unless they are all particularly good.
September 2, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Hell yeah. Horrors beyond comprehension and a brightly coloured palette is 100% a vibe.
September 2, 2025 at 2:19 PM