Epidiah awoke, startled, from a dream
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epidiah.bsky.social
Epidiah awoke, startled, from a dream
@epidiah.bsky.social
1.2K followers 1.2K following 2.4K posts
Author & tabletop role-playing game designer, perhaps known for Dread, Swords Without Master, Vast & Starlit, or Wolfspell.

Suddenly, also a Clojure developer!

(he/him)

https://unwrittenearths.com
https://dig1000holes.com
💀🪏
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epidiah.bsky.social
I did the joke thing.
The Zohran sign style meme that reads "Three Point One for One Five Nine."
November 9, 2025 at 2:48 AM
epidiah.bsky.social
I'm so fucking sick of cameos, crossovers and other IP creep.
Screenshot of the search feed showing that Darth Vader is trending in the topic of politics.
October 21, 2025 at 6:18 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
What followed was a variation on that theme. This time, with people! Tiny, tiny rogues!

They are, from left to right: Snorri, Manyara, and Muaphet Raum.
Like the previous image, but this time the barren, rocky landscape is a little more orange, there are flying dragon like things circling a distance mountain, and in the foreground are three tiny rogues: a man with a shield and spear and horned helmet, a big woman with a sword and shield, and a bald man wearing the barest hint of a robe.
October 20, 2025 at 6:22 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
I think I made this the moment I had a title.

At that time, the game would've been little more than a reskin of MonkeyDome, so "Playtest Edition" was, perhaps, a little hopeful.

The price tag was just me playing with a Photoshop brush, and for some reason that ended up on the only extant copy.
A mock-up of an old hardbound roleplaying game book, in the style of the original AD&D books. The image on the cover is a yellow, barren, rocky landscape with a crooked tower at the end of an impossibly windy path. At the top of the tower is a giant green, glowing orb. In the upper left corner there title Swords Without Master is written in wavy, block radioactive green letters with a mock-up of a price tag on it.
October 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
Here's one I could never use, but enjoyed as desktop background for a while.
The cover to Black Sabbath's Vol. 4, with a yellow silhouette of Ozzy with his arms raised, giving peace signs to an audience. His sleeves have some impressively long frills hanging off of them. The background is solid black and around the left, top, and right border in large white, block letters are the words Swords Without Master.
October 20, 2025 at 4:14 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
As I gather all the stuff I've written about and for Swords Without Master over the years, I find myself enjoying a thrilling journey into the past, including some stumbling attempts at making my own art for the game.

I quite like this one in particular.
A low-fi image of three riders standing on a flat horizon. Behind them, a yellowish-orange sun rises in a purple sky still filled with stars. The silhouettes of the riders punch through that sun, revealing the stars behind it. On the lime green ground before them, a shadow is cast. This shadow, too, punches through the earth to reveal the stars and purple void beyond. Instead of reflecting the rider's shape, this shadow spells out Swords Without Master.
October 20, 2025 at 4:10 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
Who has two forefingers and can enjoy all the processing power of his desktop while lounging on his sofa?

This guy!
It's Mako as Akiro again! A bald, Japanese man with a gray mustache dressed in a robe that appears to be a patchwork of fabric, hides, and metal medallions. He wears a necklace made of exceptionally large animal teeth and little skull cap strapped to his head. Most importantly, his hands are clasped, as if in prayer, but with his knuckles interlocking and his fingers folded in toward the palms. Crucially, his to forefingers are out and pressed together as if pointing to his head.
October 16, 2025 at 2:12 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
I just ssh'ed from my laptop into my desktop and I feel like a goddamn wizard.
Mako as Akiro in Conan the Barbarian. A bald, Japanese man with a gray mustache dressed in a robe that appears to be a patchwork of fabric, hides, and metal medallions. He wears a necklace made of exceptionally large animal teeth and has a grumpy little smirk on his face. Absolutely love him.
October 16, 2025 at 2:06 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
Get your Monster Squad Meets Property Bros* action right here, folks: unwrittenearths.itch.io/annual-2025

* WARNING: I've never seen Property Bros, so I have no actual idea what it's about. I just assume it's like Mario Bros but with real estate rather than plumbing. Do not correct me.
A two-page spread of Escrow of the Damned, which features the title in a font eerily similar to Monster Squad and a header illustration of some plucky, investigating kids approaching a clearly haunted house on a spooky evening.
October 16, 2025 at 12:46 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
On my phone, it's in the three vertical dots menu to the right of the ad title.
A screenshot of an ad highlighting the three dots menu as described in the post.
October 2, 2025 at 3:50 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
September 30 October 1
Screenshot of a blusk from me on Sept 30 that reads, "Folks! The year is 2025 and I am officially a paid electronic computer programmist!" Screenshot of a blusk from me on Oct 1 that reads "Rogues! @ndpdesign.com and I at @unwrittenearths.bsky.social are thrilled to officially announce that @portablecity.bsky.social has joined the Swords Without Master crew as both artist and art director! And I am riding miles high after the meeting we just had! Exclamation points all around!"
October 1, 2025 at 10:19 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
A calculator can be an invaluable tool for sketching out your character concept before you begin play.
The HP-50g graphing calculator with the following written on the screen: 'Gorbug' 'Strong' 'Sexy' 'Respected'
September 13, 2025 at 5:27 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
I'm going to do everything in my power to make this one of those weekly memes.
That classic meme of the cartoon cat Heathcliff riding a ham-mobile with a helmet on that says "Ham" as two old ladies watch from the safety of a ham-colored house. One of the ladies, Grandma Nutmeg, is speaking. The caption reads, "Is it Thursday already?"
September 11, 2025 at 2:06 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
There's never a "without downloading any new pics, show us where you are emotionally right now" meme around when you're ready for one.
A scene from the Buck Rogers show in the 80s. It's Gil Gerard as the titular Buck wearing his flight helmet looks a little stoned. Or just relaxed? He's got a slight smile and he's looking off into the distance as if remembering a fond memory of the Earth that he can no longer return to, the Earth of the year 1987 when NASA launched the last of America's deep space probes, with him onboard. This chill attitude is contrasted by the red lights spelling the word "Emergency" right next to his head in a font modeled on the seven-segment display of calculators.
September 10, 2025 at 12:43 AM
epidiah.bsky.social
This past Sunday we relaunched #SundayAMSwords over on the Unwritten Earths Symposium!

And I'm still riding high!
A stylized sunset. The ground, to the horizon, is a flat field of bright green. The sky is purple and filled with stars and far off galaxies. Dead center is a yellowish-orange sun peeking over the horizon. Before the sun is the silhouette of three rogues on horseback wielding swords and staves and at least one horned helmet. Through the silhouettes you can see the sky and stars behind the sun. These silhouettes are casting a shadow on the ground between the viewer and them, which strangely in the shape of the words "Swords Without Master" in a 70s rock poster font. This shadow, too, punches right through reality and reveals the star-filled night sky beyond.
September 9, 2025 at 12:22 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
If you see this, repost with a vampire that's a hot Dracula.
A glow-in-the-dark Dracula head on a Pez dispenser. You can't really see the dispenser itself, but this Dracula head is clearly plastic, with that sickly green skin you expect from a glow-in-the-dark toy. He has the widow's peak and big old tusk-like fangs. And I think he's got two collars? A giant red one, popped up like it should be, and then a smaller purple one. Oh! Maybe the smaller purple one is part of his cape! That makes some sense. Also, it's clasped around his neck by a little skull ornament. Such a nice touch for such a hot Dracula.
September 6, 2025 at 9:37 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
If you see this, repost with a vampire that’s not Dracula.

Like this most handsome of devils.
The cover to the 80s Chill supplement about vampires, called Vampires. It's basically the most 80s looking vampire you will ever clap eyes to. This pale bastard has thick black hair, combed back, but definitely a fuller head of hair than is required for a widow's peak. He also has a lush, black Tom Selleck style mustache. He's wearing what appears to be an all-black vinyl smoking jacket with an incredibly large popped collar, and a matching black vinyl ascot. The dapperest undead with the biggest TV news anchor energy.
September 6, 2025 at 6:06 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
Thundarr is a kids show. But it's not pointed directly at kids. It's an adventure show featuring adult characters. There are some jokes in it and Ookla in particular can end up a little slapstick, but not overly so.

This episode, however, we meet Sharra and Merlik, two teen adventurers.
Sharra, the barbarian. She has a wild mane of brown hair, kept back by a headband made of tusks or horns. She carries a club with a horned and fanged skull on the end of it. Her clothes are probably made of tan hide. If someone said she was a Flintstones character, you would 100% believe them. The background is a cloudy blue sky and the beak of her giant, two-tailed riding vulture Eek. This is Merlik. He has long, light brown hair. He wears yellow bracers around his wrists and a belt around his waist that's fastened with a gold star. The rest of his clothes are brown and gray with some yellow highlights along his suspenders. He also appears to be wearing a cape. Behind him is the giant, two-tailed riding vulture named Eek. He's so big, you just see part of his beak and one yellow eye.
September 2, 2025 at 1:48 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
In preparation for the Season of Swords, we've been re-watching Thundarr the Barbarian over breakfast at our house.

This morning we watched "Den of the Sleeping Demon," which turned out to be the most Hannah-Barbara episode.
A title card that reads: Thundarr the Barbarian in Den of the Sleeping Demon, copyright Ruby-Spears Productions, Inc. 1980 So many evocative fonts! Lots of earthy browns and yellows with splashes of blue here and there. The background of card is Thundarr, a barbarian in a furry vest, furry Speedo, and furry boots, carrying a glowing Sun Sword; Princess Ariel in her blue one-piece bathing suit and a mass of raven hair; and Ookla the Mok astride his weird horse-like steed. They stand on a cliff's edge and far in the background is a smoldering volcano.
September 2, 2025 at 1:37 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
Met Cerberus on the way to grocery store to pick up some Dandies for s'mores.
Three dogs of different breeds sticking their heads out of a car window. A dalmatian, some brown poodle like thing, and maybe a terrier mix.
September 1, 2025 at 6:39 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
I pour this on my cereal every morning and I want to reach out and touch the sky. I want to touch the sun, but I don't need to fly. I'm going to climb up every mountain of the moon, and find the dish that ran away with the spoon.
The side of a nut milk carton that reads "supernut milk original."
August 31, 2025 at 2:31 AM
epidiah.bsky.social
I mean, look at these episode titles: www.intanibase.com/iad_titlecar...

Every last one of them an absolute banger.
A title card that reads: Thundarr the Barbarian in Harvest of Doom, copyright Ruby-Spears Productions, Inc. 1980 So many evocative fonts! Lots of earthy browns and yellows with splashes of blue here and there. The background of card is Thundarr, a barbarian in a furry vest, furry Speedo, and furry boots, carrying a glowing Sun Sword; Princess Ariel in her blue one-piece bathing suit and a mass of raven hair; and Ookla the Mok astride his weird horse-like steed. They stand on a cliff's edge and far in the background is a smoldering volcano.
August 26, 2025 at 2:40 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
I chose Sunday because it was a morning I was fairly certain I would have free. But the choice also reminded me of perhaps my earliest exposure to swords and/or sorcery.

Where I grew up, the local UHF played a block of cartoons on Sunday morning with included Thundarr the Barbarian.
Another bearded man with wild hair. This time, perhaps a wizard? In any case, he's got giant bat wings on his back and snakes for arms. His left hand is either cybernetic or he's wearing a Nintendo Power Glove. His right hand is a proper snake's head. Both his human head and his snake head appear to be screaming in rage. But also, I should mention his outfit. Rust-colored trousers that are a little baggy. There are metal bands around his thighs, perhaps to keep them up? His tunic is dull orange and frayed at the bottom. His sleeves appear to have been ripped off, perhaps by the transformation of his arms into pythons? He has what appears to be goggles cinched around his waist as a belt. And he's wearing a jaunty white scarf.
August 26, 2025 at 2:30 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
Slightly increase a band:
"Diz" written in a similar font to the Dio one. The joke here, is that in that font Dio looks kind of like a d10 and Diz looks a bit like d12. I'm not sure it works, but I've come this far and I'm not turning back now.
August 14, 2025 at 12:25 PM
epidiah.bsky.social
A couple weeks ago, via Kanopy via my local library, I saw A Samurai in Time and I can't stop thinking about it.

Loved it!
The movie poster for A Samurai in Time. We're standing behind an Edo era samurai as he stands, sword drawn, facing down a modern street. Lightning crackles along his body. There's one of those movie clapperboards in his left hand or near it. It's kind of hard to tell. Anyway, you get it. Samurai, time travel, modern day, movies. Let's go!
August 11, 2025 at 12:48 PM