Malcolm Craig
@malcolmcraig.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in US History @ljmuofficial.bsky.social, historian of the nuclear age, researching #ColdWar era post-apocalypse roleplaying games. #TTRPG designer. You may remember me from such games as #astaterpg, #ColdCity, and #HotWar
As noted philosopher Ice-T famously said in his discourse 'On With The Body Count': The tension mounts!
November 11, 2025 at 7:34 AM
As noted philosopher Ice-T famously said in his discourse 'On With The Body Count': The tension mounts!
"This episode, we have another question from that tedious Malcolm Craig guy, who keeps asking things so banal that our eyes collectively roll out of our heads..."
November 9, 2025 at 10:38 AM
"This episode, we have another question from that tedious Malcolm Craig guy, who keeps asking things so banal that our eyes collectively roll out of our heads..."
I do not need to hear about your strange fantasies.
November 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
I do not need to hear about your strange fantasies.
If it was a copy of Contenders, that would just be embarrassing.
November 8, 2025 at 6:39 PM
If it was a copy of Contenders, that would just be embarrassing.
Point b flies in the face of the evidence. I have personally done 15MDs for ultra trad games and ultra light narrative games, and everything in between. The trick is laser focus on the core game experience.
November 8, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Point b flies in the face of the evidence. I have personally done 15MDs for ultra trad games and ultra light narrative games, and everything in between. The trick is laser focus on the core game experience.
Now, why they didn’t achieve wider acceptance is a bigger question. In part I believe this comes down to a) inherent conservatism about a sales booths convention role. b) “My game cannot be put into a 15 min format.”
November 8, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Now, why they didn’t achieve wider acceptance is a bigger question. In part I believe this comes down to a) inherent conservatism about a sales booths convention role. b) “My game cannot be put into a 15 min format.”
Short version: they really worked.
November 8, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Short version: they really worked.
The way we had it set up was that everyone on a booth could demo every game. And it would really drive sales. In occasion you’d get two or three books sold for a single demo.
November 8, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The way we had it set up was that everyone on a booth could demo every game. And it would really drive sales. In occasion you’d get two or three books sold for a single demo.
On the whole, though, I certainly look back on them as a net positive.
November 8, 2025 at 11:08 AM
On the whole, though, I certainly look back on them as a net positive.
Space is a lot more of an issue - on the Forge booths we had stand-up tables for this kind of thing. At some events the CE attended there were open play tables very nearby. Other events were a lot more of a challenge in that regard.
November 8, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Space is a lot more of an issue - on the Forge booths we had stand-up tables for this kind of thing. At some events the CE attended there were open play tables very nearby. Other events were a lot more of a challenge in that regard.
The big challenges were always space & personnel. Do you have to drag people across a crowded con hall to a free table, or do you have space at a booth? Do you have enough people on the booth to facilitate this? The CE was able to address the 2nd because there were always a few of us.
November 8, 2025 at 11:05 AM
The big challenges were always space & personnel. Do you have to drag people across a crowded con hall to a free table, or do you have space at a booth? Do you have enough people on the booth to facilitate this? The CE was able to address the 2nd because there were always a few of us.
I mean, my excuse is that I stepped away from RPGs for about a decade! But I do find it curious that they just faded away - maybe it was that they never really caught on beyond a certain circle/observers imagined that you couldn't successfully demo in such a short timeframe?
November 8, 2025 at 10:51 AM
I mean, my excuse is that I stepped away from RPGs for about a decade! But I do find it curious that they just faded away - maybe it was that they never really caught on beyond a certain circle/observers imagined that you couldn't successfully demo in such a short timeframe?
At the most basic level, the BBC - a public body - should not be restricting access to a crucial public resource for reasons which seem wholly arbitrary, not to say contradictory to its mission.
November 8, 2025 at 9:06 AM
At the most basic level, the BBC - a public body - should not be restricting access to a crucial public resource for reasons which seem wholly arbitrary, not to say contradictory to its mission.
For example, I wouldn't have been able to write this piece w/out easy access to the WAC & the assistance of its excellent archivists. We wouldn't know half as much about a key moment in British government & intelligence history.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Spycatcher’s little sister: the Thatcher government and the Panorama affair, 1980–1981
This article investigates the Thatcher government’s attempts to suppress or censor reporting on secret intelligence issues in the early 1980s. It examines official reactions to a BBC intrusion into...
www.tandfonline.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:05 AM
For example, I wouldn't have been able to write this piece w/out easy access to the WAC & the assistance of its excellent archivists. We wouldn't know half as much about a key moment in British government & intelligence history.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
I had completely forgotten how much I liked the JC ship designs. Startling insight there, I know.
November 7, 2025 at 4:39 PM
I had completely forgotten how much I liked the JC ship designs. Startling insight there, I know.
And I'm obviously hugely pleased that the historical research aspect that sits behind the game is appreciated. That's something very close to my heart.
November 7, 2025 at 4:02 PM
And I'm obviously hugely pleased that the historical research aspect that sits behind the game is appreciated. That's something very close to my heart.
I consider DitV a crucial piece of games design history and an outstanding piece of design. To be compared in any way to such an iconic piece of work is humbling in the extreme.
November 7, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I consider DitV a crucial piece of games design history and an outstanding piece of design. To be compared in any way to such an iconic piece of work is humbling in the extreme.
"Such incredible research and authenticity in the setting and overall presentation.....The whole thing plays like a streamlined and more collaborative version of something like Dogs in the Vineyard, which I mean as a huge complement."
That's one hell of a complement!
That's one hell of a complement!
November 7, 2025 at 3:54 PM
"Such incredible research and authenticity in the setting and overall presentation.....The whole thing plays like a streamlined and more collaborative version of something like Dogs in the Vineyard, which I mean as a huge complement."
That's one hell of a complement!
That's one hell of a complement!
It's really lovely to read comments like this about the game:
"Top product, art work is nice. Lovely out of the box gameplay mechanics. And of course setting is inspirational."
and...
"Top product, art work is nice. Lovely out of the box gameplay mechanics. And of course setting is inspirational."
and...
November 7, 2025 at 3:54 PM
It's really lovely to read comments like this about the game:
"Top product, art work is nice. Lovely out of the box gameplay mechanics. And of course setting is inspirational."
and...
"Top product, art work is nice. Lovely out of the box gameplay mechanics. And of course setting is inspirational."
and...