Michael Bernth
@monovoce.bsky.social
Digital designer and owner of mono voce (yes, you can hire me).
TTRPG GM, music and comics nerd, and lover of useless nonesense. - and you can buy cool t-shirts at my web-shop, mono units, and I have a few books for RuneQuest on DriveThuRPG. He/him
TTRPG GM, music and comics nerd, and lover of useless nonesense. - and you can buy cool t-shirts at my web-shop, mono units, and I have a few books for RuneQuest on DriveThuRPG. He/him
Reposted by Michael Bernth
Well this 2,600-year-old clay letter was a journey.
It comes from the archive of a goldsmith named Nabû-zeru-iddin in the heart of ancient Assyria. We’ve got someone left on read, a lawsuit, a mean step-mom, and people who get drunk and steal silver.
It comes from the archive of a goldsmith named Nabû-zeru-iddin in the heart of ancient Assyria. We’ve got someone left on read, a lawsuit, a mean step-mom, and people who get drunk and steal silver.
November 21, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Michael Bernth
Maths Puzzles for Conspiracy Theorists.
One of the cartoons from my new book 'Physics for Cats'. In good bookshops now and online in English, French, German and Spanish editions.
One of the cartoons from my new book 'Physics for Cats'. In good bookshops now and online in English, French, German and Spanish editions.
November 21, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Maths Puzzles for Conspiracy Theorists.
One of the cartoons from my new book 'Physics for Cats'. In good bookshops now and online in English, French, German and Spanish editions.
One of the cartoons from my new book 'Physics for Cats'. In good bookshops now and online in English, French, German and Spanish editions.
Reposted by Michael Bernth
“Winter may be beautiful, but bed is much better.”
November 20, 2025 at 5:37 AM
“Winter may be beautiful, but bed is much better.”
Reposted by Michael Bernth
Unbelievably, we're 50% of the way to the stretch goal after *that*!
But we're in the final ramp up. There are only 43 hours left to back Designers & Dragons: Origins.
But we're in the final ramp up. There are only 43 hours left to back Designers & Dragons: Origins.
Designers & Dragons: Origins
From the birth of roleplaying to the discovery of the Forgotten Realms, from the rise of Basic D&D to the fall of Mystara, historian Shannon Appelcline brings you the story of OD&D, Basic D&D, and AD&...
www.backerkit.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Unbelievably, we're 50% of the way to the stretch goal after *that*!
But we're in the final ramp up. There are only 43 hours left to back Designers & Dragons: Origins.
But we're in the final ramp up. There are only 43 hours left to back Designers & Dragons: Origins.
Reposted by Michael Bernth
A website that lets you select a country or state and move it around a Mercator projection map to yield better size comparisons.
thetruesize.com, created by James Talmage and Damon Maneice
thetruesize.com, created by James Talmage and Damon Maneice
August 30, 2025 at 11:34 PM
A website that lets you select a country or state and move it around a Mercator projection map to yield better size comparisons.
thetruesize.com, created by James Talmage and Damon Maneice
thetruesize.com, created by James Talmage and Damon Maneice
Reposted by Michael Bernth
Griffin Mountain, one of Jennell Jaquays' RuneQuest works, is why I play RPGs today. In 1984, I'd got bored with them. But reading that sandbox, with fascinating places and best of all, NPCs with personalities and their own agendas blew my mind. It opened my eyes to how interesting RPGs could be.
Rebecca Heineman's last message was for people to look up her departed partner, Jennell Jaquays.
Jaquays was so influent to tabletop RPGs that "Jaquaysing" became a verb for designing complex, non-linear dungeons.
@nickoten.bsky.social wrote a great article on her:
pathikablog.com/2025/04/26/h...
Jaquays was so influent to tabletop RPGs that "Jaquaysing" became a verb for designing complex, non-linear dungeons.
@nickoten.bsky.social wrote a great article on her:
pathikablog.com/2025/04/26/h...
How Jennell Jaquays Evolved Dungeon Design, Part 1: Pre-Jaquays Dungeons
(This is a slightly cleaned up version of my two Bluesky threads on Jennell Jaquays, preserved in a hopefully easier to read format. Thank Amanda P for reminding me that having these things stored …
pathikablog.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Griffin Mountain, one of Jennell Jaquays' RuneQuest works, is why I play RPGs today. In 1984, I'd got bored with them. But reading that sandbox, with fascinating places and best of all, NPCs with personalities and their own agendas blew my mind. It opened my eyes to how interesting RPGs could be.
Reposted by Michael Bernth
And of course Jaquays' work is not only in design but also in the art for early Runequest which then inspired the aesthetic for things like Warhammer and literally dozens of JRPGs From Lodoss and Suikoden to Dark Souls. Some examples of her art:
November 18, 2025 at 7:16 AM
And of course Jaquays' work is not only in design but also in the art for early Runequest which then inspired the aesthetic for things like Warhammer and literally dozens of JRPGs From Lodoss and Suikoden to Dark Souls. Some examples of her art:
Reposted by Michael Bernth
I still to this day love the announcement that EC made in their final ever horror comic, they pulled utterly no punches. The censorious political class still pursue artistic endeavours to this day.
November 18, 2025 at 5:29 AM
I still to this day love the announcement that EC made in their final ever horror comic, they pulled utterly no punches. The censorious political class still pursue artistic endeavours to this day.
Reposted by Michael Bernth
Why am I so against generative AI in games?
Because I simply do not want my initial reaction to art to be one of suspicion and scrutiny, AI slop is fundamentally damaging my relationship to art and artistry, and I am deeply resentful that it is forcing me to be guarded when I should be wowed.
Because I simply do not want my initial reaction to art to be one of suspicion and scrutiny, AI slop is fundamentally damaging my relationship to art and artistry, and I am deeply resentful that it is forcing me to be guarded when I should be wowed.
November 17, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Why am I so against generative AI in games?
Because I simply do not want my initial reaction to art to be one of suspicion and scrutiny, AI slop is fundamentally damaging my relationship to art and artistry, and I am deeply resentful that it is forcing me to be guarded when I should be wowed.
Because I simply do not want my initial reaction to art to be one of suspicion and scrutiny, AI slop is fundamentally damaging my relationship to art and artistry, and I am deeply resentful that it is forcing me to be guarded when I should be wowed.
Reposted by Michael Bernth
Rebecca Heineman is gone. Avalon Hill programmer at 16. Co-founder of Interplay. Designer of The Bard's Tale III. Engineering & Porting for Baldur's Gate II, Myth III, and many more. Widow of Jennell Jaquays, who passed last year.
Trailblazer Rebecca Heineman has lost her battle with cancer
Rebecca Ann Heineman, transgender icon and co-founder of Interplay, has tragically lost her battle against cancer.
stevivor.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Rebecca Heineman is gone. Avalon Hill programmer at 16. Co-founder of Interplay. Designer of The Bard's Tale III. Engineering & Porting for Baldur's Gate II, Myth III, and many more. Widow of Jennell Jaquays, who passed last year.
What are your top four movie genres? Mine are:
What the fuck did I just watch?
Paranoid noir mystery
Gravity defying kung fu
Existential horror
What the fuck did I just watch?
Paranoid noir mystery
Gravity defying kung fu
Existential horror
What are your top four movie genres? Mine are:
time travel
an ever-escalating series of 'you fucking WHAT?' moments
superhero movies, but only the good ones
HK martial arts
time travel
an ever-escalating series of 'you fucking WHAT?' moments
superhero movies, but only the good ones
HK martial arts
what are your top 4 movie genres? mine are:
there is a shape and it's fucked up
the trailer didn't tell me this was a found family movie, actually
artwork that meant a lot to the author (I get about 30% of it)
quirky detective is extremely effective (to share with my wife)
there is a shape and it's fucked up
the trailer didn't tell me this was a found family movie, actually
artwork that meant a lot to the author (I get about 30% of it)
quirky detective is extremely effective (to share with my wife)
November 17, 2025 at 11:41 PM
What are your top four movie genres? Mine are:
What the fuck did I just watch?
Paranoid noir mystery
Gravity defying kung fu
Existential horror
What the fuck did I just watch?
Paranoid noir mystery
Gravity defying kung fu
Existential horror
Reposted by Michael Bernth
This was way back in 1978, so RuneQuest players could have something to play as a hobbit equivalent. Ducks were first depicted in art by Jennell Jaquays as cover art for issue #8 of the Chaosium house zine Wyrm's Footnotes (1979).
November 17, 2025 at 6:57 AM
This was way back in 1978, so RuneQuest players could have something to play as a hobbit equivalent. Ducks were first depicted in art by Jennell Jaquays as cover art for issue #8 of the Chaosium house zine Wyrm's Footnotes (1979).
Reposted by Michael Bernth
Are you looking for...
🎭 Performance?
✒️ TTRPG Writing?
🎲 GMing?
⛩️ Cultural Consulting?
🧵 Design/Worldbuilding Research?
✅ Digital Playspace Creation?
🎬 Producing?
🎞️ Overlays?
I do these things! I'm a multi-award winning Jack-of-All-Trades with training and experience!
For more info visit my site!
🎭 Performance?
✒️ TTRPG Writing?
🎲 GMing?
⛩️ Cultural Consulting?
🧵 Design/Worldbuilding Research?
✅ Digital Playspace Creation?
🎬 Producing?
🎞️ Overlays?
I do these things! I'm a multi-award winning Jack-of-All-Trades with training and experience!
For more info visit my site!
Cai K Storyteller
Cai K ttrpg performer costume designer and voice actor
estelofimladris.carrd.co
November 16, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Are you looking for...
🎭 Performance?
✒️ TTRPG Writing?
🎲 GMing?
⛩️ Cultural Consulting?
🧵 Design/Worldbuilding Research?
✅ Digital Playspace Creation?
🎬 Producing?
🎞️ Overlays?
I do these things! I'm a multi-award winning Jack-of-All-Trades with training and experience!
For more info visit my site!
🎭 Performance?
✒️ TTRPG Writing?
🎲 GMing?
⛩️ Cultural Consulting?
🧵 Design/Worldbuilding Research?
✅ Digital Playspace Creation?
🎬 Producing?
🎞️ Overlays?
I do these things! I'm a multi-award winning Jack-of-All-Trades with training and experience!
For more info visit my site!
Reposted by Michael Bernth
Test print of this year's Dragonmeet booklet. Cover by @marksmylie.bsky.social, interior art by @katrindirim.bsky.social and Agathe Pitié.
#Glorantha
#Glorantha
November 5, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Test print of this year's Dragonmeet booklet. Cover by @marksmylie.bsky.social, interior art by @katrindirim.bsky.social and Agathe Pitié.
#Glorantha
#Glorantha
Today’s film is Caligula: The Ultimate Cut, 2023. The porno that was inserted by the producer have been removed and previously thought lost scenes have been added. It’s going to be interesting to see if this new cut will reveal that a good movie is to be found underneath the decades of controversy.
November 16, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Today’s film is Caligula: The Ultimate Cut, 2023. The porno that was inserted by the producer have been removed and previously thought lost scenes have been added. It’s going to be interesting to see if this new cut will reveal that a good movie is to be found underneath the decades of controversy.
Reposted by Michael Bernth
Fresh off a fantastic talk with @shaneivey.bsky.social about the nuts and bolts of the upcoming Black Company RPG, what went into creating this system, and how it bring’s Glen Cook’s world to life. I am beyond excited to see this come to the table.
Part One of the interview coming soon. 🤘🏻😊
Part One of the interview coming soon. 🤘🏻😊
November 15, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Fresh off a fantastic talk with @shaneivey.bsky.social about the nuts and bolts of the upcoming Black Company RPG, what went into creating this system, and how it bring’s Glen Cook’s world to life. I am beyond excited to see this come to the table.
Part One of the interview coming soon. 🤘🏻😊
Part One of the interview coming soon. 🤘🏻😊
Reposted by Michael Bernth
Open AI loses copyright case in Germany.
Judge Elke Schwager summarized the case saying that if you want to build something and need components, "then you purchase them and do not use the property of others."
Judge Elke Schwager summarized the case saying that if you want to build something and need components, "then you purchase them and do not use the property of others."
Blow for OpenAI in Germany as court rules song lyrics used illegally
A German court ruled on Tuesday that OpenAI violated copyright on nine popular songs in a lawsuit that marked another attempt to prevent the free use of artists' content online. The Munich Regional Co...
www.yahoo.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Open AI loses copyright case in Germany.
Judge Elke Schwager summarized the case saying that if you want to build something and need components, "then you purchase them and do not use the property of others."
Judge Elke Schwager summarized the case saying that if you want to build something and need components, "then you purchase them and do not use the property of others."
Reposted by Michael Bernth
patton oswalt has been suspended from bluesky for saying that megyn kelly should be fed to a woodchipper for justifying the sexual abuse of minors
November 14, 2025 at 1:42 PM
patton oswalt has been suspended from bluesky for saying that megyn kelly should be fed to a woodchipper for justifying the sexual abuse of minors
For some people, violence is the first choice
There is no earthly reason why this abomination should have ever been conceived, let alone developed and marketed. And even less rational justification for it being so unfathomably delicious or utterly addictive.
It is crack in a bottle and must be regulated, before the whole country is lost to it.
It is crack in a bottle and must be regulated, before the whole country is lost to it.
November 14, 2025 at 6:41 PM
For some people, violence is the first choice
Reposted by Michael Bernth
November 14, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Michael Bernth
29) All Sword & Sorcery is Pre- and Post-Apocalyptic
Some apocalypses are small and local. The raiders wipe out your village. The fire runs through your woods. You're lost, you're alone, covered in ash, you find a sword... S&S is not about history & prophecies so much as it about living in the now.
Some apocalypses are small and local. The raiders wipe out your village. The fire runs through your woods. You're lost, you're alone, covered in ash, you find a sword... S&S is not about history & prophecies so much as it about living in the now.
November 12, 2025 at 3:26 PM
29) All Sword & Sorcery is Pre- and Post-Apocalyptic
Some apocalypses are small and local. The raiders wipe out your village. The fire runs through your woods. You're lost, you're alone, covered in ash, you find a sword... S&S is not about history & prophecies so much as it about living in the now.
Some apocalypses are small and local. The raiders wipe out your village. The fire runs through your woods. You're lost, you're alone, covered in ash, you find a sword... S&S is not about history & prophecies so much as it about living in the now.
Reposted by Michael Bernth
24) Sword & sorcery can be set in a city.
A lot of the early S&S occurs in cities, and a pre-modern city is a very different dynamic than a lot of the Arthurian quest-romance kind of fantasy that folks might be used to. Cities have history, smells, traditions, habits, architectural styles.
A lot of the early S&S occurs in cities, and a pre-modern city is a very different dynamic than a lot of the Arthurian quest-romance kind of fantasy that folks might be used to. Cities have history, smells, traditions, habits, architectural styles.
November 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM
24) Sword & sorcery can be set in a city.
A lot of the early S&S occurs in cities, and a pre-modern city is a very different dynamic than a lot of the Arthurian quest-romance kind of fantasy that folks might be used to. Cities have history, smells, traditions, habits, architectural styles.
A lot of the early S&S occurs in cities, and a pre-modern city is a very different dynamic than a lot of the Arthurian quest-romance kind of fantasy that folks might be used to. Cities have history, smells, traditions, habits, architectural styles.
Glorantha is a glorious shared world with a very lively community of creators that inspires each other and expands the world. And it’s uniquely welcoming and inclusive.
16) Sword & sorcery can be community.
Ever since THIEVES' WORLD petered out, we've largely lost the idea of sharecropper universes in fantasy; people seem more happy with LitRPG worlds based on D&D and World of Warcraft. But S&S has always been in communion with other S&S works, building off ideas.
Ever since THIEVES' WORLD petered out, we've largely lost the idea of sharecropper universes in fantasy; people seem more happy with LitRPG worlds based on D&D and World of Warcraft. But S&S has always been in communion with other S&S works, building off ideas.
November 14, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Glorantha is a glorious shared world with a very lively community of creators that inspires each other and expands the world. And it’s uniquely welcoming and inclusive.
Reposted by Michael Bernth
4) There is absolutely zero requirement that your sword & sorcery story be set in a quasi-medieval European milieu with no people of color.
The world is a big place. There's room for wizards and warriors in every culture in every period.
The world is a big place. There's room for wizards and warriors in every culture in every period.
November 12, 2025 at 2:28 PM
4) There is absolutely zero requirement that your sword & sorcery story be set in a quasi-medieval European milieu with no people of color.
The world is a big place. There's room for wizards and warriors in every culture in every period.
The world is a big place. There's room for wizards and warriors in every culture in every period.