Ryan Loos
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ryanloos.bsky.social
Ryan Loos
@ryanloos.bsky.social
670 followers 600 following 150 posts
That classic mix of history major, web developer, and TTRPG designer (He/Him). Owner of GrinningPortalGames.com
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ryanloos.bsky.social
Ryan Loos @ryanloos.bsky.social · Apr 11
Hello #ttrpg world!

Introducing: Grinning Portal Games! This will be the central place to find all of my future publications, blog posts, and more. Check out the site here: grinningportalgames.com
And please follow on Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/grin...
Grinning Portal Games
Grinning Portal Games is a small TTRPG development studio focused on creating unique and engaging games.
grinningportalgames.com
Reposted by Ryan Loos
hankgreen.bsky.social
I don't know why the "Piggy" thing is bothering me so much. It's one more unforgivable thing in a list of 20,000 unforgivable things, but I've been mad about it for like 12 straight hours.
November 18, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
grinningportal.bsky.social
Hi folks. During my recent Monster of the Week campaign I made a resource for myself that I'd like to share.

Introducing Keeper Moves Re-Typed: the same move list you know and love, but organized by pacing/story beats. Free on DTRPG tinyurl.com/2b5ev6r3

#ttrpg #monsteroftheweek
A re-organized list of the keeper moves from Monster of the Week. The categories are: Foreshadowing & Tension, Surprise!, Simplify Hunter Goals, Complicate Hunter Goals, Threaten Physically, Pursue Monster Goals, Multipurpose. Each move type has a glyph next to it to indicate its original sorting (basic, location, bystander, minion, monster)
October 31, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
grinningportal.bsky.social
Looking for a time loop ghost train mystery for Halloween? Thats a weirdly specific ask but fortunately my adventure No Time for the Wicked is exactly that and currently 30% off! www.dmsguild.com/product/4937...

(Stay tuned for my next adventure featuring The Bagman)
#dnd #ttrpg #dnd5e
View from the inside of a train looking out the window. There is no one in the seats on either side. Outside the window the view is all misty other than the reflection of a skeletal figure. There is a title across the top that says "No Time for the Wicked: Trapped on the Cyre 1313." On the top right there is a badge that says silver bestseller. On the bottom left is a small icon that says "A Ravenloft Adventure". At the bottom of the image it says "Trap your players in a time loop on a doomed lightning rail"
October 17, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
#WarRavagedPortland
October 8, 2025 at 11:23 AM
ryanloos.bsky.social
I live and work in Portland. We have our problems, but we're far from "war torn." Americans, regardless of political affinity, should be horrified by a President occupying home soil. Especially when said President is so clearly driven by cruelty, selfishness, retribution, and pursuit of power.
September 27, 2025 at 6:38 PM
ryanloos.bsky.social
My ghost train timeloop adventure, No Time for the Wicked, is part of this amazing Bundle on DMSguild. Check it out!
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

#ttrpg #dnd #5e
Cover art for 8 different adventures, banner across the bottom that says "5e Adventure Bundle - 56% off"
July 15, 2025 at 8:17 PM
ryanloos.bsky.social
Check out my latest blog post on making time loops in ttrpgs. Special thanks to @drew-makes-games.itch.io for inspiring this post.
grinningportal.bsky.social Grinning Portal Games @grinningportal.bsky.social · May 9
Time loops in #ttrpgs are a lot of fun, but really tricky to pull off. If you want to take those first steps I've got some portal wisdom for you. grinningportalgames.com/blog/timeloo...
So you want to run a time loop
A guide to creating time loops in your D&D campaign.
grinningportalgames.com
May 9, 2025 at 5:38 PM
ryanloos.bsky.social
Just happened to schedule a game of Eat the Reich for today without realizing it’s VE Day 😂.
May 8, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
commandersterling.bsky.social
The dismantling of games journalism exactly mirrors the dismantling of the industry it covers.

It’s a very deliberate disassembly - media in general is being actively killed off by myopic and utterly useless vandals.

I sincerely wish ill for those who *indulge* in causing layoffs.
May 1, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
grinningportal.bsky.social
#WIPwednesday #ttrpg #dnd
Working on the adventure that will come with Serenity Springs, my upcoming suburban 1950's themed horror setting.

Current question: What does the statblock for a classic Roswell-style alien look like? 👽

Intrigued? Follow along here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/207...
Coming soon: Serenity Springs - Campaign setting for 5e DND
Serenity Springs is a new TTRPG horror setting based on 1950’s suburban America.
www.kickstarter.com
April 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
grinningportal.bsky.social
Looking for a dose of RPG sillyness? Check out my first blog post where I introduce my longest-running NPC. Special shoutout to @thefuzzyslug.bsky.social for the art. grinningportalgames.com/blog/tale-of...

#ttrpg
The Tale of Trunk
The first NPC I ever created, and long-running mascot of my games.
grinningportalgames.com
April 15, 2025 at 10:26 PM
ryanloos.bsky.social
Hello #ttrpg world!

Introducing: Grinning Portal Games! This will be the central place to find all of my future publications, blog posts, and more. Check out the site here: grinningportalgames.com
And please follow on Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/grin...
Grinning Portal Games
Grinning Portal Games is a small TTRPG development studio focused on creating unique and engaging games.
grinningportalgames.com
April 11, 2025 at 5:58 PM
ryanloos.bsky.social
Hello pile of new followers out of nowhere and old followers! Apologies for being real quite lately. I've been heads down on a personal project which I will announce here soon! (hint below)
A hand-drawn purple oval with a slight smile and two sharp teeth
March 19, 2025 at 3:48 PM
ryanloos.bsky.social
🎉🥈🎉
No Time for the Wicked has gone silver! Check it out if you haven't already (shorturl.at/qoB7W).

Once again I'll do one #thankaTTRPGcreator every day for the next few days to celebrate. This time around it'll be mainly for folks who helped my adventure get this far 🧵

#dnd #ttrpgcommunity
View from the inside of a train looking out the window. There is no one in the seats on either side. Outside the window the view is all misty other than the reflection of a skeletal figure. There is a title across the top that says "No Time for the Wicked: Trapped on the Cyre 1313." On the top right there is a badge that says silver bestseller. On the bottom left is a small icon that says "A Ravenloft Adventure". At the bottom of the image it says "Trap your players in a time loop on a doomed lightning rail"
February 14, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
wobblerocket.com
Good morning, friends and fiends!

The Weekly Wobble has just gone out to subscribers with a discount code from @ryanloos.bsky.social

We've also got a new game review by @reyesraine.itch.io for You're Elf by @ratbastardgames.bsky.social

#dnd #ttrpg #indiettrpg

Read Reyes' review here:
You’re Elf by Rat Bastard Games Review – A 36 Word Game –
You're Elf by Rat Bastard Games is an entry in the 36 Word Game Jam in which you play a dying elf reflecting on a long life.
www.wobblerocket.com
February 10, 2025 at 1:59 PM
ryanloos.bsky.social
Friday was the finale of my 2 year Ravenloft DnD campaign. It's such a strange mixture of feelings when something that long ends. I'm both relieved and sad that its over. Excited to try new games, and grateful for the old one. Special thanks to my players for sticking around ❤️. #ttrpgcommunity #dnd
February 9, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
wobblerocket.com
Monday morning, 57 subscribers to my Weekly Wobble newsletter will receive a discount code for @ryanloos.bsky.social's Eberron adventure, No Time for the Wicked.

You're gonna miss out if you don't hit the link and sign up:

www.wobblerocket.com/subscribe/
Cover art for No Time for the Wicked, a Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition adventure by Ryan Loos. The image shows the inside of a train car cast in shadows.. Outside, the window is foggy and covered in condensation. A skeletal figure can be seen outside the window.
February 9, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
tomahawkbunny.bsky.social
AND WE’RE (I’m) LIVE! My first crowdfunding project ever for #zinequest and #zinemonth is a zine for @melsonia.bsky.social’s Troika! with backgrounds of the last survivors of the dying universe, including Pi, Starving Diety and Apocalypse Stenographer! Back now!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...
Sometimes, We Were Infinite: A Troika! Zine
Sometimes, We Were Infinite is a Troika! zine collecting backgrounds from the last peoples of the dying universe.
www.kickstarter.com
February 1, 2025 at 9:06 PM
ryanloos.bsky.social
Thanks for the review! @phdnd.bsky.social has a lot of other great videos on his channel if you have any interest in Ravenloft antics.
February 3, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
chelseagsummers.bsky.social
I'm digging how this WWII guide is basically "gum up fascism by being an energy vampire." Let Colin Robinson be your guide in the fight against fascism. The link: www.404media.co/declassified...
From a WWII handbook on being a bad at job to roadblock fascism. Here's the text: “Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.” “Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.” “‘Misunderstand’ orders. Ask endless questions or engage in long correspondence about such orders. Quibble over them when you can.” “In making work assignments, always sign out the unimportant jobs first. See that the important jobs are assigned to inefficient workers of poor machines.” “To lower morale and with it, production, be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions. Discriminate against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work.” “Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.” “Multiply paperwork in plausible ways.” “Make mistakes in quantities of material when you are copying orders. Confuse similar names. Use wrong addresses.” “Work slowly. Think out ways to increase the number of movements necessary on your job” “Pretend that instructions are hard to understand, and ask to have them repeated more than once. Or pretend that you are particularly anxious to do your work, and pester the foreman with unnecessary questions.” “Snarl up administration in every possible way. Fill out forms illegibly so that they will have to be done over; make mistakes or omit requested information in forms.”
February 2, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
abraham.bsky.social
OpenAI says it has proof that Deepseek used its work without permission to create something meant to undermine and destroy its product.

On behalf of all the authors whose novels and stories were taken as training data, oh no that must be so hard for you.
January 29, 2025 at 4:04 PM
ryanloos.bsky.social
Live footage from inside OpenAI, Meta, Google, Nvidia etc. today
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJng...
Tony Stark Was Able To Build This In A Cave With A Box Of Scraps | Iron Man (2008) Movie CLIP HD
YouTube video by marvel clips
www.youtube.com
January 27, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
zigmenthotep.bsky.social
Reskeet if you're a TTRPG designer and/or publisher and are happy to provide digital copies for actual plays and reviews.
rrookstudio.bsky.social Richard @ R. Rook 🔜 Metatopia/Quasar/Pax U @rrookstudio.bsky.social · Nov 17
100% what Hayley said!

If you're streaming Sherwood or Roseville Beach (or any forthcoming R. Rook Studio books), I've got free PDFs, ePubs and either have or will make digital character keepers and customized consent worksheets for you.

Seriously, reach out!
storybrewersroleplaying.com Hayley G @storybrewersroleplaying.com · Nov 17
Going to put this here for the bsky crowd: If you're streaming an actual play of game we've created, and you'd like free digital copies for yourself and your cast, hit us up we'll be happy to provide them!

This is for every channel, no matter the size.
November 17, 2024 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Ryan Loos
phdnd.bsky.social
Playing Ravenloft in other systems!

youtu.be/eSrrtB-YlZo
Ravenloft in Other RPG Systems!
YouTube video by PhD&D
youtu.be
January 23, 2025 at 7:22 AM
ryanloos.bsky.social
Hi I'm Ryan, and I feel like a #ttrpgcommunity outlier because I DON'T do extensive world building. I build the parts of the world that I think are cool, and the parts that I know the players will interact with, and thats it! For instance, I've never customized a pantheon in for a campaign.
creativemagpie.bsky.social Magpie @creativemagpie.bsky.social · Jan 8
Holy mess,

Why am I having dread and panic at the concept of my broken pantheon. I want to gut it all and start over. Actually, flesh stuff out. I mean... stuff just seems so messy and disorganized in my head.
January 8, 2025 at 5:22 PM