DANIEL D. FOX
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zweihanderrpg.bsky.social
DANIEL D. FOX
@zweihanderrpg.bsky.social
Multiple award-winning game designer. ZWEIHANDER RPG. Nocturne Gothic Horror OSR. Countless licensed kids' board games (Pete the Cat, Very Hungry Caterpillar, I SPY, Dog Man, Daniel Tiger). A miserable little pile of secrets. https://sllswrd.games
Keep killing it bro! You got this.
November 4, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Supply rolls solve for that. End of combat, roll a d6. Face 1? Out of arrows.

Travel for a day? Make a supply roll, face 1, out of rations.

These sort of simple innovations solve for the boring parts of D&D and make them more dramatic.
November 4, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Fingertip/Pencil/Sheet is how we do it when using minis. Grid or nay.

Fingertip is melee range, Pencil is throwing range, long side of a character Sheet is how we handle longbows. Same with spells.

We also use 'friendly play'. Minis close enough? Scoot them and get rollingm
November 4, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I should’ve clarified that I don’t play modern D&D because of its clunky, low-priority rules around encumbrance/movement.

If D&D were 'specially designed around those systems, it’d be different. Instead, they’re vestigial organs, remnants of a design philosophy the game has long since outgrown.
November 4, 2025 at 5:20 AM
calling ur boss rn to get you fired, brb
November 4, 2025 at 4:55 AM
-10 demerits, Will!
November 4, 2025 at 4:33 AM
The more rules you add, the less elastic the possibilities become. You’re not building worlds anymore, you’re building boxes, and people and stories don’t fit in boxes.

. . . unless you’re playing modern D&D, which practically hands you a box and says, "Color inside the lines."
November 4, 2025 at 4:29 AM
25) Time is a flat circle.

I recently returned to agency to build up saving for my family.

I now do games part-time. On my calendar. With some recurring $$ coming in from back catalog to support those activities.

Keep writing.
Keep promoting.
Keep collaborating.
Keep dreaming.

Etc, etc, etc.
November 3, 2025 at 7:02 PM
20) Relied on organic promo (no more paid promo/rebuilding savings)
21) Left board game publisher when they couldn't handle Trump tariffs + they settled big whistleblower lawsuit.
22) Kept writing
23) Kept promoting
24) Kept collaborating
November 3, 2025 at 7:02 PM
14) Kept promoting (paid/organic)
15) Left my big career in agency to join a mass market board game publisher for WAY less $
16) Peaced out when the pub couldn't bear the costs of promotion, tariff & paper during first Trump administration
17) Kept writing
18) Kept promoting
19) Kept collaborating
November 3, 2025 at 7:02 PM
7) Completely emptied my $15k 401k to promote before Gencon 2018
8) Won a few Ennies
9) Got a publishing deal
10) Kept writing
11) Kept promoting
12) Kept collaborating
13) Gave a lot of books + PDFs away
November 3, 2025 at 7:02 PM