Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Gnome Anne

N.D. Chenard - In College @ghostcandle.bsky.social · Jul 8

Hi #PortfolioDay

I'm Natalie, a Canadian artist who enjoys illustrating characters and fantasy scenes. I love bringing ideas to life!
I've done work for Hit Point Press, Chaosium, and various indie projects.

ghostcandleart.com
ghost. candle. studio @ gmail. com

#TTRPG #Illustration

A woman with dark hair and clothes sits in a green office chair at a desk. A lit cigarette in her left hand, a glass of whisky under her right hand.

A leviathan-size, fox-like beast stands among a sea of trees in front of a floating piece of wood. A small, green mothryn person perches on the beast's nose.

4 portraits of characters. Seraphine (She/Her) in a high-collar top, red makeup, and a bit of blood off her lip. Ceal (They/Them) in a loose dress shirt and vest, shaggy dark brown hair, and one glowing green eye. Enver (He/Him) in a large collared black coat with white hair and purple eyes. Ari (She/They) in a white, flowing dress shirt with a pink tie, pink-tinted sunglasses, and black to pink ombre hair.

Caduceus from Critical Role in a forest. He kneels beside water, one foot in, and casts a spell from his right hand. A swirl of blue-ish bugs fly around him.

7 14

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 2h

OMG ME TOO

1 3

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 3h

I streamed Thousand Year Old Vampire for a while! It was fun!

5

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 5h

WE LOVE THEM

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 6h

we're about to do the first playthrough of Hefty List of Suitors, a game about sailing the Archipelago of Boys who you, the lost adventurer, you must either turn into a pig or bring on your ship and risk it sinking :)

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 7h

WE'RE LIVE! GET IN HERE AND MAKE A GAME WITH US!

twitch.tv/gnome_anne

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 6d

what's that in the distance?
it's the rumble of VERY FAST GAME DESIGN! 🏎️💨🫧

Oct 14, Ray Chou of @mythworks.bsky.social is joining me & @thismaybegraham.bsky.social for another SOAPBOX GAME MECHANICS: the show where we design & playtest a #ttrpg in 90 mins!

Tech production by @jienbirb.bsky.social

1 8

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 7h

WE'RE LIVE! GET IN HERE AND MAKE A GAME WITH US!

twitch.tv/gnome_anne

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 6d

what's that in the distance?
it's the rumble of VERY FAST GAME DESIGN! 🏎️💨🫧

Oct 14, Ray Chou of @mythworks.bsky.social is joining me & @thismaybegraham.bsky.social for another SOAPBOX GAME MECHANICS: the show where we design & playtest a #ttrpg in 90 mins!

Tech production by @jienbirb.bsky.social

3 8

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 9h

I just did a meditation where you try to maintain awareness of the physical weight and texture of the phone in your hand for 10 minutes WHILE SCROLLING A FEED and I think this is Varsity Level Mindfulness because I failed catastrophically

2 14

Reposted by Gnome Anne

Graham Gentz Loves To Playtest @thismaybegraham.bsky.social · 13h

hey that's TODAY 😱🥀💫🙏🤩🎆🙏🎊

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 6d

what's that in the distance?
it's the rumble of VERY FAST GAME DESIGN! 🏎️💨🫧

Oct 14, Ray Chou of @mythworks.bsky.social is joining me & @thismaybegraham.bsky.social for another SOAPBOX GAME MECHANICS: the show where we design & playtest a #ttrpg in 90 mins!

Tech production by @jienbirb.bsky.social

3 4

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 13h

TODAY!!!

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 6d

what's that in the distance?
it's the rumble of VERY FAST GAME DESIGN! 🏎️💨🫧

Oct 14, Ray Chou of @mythworks.bsky.social is joining me & @thismaybegraham.bsky.social for another SOAPBOX GAME MECHANICS: the show where we design & playtest a #ttrpg in 90 mins!

Tech production by @jienbirb.bsky.social

1 12

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 17h

if you pretend evil people aren’t people, you’ll never see it coming when your bud who seemed decent becomes a fascist. You’ll fall for “he can’t be evil because he’s a great dad! he loves his kids!”. It’s actually very important that we understand that truly evil people are still people.

2 1 1

Reposted by Gnome Anne

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

quick question -- how many games am I allowed to design before I'm *required* to refer to myself as a "game designer"?

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 6d

what's that in the distance?
it's the rumble of VERY FAST GAME DESIGN! 🏎️💨🫧

Oct 14, Ray Chou of @mythworks.bsky.social is joining me & @thismaybegraham.bsky.social for another SOAPBOX GAME MECHANICS: the show where we design & playtest a #ttrpg in 90 mins!

Tech production by @jienbirb.bsky.social

9 1 25

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

Happy thanksgiving!

1 15

Reposted by Gnome Anne

Graham Gentz Loves To Playtest @thismaybegraham.bsky.social · 1d

that's tomorrow! 😱💫🎆✨👁️

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 6d

what's that in the distance?
it's the rumble of VERY FAST GAME DESIGN! 🏎️💨🫧

Oct 14, Ray Chou of @mythworks.bsky.social is joining me & @thismaybegraham.bsky.social for another SOAPBOX GAME MECHANICS: the show where we design & playtest a #ttrpg in 90 mins!

Tech production by @jienbirb.bsky.social

1 3

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

quick question -- how many games am I allowed to design before I'm *required* to refer to myself as a "game designer"?

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 6d

what's that in the distance?
it's the rumble of VERY FAST GAME DESIGN! 🏎️💨🫧

Oct 14, Ray Chou of @mythworks.bsky.social is joining me & @thismaybegraham.bsky.social for another SOAPBOX GAME MECHANICS: the show where we design & playtest a #ttrpg in 90 mins!

Tech production by @jienbirb.bsky.social

9 1 25

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

TOMORROW! Let's design some games!!!

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 6d

what's that in the distance?
it's the rumble of VERY FAST GAME DESIGN! 🏎️💨🫧

Oct 14, Ray Chou of @mythworks.bsky.social is joining me & @thismaybegraham.bsky.social for another SOAPBOX GAME MECHANICS: the show where we design & playtest a #ttrpg in 90 mins!

Tech production by @jienbirb.bsky.social

3

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

I can see the value! I think that’s why I like cosmic horror — the evil is unknowable

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

I don't think we necessarily disagree. I think it's just a different take. I think evil isn't an end, but a means to an end. And some villains are just evil for evil and that feels very flat -- although I will say this is more common in TTRPG than in other forms.

1 3

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

yeah, I agree that we don't need to have redeeming characteristics or tragic backstories -- but I also think if we pretend that fascists are evil aliens without humanity, we get blindsided when people who seemed decent become fascists, you know?

1 5

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

There’s a lot of space between “evil man is actually misunderstood and kinda justified” and “evil man is pure evil for literally no reason”.

The worst people rationalize their evil. They have motives. And I think that’s more interesting than “bad guy bad”, which feels more like allegory to me.

5 23

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

I find this conversation interesting.

I don’t think villains need to be sympathetic, but (if they’re a person) they should be understandable — because they should be *a little familiar*.

Fiction is always an exercise in empathy and taking on new perspectives. Understanding evil is part of that.

Kayleigh McKee, Cheerer for the Dolls ⏬️ AnimeUSA! @ghaspey.bsky.social · 1d

I'll say it: I think its rly annoying and frankly amateurish that writers are constantly told their villains must be understandable or have sympathetic motivation to be interesting or realistic when all our big villains irl are in fact rich, stupid, selfish, trickster dillweeds and always have been

3 34

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

I’m retiring. I’ll be a supporting character with no arc 🫡

3

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

I’ll be sassy and irreverent, but share hard truths you need to hear.

1

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 1d

I’m tired of being the protagonist. I want to be the gay best friend.

3 1 43

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 2d

This is a fascinating and relatively well-studied phenomenon that has been reproduced in many kinds of virtual spaces! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doorway...

Doorway effect - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2

Gnome Anne @annethegnome.bsky.social · 2d

I like to imagine your recipes have cup as the smallest unit. Cake for giants!

1