Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by SprintingOwlDesigns

The Vardener (Commissions Open :O) @thevardener.bsky.social · 1h

I've worked on this region for over 4 years, now it's finally gonna see the light of day. I still remember Scarlet and Violet's announcement hoping it wouldn't be Greece to make all my prep work go down the drain. Plz watch if you want.

Sequence Break @sequencebreak.bsky.social · 1h

Join us this Friday! October 17th! For Episode 1 of our new TTRPG series, Pokemon Lock! GM'd by @thevardener.bsky.social with so much to see in the Helas Region!
#ttrpg #rpg #ptu #pokemonttrpg #pokemonlock #sequencebreak #ttrpgseries

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Reposted by SprintingOwlDesigns

Armaan Babu @armaanautomatic.itch.io · 1h

Announcing the release of playtest rules for 'Why. Won't. You. Stay. DEAD?!'

A two-player game that uses dice and tarot cards to tell the story of an infinitely respawning Hero, and the Villain - who while vastly powerful - whose doom is inevitable.

armaanautomatic.itch.io/why-wont-you...

Why. Won't. You. Stay. DEAD? by Armaan of Stories

Rage against the dying of the dark

armaanautomatic.itch.io

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 1h

And I think that comfort line has both advanced and retreated over the last decade, ending up in sort of the same spot on average.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 1h

I think fade to black is a common technique for a reason. It's where the societal comfort line is.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 1h

I'm stoked when designers are making weird messy charged ttrpgs, but I try to talk super carefully when I'm discussing them because most of my game design discussion is not about that and I don't want to bother people who follow me.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 1h

I'm in sort of a weird neutral place with regards to the puritanical feelings Sandy Pug brings up.

I find the various ways designers approach sexuality in games to be super interesting from a mechanics and design angle, but I find Maid's examples of play off-putting.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 1h

Society's gotten a LOT cooler about ttrpgs in the past twenty years. I can say "wanna join a D&D game" to someone I've recently met and they will generally not read that as "I am going to human sacrifice you for dark magical power."

But to bring up Maid, more trust is required.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 1h

However! I don't want to make my friends uncomfortable. The reason I do all that disclaimer at the beginning is to try and make sure I'm not making my friends uncomfortable.

And I think any time a ttrpg talks about sex, or even just gets too into whatever it's into, that discomfort risk comes up.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 1h

This is because Maid is actually a blast. It's a system that I think you have to handle with care, but it's a very very good chaos generator. I've never not had top tier hijinks come out of a Maid game.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 1h

I've GM'd Maid a couple of times, and every time I've lead off with "the text of this book is very horndog, please do not read the examples, please be aware that you don't have to stick with something you roll on a random table, please be aware that I'll keep steering us back towards PG."

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 1h

I'm not sure any of this has really changed. In the indie design space for sure, the conversation has evolved. And the societal landscape has shifted to create new barriers against selling adult games on itch.

But talking about ttrpgs that talk about sexuality is tricky!

Sandy Pug Games @sandypuggames.bsky.social · 2h

Ten Years Ago seems like such a different place in ttrpgs. I remember the response to Nechronica and Maid being so cold and puritanical, anything even vaguely motioning towards sexuality was seen as so cringe, even AW when it dropped had a loud crowd of anti-sex-move folks

Aria Winningson @aria.labeledrude.online · May 31

it's understandable that nechronica is so unknown, given that it's a decade-plus old japanese indie ttrpg that only ever got a fan translation into english, but i feel like some of you would go absolutely feral for it. nechronica.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 2h

I'll also read another Ayala book in an instant. The writing was sharp. I wish there was more of it.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 3h

I don't know if I'd recommend it as, like, the one essential book to understand DC comics or whatever. But I do genuinely wish Milestone was still an independent publisher, and I'm curious to check out some of their older material.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 3h

Now, what it isn't is a big meditation on the place of superheroes in american history, or the nature of religion when superman exists, or what if a random guy disliked batman for no reason.

It doesn't feel like a big philosophical superhero comic. It feels fun.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 3h

There's a theme about figuring out if you're allowed to be angry, and what you're allowed to do with your anger, that runs through the story like the tang of a blade. And there's also a lot of decompressing about how hard it is to live when the military is industrializing all around you.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 3h

It made me think of Worm several times, and I also mean that positively.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 3h

What did stand out to me was how non-DC it felt. Fights were quippy in a Marvel-y way. Half way through the arc Static shouts out old anime as an inspiration. The art and pacing feel like one of those way-too-audacious 00s narrative webcomics (positive connotation.)

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 3h

This wasn't much of a problem, as Ayala's run is an origin story. And it's isolated from the rest of DC, so prior DC reading isn't needed either.

Ayala's writing moves fast and pretty deft, economical character work. There's a lot of people in the story and you get a good sense of all of them.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 3h

I have zero prior experience with Static as a character. I never saw the TV show---I was too old for it when it came out but not old enough yet to remember that cartoons were great. I also didn't know anything about Milestone until today.

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 3h

Continuing my readthrough of DC comics until I hit my limit or the hyperfixation leaves me.

Vita Ayala's run on Static.

It is good.

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Reposted by SprintingOwlDesigns

Moss Powers -> Orycon @mossdaggar.bsky.social · 3h

Getting close to needing more eyes on Sweltergeist, my queer horror ttrpg set in a brutal heatwave. It’s a very early draft, but is anyone interested in helping me sound out some ideas?

An orange tinted image of the sky, with the sun visible in the center and a few sparse, wispy clouds around. The title ‘Sweltergeist’ is written across the top and vertically down from it in transparent text. ‘Queer Heatwave Horror’ and ‘by Brewist Tabletop Games’ are written near the bottom, which has a lightened burning effect.

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marn s. lastname @corpserevivers.bsky.social · 8h

we will be doing aNOTHER live bump in the night on the ground control stream btw. at actual midnight

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Jen C Mars @jencmars.bsky.social · 12h

Any TTRPG art friends looking for a quick turn around gig?

Client needs 3 humanoid character pieces (head, 1/2, full body) in a semi-realistic (think TTRPG book) fantasy art style. Full color.

Needs for next week, I’m not available.

Ideal if you have store front you can charge from (eg Etsy)

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Jennifer Adcock @jenkatwrites.bsky.social · 12h

OHO did you think I only had ONE spooky Halloween treat for you? The TRICK is that I have TWO, and the second is some HALLOWEEN DOLLHOUSE GIRLIES to add some frightful new fashions to your Dollhouse Drama games! jen-adcock15.itch.io/magic-monsters

Magic & Monsters: Dollhouse Drama Playset Pack 9 by Owl Knight Games, by Jennifer Adcock

Tricks and treats as monster girls, a coven of witches, and unicorn riders!

jen-adcock15.itch.io

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SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 12h

Fellow can't parry affliction sufferer!

I ended up liking a lot of Sekiro, since you can still kind of cheese your way through a lot of it without parrying, but it absolutely hard walls you at the end.

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