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Reposted by DANIEL D. FOX

This Effin’ GM @thiseffingm.bsky.social · 56m

This year for ttrpg projects I have contributed in some way to:

6 D&D 5e products
4 Shadowdark products
3 OSE products
1 Pirate Borg product
1 Zweihander product

And

7 system neutral products

And I have more in the works.

Hot. Damn. What a year.

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 8h

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.

DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 9h

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

DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 16h

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.

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 16h

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."

Dimension 20 @dimension20.bsky.social · 1d

Is the Rule of Cool... lazy? 😳

#AdventuringAcademy

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 17h

calling ur boss rn to get you fired, brb

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 17h

-10 demerits, Will!

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 17h

Call me new-fashioned, but I’m done counting grid squares in D&D and tracking every pound of gear like some accountant for encumbrance rules.

Let’s skip the suck and get to the good parts of the adventure, the ones that actually matter.

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 17h

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."

DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 1d

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.

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 1d

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

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 1d

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

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 1d

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

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 1d

Love this, thanks for sharing!

Here's how my career in games has went:
1) Made a weirdo version of WFRP in OSR fashion
2) Talked about it a_lot_online
3) Had my friends playtest for 2 years
4) Spent $12k for art
5) Planned the heck out of marketing
6) Ran a Kickstarter 2017 hoping to raise $1k

MegueyB @megueyb.bsky.social · 1d

Ok, @lumpley.bsky.social & I have been very up-front over the years on our sales data & etc, so here's a thing, & thanks Will, for bringing it up. Starting a career in #ttrpgs means making games. it means writing in a goggle doc or notebook, trying mechanics with a friend, finding 3 folks to play.

Wil (He/Him) @rivetgeek.aggregatecognizance.com · 2d

I don't really see any false vision of success — virtually anybody who talks about it is very up front, and people who ask about "starting a career in games" get told very plainly that the only way to have money while working in RPGs is to start with money.

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 4d

Halloween whispers,
Children dance in rot and flies.
Tooth decay begins.

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Reposted by DANIEL D. FOX

Editorial 77Mundos @77mundos.bsky.social · 15d

Mecenas de #MainGauche los emisarios han partido esta mañana bien temprano con las alforjas llenas de conocimiento del Abismo 😈. Revisad vuestras bandejas de entrada y cuentas de DTRPG, porque las copias digitales ya deberían haber llegado. #ZweihanderRPG #lodelrol 🎲

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 11d

The best mail day is MÖRK BORG Mail Day from John Baltisberger @kaijupoet.bsky.social ! 🤘🏻

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Reposted by DANIEL D. FOX

Evil Hat @evilhat.bsky.social · 14d

Tomorrow we launch Designers & Dragons: Origins.
This massive 4-volume set covers each and every product TSR published for OD&D, Basic D&D, and AD&D 1e.
It's a detailed look at some of the hobby's most iconic adventures.
Sign up now to get notified when we go live:
www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...

A mockup of Volume 1 of Designers & Dragons: Origins. In the background, a blue dungeon map behind a large collage made up of the covers from each product explored in Volume 1.

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Reposted by DANIEL D. FOX

Andrew Kolb @kolbisneat.bsky.social · Sep 15

Hey I got to illustrate chapter 2 of the D&D Dragon Delves book! Written by
@justiceraminarman.bsky.social, it was such a perfect thematic and tonal pair that I still can't believe it's real.

Cover of the D&D Dragon Delves Adventure Anthology book.

Flatlay of the D&D Dragon Delves book showing an illustration of a green hag holding two worried gingerbread cookies that look like adventurers. Artwork on the left page and text (for the adventure) on the right.

Flatlay of the D&D Dragon Delves book showing a character illustration of an elderly halfling on the left page surrounded by text. On the right page is a small map of a candy shop surrounded by text.

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 17d

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Reposted by DANIEL D. FOX

DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 18d

The Dark Powers check in Ravenloft are broken. So here's how I fixed it.

I stripped away the moralistic baggage (no more Christian guilt system), and now it’s the players who choose to tempt fate.

Here it is in NOCTURNE Gothic Horror OSR: www.patreon.com/posts/noturn...

Noturne Gothic Horror: Basics of Gameplay v2 | Daniel D. Fox

Get more from Daniel D. Fox on Patreon

www.patreon.com

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 18d

The Dark Powers check in Ravenloft are broken. So here's how I fixed it.

I stripped away the moralistic baggage (no more Christian guilt system), and now it’s the players who choose to tempt fate.

Here it is in NOCTURNE Gothic Horror OSR: www.patreon.com/posts/noturn...

Noturne Gothic Horror: Basics of Gameplay v2 | Daniel D. Fox

Get more from Daniel D. Fox on Patreon

www.patreon.com

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Reposted by DANIEL D. FOX

DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 20d

Shadowdark Meets Real Dark Fantasy!

I helped design Dark Devilry, a new Shadowdark supplement now live on Kickstarter!

• New spells w/ unique crit success + failure effects

• Fiends with Temptation mechanics

• 3 classes: Daemonologist, Bloodguard, Sin Eater

Link below 👇

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 20d

I just backed Dark Devilry, where real Dark Fantasy Meets Shadowdark RPG, on Kickstarter!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/158...

Dark Devilry | for the Shadowdark RPG

A pair of fiendish supplements for Shadowdark and the wider OSR space.

www.kickstarter.com

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DANIEL D. FOX @zweihanderrpg.bsky.social · 20d

BACK IT NOW: www.kickstarter.com/projects/158...