Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉

@paulbaldowski.bsky.social

2K followers 720 following 2.1K posts

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 7d

I need to put a sticky note on my desk somewhere or set a calendar reminder to prompt me to promote my existing work rather than constantly worrying about the material I'm still writing or only thinking about.

I mean, I've got 88 writing credits on RPG Geek...

www.justcrunch.com

A clipboard lying amidst debris on the floor. The paper clipped onto the board has a message, rendered in a font meant to look like neat handwriting, saying: "It would be nice to remember some time that I have a whole range of games available for people to buy, download, play and even get hard copies of, but week-in and week-out I forget to run any kind of promotion of their existence. You can find links to PDFs and access for hard copies through: www.justcrunch.com"

2 2 10

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 3h

Drinking an Innocent Ginger & Tumeric Immunity Shot is akin to being punched in the eyeballs. That is all.

#NotAReview

Reposted by Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉

Dan Whitehead @danwhitehead.net · 5h

BBC Archive just uploaded The Lonely Shore (1962), a surreal 15-minute short that takes the form of a scientific report from an abandoned and desolate future Britain. Written by Jacquetta Hawkes, an actual archaeologist, and directed by Ken Russell, an actual madman.

1962: An Expedition to Post-Apocalyptic Britain | Monitor: The Lonely Shore | BBC Archive

YouTube video by BBC Archive

www.youtube.com

130 310

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 4h

Ah, the road into definition is fraught.

For example, given that a component is "a part or element of a larger whole", is a map or standee that I make myself a prop?

In reference to my Holmgard map, for example, I haven't made it myself, but it isn't part of the game, nor is it necessary to play.

1 3

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 4h

I like to skip the character's around, as I tend to run one-shots. You have the option to create whatever loose campaign or flow appeals to you, filling in with your own investigations and adventures along the way. Enjoy! [3/3]

1 2

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 4h

Indeed, WotS nominally takes place on 1st June 1572. Both adventures are tied to the Pope’s excommunication of Queen Elizabeth. Lost in Translation and Ex Libris probably happened in the mid-1580s. The Monk’s Cowl and The Harrowing of Harlow Hall might happen any time. [2/3]

1 2

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 4h

Adventures in The Dee Sanction tend to remain pretty consistent in their challenge, progressing instead along a linear timeline. Some adventures have a date associated with them, but you shouldn't feel tied to it. Window of the Soul and The Gong Scourer’s Baby likely happen in the early 1570s [1/3]

1 2

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 5h

The Disquieting Actions Bundle at @drivethrurpg.com offers you ~33% off the core rules and five investigations to get you into the thick of things. Investigate assassination attempts, missing relics, strange charms, worries of witchcraft, and more in this award-winning #RPG.

www.thedeesanction.com

the Dee Sanction

ADVENTURES IN COVERT ENOCHIAN INTELLIGENCE

www.thedeesanction.com

1 5

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 5h

While we wait for the publication of the Monad Edition of #DeeSanction, the existing material remains relevant and perfect for getting you up and running. Nothing is being replaced; it's just being enhanced and expanded around.

#Elizabethan #Tudor #TTRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/3...

1 5 17

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 5h

When I bring them to the table, they're rarely integral to the game and more about adding colour, atmosphere, focus or just something tactile.

So, over the weekend, I used the map of Holmgard to note key locations, but it was more about immersion than necessity.

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 5h

I'm thinking of a prop as any non-essential item used at the gaming table. If I put down a map of Davokar in Symbaroum or one of Holmgard for Lone Wolf, it's probably not essential—it's table colour. If I'm running a non-tactical RPG, miniatures on the table aren't essential, either.

1 6

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 6h

Whenever it's possible, yes.

Props lift the table. To participants. To onlookers.

At a big event, people will stop and look on as the game unfolds because something catches their eye on the table.

Players will touch a play mat, gaze at a model, and praise the miniatures and maps.

Props are good.

1 5

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 8h

It's not an active project — as in there are far more important things for me to be working on — but, after another enjoyable session, The Flight into Darkness will definitely see light of day as a free Sanction Genre.

I need to be wary of these trademarks 😂

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 1d

A rules clarification for those playing Cthulhu Hack, should you want to consider exposing investigators to Elder Gods...

www.justcrunch.com/handling-uns...

#CthulhuHack #TTRPG #CthulhuMythos #Lovecraft #CosmicHorror

3 3 7

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 2d

The latest Cörk Børd Kickstarter update is live. Dive deep into Nordic Noir despair with news on development and the creeping reach of the Yggrakult to ensnare the Solo Rules stretch goal.

Check it out—and share the rot!

#CorkBord #MorkBorg #NordicNoir #TTRPG

www.kickstarter.com/projects/all...

A photo of two tall stacks of Nordic Noir crime novels on a wooden table. Visible titles include works by Jo Nesbø, Henning Mankell, Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö, Tove Alsterdal, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Arnaldur Indriðason, and others. The books are well-worn paperbacks, their dark, moody spines reflecting the bleak, atmospheric tone of Scandinavian crime fiction.

2 6

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 3d

Every adventure I write can't be devious and twisted. After getting feedback on an original draft for a Symbaroum adventure that I was trying too hard to be Lovecraftian, I seek to lean into the game's genre wherever possible to avoid doing Cthulhu Hack-derivatives all the time 🤔

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 3d

Ah, that was one of the copies I now own. As it happens, the one in the UK Tabletop Roleplaying group was incomplete—missing a couple of key books—but also enriched with two extra supplements not in the original box. I happened to find a reasonably priced second copy on eBay to cover the gaps.

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 3d

"The scenario was poor."—I'll try not to be offended. That was my reworking of the Quickstart (which, as written, was a linear collection of events tied to watches and "do-you or don't-you" decisions). And then I chose to play heavily into the tables, because otherwise, why play Run Out the Guns?

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 3d

The system can make a difference, but there are numerous factors at play. I won't make declarations about my own GMing abilities, but the game wasn't bad, right? The system coloured the experience, but I hope that the overall outcome was an enjoyable game steeped in nostalgia and the odd chuckle.

1 1

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 3d

A little cruel to poor MERP, which also had some solid, if non-canon, game material. Using Rolemaster was misguided, but not entirely without moments of joy—it was my first game as a GM.

For Run Out the Guns!, the same principle applies. Misguided, but not without joy.

1 4

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 3d

You shouldn't have backed away. Definitely not. I've just posted a review on Goodreads, and one thing I recommend is that if you see this relatively cheap, buy it. A pile of maps and a lot of background material likely make it worthwhile, rather like a non-GURPSer picking up GURPS for reference.

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 3d

Yesterday, I played Warhammer: Old World and Candela Obscura (for which I forgot to get a picture). I attended Furnace XX (yes, the 20th!) in Sheffield at The Garrison Hotel.

WOW proved to be sufficient entertainment to drag us through to a close, heavy with fatigue from a weekend of fun.

Reposted by Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉

Guy Milner (BurnAfterRunning / Unconventional GMs) @burnafterrunning.bsky.social · 5d

#furnacerpg Slot 2 - Run Out The Guns. I have a book of critical hit tables, and an awful lot of skills to do sums with. Hornpiping the poop deck with @paulbaldowski.bsky.social at the helm (?)

A games table with a ttrpg in progress with a cardboard ship in the centre

A booklet "The Combat Book" with lots of critical hits

1 2 7

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 4d

GMing all day today at Furnace. Playing tomorrow.

Ran Flight from the Darkness in the morning (Sanction/Lone Wolf) and deployed the Critical Tables in the afternoon with Run Out The Guns! with added "beer pong"-style side game.

Great fun. One parrot 🦜 may have been harmed in-game, accidentally.

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 4d

You loved every Crit of it ☠️🏴‍☠️🦜

Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉 @paulbaldowski.bsky.social · 6d

PPP has become near useless over the last few years at DriveThru, but I'll keep it in mind.