Paul Baldowski 🔜 Dragonmeet, ExCel 🐉
@paulbaldowski.bsky.social
2K followers 720 following 2.1K posts
Freelance and Indie tabletop game Writer | Symbaroum | Rivers of London | Liminal | Trophy | Paranoia | Maelstrom | Terminator | Cthulhu Hack | (The Dee) Sanction | Cörk Børd | Fan of Elizabethan History and Lovecraftian Horror | Neurodivergent
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paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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"
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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 🐉
danwhitehead.net
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
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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.
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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]
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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]
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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]
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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...
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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.
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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.
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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.
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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 😂
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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.
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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 🤔
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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.
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
"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?
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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.
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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.
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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.
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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 🐉
burnafterrunning.bsky.social
#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 ttrpg character sheet for a smuggler A booklet "The Combat Book" with lots of critical hits
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
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.
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
You loved every Crit of it ☠️🏴‍☠️🦜
paulbaldowski.bsky.social
PPP has become near useless over the last few years at DriveThru, but I'll keep it in mind.