Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Shawn Tomkin

@shawntomkin.bsky.social

4.4K followers 670 following 970 posts

Creator of the Ironsworn family of TTRPGs. Contributor to The One Ring, Dragonbane, and more. Banner art by Joshua Meehan. Games & Downloads: tomkinpress.com Discord: discord.gg/8bRuZwK DriveThruRPG: bit.ly/tomkin-drivethrurpg Itch: bit.ly/tomkin-itch

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · Oct 17

In honor of Twitter's continued slow-motion implosion, recycling my best Ironsworn meme.

A two-panel image from the television program 30 Rock. In the top panel, Liz Lemon says "What a journey, huh?" In the second panel, her boss, turns to say "Lemon, you've marked 2 progress."

3 17 190

Reposted by Shawn Tomkin

Guillermo del Toro @realgdt.bsky.social · 18h

The world lost a genial man, a genius communicator and a supreme artist. I lost a friend - beloved Drew.

Andrew 🐻 @awd.bsky.social · 21h

Rest in Peace, Drew Struzan

23 450 2.4K

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 1d

I for one welcome our giant hummingbird overlord.

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 1d

Haha. Yeah, those hummers know what's up.

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 1d

Oh, darn. Anna's hummingbirds are here year-round.

1 1

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 1d

Pacific Northwest is pretty amazing. 🏔️

1 1

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 1d

Busy feeder at sunset. The perched hummingbird spends its day chasing everyone else away, but it deigned to let others gather for a few minutes. So generous.

A photograph of a red hummingbird feeder with a trio of hummingbirds -- two perched and one in flight. In the background, Mount Rainier is lit by the setting sun.

4 50

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 1d

Over War looks pretty cool! It's an RPG/strategy hybrid that has you playing the commander of a small warband. The Monarch edition adds GM-less/solo support.

Deal of the Day on DTRPG.

Alex T. @iamthehornedone.bsky.social · 1d

If you're in the mood for some good strategy RPG inspired by the classic JRPG videogames, Over War: Monarch Edition is the Deal of the Day on DTRPG! Help me pay my dog's surgery bills and get an awesome game! www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/4...

Over War: The Night Comes Down - MONARCH EDITION - Blackoath Entertainment | DriveThruRPG

It is the year 1472 Dracos Domini and the land of Ballark is bathed in unrest. The armies of the Over Night have descended from their floating islands to ravage the countryside, leaving disease, famin...

www.drivethrurpg.com

1 2 11

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 2d

Really sad to hear this. Rob was a great writer and an amazing booster for TTRPGs. In particular, he seemed really passionate about giving visibility to smaller games and creators. Deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Matt Forbeck @forbeck.com · 2d

I'm shocked and crushed to hear of the passing of my pal @robowieland.bsky.social this morning.

2 29

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 4d

On the mantle next to your Pulitzer for sassy Discord posts.

1 4

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 5d

That sounds great! I love hearing what folks get up to in their version of the Forge. Good luck!

If you want more opportunities for introspective, journal'y scenes in your travels, I have a free download with prompts for low-key spacefaring interludes.

tomkinpress.com/blogs/news/s...

Spacefaring Interludes

Discover how to add low-stakes, character-driven interludes to your Starforged adventures. Get a free downloadable patch with new tables inspired by Sundered Isles.

tomkinpress.com

1 8

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 5d

Oh, hey, that's my thing. Really glad you are enjoying it. Thanks for the purchase and shoutout!

1 21

Reposted by Shawn Tomkin

Tana Pigeon | Word Mill Games @tanapigeonwmg.bsky.social · 6d

Mythic Magazine #58 is out loose in the wild! It tackles creating conversation for NPCs in solo games, and features a scenario all about chatter where your PC runs a weird, late-night radio talk show. I love anything "weird" :)
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...
#ttrpg

Mythic Magazine Volume 58 - Word Mill Games | Mythic Magazine | DriveThruRPG

Mythic Magazine #58 Mythic Magazine is a monthly ezine with tips, rules, and more goodies for the Mythic Role-Playing System, Mythic Game Master Emulator, and Crafter Series from Word Mill Games. This...

www.drivethrurpg.com

1 10

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 6d

Yep. My nightmare scenario is a garage full of unwanted books.

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 6d

Yeah. For sure. I did a reprint as part of a supplement crowdfund, and that worked out well. Also, a great way to gauge demand. But I don't want to go to that well for every print run.

A good problem to have, in some sense. But I am always a quarter behind the curve. 😬

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 6d

My least favorite bit about self-publishing is figuring out the right time to do a new print run. It costs tens of thousands of dollars, so I can't over-invest in stock, but I inevitably get caught off guard by a sell-through and have long gaps where items are not available at all. I suck at it.

2 1 45

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 6d

Thanks so much!

I think I might have an email from you as well? Was just responding.

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 6d

Thanks for asking. I'm looking into a reprint, though the logistics of that take a while. I'd guess late December or January.

1 1

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 7d

Sounds like the same path I went with my dice mechanic, and I did look at 2d10 with those success breakpoints. Agree that the extra bit of granularity is really nice, especially if you have a failsafe (using Shadow, in your case).

Congrats on the campaign!

Reposted by Shawn Tomkin

Jade Ravens @jaderavens.itch.io · 9d

Want a #Firefly -themed character sheet for #ironsworn #starforged ? I made a dedicated ship sheet as well, complete with a technobabble oracle for when your crappy compression coil goes bad or the primary buffer panel falls off your ship. Free download: jaderavens.itch.io/starforged-t...

Firefly-themed ship and character sheets for Ironsworn: Starforged

Example ship sheet for Serenity from Firefly

6 27

Reposted by Shawn Tomkin

Ghoula RPGs @gilarpgs.bsky.social · 10d

The spooky season is upon us! I've put my spookiest game, REAP, on sale for the rest of the month.

Grab this excellent solo TTRPG of a wandering necromancer for 25% off. Sale applies to book and PDF versions!

gilarpgs.myshopify.com/products/reap

REAP

The lands of Obron are dying. You are a necromancer, striding between the lands of the living and the dead. Wander this broken world. Seek Horrors, and reap their souls. What Is REAP? REAP is a solo t...

gilarpgs.myshopify.com

1 27 50

Reposted by Shawn Tomkin

SoloRPGList @solorpglist.com · 12d

Looking for an amazing solo or duet #TTRPG?
We have over 400 titles listed in our index over at solorpglist.com

#SoloRPG #DuetRPG #TTRPGfolks #GMless #Worldbuilding #Journaling #DungeonCrawl #TabletopRPG

Solo RPG List - Find Solo and Duet TTRPGs

Discover amazing solo and duet tabletop role-playing games that can be played with—or without—dice, tarot cards, playing cards, pen and paper, etc.

solorpglist.com

4 54 81

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 11d

Celebrate spooky seas(on) with Sundered Isles, the epic seafaring expansion for Ironsworn: Starforged. Includes a bounty of random generators for ghost ships, cursed treasures, forsaken isles, and more.

Digital Edition is 33% off via my store, Itch, or DTRPG.

tomkinpress.com/sundered-digital

An illustration of a ghostly ship with tattered sails and a maw-like prow. It is sailing among storm-tossed seas against a gray sky, and emitting a pallid green light.

Art credit: Vyacheslav Milinchuk,

11 31

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 12d

Received my backer copy of this, and it's exceptionally lovely and evocative!

Underground Oracle Publishing @undergroundoracle.com · 13d

New from our imprint Unplaytested Presents, No Mercy For Monsters is now live!

Grab this Wretched & Alone #ttrpg of familial oaths, dark obsessions, and the toxic bond shared between mortal rivals below.

Site: undergroundoracle.co...
Itch: unplaytested-present...
Dthru: www.drivethrurpg.com...

No Mercy For Monsters title card from Unplaytested Presents.

2 5 15

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 12d

The only potential use case for me thus far was setting up an unstyled TOC just for PDF bookmarks, but if you hide those pages it doesn't include the bookmarks when exporting.

Shawn Tomkin @shawntomkin.bsky.social · 13d

Ugh. Fingers crossed they aren't following the usual path on this. I purchased the full suite a few months ago, hoping to replace Adobe once my current subscription runs out.