Not a real doctor
@simonb.bsky.social
410 followers 640 following 490 posts
Lapsed-writer, ex-DJ, wants to be an academic again (is, in fact a real doctor) , old goth, larp designer, neurodiverse like light through a prism, poet before sunrise. Poster-child for burnout (Complex, Brooding, Challenging)
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
simonb.bsky.social
“Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” (Kafka)

▶️larp
➡️Nordic
➡️Theory
➡️Writing
➡️Blockbuster
➡️Art
➡️Old-school UK system heavy base 6
simonb.bsky.social
I have grown lazy in my later years, for it is hacked together in Javascript rather than c++

Given that I am not sure that I even want the game to have a combat system, and that I have pressing deadlines for other projects, it is even more ridiculous than normal.
simonb.bsky.social
I wrote some code that rolls dice and simulates rounds of combat. I can run a battle a million times and get a report on the percentage change of success, character death, or tpk.

I know nothing about game design, but my neurodiversity ia apparently showing.
simonb.bsky.social
"Notification of Submission Acceptance: 1 September 2025" and other works of 21st Century Fantasy Fiction
simonb.bsky.social
I have an old-school web forum doing absolutely nothing right now
simonb.bsky.social
(I am _trying_ to learn Finnish because, with my PhD behind me I need something to occupy my brain.)
simonb.bsky.social
I went in to yesterday's Finnish lesson thinking I had prepared. I had. Sadly I had prepared the wrong material. Fortunately I turned things round in the last 15 minutes by translating something about bears and 'winter dreams' (hibernatioon)
simonb.bsky.social
yeah, it is from 2007 at an anti G8 demo
simonb.bsky.social
Brilliant! (except this photo was taken in2007, in Germany iirc)
simonb.bsky.social
A quiet Friday morning on the edge of Fitzrovia, nothing but the drone of the a/c and the tapping of my keyboard and, inexplicably, the sound of running water; this is probably suboptimal.
simonb.bsky.social
There is always going to be someone who *really* likes airlocks.
simonb.bsky.social
Ah, Goodwins law:

"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of someone's awful behaviour invoking Godwin's law approaches one."
simonb.bsky.social
A Midsummer Night's Dream
simonb.bsky.social
so it is probably fair to consider that it is not for minors. (I am not very good at writing marketing copy,and I have been awake for most of the night listening to the storm and trying to remember what colours look like while lying in a darkened room.)

Anyway, www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/4...
DriveThruRPG - The Largest RPG Download Store!
Your one-stop online shop for new and vintage RPG products from the top publishers, delivered fresh to your desktop in electronic format.
www.drivethrurpg.com
simonb.bsky.social
The game possibly contains sexual activity, violence against the body and the mind, sexualised violence, erotic violence, gentle intimacy, crossdressing, drug taking, raging lust, non consensual sexual activity, nudity, lack of autonomy, humiliation, gaslighting, madness, poetry, and revenge.
simonb.bsky.social
We've cut the price of the the script book for Gothic to approx €22 (that is €10 off) until November 1st. In order to get a copy though you have to perform a strange ritual. This involves being signed in to DriveThruRPG AND setting the sinister sigil that shows adult content.
A black and white photograph showing a young woman in Regency-era dress trying to escape through the window of a haunted mansion.  Alas, her attempt is doomed.
simonb.bsky.social
I have updated my profile pic for October. I think @pummell.bsky.social took this one at WGT. The t-shirt is supposed to read 'Too Fast to live ...'
simonb.bsky.social
It is a subjective and *personal* statement. I could probably do it (and make it entertaining) if I were working on a larp. That is because I know quite a lot and have some experience to share. Whereas my domain knowledge on TRPGs is _really_ limited
simonb.bsky.social
In all seriousness I can think of few things worse than someone who is not an expert in a field,livestreaming Dunning–Kruger :D
simonb.bsky.social
Sometimes my brain unironically has thoughts like "Maybe I should write a TRPG, but live on Twitch." The thing is I don't need any more self-destructive hubris in my life right now.

So instead I will do a podcast about it.
simonb.bsky.social
You asked about first vaccine though
simonb.bsky.social
Yesterday I took a train down to the South coast in order to eat Thai food by the sea. Reading Russo's 'The Celluloid Closet' because this larp design requires research into the 'cinematic history of sissies.' Most of the examples are from the 30s and 60s but I suspect B Movies of the 50s hold more.
simonb.bsky.social
I deleted my academia edu account yesterday because of their new terms of use.

I hope that whoever came up with their product strategy starts Monday morning like a teenager who has not done their homework walking to school in the rain with a heavy backback of guilt.