Seyed P. Razavi (aka Syd)
@monkeyx.bsky.social
This is my rocket 🚀
This is my gun 🔫
I use this site 🦋
Mostly for fun 😜
https://blog.srazavi.com/
https://poems.prazavi.com/
https://blog.monkeyx.games/
This is my gun 🔫
I use this site 🦋
Mostly for fun 😜
https://blog.srazavi.com/
https://poems.prazavi.com/
https://blog.monkeyx.games/
"Will AI take my job?" (or a common variant, ""Will AI take child's hoped-for job?")
What’s the worst question someone can ask after you tell them your profession? For linguists, it’s definitely “how many languages do you speak?”, but I’m curious what else is happening to the rest of y’all out there?!
December 2, 2025 at 6:58 PM
"Will AI take my job?" (or a common variant, ""Will AI take child's hoped-for job?")
A bit of GMing advice on how I prep published adventures depending on the type of module I'm dealing with. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/02/h...
How to Prep a Published Module
There’s a particular sadness in the eyes of a GM halfway through a 250-page campaign book. You can see the journey: they bought the shiny hardback, they decided to “run it as written…
blog.monkeyx.games
December 2, 2025 at 1:23 PM
A bit of GMing advice on how I prep published adventures depending on the type of module I'm dealing with. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/12/02/h...
Found this - really interesting way of running a game againstthecultofthecommodity.blogspot.com/2025/11/how-...
How I ran Gradient Descent as a Black Box (or Diegetic vs. Narrative Logic)
My black box campaign for Luke Gearing's Gradient Descent recently wrapped up. I didn't plan on it ending before the end of the year, but ...
againstthecultofthecommodity.blogspot.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Found this - really interesting way of running a game againstthecultofthecommodity.blogspot.com/2025/11/how-...
Everyone’s asking if AI is going to replace writers, artists, musicians etc
I wrote a piece that puts that fear next to older automation and asks, with a little help from Existentialist philosophers what’s really at stake for human creativity.
It’s not just “AI bad, art good”. It’s messier.
I wrote a piece that puts that fear next to older automation and asks, with a little help from Existentialist philosophers what’s really at stake for human creativity.
It’s not just “AI bad, art good”. It’s messier.
Are Creative Jobs Special? Existentialism in the Age of Generative AI
We are living through a moral panic about AI and “the end of human creativity”. Generative systems can now write plausible short stories, compose background music, and produce concept art and film sto...
blog.srazavi.com
November 30, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Everyone’s asking if AI is going to replace writers, artists, musicians etc
I wrote a piece that puts that fear next to older automation and asks, with a little help from Existentialist philosophers what’s really at stake for human creativity.
It’s not just “AI bad, art good”. It’s messier.
I wrote a piece that puts that fear next to older automation and asks, with a little help from Existentialist philosophers what’s really at stake for human creativity.
It’s not just “AI bad, art good”. It’s messier.
I reviewed Heart (City Beneath) and Spire (City Must Fall): stunning art, tight d10 pools, stress/fallout that makes wins messy. One’s revolution, one’s obsession. Sample play, who should run them, and my verdict. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/28/b...
Diving into Heart and Spire
There’s a particular shelf in my study where the “beautifully doomed” RPGs live. You know the ones: art that looks like it was printed with occult ink, settings that smell faintly of incense and…
blog.monkeyx.games
November 28, 2025 at 1:27 PM
I reviewed Heart (City Beneath) and Spire (City Must Fall): stunning art, tight d10 pools, stress/fallout that makes wins messy. One’s revolution, one’s obsession. Sample play, who should run them, and my verdict. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/28/b...
The second campaign log of our Dragonbane campaign. Warning: Spoilers.
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/26/d...
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/26/d...
Dragonbane – The Secret of the Dragon Emperor #2
After the adventurers arrive at Outskirt in the Misty Vale, they make straight for the Three Stag Inn. Warm light and pipe smoke spill from its open door, the sound of laughter and clattering tankards...
blog.monkeyx.games
November 26, 2025 at 6:37 PM
The second campaign log of our Dragonbane campaign. Warning: Spoilers.
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/26/d...
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/26/d...
Reposted by Seyed P. Razavi (aka Syd)
Sometimes VTTs feel like they’ve taken us backwards. Gorgeous maps, animated tokens, chunky automation… and somehow I’m less in the scene than when we used badly drawn dungeon maps on scrap paper. 1/10
November 25, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Sometimes VTTs feel like they’ve taken us backwards. Gorgeous maps, animated tokens, chunky automation… and somehow I’m less in the scene than when we used badly drawn dungeon maps on scrap paper. 1/10
I ran a Hogswatch Discworld one-shot where belief nearly went missing and a broom saved the night, so wrote up my thoughts on the Discworld RPG (Adventures in Ankh-Morpork). blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/23/p...
Playing the Discworld RPG
Some settings feel like they ought to be RPGs. The Discworld is one of them. It’s already about people blundering through plots they don’t fully understand, improvising wildly while the universe…
blog.monkeyx.games
November 23, 2025 at 2:51 PM
I ran a Hogswatch Discworld one-shot where belief nearly went missing and a broom saved the night, so wrote up my thoughts on the Discworld RPG (Adventures in Ankh-Morpork). blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/23/p...
On this gray Saturday afternoon, with the kids and misses otherwise occupied, I'm having an enjoyable re-read through @wyrdscience.bsky.social mack catalogue before I get to the latest issue that arrived the other day.
November 22, 2025 at 2:34 PM
On this gray Saturday afternoon, with the kids and misses otherwise occupied, I'm having an enjoyable re-read through @wyrdscience.bsky.social mack catalogue before I get to the latest issue that arrived the other day.
Wrote about Salvage Union: a scrap-punk mecha game where community and consequences matter more than perfect build math. Less Gundam, more ABC Warriors with feelings. Plus me rambling about why we keep chasing “the mech-siah” RPG. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/21/r...
Rust and Resolve - Salvage Union Review
For me, a good mecha RPG isn’t really about the robots. Or rather, it’s not only about the robots. I’m not here for Gundam melodrama or lovingly tracking armour facings on a hex map; I’m closer to ABC...
blog.monkeyx.games
November 21, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Wrote about Salvage Union: a scrap-punk mecha game where community and consequences matter more than perfect build math. Less Gundam, more ABC Warriors with feelings. Plus me rambling about why we keep chasing “the mech-siah” RPG. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/21/r...
Wrote a bit of how I try to tackle TTRPG books to get them to the table: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/18/h...
How to Actually Read TTRPG Rulebooks
I bet a lot of RPG books have never made it to the table. They sit there on the shelf like beautiful, unread bricks. The common mistake I think is treating them like novels. Most RPG books are not…
blog.monkeyx.games
November 18, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Wrote a bit of how I try to tackle TTRPG books to get them to the table: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/18/h...
Reposted by Seyed P. Razavi (aka Syd)
Hi Friends. If you are interested in Pulp Cthulhu campaigns, my Agents of Excalibur pdf is now available on Drive Thru rpg. Set in London of the 1960's, characters are agents of the MI5 security service in Excalibur Branch. It's also on sale. Please have a look. www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...
Agents of Excalibur: The Complete Campaign - Chaosium | Miskatonic Repository | DriveThruRPG
Welcome to Excalibur Branch
Step into a Britain of the Swinging 60s where a hidden war rages alongside the Cold War. The Fey, creatures of myth and magic, have launched a covert invasion, and only the...
www.drivethrurpg.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Hi Friends. If you are interested in Pulp Cthulhu campaigns, my Agents of Excalibur pdf is now available on Drive Thru rpg. Set in London of the 1960's, characters are agents of the MI5 security service in Excalibur Branch. It's also on sale. Please have a look. www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...
Fourteen years after Skyrim launched and there’s still nothing quite like spending 300+ hours in it, finishing every guild, the DLCs, and sixteen cheese collection side-quests… but somehow never the main quest or the civil war. 1/10
November 15, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Fourteen years after Skyrim launched and there’s still nothing quite like spending 300+ hours in it, finishing every guild, the DLCs, and sixteen cheese collection side-quests… but somehow never the main quest or the civil war. 1/10
I grew up on Gibson and now work in the bit mines. I wanted Snow Crash vibes, not catalogues. My review tests today’s cyberpunk RPGs for politics with teeth and team-first netrunning. Winners for 3 playstyles inside. Mild philosophy, mild jokes: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/12/s...
Snow Crash Feelings, Neuromancer Nerves
I grew up on flat black CRTs and dog-eared paperbacks promising that by 2020 we’d all be plugging our brains into ice-slick grids while wearing sunglasses at night. I then did a master’s degree in AI…
blog.monkeyx.games
November 14, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I grew up on Gibson and now work in the bit mines. I wanted Snow Crash vibes, not catalogues. My review tests today’s cyberpunk RPGs for politics with teeth and team-first netrunning. Winners for 3 playstyles inside. Mild philosophy, mild jokes: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/12/s...
Reposted by Seyed P. Razavi (aka Syd)
If you want to get into Warhammer the Old World in 2026? Then this is the video for you. Please Share
youtu.be/gsIA8bp8KQE
youtu.be/gsIA8bp8KQE
Starting Warhammer the Old World in 2026 | Square Based Show
YouTube video by Square Based: A Warhammer Fantasy in the Old World
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 5:28 PM
If you want to get into Warhammer the Old World in 2026? Then this is the video for you. Please Share
youtu.be/gsIA8bp8KQE
youtu.be/gsIA8bp8KQE
Mythic Bastionland: the knightly game that finally scratched the itch Pendragon never quite did for me. Loose, dreamy, lethal, and full of possibility instead of railroads and tourney tables. If you like myth, not minutiae, this one’s for you. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/12/m...
Mythic Bastionland: All Knights, No Homework
I have always wanted to love Pendragon. On paper it should be my perfect game: doomed knights, big feelings, generational tragedy, Britain drenched in rain and prophecy. In practice…
blog.monkeyx.games
November 12, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Mythic Bastionland: the knightly game that finally scratched the itch Pendragon never quite did for me. Loose, dreamy, lethal, and full of possibility instead of railroads and tourney tables. If you like myth, not minutiae, this one’s for you. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/12/m...
I ramble about gothic urban horror RPGs (Urban Shadows, Buffy, Liminal, Monster of the Week, Vampire) and why awkward 90s kids like me keep coming back to sad monsters in cities. Part review, part therapy session. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/11/g...
Gothic Feelings, Urban Nightmares: Playing in the Shadows of Buffy, Liminal & Vampire
Like a lot of people who were young adults in the late 90s and early 00s, I spent evenings watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and hanging around with at least one black-lipsticked vampire enthusiast.
blog.monkeyx.games
November 11, 2025 at 11:08 AM
I ramble about gothic urban horror RPGs (Urban Shadows, Buffy, Liminal, Monster of the Week, Vampire) and why awkward 90s kids like me keep coming back to sad monsters in cities. Part review, part therapy session. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/11/g...
Wrote about my Humble Bundle haul (GI Joe, Transformers, Power Rangers) and what it says about licensed RPGs in an age of too many games. Do they shine, or just sink into the pile with my soul? Philosophical rambling within: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/09/m...
More Than Meets the Shelf: Licensed RPGs in the Age of Too Many Games
At some point, I picked up a Humble Bundle of licensed RPGs: G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Power Rangers (all Renegade’s Essence20 line). This was not because I had a burning need to run a Power Rangers...
blog.monkeyx.games
November 9, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Wrote about my Humble Bundle haul (GI Joe, Transformers, Power Rangers) and what it says about licensed RPGs in an age of too many games. Do they shine, or just sink into the pile with my soul? Philosophical rambling within: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/09/m...
The lengths ChatGPT will go to to lull us into a false sense of security
as a computer scientist, i am BEGGING people to realize that there is no cognition inside of an LLM
no reasoning, no thought process, no self-awareness
I read a lot of arguments (for AND against) LLMs, and both sides seem to think there’s a consciousness or intentionality or even a moral alignment
no reasoning, no thought process, no self-awareness
I read a lot of arguments (for AND against) LLMs, and both sides seem to think there’s a consciousness or intentionality or even a moral alignment
November 8, 2025 at 9:06 AM
The lengths ChatGPT will go to to lull us into a false sense of security
Tried to love 5E Doctor Who. It’s still 5E, just wearing a long scarf. I explain why I flogged the bundle, why Vortex fits better, and, yes, a little grumble about the TV era that cured my urge to run it. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/07/p...
Putting Down the Sonic: Why I Sold Doctors & Daleks
There are books on my shelf that say something noble about my taste and discernment. Then there are the others. Doctors & Daleks belongs to the latter category: the sort of purchase that clearly…
blog.monkeyx.games
November 7, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Tried to love 5E Doctor Who. It’s still 5E, just wearing a long scarf. I explain why I flogged the bundle, why Vortex fits better, and, yes, a little grumble about the TV era that cured my urge to run it. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/07/p...
I've gone on a TTRPG reading splurge. Come to the conclusion: TTRPG hobby in 2025: we don’t have “a game,” we have a backlog. Steam, but for feelings. We run a campaign, think seriously about a second, & own PDFs for about forty-seven more we “might” play when time and friends stop being finite. 1/8
November 5, 2025 at 8:38 PM
I've gone on a TTRPG reading splurge. Come to the conclusion: TTRPG hobby in 2025: we don’t have “a game,” we have a backlog. Steam, but for feelings. We run a campaign, think seriously about a second, & own PDFs for about forty-seven more we “might” play when time and friends stop being finite. 1/8
I read After the War through the lens of Apocalypse World & Mutant: Year Zero. It’s all about one fragile settlement, messy relationships, and memetic horror on a refugee world. Fewer beans to count, more people to care about. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/04/a...
After the War – Space Bears and Trauma (Review)
I’ve owned Apocalypse World and Mutant: Year Zero for ages and, like a true GM, never actually run either. I like the idea of post-apocalyptic survival, but when I sit down to prep…
blog.monkeyx.games
November 4, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I read After the War through the lens of Apocalypse World & Mutant: Year Zero. It’s all about one fragile settlement, messy relationships, and memetic horror on a refugee world. Fewer beans to count, more people to care about. blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/04/a...
Back to writing some campaign blogs by catching up on our Dragonbane campaign we started in September: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/03/d...
Dragonbane - The Secret of the Dragon Emperor #1
The Dragon Emperor is dead. In the Misty Vale, a forgotten corner of a broken realm, ancient powers begin to shift. Ruins groan in the earth. Shadows move in the pine-thick forests.
blog.monkeyx.games
November 3, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Back to writing some campaign blogs by catching up on our Dragonbane campaign we started in September: blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/03/d...
FiveEvil – A Quick Review, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Fear 5E Again
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/02/f...
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/02/f...
FiveEvil - A Quick Review, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Fear 5E Again
Every so often I am reminded that Past Me cannot be trusted with a Kickstarter account. At some point he apparently thought, “You know what you need, as a person who has deliberately drifted away from...
blog.monkeyx.games
November 2, 2025 at 3:20 PM
FiveEvil – A Quick Review, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Fear 5E Again
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/02/f...
blog.monkeyx.games/2025/11/02/f...