Dr Neil Smith
@neilnjae.bsky.social
Story gamer, juggler, academic.
Just had our first belated session of the Blades 68 Playtest. We've got a muckraking journalist and a groovy cabbie embroiled in the Profumo affair. #BitD #FitD #rpg #ttrpg @evilhat.bsky.social
March 31, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Just had our first belated session of the Blades 68 Playtest. We've got a muckraking journalist and a groovy cabbie embroiled in the Profumo affair. #BitD #FitD #rpg #ttrpg @evilhat.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
RPGs are a form of art that is welcoming to people of every skill level. "But my map is bad!" "But my dungeon is kinda boring." WRONG. We're not talking about putting out albums, we're talking about singing around a campfire with a friend who has a guitar. Fun is the focus, not production quality.
March 19, 2025 at 11:24 AM
RPGs are a form of art that is welcoming to people of every skill level. "But my map is bad!" "But my dungeon is kinda boring." WRONG. We're not talking about putting out albums, we're talking about singing around a campfire with a friend who has a guitar. Fun is the focus, not production quality.
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
My write-up of Concrete Cow 25. savagespiel.blogspot.com/2025/03/conc...
Concrete Cow 25
I arrived in Wolverton at more or less the time I intended, paid my entry, and headed straight for the bring and buy, followed by Leisure Ga...
savagespiel.blogspot.com
March 18, 2025 at 11:05 PM
My write-up of Concrete Cow 25. savagespiel.blogspot.com/2025/03/conc...
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
📣 LOOKING FOR CREATORS! 📣
I’m working with a UK charity that offers safe spaces & support to victims of domestic abuse.
We’re running a fundraiser in Women’s History Month (March), and would to have more creators involved - if that’s you, gimme a shout here or in my DMs!
(Plz signal boost 🙏💚)
I’m working with a UK charity that offers safe spaces & support to victims of domestic abuse.
We’re running a fundraiser in Women’s History Month (March), and would to have more creators involved - if that’s you, gimme a shout here or in my DMs!
(Plz signal boost 🙏💚)
February 3, 2025 at 4:34 PM
📣 LOOKING FOR CREATORS! 📣
I’m working with a UK charity that offers safe spaces & support to victims of domestic abuse.
We’re running a fundraiser in Women’s History Month (March), and would to have more creators involved - if that’s you, gimme a shout here or in my DMs!
(Plz signal boost 🙏💚)
I’m working with a UK charity that offers safe spaces & support to victims of domestic abuse.
We’re running a fundraiser in Women’s History Month (March), and would to have more creators involved - if that’s you, gimme a shout here or in my DMs!
(Plz signal boost 🙏💚)
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
If anyone from the USA or elsewhere wants to see how British humour is used to great effect, firstly, ignore the video.
And then read the (thousands of) comments.
Some great work here. Well done all.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgvE...
And then read the (thousands of) comments.
Some great work here. Well done all.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgvE...
New Tesla Model Y: What have they done?
YouTube video by carwow
www.youtube.com
January 27, 2025 at 8:18 PM
If anyone from the USA or elsewhere wants to see how British humour is used to great effect, firstly, ignore the video.
And then read the (thousands of) comments.
Some great work here. Well done all.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgvE...
And then read the (thousands of) comments.
Some great work here. Well done all.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgvE...
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
The "first they came..." poem gets quoted and quoted and quoted and quoted and you know what, we do in fact know who they're coming for first, right now, and that is trans people, and the answer needs to be "absolutely the fuck not, you motherfuckers," full stop.
January 27, 2025 at 8:27 PM
The "first they came..." poem gets quoted and quoted and quoted and quoted and you know what, we do in fact know who they're coming for first, right now, and that is trans people, and the answer needs to be "absolutely the fuck not, you motherfuckers," full stop.
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
The Transformative Role-playing Game Design textbook is now available for free download! Featuring authors from Uppsala University, Dragons' Nest, Avalon Larp Studio, Chaos League, and more!
https://buff.ly/3CiHFdR
https://buff.ly/3CiHFdR
January 24, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The Transformative Role-playing Game Design textbook is now available for free download! Featuring authors from Uppsala University, Dragons' Nest, Avalon Larp Studio, Chaos League, and more!
https://buff.ly/3CiHFdR
https://buff.ly/3CiHFdR
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
Want to help create the new editions of Cold City and Hot War?
You can now sign up to playtest, and be notified of the campaign launch here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/jon...
#coldcity #hotwar
You can now sign up to playtest, and be notified of the campaign launch here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/jon...
#coldcity #hotwar
January 17, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Want to help create the new editions of Cold City and Hot War?
You can now sign up to playtest, and be notified of the campaign launch here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/jon...
#coldcity #hotwar
You can now sign up to playtest, and be notified of the campaign launch here: www.kickstarter.com/projects/jon...
#coldcity #hotwar
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
a|state second edition is the story of how you fight back. How you organise to drive back the forces of the all-powerful Trusts, the organised criminals, the peddlers of religion, and find a better way for your corner of The City. Dickens meets Ballard in a flooded back alley. #astaterpg
January 17, 2025 at 8:20 PM
a|state second edition is the story of how you fight back. How you organise to drive back the forces of the all-powerful Trusts, the organised criminals, the peddlers of religion, and find a better way for your corner of The City. Dickens meets Ballard in a flooded back alley. #astaterpg
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
🧵 : This is a thread of sites and people who cover indie tabletop games, with links and bluesky handles to follow!
Share it, add to it, use it, follow everyone on it, turn it into an article on your site!
Share it, add to it, use it, follow everyone on it, turn it into an article on your site!
January 14, 2025 at 5:35 PM
🧵 : This is a thread of sites and people who cover indie tabletop games, with links and bluesky handles to follow!
Share it, add to it, use it, follow everyone on it, turn it into an article on your site!
Share it, add to it, use it, follow everyone on it, turn it into an article on your site!
Another attempt solving #AdventOfCode 2024 day 24 in #Haskell . This verison solves it prgramatically, growing the structure I expect to see and comparing it to what I've actually got.
Full writeup on my blog: work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/10/a... and code on Codeberg: codeberg.org/NeilNjae/adv...
Full writeup on my blog: work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/10/a... and code on Codeberg: codeberg.org/NeilNjae/adv...
Advent of Code 2024 day 24 revisited
Another attempt at the puzzle, this time actually writing code that solves it!
work.njae.me.uk
January 12, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Another attempt solving #AdventOfCode 2024 day 24 in #Haskell . This verison solves it prgramatically, growing the structure I expect to see and comparing it to what I've actually got.
Full writeup on my blog: work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/10/a... and code on Codeberg: codeberg.org/NeilNjae/adv...
Full writeup on my blog: work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/10/a... and code on Codeberg: codeberg.org/NeilNjae/adv...
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
The Three Coins is a brilliant piece of design and meta commentary. A roleplaying game within a roleplaying game, that's wholly inaccurate, censored by the authorities, and annotated by someone who actually plays it. It all came from "How would an RPG socially function in this RPG setting?"
Just packing up some of these, and took some photos.
The Three Coins is a role-playing game from within the setting of a|state, The City. It is a banned, imaginative game about escaping The City, played in alleys and wynds using a handful of coins. The book The Three Coins catalogues this pursuit.
The Three Coins is a role-playing game from within the setting of a|state, The City. It is a banned, imaginative game about escaping The City, played in alleys and wynds using a handful of coins. The book The Three Coins catalogues this pursuit.
January 10, 2025 at 3:09 PM
The Three Coins is a brilliant piece of design and meta commentary. A roleplaying game within a roleplaying game, that's wholly inaccurate, censored by the authorities, and annotated by someone who actually plays it. It all came from "How would an RPG socially function in this RPG setting?"
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
1) This is a thread about non-annihilatory apocalypses and how they fit into my research on RPGs, the Cold War, and nuclear fear in the 1970s/80.
Of course, we start with The Price of Freedom (Greg Costikyan, West End Games, 1986). Those of us of 'a certain age' will vividly recall the controversy!
Of course, we start with The Price of Freedom (Greg Costikyan, West End Games, 1986). Those of us of 'a certain age' will vividly recall the controversy!
January 7, 2025 at 10:57 AM
1) This is a thread about non-annihilatory apocalypses and how they fit into my research on RPGs, the Cold War, and nuclear fear in the 1970s/80.
Of course, we start with The Price of Freedom (Greg Costikyan, West End Games, 1986). Those of us of 'a certain age' will vividly recall the controversy!
Of course, we start with The Price of Freedom (Greg Costikyan, West End Games, 1986). Those of us of 'a certain age' will vividly recall the controversy!
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
Fellow tabletop gamers, what are your goals for 2025? Here are mine!
- Publish my Liminal Horror Pamphlet, Gongoozler
- Publish my Sanction Genre Setup, Portals
- More communities on The Raspy Raven
- Cons - OBaWS, GrogLaw, Concrete Cow, Grogmeet
- Publish my Liminal Horror Pamphlet, Gongoozler
- Publish my Sanction Genre Setup, Portals
- More communities on The Raspy Raven
- Cons - OBaWS, GrogLaw, Concrete Cow, Grogmeet
Fellow tabletop gamers, what are your goals for 2025? Here are mine!
- Get to EIG every month
- Complete fulfillment of Lo! Thy Dread Empire
- Mum Chums for #ZineQuest
- Kick-ass freelance project I'm hype for
- Try be more organised and positive person
- Talk more about what I'm working on
- Get to EIG every month
- Complete fulfillment of Lo! Thy Dread Empire
- Mum Chums for #ZineQuest
- Kick-ass freelance project I'm hype for
- Try be more organised and positive person
- Talk more about what I'm working on
Fellow #TTRPG gamers, what are your goals for 2025? Here are mine!
-Run at least one short campaign for multiple people.
-Play with some new people.
-Reach out to a few specific people that I'd really like to play with.
-Record new episodes of @iepodcast.bsky.social with @gamefiend.bsky.social
-Run at least one short campaign for multiple people.
-Play with some new people.
-Reach out to a few specific people that I'd really like to play with.
-Record new episodes of @iepodcast.bsky.social with @gamefiend.bsky.social
January 4, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Fellow tabletop gamers, what are your goals for 2025? Here are mine!
- Publish my Liminal Horror Pamphlet, Gongoozler
- Publish my Sanction Genre Setup, Portals
- More communities on The Raspy Raven
- Cons - OBaWS, GrogLaw, Concrete Cow, Grogmeet
- Publish my Liminal Horror Pamphlet, Gongoozler
- Publish my Sanction Genre Setup, Portals
- More communities on The Raspy Raven
- Cons - OBaWS, GrogLaw, Concrete Cow, Grogmeet
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
If you’re familiar with playing TTRPGs in front of an in-person audience (as player or audience) BEFORE 2009, I’d love to hear
about your memories.
You can comment or email Ecfriedman at auburn dot edu
This is for Polygon (& probably book), so please let me know how’d you’d like to be cited.
about your memories.
You can comment or email Ecfriedman at auburn dot edu
This is for Polygon (& probably book), so please let me know how’d you’d like to be cited.
January 3, 2025 at 5:07 PM
If you’re familiar with playing TTRPGs in front of an in-person audience (as player or audience) BEFORE 2009, I’d love to hear
about your memories.
You can comment or email Ecfriedman at auburn dot edu
This is for Polygon (& probably book), so please let me know how’d you’d like to be cited.
about your memories.
You can comment or email Ecfriedman at auburn dot edu
This is for Polygon (& probably book), so please let me know how’d you’d like to be cited.
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
I just finished publishing all 25 blogs explaining my solution for solving each day of #AdventOfCode!
Huge shoutout to @mattboyle.bsky.social for giving me this opportunity to publish them on ByteSizeGo, what a fun and active community to be a part of 😁
Posting all links in the thread below 👇
Huge shoutout to @mattboyle.bsky.social for giving me this opportunity to publish them on ByteSizeGo, what a fun and active community to be a part of 😁
Posting all links in the thread below 👇
January 1, 2025 at 1:41 PM
I just finished publishing all 25 blogs explaining my solution for solving each day of #AdventOfCode!
Huge shoutout to @mattboyle.bsky.social for giving me this opportunity to publish them on ByteSizeGo, what a fun and active community to be a part of 😁
Posting all links in the thread below 👇
Huge shoutout to @mattboyle.bsky.social for giving me this opportunity to publish them on ByteSizeGo, what a fun and active community to be a part of 😁
Posting all links in the thread below 👇
Another post on optimising #Haskell solutions to #AdventOfCode puzzles. These show how a couple of simple and obvious changes lead to things going faster by almost two orders of magnitude.
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/03/o...
#Optimisation #Optimization
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/03/o...
#Optimisation #Optimization
Optimising Haskell: quick wins
Two quick examples of optimising.
work.njae.me.uk
January 4, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Another post on optimising #Haskell solutions to #AdventOfCode puzzles. These show how a couple of simple and obvious changes lead to things going faster by almost two orders of magnitude.
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/03/o...
#Optimisation #Optimization
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/03/o...
#Optimisation #Optimization
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
5 TTRPGs I want to try in 2025:
🌳 The Wildsea
🔪 Blades in The Dark
👑 For the Queen
💣 Rom Com Drama Bomb
👽 Mothership
This year is all about really playing lots of the games out there, so I really feel like I should at least try some of the big names in the space!
🌳 The Wildsea
🔪 Blades in The Dark
👑 For the Queen
💣 Rom Com Drama Bomb
👽 Mothership
This year is all about really playing lots of the games out there, so I really feel like I should at least try some of the big names in the space!
5 TTRPGs I want to try in 2025:
🦗Cloud Empress
🧪 Substratum Protocol
🐉 Dragonbane
🍲 Stewpot
🌆 Metro: Otherscape
🦗Cloud Empress
🧪 Substratum Protocol
🐉 Dragonbane
🍲 Stewpot
🌆 Metro: Otherscape
5 TTRPGs I want to try in 2025:
⚡ Tezca Sentai
🌃 Urban Shadows 2E (because it's FINALLY available)
🗝️ Home
💌 Exquisite Crime
📱Alice is Missing: Silent Falls Expansion
⚡ Tezca Sentai
🌃 Urban Shadows 2E (because it's FINALLY available)
🗝️ Home
💌 Exquisite Crime
📱Alice is Missing: Silent Falls Expansion
January 3, 2025 at 4:15 PM
5 TTRPGs I want to try in 2025:
🌳 The Wildsea
🔪 Blades in The Dark
👑 For the Queen
💣 Rom Com Drama Bomb
👽 Mothership
This year is all about really playing lots of the games out there, so I really feel like I should at least try some of the big names in the space!
🌳 The Wildsea
🔪 Blades in The Dark
👑 For the Queen
💣 Rom Com Drama Bomb
👽 Mothership
This year is all about really playing lots of the games out there, so I really feel like I should at least try some of the big names in the space!
I've just written about how I optimised a #Haskell program solving an #AdventOfCode puzzle. It's about how I used the profiler to find the parts that needed attention, and reduced the runtime ×15 with a couple of small changes.
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/02/o...
#optimisation
#optimization
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/02/o...
#optimisation
#optimization
Optimising Haskell: joy of profiling
Using the profiler to find what to optimise.
work.njae.me.uk
January 3, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I've just written about how I optimised a #Haskell program solving an #AdventOfCode puzzle. It's about how I used the profiler to find the parts that needed attention, and reduced the runtime ×15 with a couple of small changes.
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/02/o...
#optimisation
#optimization
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/02/o...
#optimisation
#optimization
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
What was the year like in roleplaying? What classics returned? What did Wizards of the Coast do this time? It's all in my yearly report on the roleplaying industry.
www.designers-and-dragons.com/2025/01/01/2...
www.designers-and-dragons.com/2025/01/01/2...
2024: The Year in Roleplaying – Designers & Dragons
www.designers-and-dragons.com
January 1, 2025 at 6:46 PM
What was the year like in roleplaying? What classics returned? What did Wizards of the Coast do this time? It's all in my yearly report on the roleplaying industry.
www.designers-and-dragons.com/2025/01/01/2...
www.designers-and-dragons.com/2025/01/01/2...
My review of #AdventOfCode 2024 now up on my blog. An overview of the #Haskell features I used (very few), the packages I used (not many) and the overall performance of my solutions (generally pretty good, with a few not so good).
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/01/a...
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/01/a...
Advent of Code 2024 review
A look back over the 2024 event.
work.njae.me.uk
January 1, 2025 at 6:28 PM
My review of #AdventOfCode 2024 now up on my blog. An overview of the #Haskell features I used (very few), the packages I used (not many) and the overall performance of my solutions (generally pretty good, with a few not so good).
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/01/a...
work.njae.me.uk/2025/01/01/a...
Reposted by Dr Neil Smith
Birrin flying boats: It was a long road to the final painting, the aircraft lifting off in front of one of the great Southern floating cities.
#scifiart
#scifiart
December 30, 2024 at 4:08 PM
Birrin flying boats: It was a long road to the final painting, the aircraft lifting off in front of one of the great Southern floating cities.
#scifiart
#scifiart
And that puts me as another member of the "500 star" club with #AdventOfCode work.njae.me.uk/tag/advent-o...
I found the first year's challenges a few days after they went live, and I've done the rest each year as they appeared. It's been fun so far. Long may it continue!
I found the first year's challenges a few days after they went live, and I've done the rest each year as they appeared. It's been fun so far. Long may it continue!
December 29, 2024 at 5:12 PM
And that puts me as another member of the "500 star" club with #AdventOfCode work.njae.me.uk/tag/advent-o...
I found the first year's challenges a few days after they went live, and I've done the rest each year as they appeared. It's been fun so far. Long may it continue!
I found the first year's challenges a few days after they went live, and I've done the rest each year as they appeared. It's been fun so far. Long may it continue!
My solution to #AdventOfCode day 25 in #Haskell : work.njae.me.uk/2024/12/29/a... , code at codeberg.org/NeilNjae/adv...
A quick and gentle finish to the challenges.
A quick and gentle finish to the challenges.
Advent of Code 2024 day 25
A gentle end to the challenge.
work.njae.me.uk
December 29, 2024 at 2:36 PM
My solution to #AdventOfCode day 25 in #Haskell : work.njae.me.uk/2024/12/29/a... , code at codeberg.org/NeilNjae/adv...
A quick and gentle finish to the challenges.
A quick and gentle finish to the challenges.
My solution to #AdventOfCode day 24 in #Haskell : work.njae.me.uk/2024/12/29/a... , code at codeberg.org/NeilNjae/adv...
Laborious and fiddly reverse engineering. Not fun at all.
Laborious and fiddly reverse engineering. Not fun at all.
Advent of Code 2024 day 24
Horrible, finicky, detailed reverse engineering. Not my cup of tea.
work.njae.me.uk
December 29, 2024 at 12:46 PM
My solution to #AdventOfCode day 24 in #Haskell : work.njae.me.uk/2024/12/29/a... , code at codeberg.org/NeilNjae/adv...
Laborious and fiddly reverse engineering. Not fun at all.
Laborious and fiddly reverse engineering. Not fun at all.