John Bultena🧙‍♂️🔮 ➡️OrcaCon
banner
onlyplaywizards.com
John Bultena🧙‍♂️🔮 ➡️OrcaCon
@onlyplaywizards.com
📖UC Merced writing professor & TTRPG Educator
🎧More Than Metal podcast
🚀 @AbraxasPrecipic.bsky.social #TheExpanse #RPG
👕 @CauldronNTower.bsky.social
📚Academic Librarian
🎼Vinyl collector
📝Dysgraphic
linktr.ee/onlyplaywizards
December 4, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Question of historical preservation via teaching history through gaming. This student is an avid Diplomacy player, so this is right up their alley. They found some great programs around the country that do this & are interested in learning more of their techniques.
December 3, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Students are increasingly interested in developing their personal communication skills. This student saw that was not fostered in them during the height of COVID & wants to find means to abate that deficiency. Analog games has opened up their communication abilities & they want to know more!
December 3, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Inquiry journey. Original question was "which TTRPG has the most realistic depiction of Abrahamic demonic possession?" but they found out that is a more recent idea. Drawing on the work of @josephlaycock.bsky.social & others, they are interested in how pop media shapes our views of the demonic.
December 3, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Paracosms are all the rage in this transmedia environment, but what do they often miss. What can be done to make them more complete? Good question from this student.
December 3, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Find out on December 15th.

First time going live with Billie, should be a blast.
December 2, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Love when my students do something contemporary: this time delving into how tariffs are affecting the tabletop game industry. We have all seen how disruptive these are, especially in the crowdfunding realm. Was impressed with how well informed the student is on the topic.
December 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Solid little presentation on utilizing TTRPGs to develop communication skills for teens with autism. Student found the order of play & the rules laid out to be of interest, than then form a groundwork where communication becomes the game platform.
December 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Student athlete interested in TTRPGs for building teams, but specifically communication capacities for sports teams. Focus on water polo, which due to its environment presents unique challenges in coordination among teammates. Considerations of metacommunication in TTRPGs abound.
December 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Inquiry into language & its depictions in TTRPGs. Questions about what they get right, but more importantly what they get wrong & fall short of. Often language is just a barrier to knowledge in games, when in fact it is much more interesting than that in the real world.
December 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Student interested in gender performances in TTRPGs & how it relates to transgender. Using a lot of what we learned about how play & imagination work, student delved more into how that functions regarding developing gender identity. Good look at the dichotomy of ways this is handled in TTRPGs
December 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
We spend a lot of time on the Satanic Panic & students ponder how something like that can occur, that is the mechanism surrounding the spread of misinformation. Student here is interested in applying the lessons we learned from that into modern issues surround moral panics.
December 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Less than two weeks to go @ucmerced.bsky.social & that means time for my #TTRPG students to start chatting their research questions!

Come enjoy Day 1's presentations that delve into #RPG #DnD & everything under those guises.

I'll be updating this 🧵 tonight & tomorrow.
December 2, 2025 at 3:07 AM
🎸LUXT, legends of the Sacramento rock scene in the early 2000s just had their reunion show. We chat with them about how that came about, what goes into a reunion & future for the progenitors of Cyber Voodoo Rock.
morethanmetal.podbean.com/e/ep-19-luxt...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtQS...
#metalsky
December 1, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Reminds me of this legend, which has blessed my hard drives for over 3 decades.
November 30, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Post your favourite LOTR character. Wrong answers only.
November 30, 2025 at 7:27 AM
It is a control thing.
November 30, 2025 at 6:18 AM
#nowspinning Various Artists - The Downward Spiral Redux
Great series of reimagining classic albums.
#vinyl #nin #downwardspiral #vinylsky #ilovediscogs #discogs #nowplaying #vinyladay #truevinylcollection #vinylgram #vinylrecords
November 30, 2025 at 3:43 AM
November 29, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Wake up baby, new construct dropped.

Axe Headed Shark Golem.
November 28, 2025 at 9:32 PM
#nowspinning Fortress of the Pearl - Agony and Ecstasy
Blend of dungeon synth & black metal. May break this out for some rounds of Mordheim.
#vinyl #fortressofthepearl #blackmetal #dungeonsynth #metalsky #vinylsky #ilovediscogs #discogs #nowplaying #vinyladay @fiadh.bsky.social
November 28, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Strangers Things 5
Episode 3
November 27, 2025 at 6:23 AM
"You will be visited by three spirits."

The three spirits:
November 25, 2025 at 10:48 PM
#nowspinning Bell Witch/Aerial Ruin – Stygian Bough Volume II
This came as a surprise, suddenly. Excellent for a cold late night listen.
#vinyl #bellwitch #aerialruin #doommetal #metalsky #vinylsky #ilovediscogs #discogs #nowplaying #vinyladay #truevinylcollection
November 25, 2025 at 8:04 AM
November 25, 2025 at 8:03 AM