@czamboni
TTRPGs | tabletop games | languages | teaching | travel | nature. Faculty in Italian and Ed Studies at Wesleyan University. Educator | player | GM | designer | editor | translator. https://czamboni.carrd.co/ #EduSky
I spent 4 months trying to answer a simple question: has this book been translated into my language?
Turns out no one tracks this. Not ISBN registries. Not Amazon. Not Google. Not libraries.
So I built a tool that crosses four databases to piece it together.
zenodot.app
Here is the gorgeous opening song created by Bronze and Steel - a tube that I could easily picture into the GOT universe.
open.spotify.com/track/7tzyGF...
If you understand Italian, you can catch the whole Stormlands saga on YouTube on the "Ghost and Goblins" channel
Special mention for the beautiful art by @elenaominettiart.bsky.social and the incredible music by Bronze and Steel.
Tonight's session (9 of 10) in our GOT Twitch-streamed campaign was so calm and cool that I needed a glass of Woodford Reserve!
Three words: naval battles, wildfire.
Amazing stuff.
Oh friend, I have been absolutely obsessed since early December! I don't post or talk much about it publicly, but I am on my 10+ rewatch and I have the books 2+ times 😅
I also love Canada beyond HR, and I would move there in a heartbeat if I could! ❤️🇨🇦
Making the most of New England Fool's Spring (back to winter tomorrow): 21 degrees C, gorgeous sun, snow finally melting, and a happy puppy.
It feels incredible.
Go out today!
🐾
Oh my I am so happy about this! 😀
Will you be speaking?
Now let's convince @jenkatwrites.bsky.social to come, and we can finally play Deep Dish 9 in person!
+1 for this
@tenpenjenn.com
As far as I know, yes, and I am almost sure last year I saw people attending as independent researchers or creatives, but let me double check with the organizers!
Likewise!! 😀
@jenkatwrites.bsky.social and @senfoonglim.bsky.social towards the end of the episode they talk about friction and its importance for the creative act.
It really resonated with our conversation today!
Not exactly, but I will be there for sure 😊
I am not sure how much I can say now, but when there is an announcement so will share it promptly.
But yes. I will be there!
One of the things I love most about HR is that it is a show in which all elements require your full attention. It is such a rich experience that makes use of the full spectrum of its (cinematic) medium and we can all learn from it.
A great episode about the business of creating Heated Rivalry, but also about creative constraints, how we tell stories collaboratively, and how streaming and the expectation of immediate availability (and distraction) is impacting all that.
www.npr.org/2026/03/04/n...
The deadline has been extended to March 13th!
Take a look at the extended review of our playtest that @planesailinggames.com wrote on his website: planesailinggames.com/review/2026-...
Agreed! The whole pace of the game was very cinematic, with point-of-views changing rapidly as new pieces moved on the board. It felt like playing within a well-orchestrated main scene! :)
That is indeed interesting, particularly for curricular purposes (we study WWII and camps, and the Resistenza and the aftermath). Thank you, I will read on! :)
Another intriguing game by Asa is “Spine”, a solo TTRPG about getting lost in a book: backwards-tabletop.itch.io/spine
And take a look at Asa’s website here, for more games and beautifully written essays: www.backwardstabletop.com
Further, the booklet is lovely, with great illustrations from John Austen (public domain) along with some original pieces by @izzypetersart.bsky.social
It is particularly beautiful to think of the chessboard as both the map of the characters' interaction and the beautiful setting of a masquerade ball in XIV-XV-century Italy.
The game also has great educational potential: it creates a sandbox framework where players can get to know - and reinvent - characters from the play, and of course leanr some chess moves.
As a lover of Shakespeare and a person born and raised in fair Verona, I found the game delightful, well-researched (down to the list of potential Italian names for minor roles), and truly evocative.
We really enjoyed the game, which I would warmly recommend for those who love chess, the Romeo and Juliet play, low-prep one-session games, and masquerade balls!
... thus triggering one of the two possible conclusions, which set in motion the events that bring Romeo and Juliet to their tragic end. We ended the session by reciting together the beautiful sonnet from Act 1, scene 5 of the original play - which almost brought us to tears.
We played for about two hours, with great pace driven by our chess moves, through flirting, dances, lectures, accusations, and exchanges of blows! We came to a truly satisfying and moving finale: the two Kings ended up on adjacent squares on the board...
... and when one piece is captured, players may choose from a series of mini-games (Firebrands-style) and engage in deeper interaction.
Each piece corresponds to a character from the book (with the titular Romeo and Juliet being the two Kings) or a specific type reminiscent of Commedia dell’Arte characters. As players make their movies on the chess board, they describe what happens at the ball...
