I rate every room in White Plume Mountain (X out of 5 Stars) and explain why each room does, or does not, work and how you can take these lessons into designing your own dungeons, be they of the funhouse variety or not
#osr #ttrpg
I know, I know, I keep talking about the Bloggies.
But I built an archive of all the past Bloggies Awards. If that's your kind of thing, take a look!
You can also grab yearly OPML files of all nominees for your RSS reader.
bloggies.org
It was a tough bracket! A lot of good posts went out too soon. I’m glad you’re still in it!
Vote for Elmcat! ACAB was one of my favorite blogs this year, and Elmcat has become a pillar of the community. His Mapping the Blogosphere project is one of the coolest things I've seen on a blog.
Bloggies PSA! Round 1 of all 5 initial Categories is open until 7 AM EST. Not just Advice.
Advice: forms.gle/LApoXPh7cVhy...
Critique: forms.gle/5Qvwxxsvyhq8...
Gameable: forms.gle/WjPxMyQunpPZ...
Theory: forms.gle/VSa1fwjYLcrk...
Meta: forms.gle/R26nY7qm7DaA...
Vote for your favorites. PSA over
The awesome @bommyknocker.bsky.social, @elmc.at, Grace of Choir of Fire @seraphimseraphina.bsky.social and many community members have organized a group recording effort of every Bloggies post as podcast episodes inspired by Blogs on Tape!https://podcast.bloggies.org/
a response to the @rascal.news article on yazeba's bed & breakfast, clarifying some misunderstandings and (hopefully) providing a clearer explanation of what happened
possumcreek.medium.com/a-response-t...
Picture of four orc drawings in a pile on my drawing table
four Pig-faced Orcs inked today
#osr #ttrpg #art #inkillustration #dnd
New zine! "Imagine a parallel world where RPGs evolved from wargaming by adding roleplaying, instead of our world’s approach of adding mechanics to free roleplaying. It is hard to conceive a divergent history where the conditions were right for RPGs to start from wargames." — from Wightbred's essay
Thank you! Glad you’re enjoying it!
I wrote a theory post. Don't worry, I paid taxes at the end.
newschoolrevolution.com/turning-the-...
January issue of Carouse just dropped!
If you like indie TTRPGs check out this collaborative newsletter from a diverse group of indie creators.
www.carouse.blog/january-2026...
A short but sweet post this week. Next week's article is a semi-sequel to my 1 HP Dragon post from last year.
www.explorersdesign.com/top-5-newsle...
Next month I will launch Cairn Press.
I tried to make a publishing agreement that is fair, free, and mutually beneficial. Once the lawyer approves final contract I'll release it as CC-BY-SA, if possible. I've also written up a "plain English" version that you can read here:
cairnpress.ink#terms
It’s Bloggies season! Here’s a big list of posts I enjoyed. Plus, a recap of my year in blogging and plans for 2026:
RELEASE: The complete #hexmas map is now available for you to peruse! Download the pdf version to see all the bloggers who contributed to this awesome blogwagon by @prismaticwasteland.com.
#blog #ttrpg #bloggers #blogosphere
bakenshake09.itch.io/hexmas-map-2...
Between Two Cons ticket sign-ups are officially open!
Where: Norse Hall, Portland, Oregon
When: June 26th & 27th, 2026
Event submissions are also open; sign-ups for events will open in February. We're also taking vendor and sponsorship applications at this time!
tabletop.events/conventions/...
The Bloggies 2026 submissions are now open!
Submit your favorite posts, series, and debut blogs via the official Bloggies page between now and Jan 31st!
Please share this around. I'll be making regular Bloggies-themed announcements throughout the month.
www.explorersdesign.com/bloggies-2026/
What a great day to be back in NYC!
My contribution to the Merry Hexmas Blog Bandwagon: former Elf Liberation Front members, Licorice Eels, snow heads in need of bodies, and more!
You can dislike something. You can know its not for you. You can critique it. You can even shrug and say "I dont get this." You -cannot- be incurious and disparaging and still demand to be taken seriously.
Rather than doing an ordinary end-of-year best of post, I put together 9 things I've learned running 9 different RPG systems in the past year(ish). What have you learned?
www.thenovelgamemaster.com/2025/12/9-th...
#osr #dnd #mothership #shadowdark #gmtips
New Dungeon (in blog form): Castle Claus, or The Keep on the North Pole
A Rankin Bass Christmas-themed dungeon for the Merry Hexmas Blog Bandwagon. Possibly one of my more high effort blog posts to date
#osr #ttrpg
Blog map update!
- Added many more blogs
- Pulled in more historical post data (Substack, Ghost + others)
- Reworked the side-panel stats to be clearer
The new data also reshaped the communities. We're at eight now.
graph.elmc.at
I’m unfamiliar, but I do love a spooky big bridge!
Thanks! The writing for that first location is killer—I’m gonna have to check this out
Ooh, what’s that screenshot from?
The entrance to a dungeon (or a new level) should evoke trepidation and demand a tangible commitment to peril. #osr
Finally added my hex, Hearth, to the Hexmas Map for the Blogwagon started by @prismaticwasteland.com!
#blog #hexmas #community #ttrpg #hexcrawl
theplayreports.com/posts/hexmas...
