I grew up in Suzhou, China, which had a population of about 6 million people when I was living there and has only grown since then. I considered it to be a small city in comparison to Shanghai, which was roughly an hour away and had a population of 25 million and better public transportation. … urban depthcrawl
Before we get into today’s topic: my zungeon is finally out! Go check it out over on itch! It’s compatible with any system (bring your own statblocks) but it’s also made with The Serket Hack in mind. I didn’t always like BattleTech. There are specific things I have in mind when I want to play … eisenhower-type & mecha promises
My entry for the aforementioned Zungeon Jam is nearing completion and I wanted to take a moment to talk about the tools that I used. I do a lot of design work but frankly, most of it has been theoretical. The Zungeon Jam has forced me to grapple with the realities of execution and learn … zungeon toolset breakdown
I’ve never seen a cleric done well. A few days ago, I finished a (re-) playthrough of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, in anticipation of playing Obsidian’s new game in the same setting, Avowed. There are a lot of things I like about Deadfire, but it’s a game that gives very little moment to moment … god games
How does it work? What makes it tick? What are the mechanisms driving gameplay forward? Are we on a railroad or in a sandbox? These are the questions that plague me when I look at the vast unchiseled form of this game. I understand on a broad level how I want the game to feel, … The Serket Hack: Big Picture Loops
Content Warning This is an intersection of kink and tabletop roleplaying games. Pull out now if that’s not your speed. Monster Hunter Wilds released last Thursday, so we’re going to talk about handlers this week. I’m getting ahead of myself though. This is a post about the Knight and Squire classes in The Serket Hack. … The Serket Hack: Handlers & Hounds
On January 1st, Idle Cartulary over at Playful Void threw down the gauntlet by challenging everyone to make a dungeon zine. Everyone should make a dungeon, at least once. Everyone should get in touch with the hands-on craft of something physical like a zine. Everyone should get a little messy with it. I took this … dungeons (where do i start?)
One of my favorite mecha writers, Osaka, wrote a post recently. I love pilots don’t get me wrong but the real sauce to a good mecha story is to tell a story where you couldn’t substitute the robot with something else like a dragon in a fantasy story or a fighter jet in a modern … Full Metal Bones: 2
I definitely thought I’d be following up my last post to talk more about The Serket Hack, but the mecha thoughts have been hounding me this week. In particular, the thriving mechsploitation community over on bluesky lives rent free in my head. Let’s talk about Full Metal Bones. The core of FMB is purely a … Full Metal Bones: 1
I’ve got two ttrpgs I’m cooking in the oven currently. The first is a mecha rpg called Full Metal Bones and it’s been on the backburner while I figure out exactly how I want to differentiate it from other mecha rpgs. The second is a fantasy rpg with the working title The Serket Hack, which … The Serket Hack: 1
