@SJohnRoss@dice.camp
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

SJohnRoss

@SJohnRoss@dice.camp

You examine the S. John closely, but find only a small tag proclaiming him a product of the Frobozz Magic Game Designer Company.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

SJohnRoss, to DoctorWho
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

I really enjoyed this most recent episode, but it does give me an excuse to dust off my old joke from the Moffat era: that all these "You can't do [basic thing it's natural to want to do] or you'll die!" threats are just a long-game setup for the ultimate threat that will destroy all life in the universe ... but they CAN'T... just so long as you don't roll you eyes! 🙄

SJohnRoss, to random
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

Folks sometimes ask me if I'll ever just publish an all-in-one article describing in detail.

I have long intended to. My main problem is that, every time I draft it, its ideal form seems to be a kind of mutant pick-a-path "Choose Your Own Socratic FAQ" monstrosity and I hate that. 😅

Eventually I'll just surrender to that, resign to it, and do my best to make it funny.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@mcmartin Well, that's interesting! I mean, apart from "thank you!' that you feel they're good ... I'd be very interested to dig into the challenges you've faced running them, since that's the kind of thing I should be writing more, and designing more, to help folks with.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@mcmartin Aha! Well, kind crowd then. 😁

I did an article on inhabiting distinct NPCs that might be a useful read (it's a quick one, at least). It was for an old Star Trek RPG supplement published by LUG and then purchased by WotC who buried it because they have no Trek license. 😬

The point being, if I dig it up and send it to you, nobody is left to care.

PaperNinja, to random
@PaperNinja@dice.camp avatar

Could a savory crepe be a french enchilada? 🤔

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@PaperNinja Wouldn't even need to be savory, really. If dessert pizza is still pizza, a sweet crepe is a dessert enchilada. 😊

buffy, to hiking

Short hike doesn't mean boring hike!

image/jpeg
image/jpeg
image/jpeg
image/jpeg

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@buffy Boulder Colorado?

orcusdorkus, to random
@orcusdorkus@dice.camp avatar

My daughter’s birthday is in full effect and while the girls enjoy themselves in the pool, I finally decided to pick this up and jump into the Wayback Machine, set it to 1993, and see what all the fuss is about this game. 🤘🏻😊

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@orcusdorkus Historically, the first RPG book to be full-color on every page, and thus worthy of blame for many things. 😆

It's a fun design, though. Very much Marshal Law with the serial numbers slightly smudged, but nice biting satire throughout. It lives up to its unlicensed premise. ☺️

It's on my list of 200 RPGs I'm happy to GM if asked.

Tesqovara, to DoctorWho
@Tesqovara@dice.camp avatar

Nicely done, Steven Moffat.

SJohnRoss, (edited )
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@Tesqovara I haven't seen it yet, but I'm looking forward to it! Moffat writing with Davies as the showrunner is my favorite combo ... We tend to get the Davies energy without the Davies dumbing-down, and the Moffat cleverness without the Moffat dreary-too-clever-by-halfitude. 😅

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@Tesqovara Sandra and I are settling in to watch it now, just after I make us some sandwiches. 😋

SJohnRoss, (edited )
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@Tesqovara Oh yes, that was very good. ☺️

SJohnRoss, to random
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

Aw, man. Dabney Coleman passed. 😥

Sandra and I were just talking about him a week or so ago (mostly in relation to my youthful crush on Geena Davis, which led us to Tootsie and, more importantly, to Buffalo Bill, where she and Coleman shared a lot of screen time)

But of course: Wargames and 9 to 5 and so much more. One of those fixtures of young GenX viewing.

92 is a good long run, but still. Hat off in respect.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@duelinmarkers Oh yeah! Haven't seen that since back in the day!

JoeSondow, to random
@JoeSondow@dice.camp avatar

Just casually leaving various old discords that have gone quiet or that I never got much out of, to make room for more and more Covid-cautious discords. Increasingly cozy and calming.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@JoeSondow That sounds so good. 🥺😷

We're still keeping safe over here! 👍

Glupinickname, to random
@Glupinickname@dice.camp avatar

Some things I saw at this week's scifi convention in Zagreb:

  • people selling pretty faux-retro editions of old Victorian science fiction and adventure novels, which is neat! Except that, for some unfathomable reason, books use Comic Sans font for the text.

  • there are also folks selling hand-crafted D&D dice for between 70 and 140 euros per set. There might be ttrpg geeks out there with enough disposable income to spend so much money on a single dice set, but I sure as hell ain't one of them.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@Glupinickname Is this deja vu or did this post happen before? 🤔😲

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@Glupinickname Aha! I feel slightly saner now.

Not enough saner, probably. But more. 😆

shannonmcmaster, to random
@shannonmcmaster@dice.camp avatar

How long has it been since you were stopped on a lonely stretch of highway by someone confirming your Bugle Boys?

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@shannonmcmaster Ages, but I still get Grey Pouponned about once a year.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@shannonmcmaster I think I just look like someone who'd have mustard.

flyrefi, to random
@flyrefi@dice.camp avatar

I think I’ve discovered a good trick to get myself to think smarter about TTRPG design:

When I ask myself, “what am I offering people with this game,” it makes it a lot easier if I ignore the core rules and think about everything else — the character creation and advancement, the GM tools and advice, the setting, etc.

As a designer it’s easy to fall in love with your rules, but you have to remember that for everyone else rules are just a pill you have to swallow before you can play the game.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@flyrefi For some of us, rules are a pill to skip entirely in hopes of finding more substantial game design on the other pages. 😅

So to me it sounds like great news, that you're focusing on the parts of design I actually tune in for.

But of course it's a very miles-may-very-vary, kind of thing.

JoeSondow, to random
@JoeSondow@dice.camp avatar

It’s so good to have Russell T. Davies back in charge of Doctor Who. And Ncuti Gatwa is perfect as the new Doctor.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@JoeSondow Ncuti is great. Davies is my favorite modern showrunner but my least-favorite episode writer. Moffat is my least-favorite showrunner but my favorite episode writer when he's writing for Davies!

Which is to say I'm really looking forward to Boom! 😆 Moffat writing, Davies showrunning is my favorite combo.

BeefGriller, to random
@BeefGriller@dice.camp avatar

Wait! Where am I going? And why am I in this handbasket?

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@BeefGriller It must be someplace pretty amazing, because the road you're following is paved with good intentions!

foxxtrot, to random
@foxxtrot@dice.camp avatar

Discussions about LLMs always remind me how many people confuse "memorization" with "learning."

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@foxxtrot Large Regurgitation Models. 😬

FredKiesche, to random
@FredKiesche@dice.camp avatar

Culture, thought, the decreasing cycle of attention, Dune and The Book of the New Sun all in one essay. https://www.thejaymo.net/2024/05/12/339-settling-in/

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@FredKiesche Within the tiny world of RPGs ... I never got along very well with Gene Seabolt, but the one issue we agreed on was that we intended making books to endure, be explored and re-explored, to be experienced over years or decades.

Basically everyone else I've worked with in RPGs disagrees, feeling that we should consciously design for rapid churn, treat them as disposable.

Taskerland, to random
@Taskerland@dice.camp avatar

The Bluesky #OSR feed is fascinating as it shows how many people seem to have passionate views on the OSR based upon someone else's Twitter rant and a butt load of weird projection.

At the moment, two lads who acknowledge that Traveller is not an OSR game, are basically harassing some dude for validation because he went low-key viral with a well-phrased observation about the OSR.

Utterly bewildering.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@Taskerland It would help if words and terms could stay still for longer than five years at a stretch ... But at the speed of modern communications tech, that ship has sailed. 😭

Even if you can get 90% of a population to agree on what a term means this morning, that won't necessarily stick through sunset.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@Taskerland No, but if they survive their teen years they'll hopefully learn that others will prefer their own idiosyncratic head-dictionaries and that only a precious few will be willing to discuss temporary terms.

And if they don't, nothing will change, and if they do, nothing will either, so it's not ideal, but it's not worse. 😅

orcusdorkus, to random
@orcusdorkus@dice.camp avatar

Tonight’s casual read. Quite possibly the rarest and most expensive D&D module out there, but is it’s value strictly in it’s rarity or does the adventure hold any worth as well? Guess I’ll find out.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@orcusdorkus Designers named Graeme are, according to science, approximately 7.17% groovier than those NOT named Graeme.

@GraemeDavis being one example we have here, though not the Graeme in this specific module (not sure if that matters).

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • anitta
  • khanakhh
  • mdbf
  • InstantRegret
  • Durango
  • Youngstown
  • rosin
  • slotface
  • thenastyranch
  • osvaldo12
  • ngwrru68w68
  • kavyap
  • cisconetworking
  • DreamBathrooms
  • megavids
  • magazineikmin
  • cubers
  • vwfavf
  • modclub
  • everett
  • ethstaker
  • normalnudes
  • tacticalgear
  • tester
  • provamag3
  • GTA5RPClips
  • Leos
  • JUstTest
  • All magazines
    •