@gonzohistory.bsky.social
Game writer, podcaster, occasional educator. Cambridge, UK. Host of Monster Man: monsterman.libsyn.com. He/him. Games are for everyone who thinks games are for everyone. My website: monsterman.org
(Well, mostly!)
06.08.2025 16:27 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I don't decide what gets covered; I just write what they assign me!
06.08.2025 16:25 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0I think it's a challenge, and every scenario winds up being a little bit different in how it presents information -- but yeah, me personally, when I run one of these I will probably make my own set of notes before I do so. But in my own stuff I've still never come up with a system I 100% like.
06.08.2025 13:19 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
As a break from the alien wildlife, we get ace pilots and art snobs in today's episode of MONSTER MAN!
monsterman.libsyn.com/episode-585-...
Reposting for the weekend crowd. I have put all my zines that cost money on sale! I cannot be at Gen Con, but I will accept three dollars in lieu.
02.08.2025 08:24 β π 5 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
So, like I said, I have put a bunch of my #ttrpg zines on sale because I can't make it to GenCon. Buy a PDF or two if you feel like it.
Also, you can still get Budget Bestiary print copies, but they're not on sale.
itch.io/s/157978/jam...
In case you missed it yesterday, I made a little zine mini-scenario for the #AppendixN game jam. It's free, though you can give me two bucks if you feel like it. But you don't have to!
james-holloway.itch.io/whispers-in-...
That's often true, but would it be if games cost more? I'm not rich; I accumulate lots of zines and little things like that because their low price points make them impulse buys for me.
I am not saying games would be "overpriced" if they cost more -- but buying lots would be outside my budget.
More wildlife from wildspace in today's episode of MONSTER MAN!
monsterman.libsyn.com/episode-584-...
What a good and correct opinion.
(Also applies to archaeologists.)
Sold.
01.08.2025 11:17 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I think many are probably similar!
01.08.2025 11:16 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Not the business as it currently works, no, I agree. But what a business that could would look like, I honestly don't know. But I am not an economist!
As for myself, I am in a weird place, not a hobbyist but not a pro. My game work is important to my income, but far from all of it.
I am not endorsing this position, by the way, but it is something I do worry about. I am not sure how we balance properly compensating creators with making products customers can afford. I don't think it's as simple as "PDFs need to be Β£20 and you need to get over it."
01.08.2025 09:09 β π 6 π 0 π¬ 2 π 0then some games that could be priced to better reflect the cost of making them would go from "maybe" to "no."
01.08.2025 09:09 β π 5 π 0 π¬ 2 π 0Game pricing counter-take: The price of most RPGs represents amazing value relative to the hours of enjoyment playing them ... but most games don't get played and some don't even get read. If I calculate, as a customer, based on play value x likelihood of use, well ...
01.08.2025 09:09 β π 19 π 1 π¬ 3 π 0
πΊPDF NOW AVAILABLEπΊ
A PERFECT WIFE, my contemporary horror module featuring the Southeast Asian vampire known as the pontianak, is now out as a PDF!
Art: @amandalee.bsky.social & Scrap World
Layout: @davidblandyrpgs.bsky.social
davidblandy.itch.io/a-perfect-wife
(KS Backers: check ur emails!)
I'm going to be presenting a paper at this event in October in Manchester. It's:
βLarger, wilder, and far more dangerousβ: Medieval and Medievalist Imagery in the Warhammer games.
Sound like fun? In the area? Come by!
manchestergamecentre.org/events/2025/...
July is a busy month, so I didn't have much time to work on my #AppendixN jam entry, but I knocked something together and I think there's some fun ideas in it. And anyway, it's PWYW, and I encourage you to pay $0 for it -- that's the whole idea.
james-holloway.itch.io/whispers-in-...
The squonk's presence in D&D has always been one of those charming mysteries that make you wonder how people envisioned the game being played.
31.07.2025 10:50 β π 9 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0I mean, I gather it's pretty busy if you are working it as well!
31.07.2025 10:17 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0I pored over these pages in high school and at university. A big part of my ongoing love of a Chaos marine. I didn't really get into the Realm of Chaos renegades until later, although now I love them dearly.
31.07.2025 09:53 β π 13 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I am the same way. My current class ends tomorrow, Saturday I plan to do nothing, and Sunday I am gonna tidy -- and I can't wait.
31.07.2025 07:58 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I think I will have a little sale to overcome Gen Con fomo and pre-tariff jitters. Details later today!
31.07.2025 07:50 β π 6 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Every year I simultaneously wish I was at Gen Con and realise I could never enjoy Gen Con. It's quite a disappointing feeling! I have been once, but that was like 24-25 years ago in Milwaukee. I gather it's a lot bigger now.
31.07.2025 05:55 β π 34 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0The return of MDC fills me with delight!
30.07.2025 16:42 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
In today's episode, we have three different kinds of ooshy, gooshy, blobby friends and foes -- it's Plasmoids!
monsterman.libsyn.com/monster-man-...
True, true. And so much of your first experience with a game is about factors other than the system, really. I think there definitely were people put off by complex systems, but I don't think they're Kryptonite.
29.07.2025 11:09 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I agree that people are more tolerant of complex systems than many suppose, but also this is sort of looking at the planes that came back, right?
29.07.2025 10:55 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0Aberrant's not *that* much older than Godlike. Aberrant is from 1999, Godlike is from 2001.
29.07.2025 05:33 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
