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Jonathan Tweet

@jonathantweet.bsky.social

Grandmother Fish (Macmillan 2016), the first book to teach #evolution to preschoolers, plus science games for kids (www.grandmotherfish.com). Over the Edge, #TTRPG of surreal urban danger (atlas-games.com/overtheedge). D&D 3E, Ars Magica, Everway, etc.

1,642 Followers  |  1,328 Following  |  1,413 Posts  |  Joined: 14.08.2023
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Posts by Jonathan Tweet (@jonathantweet.bsky.social)

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To good not to share! Working with game design legend @jonathantweet.bsky.social on his d20 rules for fast fantasy campaigns! Coming up as a KRAKEN Chapbook soon!

Who wants one?

(There are still place for new people at the Spring KRAKEN April 3-6, 2006! Hang out with Jonathan and us & eat cake!)

05.03.2026 21:19 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Celephais, the jewel city, capital of Ooth-Nargai

Map for my @exaltedfuneral.bsky.social RPG "Dreamland: Fairytale Portal Fantasy Beyond the Wall of Sleep" www.dreamrpg.com #ttrpg #dreamlands

05.03.2026 17:44 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Unbearable - Vaesen - Free League Publishing | Free League Work Shop | DriveThruRPG.com UNBEARABLE: If You Go Down To The Woods Today The small village of Alsen has enjoyed a peaceful and traditional existenc

Those tinkers at Drivethru have put my stuff on sale at 40% off for GMs thingymibob. Much cheapness! Grab yourself some awesome one shots and spend the money you saved on a bag of crisps or something.

legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/3638...

05.03.2026 16:55 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

It’s very hard to pick a single passage to give you a sense of just how fucked up this is.

04.03.2026 19:34 β€” πŸ‘ 263    πŸ” 111    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 11

wild

05.03.2026 00:17 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

back when Americans thought Christmas was for pagans

04.03.2026 21:14 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This is interesting. Thanks. It fits with other reading I've already done.

The formula looks to me a like a metaphor or a model in the form of a formula rather than a mathematical formula into which one could plug numbers. How fair is that?

04.03.2026 19:53 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks! Love to hear it!

04.03.2026 18:30 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Gamehole Con Featuring role-playing games, board games, fantasy and historical miniature gaming, and collectible card games, Gamehole Con is for the fantasy and adventure tabletop gaming enthusiast.

The last time I went to Gamehole Con, an agent called me out of the blue to represent Grandmother Fish, resulting in a big deal with Macmillan. I plan to return in 2026. It was a good time, and Madison is like Seattle of the Midwest. Maybe I'll run Mighty Ones. Who's with me?

www.gameholecon.com

04.03.2026 00:46 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1

Yes, and one trick I developed after seeing people play our D&D intro games* was to put the "roleplaying" characters behind barriers. They're in a magic mirror. They're phantoms. Otherwise the PCs might just kill them.

*eg, killing the scared refugee on sight rather than talking to him

04.03.2026 00:40 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

It's a great time to be a geek!

03.03.2026 21:35 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Glad you're enjoying it! Krakens are bad enough, so I can only imagine how scary a death kraken might be.

I'm really glad that Rob & I had a chance to update 13th Age. We've learned a lot since 2013!

03.03.2026 21:24 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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In @robheinsoo.bsky.social's Arduin Bloody Arduin (13th Age), we fought in a holy temple against a good naga and lizardfolk underlings. They all picked on my magic-user, which was fair. The super-strong, super-precise magic missiles were not fair. In Arduin, "good" is just one more faction. #TTRPG

03.03.2026 21:19 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Magic has Human Rogues and Human Soldiers. "Soldier" and "rogue" seem like the same sort of thing. Backgrounds also feel limiting, taking an aspect of character creation that used to be open-ended ('what's your background?') and turning it to pick-from-a-list ('which background do you have?').

03.03.2026 21:13 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Wasn't the main point of backgrounds that characters could get ability bonuses without them being tied to races any longer? Having soldiers get a Strength bonus is fine, but having half-orcs get a Strength bonus is racial essentialism.

03.03.2026 21:09 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Backgrounds don't seem to carry the sort of weight that race and class do. Race and class are salient enough that Magic picked them up for their creature cards, like Goblin Rogues and Human Warlocks. Backgrounds don't seem distinct enough from classes. Is a "soldier" a class or a background?

03.03.2026 21:05 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Alpha particles are helium nuclei, highly ionizing but easily stopped by solid matter, such as skin. Beta particles are electrons or positrons, less ionizing but able to penetrate skin & cause burns.

03.03.2026 16:59 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Is your game collection really complete if you don't have German-langauge versions of the 3E Player's Handbook and of the first 3E "splatbook"? Somehow I think 3E is particularly suited to German, but maybe that's just me. #TTRPG

These & lots more now on eBay: www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_...

03.03.2026 16:53 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Yes, and I want kids to grow up with a cosmic perspective

03.03.2026 14:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Yeah, and people are fish, and ants are wasps.

I'd like to get everyone to talk about "our sun" and "our moon" rather than "the" sun and "the" moon. Other planets have their own moons, and exo-planets have their own suns. Unfortunately, I have misplaced my magic wand.

03.03.2026 03:34 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Excellent.

"I'll just have a 'little water'".

03.03.2026 03:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

doesn’t β€œwhiskeyβ€œ mean β€œwater of life”, like β€œvodka” and β€œaquavit”?

03.03.2026 02:21 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

"Have Laser, Will Travel". At age 12, I didn't have $5* to buy Metamorphosis Alpha, so I created my own RPG with mutants and laser guns.

*$25 in today's dollars

02.03.2026 23:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Ars Magica Goodness! Now that Fork ICE February is over, it's time for a wrap-up of all the Ars Magica goodness that's been released in the last month! Take a look, then … PRE-ORDER Definitive Edition, the Mythic Europe cloth map, & Definitive custom dice NOW! Ars Magica Videos Definitive SamplesΒ Unboxing:Β John and I couldn't wait to unbox the printer samples of Ars Magcia Definitive Edition. Here are ourΒ first impressions: …

Ars Magica Goodness! #ArsMagica #TTRPG

02.03.2026 17:29 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I've struggled with this recurrently in my work. I can see getting one attack roll to simulate a minute of hand-to-hand struggling, positioning, feinting, and swinging. But I can't see getting one attack roll to simulate a flurry of arrows. Missiles & movement are why I don't do long rounds. 2/2

02.03.2026 02:29 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Sounds right. I sort of like long rounds for hand-to-hand combat, but not for movement or missile weapons. Someone can hustle 400 feet in a minute, and that's more than I want combatants moving in a round. One can shoot a flurry of arrows, and that's more arrows than I want shot in a round. 1/2

02.03.2026 02:26 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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improvgm - Twitch improvgm streams live on Twitch! Check out their videos, sign up to chat, and join their community.

Ars Magica: Reing of Spring 7pm Central
Haunted by visions of demons, the Magi travel to Transylvania to acquire the Grass Crown.
twitch.tv/improvgm

02.03.2026 00:46 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

It's wild to me that D&D has introduced a third aspect of one's character type, the background. D&D started with one aspect: race/class: magic-user, dwarf, etc. Then the thief class introduced the race-class combo, which eventually expanded to all races and classes. Now there's a third: background.

02.03.2026 01:54 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

one old D&D trick was to use cats as weapons, swinging them by the tail and using them to strike own your foes

01.03.2026 01:08 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
13th Age 2nd Edition : One Shot  | Swamp Princess | Actual Play
YouTube video by Unconventional GMs 13th Age 2nd Edition : One Shot | Swamp Princess | Actual Play

Do you like swamps? Do you like princesses? Check out our latest #ActualPlay #TTRPG of @pelgranepress.bsky.social @jonathantweet.bsky.social @robheinsoo.bsky.social 13th Age 2nd Edition, one of my most favourite games given the 2 hour one-shot treatment - SWAMP PRINCESS.

youtu.be/0CPGgECxMXo?...

28.02.2026 17:03 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2