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cybergoths

@cybergoths.dice.camp.ap.brid.gy

TTRPG Gamer, Garricon Organiser, Safety Professional, Engineer, Apple since '96, Dad of 2 lads, Geek. πŸŒ‰ bridged from ⁂ https://dice.camp/@cybergoths, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

27 Followers  |  0 Following  |  262 Posts  |  Joined: 07.12.2024  |  1.2905

Latest posts by cybergoths.dice.camp.ap.brid.gy on Bluesky

Jon Hancock (@BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net) Good news for fans of Mark Galeotti's splendid "Gran Meccanismo: Clockpunk Roleplaying in Da Vinci's Florence" RPG, published by Osprey Games and using Graham Spearing's TRIPOD system. https://wordplay1510.wordpress.com/2025/10/26/on-a-summers-night-a-theft/ #RPG #TRIPOD #WordPlay #Games #GranMeccanismo

@eladrin’s Tripod is great and Mark’s Gran Meccanismo is superb. https://social.vivaldi.net/@BigJackBrass/115445941194475216

30.10.2025 21:08 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Mike Galsworthy 🦣 (@mikegalsworthy@mas.to) This Bylines Network crowdfunder is just 6 supporters away from 1,000 supporters! Please do consider cipping in something small and then feeling great about yourself for the rest of the day. πŸ™ƒ https://chuffed.org/project/bylinesnetwork

Well worth a look.
https://mas.to/@mikegalsworthy/115439636848569150

28.10.2025 08:00 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on dice.camp

@indubitablyodin I’ve run and played it a lot (it’s my forever game) and blogged about it a fair bit here: https://delta-pavonis.blogspot.com/search/label/Traveller

There are two big Traveller groups on Facebook (Traveller RPG and Traveller SF RPG (Mongoose Editions) which are worth a look if […]

28.10.2025 07:45 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Made the 'mistake' of reading the first #Murderbot story yesterday and have ended up diving through the next three today. Fortunately, I picked them up when they were in a bundle! Really enjoying them - pacing great, stories sharp and some wry humour.

#books #bookstodon

26.10.2025 22:39 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on mastodon.social

GM Advice:

You will get better running 3 poorly prepped games than running 1 super prepped game. Iteration beats perfection.

Players don't need to like NPC's. They need to be interested in who they are.

No one at your table will know you stole a storyline from a niche fantasy series they […]

09.07.2025 21:29 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@Tim_Eagon It’s lovely, but between Dolmenwood and the last bits of Invisible Sun arriving, I fear a singularity opening in the bookshelves…

26.10.2025 18:54 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Panels 1 and 2
Interior. "I love autumn!" Says a book to its owner. "It's so romantic! Let's put on a big scarf, go to the park, and read on a bench as the orange leaves fall around us in the low sun."

Panel 3
Caption: Soon. 
Image: they are now outside sheltering under an unbrella in torrential rain. "Shall we go home?" says the reader. "Yes please. I'm getting soggy." says the book.

Panels 1 and 2 Interior. "I love autumn!" Says a book to its owner. "It's so romantic! Let's put on a big scarf, go to the park, and read on a bench as the orange leaves fall around us in the low sun." Panel 3 Caption: Soon. Image: they are now outside sheltering under an unbrella in torrential rain. "Shall we go home?" says the reader. "Yes please. I'm getting soggy." says the book.

...and another.

24.10.2025 15:40 β€” πŸ‘ 597    πŸ” 160    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 5
Title: The leaves 
 
 Image 1: 
 Two leaves hang from branches.
 "Would you like to hear my new poem?" Says one
"Is it another one about the inevitability of death?" replies a smaller leaf.

Image 2:
"It's autumn! What else am i going to write about?" says the poet leaf.
"Well, we've all turned this lovely reddish colour." says the small leaf.

Image 3:
 "Actually, that could make a very nice poem. Thanks!" says the poet.
 
 Image 4. 
 The small leaf begins to reply but is blown away by a gust of wind.
 
 Image 5:
 Later. The solitary poet leaf recites a poem:
 "The year dies. I cling hopelessly. In the end all things fall."

Title: The leaves Image 1: Two leaves hang from branches. "Would you like to hear my new poem?" Says one "Is it another one about the inevitability of death?" replies a smaller leaf. Image 2: "It's autumn! What else am i going to write about?" says the poet leaf. "Well, we've all turned this lovely reddish colour." says the small leaf. Image 3: "Actually, that could make a very nice poem. Thanks!" says the poet. Image 4. The small leaf begins to reply but is blown away by a gust of wind. Image 5: Later. The solitary poet leaf recites a poem: "The year dies. I cling hopelessly. In the end all things fall."

A cartoon about autumn....

24.10.2025 15:40 β€” πŸ‘ 703    πŸ” 204    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 8
Preview
Impressions after a month with the reMarkable Paper Pro Move When reMarkable released their third generation **Paper Pro** notebook last year, my initial reaction was that it was a lovely device but I had absolutely no reason to upgrade from my **reMarkable 2**. The colour screen was nice, but there was no compelling reason to upgrade, especially at the price point. One of my close colleagues at work got themselves one, and that just confirmed my decision. Lovely but no need to change- the **rM2** was enough for me. When reMarkable followed up the **Paper Pro** a year later with a new smaller device with the same colour screen technology, it caught my attention again. My existing device meets most of my needs really well, but it's never felt properly portable. It is thin, light, and - like all e-Ink screens - vulnerable to cracking if you don't look after it. It's beautiful, well made and very light and thin, but it doesn't feel robust. Bizarrely, my son's **rM1** first generation device which is made of plastic always feels less susceptible to damage than its successor does. I've always treated my **rM2** like it's a fragile device which cost nearly five hundred pounds, having it in a Book Folio, and then a laptop/tablet sleeve when I travel. That's not let me down in nearly five years of use. The **rM2** always felt a bit too big to be truly portable. In fact, all of the previous devices are like large notebooks which you keep on a desk, or put in your bag, rather than putting it in a pocket. The new **Paper Pro Move** addresses some of those gaps. It is smaller (more like a reporter's note book than a Moleskine), feels more robust, and has the bonus of a colour screen. In honesty, just being smaller and more robust would have peaked my interest and the colour is just a bonus. I ordered one, and it took about 10 days to arrive. Physically, it feels robust and very well made. There is nothing cheap or badly made about it. I got the "basalt" colour book folio (which is a recycled polyester colour weave that seems to be reasonably dirt resistant). The small form factor and thickness make it feel like something that you can put in a pocket. The pen is the new active type, the same as the one used on the **Paper Pro**. It secures to the side of the device magnetically and charges by induction. Because of the different screen technology used on the colour devices, while the black ink setting is really responsive, the colour ink setting has a flicker as it is drawn and the screen refreshes around it. The initial line is always there just as fast as with the black, but it redraws as you move on, setting the colour. This is a bit quirky, but not really an issue for me as I mostly write in black. There are some good reviews on the technology online, especially on the _My Deep Guide_ YouTube channel if you want to get a feel for it visually. The feel of the pen remains good and there is a variance in the feel when you change pen types, but it does feel a bit more "clicky" when you are writing and lift the pen from the screen than the **rM2.** However, that soon became unnoticeable, especially as I adjusted how I wrote on the screen to minimise it naturally. Battery life seems fine, but I'm using the same disciplines I do as on my **reMarkable 2** (i.e. WiFi mostly off, and minimal use of the backlight). Speaking of which, the backlight is nice for exactly the same reason as I like it on my **Kindle Paperwhite** - you can put it on low and easily use the device without disturbing others, something that works just fine for a quick note if you remember or think of something in bed. The colours on screen are what I expected - muted but distinctive. They do add something, but I'd have happily had this device with **rM2** level screen technology. Over the last month, I've been using the **rM Move** as a companion device. It doesn't replace the **rM2** , it supplements it. My original device has become like a desk notebook, larger and used for meetings and more extensive notes. The **rM Move** comes with me pretty much everywhere. Its form factor feels less formal, and I find myself using it to take notes when I'm reading books. I used it extensively across two gaming conventions for notes during sessions (although I did most of my prep for games I ran on the **rM2**). One interesting change is that I use the unlimited paper scroll option on the **rM Move** but still detest it on my larger device, preferring to stick with full pages. Somehow, this reminds me of a spiral bound reporter-style note book when I use it and scroll up and down. Access to larger pages is fine - you can turn the **rM Move** to switch to landscape mode if you're struggling to add details. I've not had any problems with file synchronisation but I don't tend to open the same notebook file on both devices at once. Having used the **rM Move** for over a month now, I don't think that I will be returning it when the 100-day trial is up. I can't see it replacing my **rM2** , but it is a fantastic addition and I will definitely be using it as my 'always with me' notepad, just like my **iPhone** is my 'always with me' computer. Recommended, but your use cases will vary. If you're intrigued, reMarkable offer a generous 100-day trial period if you aren't sure. 26 October 2025

Blog - Impressions after a month with the reMarkable Paper Pro Move.

TL;DR: comparison vs the rM2, use cases and why I'm likely to keep it.

https://delta-pavonis.blogspot.com/2025/10/impressions-after-month-with-remarkable.html

#remarkable #remarkable2 #remarkablePaperProMove

26.10.2025 14:15 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on dice.camp

Blog - The JΓ€germeister Adventure - Episode 8 - A dodgy dossier that absolutely doesn't mention a visit to the interdicted Valkos system.

TL;DR: Latest session of the #Traveller mini-campaign saw the players change their minds from exploring a ruined facility in a dangerous ruined city on a […]

25.10.2025 11:53 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on archaeo.social

The shipwreck of the passenger ferry Estonia is under an international diving interdictum. This, SZ now reports, has allowed the Russians to use the wreck as an fixed instrument platform for spying purposes.

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/spionage-ostsee-estonia-nato-russland-li.3326685 […]

24.10.2025 06:38 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
On a field, a statue of a standing woman. 

The statue is made of red (oxidated) scrap metal, with lots of holes in it.

It looks like she is facing the wind, with her hair flying, but her whole backside also looks like flying hair.

It gives the impression like her backside was kind of dissolving.

On a field, a statue of a standing woman. The statue is made of red (oxidated) scrap metal, with lots of holes in it. It looks like she is facing the wind, with her hair flying, but her whole backside also looks like flying hair. It gives the impression like her backside was kind of dissolving.

Love this sculpture by Penny Hardy, especially on such a windy day.

23.10.2025 13:31 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 67    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Traveller - Killing in the name of... I was reflecting on the games of **Traveller** that I played and ran at TravCon and realised that across the four games, not a single shot was fired, and violence was never used, yet everyone had a really good time. I wonder if I'd have felt the same last century* when I first played the game. It's the difference between playing Star Wars vs Star Trek, conflict vs exploration. I'd like to think that I'd have enjoyed it as much, and some of the SF that I loved even back then was all about exploration ('Rendezvous with Rama', for example). *(lol, in the early-mid eighties, just couldn't resist that) _In Search of Angels_ initial scenario was all about finding a lost ship then salvaging it without getting in trouble with the authorities. _Deepnight Legacy_ was effectively survival horror, and combat was never going to help. _Second Sons_ was conspiracy and the running of a heist, but in the end the best way to complete the heist was not to do it. _The Hunt for Sabre IV_ was a classic investigation, with violence avoided and a short police action off-screen. Oh, and a realisation that perhaps the group had helped 'the man' against 'the people'. But they got paid for it. In every game, the players went with for violence as a solution; they considered it in two of the scenarios, but never went for it. **Traveller** is a dangerous game when it comes to combat (and also character generation, by reputation). Stats will average out a bit above 7, so usually a character or NPC will take maybe 15 points of damage to become badly hurt, and another 8 points to be killed. When pistols are doing 2d6 to 3d6 damage, and rifles 3d6-4d6 damage plus effect, there's a reasonable chance that you won't survive more than a two solid hits. Armour helps, but the _Calli's Heroes_ game at Furnace reminded me that smart team work will easily get past combat armour. Both sides of the fire fight we had were equipped with combat armour, ACRs and better, and combat lasted two rounds. We ambushed two Zhodani Marines and focused fire, and they went down hard. Auto-fire, burst fire and energy weapons change the lethality even with top end armour. It's brutal. Long term **Traveller** players know the game is lethal, and tend to account for it. _Calli's Heroes_ was an out-and-out military game, so violence was always on the table, but we were still careful, and completely avoided it in one part of the adventure with a combination of negotiation and intimidation. I guess that merchant and exploration based games have more reason to avoid conflict. I think there's plenty of space to have a great game without the need for violence in it. But my thirteen year-old self who loved _Star War_ s may have been a bit disappointed if they didn't get to use their Gauss rifle or Laser sometimes. That same self who loved _Foundation_ and _Rendezvous with Rama_ may have felt a bit differently though. Where are you on this? Do games need violence or are puzzles, social conflict and scheming enough? Is this just a reflection of the underlying vulnerability of **Traveller** characters due to the system design? 24 October 2025

Blog - Traveller - Killing in the Name of...

Ttravellerrpg #ttrpg the four #Traveller games at TravCon which had no violence at all, and the one at Furnace which did.

https://delta-pavonis.blogspot.com/2025/10/traveller-killing-in-name-of.html

#travellerrpg #ttrpg

24.10.2025 11:01 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

#SlowHorses latest episode tonight. Chef’s kiss. Loving the escalation.

22.10.2025 21:06 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on dice.camp

Blog - The JΓ€germeister Adventure - Ep 7 - into the Red Zone

TL;DR: The JΓ€germeister jumps to the Valkos system, an interdicted Red Zone suffering the fall out of a major war with nuclear winter and live weapons still in theatre. They are attacked twice, once when leaving a gas giant and then […]

20.10.2025 22:35 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
In Nomine - Cribsheet for Players --- _Link to the cribsheet here._ I also created a cribsheet for players in the In Nomine game I ran at Furnace XX. This is a double side A4 sheet, which you can access on Google Docs here. Note - it doesn't include all the Celestial Songs because I tailored the sheet to match the five starter characters. 20 October 2025

Blog - A Player Cribsheet for In Nomine

TL;DR: A two page cribsheet for the #InNomine #ttrpg for players, tailored to the five starting characters I shared separately.

https://delta-pavonis.blogspot.com/2025/10/in-nomine-cribsheet-for-players.html

20.10.2025 13:44 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
In Nomine - Five starting Angel characters _Click to access the sheets on Google Docs._ When I ran **In Nomine** at Furnace XX, I created 5 new starting characters. Initially, I started from those in The Sorceror's Impediments (free download here on DriveThruRPG), but I remixed and expanded them. You can find the character sheets on Google Docs here. They are: * Jonathan/Joanna, a Seraph of Destiny. * Aidan/Aine, a Malakim of Fire. * Ariadne/Arien, an Elohite of Dream. * Livio/Livia, an Ofanite of the Sword. * Naseem, a Mercurian of the Wind. I hope they're useful to you if you're looking to start out. I also created a rules cribsheet to match. 20th October 2025

Blog - Five Starting Angel Characters for In Nomine.

TL;DR: 5 starting characters created for Furnace XX for the #InNomine #ttrpg

https://delta-pavonis.blogspot.com/2025/10/in-nomine-five-starting-character-angels.html

20.10.2025 13:42 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on mastodon.social

There's a new way to liberate purchased Kindle books from Amazon's DRM.

https://blog.pixelmelt.dev/kindle-web-drm/

A few points to note:

* Hardcoded to the .com store, but trivial to change to .co.uk
* Uses OCR - so some odd / annoying mistakes - especially around punctuation.
* Every line is […]

17.10.2025 09:29 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on dice.camp

Blog - TravCon 2025 - After Action Report

TL;DR: a short report of a weekend with my forever game at TravCon UK, run by @BITS_Traveller. Includes proud father moments for the book that I got together for the convention.

#Traveller #travellerrpg #ttrpg […]

19.10.2025 07:27 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on dice.camp

Blog - Furnace XX (2025) After Action Report

TL;DR: Last weekend was Furnace, a #ttrpg convention that I help to organise in Sheffield each year. It was our twentieth year and the con was bigger and better than ever. Almost a hundred people playing over 59 different game systems over 5 slots […]

18.10.2025 09:34 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on dice.camp

Back from a great weekend at #FurnaceCon #RPGFurnace where we tried new things in how we ran the con for its 20th anniversary. I ran two games, played three, and had a great time. With this and #TravCon the previous weekend, I feel very lucky (and tired!) in my #ttrpg life. I will blog, once […]

13.10.2025 07:19 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson

Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.

harpers.org/archive/1941...

01.10.2025 23:59 β€” πŸ‘ 7995    πŸ” 3176    πŸ’¬ 242    πŸ“Œ 308

I played or ran four games of the #Traveller #ttrpg this weekend. Not one of the scenarios had players resorting to violence. There was no combat. It was discussed, but a different way was found each time.

That’s a feature, not a bug.

#travellerrpg

05.10.2025 19:29 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
BITS Traveller (@BITS_Traveller@dice.camp) Attached: 1 image And we’re live at #TravCon Freebie of a special #travellerrpg Double Adventure with two BITS classics. 50 copies only. Two days of #Traveller #TTRPG fun! Mongoose visiting later today.

Fun filled weekend at #TravCon. Great to catch up with some of the usual suspects like @eladrin and play four games of my forever #ttrpg, #Traveller

#travellerrpg
https://dice.camp/@BITS_Traveller/115315911184383950

05.10.2025 15:36 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on dice.camp

Blog - #Books in September 2025

TL;DR: 9 books, 3,251 pages, 996 day streak
1 non-fiction, 7 novels, 1 magazine

Best fiction for me was a toss up between Christopher Fowler's "Seventy Seven Clocks" and Kazuo Ishiguro's "Klara and the Sun". The non-fiction "Careless People" was excellent too. I […]

01.10.2025 09:30 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Finished Sarah Wynn-Williams' #carelesspeople yesterday.

Quite an exposΓ© on the inner workings of #Facebook, I can see why they've tried to suppress it.

#carelesspeoplebook

01.10.2025 07:58 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@Tim_Eagon I found that the only time the keeper gets β€˜player of the match’ award is when their side is outclassed and they end up making the defeat a lot less painful with some saves. Oh, and winning penalty shootouts.

29.09.2025 17:50 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

@Tim_Eagon My eldest was goalkeeper all the way through his school days. It was noticeable that he enjoyed games that were closer as he had more to do, especially on colder mornings!

29.09.2025 07:19 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Original post on dice.camp

@doom-disco.bsky.social I wouldn't exactly call it a #DnD rip off - OSE (which it's a tailored version) is probably the most coherent and easy to use version of B/X ever done, and this just tailors that to the setting. I think best part of it being written like that is whether or not you like […]

28.09.2025 10:38 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
A colorful advertisement featuring a figure wearing headphones and sunglasses, alongside the text: β€œIt’s not legally classified as sweatshop labor if they’re musicians.” The Spotify logo is displayed at the bottom.

A colorful advertisement featuring a figure wearing headphones and sunglasses, alongside the text: β€œIt’s not legally classified as sweatshop labor if they’re musicians.” The Spotify logo is displayed at the bottom.

The Onion on point as always.

27.09.2025 10:11 β€” πŸ‘ 27    πŸ” 112    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0