Silas A. Bischoff

Rereading the old testament after studying bronze age Mesopotamia makes Christianity look really ... naïve. I'm currently reading the Orthodox Study Bible, and the notes all seem to come from a place of complete illiteracy in the texts's genre and ignorance of its cultural and historical context.

This is the last chance to vote for my book for the Indie Ink award for "Best Setting"!

A GLOWING review from Questing Beast about "The Dark Crystal RPG" (which I was lead-adventure author on!) Nice little boost for a gloomy Wednesday! 🥰

My flash story “Song of the Loom” is now published in @dreamtheorymedia.bsky.social !

Please go check it out (and maybe leave a comment, if you can? 🙏)! 🥰❤️

Cover of A Crow Named Torment by Silas A. Bischoff, depicting a creepy man in an alchemist's workshop showing a mirror to a crow, who sees herself reflected with the face of a human woman.

My novel "A Crow Named Torment" was nominated for "best setting" in the Indie Ink Awards!

I would greatly appreciate your vote to get short-listed. 🙏

indiestorygeek.com/a/indie-ink-...

#IndieInkAwards #IndieStoryGeek #indieauthor #fantasy #books #gothichorror #grimdark #whimsical #corvidsrule

It's peak dice rolling and table referencing for ancient history nerds and fans of number crunching and "gritty realism".

The emergent storytelling aspect of it is also much stronger than in your typical D&D derivatives, which are more about satisfying game loops and character progression imo.

That would probably be Mythras. The setting is very Bronze-Age-inspired. I'm basically trying to gauge how many views I'd be sacrificing for that system. 😅

To my TTRPG-lovers:

I want to record a solo-RPG actual play for YouTube, and adapt it as a novel or series of short stories.

Assuming you watch TTRPG actual plays, which system would you be most interested in?

A) Dungeons & Dragons 5e
B) Mythras

#actualplay #solorpg #mythicgme #dnd #mythras

Hey, thanks!

Wasn't even aware there was a sale on.

Speaking of books, I picked up A Crow Named Torment by @silasabischoff.bsky.social up from Amazon for less than 4 quids. About 25% in and I'm really enjoying it so far. Like, who doesn't love a good tale about Crow?

crude, hand-drawn map (pencil on hex paper) depicting four continents with mountain ranges, deserts and jungles, a polar cap, a "shattered monolith" on the northern continent, as well as a group of concentric islands near the Arctic called the "Black Isles"

photo of a paperback book titled "Foundations, a solo world building game" by Tom Ana; the cover art consists of abstract images of rivers, mountains, animals, fossils, people, buildings, constellations and ships

I've already started recording my world-building videos. (I'm building it using a book called "Foundations" by Tom Ana.)

It's going to be a world where the first (new) civilisation emerges as a severe ice age starts to thaw out (it's in a two-star system, so seasons and climate are very volatile).

I'm playing around with an idea:

A solo roleplaying actual play on YouTube (similar to "Me, Myself & Die"), but the intent is to create a publishable Sword & Sorcery serial in proper prose.

And at the beginning and end of sessions, I read scenes I've written based on the events of the game. 🤔

Mysteries of The Flying Haddock - a trilogy - Enigmatic Events Collective Inc. | DriveThruRPG Mysteries of the Flying Haddock are a set of  threeshort murder mystery roleplaying games inspired by Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition and the Forgotten Realms. It is, however, not a 5th edition adv...

Do you like fantasy? How about murder mystery party games? Good news! The Flying Haddock is open for business! Solve three unique mysteries with friends, before the killer gets you!

And if you're feeling generous, I would greatly appreciate a like and a repost!

www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/4...

The BFS is very pleased to support the Best Audiobook: Science Fiction & Fantasy category at the inaugural British Audio Awards the ceremony for which takes place on 24th November. To mark the event, Long Story Short presents our very first Podcast Special.

britishfantasysociety.org/blog/bfs-pod...

✨Career milestone✨

50 days ago I signed my first contract for a professional rate short fiction sale, and with my favourite magazine no less: @oldmoonquarterly.bsky.social 🖤🗡️

It's a dark and otherworldly, Welsh-myth-inspired sword & sorcery tale for their upcoming Arthurian issue.

Likewise! And thanks for connecting us here. Now I just need to find Richard somewhere on the internet. (It would have been so much smarter to do this during the convention ...)

Thank you so much! It's a shame we didn't get to chat after the panel. I'll have to take you up on that at the next convention then.

Thank you @worldfantasy2025.bsky.social for a wonderful convention!

2nd year and it already feels like coming home.

Highlights:
- first time being approached by someone who read my book
- a publisher I love expressing interest in a project and asking for a sample & synopsis
- all the conversations

Time for my yearly check-in to the internet for @worldfantasy2025.bsky.social in Brighton. 😬

I'll be on:

The Roleplaying Games Panel – Thursday 8 pm – Edinburgh room

Swords and Sorcery – Saturday 10 am – Buckingham room

and I'll read from my upcoming novel Saturday 5 pm in the Osborne room

✌️

Submitted to @oldmoonquarterly.bsky.social yesterday! 🤞

I submit to short story magazines occasionally (only rejections so far), but this one's always special for me, because it's the one I'm excited for every issue of and that matches my taste to a T.

#amwriting #darkfantasy #arthuriana

The release of Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon and @oldmoonquarterly.bsky.social planning an Arthurian dark fantasy anthology falling so close together is no mere coincidence. The prophecy is real. Heed the signs. 🗡️

Gideon Nav from The Locked Tomb being buff af

Vi from Arcane being a casual badass

Mama K melting your heart with her infernal engine

Avatar Korra about to kick yo ass

You might have heard about Alpha, Beta and Sigma males.

Well, it turns out I'm a GAMMA male... 😔

(short for "Gay Angry Muscle Mommy Appreciating")

Ah, I see. So it's like a real world squid game type of situation...

Well, she seems to have made it out alive, so that's good.

Was the egg in fact a volatile explosive?

Did someone threaten to harm your loved ones if you dropped it?

Please explain.

Inverted story structure ☝️

It's *all* a dark night of the soul, except for end of act 2 where there's a tiny glimmer of hope, which is snuffed out for good in the climax. 🙃💖

#writingcommunity #herosjourney #amwriting #author

Paradise City by Zoë Beck - a Berlin metro escalator in blue and yellow duochrome

Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering - guy with 2 swords and armour and a leaping lady with a nocked and drawn bow

The Blacktongue Thief - retro Sword & Sorcery cover layout and a grey and yellow artwork of two heroes and swords and stuff

Blackstone Heart by Michael R. Fletcher INSANITY Edition - epic undead dude leading a monster army and general epicness

Here are the covers:

Quote repost with your last, current and next reads:

Last: Paradise City by Zoë Beck

Current: Heliotrope by @palmerpickering.bsky.social & The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

Next: Black Stone Heart by @michaelrfletcher.bsky.social

I'm changing up my writing toolset for increased productivity.

Old: Scrivener + inDesign

New: Neovim + git + pandoc

As a fiction writer as well as programmer this just makes way more sense to me.

Hey, thanks for the shout-out! Hope you're enjoying Torment's journey. ✌️

Blackwing by Ed McDonald

The Expanse Dragon Tooth volume 2 by Andy Diggle, et al

A Crow Named Torment by Silas A. Bischoff

Extremophile by Ian Green

Haven't done this in a while...

Quote repost with your last, current and next reads:

Last - Blackwing by @edmcdonald.bsky.social

Current - The Expanse: Dragon Tooth volume 2 by Andy Diggle, et al

A Crow Named Torment by @silasabischoff.bsky.social

Next: Extremophile by @ianthegreen.bsky.social