Alexander "SquidLord" Williams

#TTRPG #publishing

Why does anything go out of print anymore? In fact, why has any RPG gone out of purchasable circulation in the last two decades?

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/Pet...

Boundless Tides by Fari RPGs Soulslike dark fantasy pirate RPG

Boundless Tides, my free pirate soulslike TTRPG using the Boundless system was ported to the latest version of the engine with Attribute as health and all that good stuff.

Download for free on itch at farirpgs.itch.io/boundless-ti...

I’d highly recommend picking out a lightweight TTRPG and seeing where it takes you. These books are full of great starting points that act as a jumping point flesh out your own stories rather than relying on a more rigid world to steer you. I’m definitely going to try digging deeper myself. 3/2

003 - Grim Tokens Brynn takes a lovely walk up the river north of Stagkirk with Masias and discovers something nasty.

#TTRPG #Ironsworn #SunlessFane #solo

Ironsworn: SoloFane continues as the lovable con man Brynn meets tight lips and takes a short stroll up a long river to find "something nasty."

grimtokens.garden/Game+Play/Th...

002 - Grim Tokens Brynn tries his con one more time to no success, swears a vow, and gets a task, but not the one he expected.

#TTRPG #Ironsworn #SunlessFane #solo

Session two of Ironsworn: SoloFane, where Brynn encounters a certain problem in that, despite being a really good conman, no one seems to believe the lie he tells—just the one they want to believe.

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001 - Grim Tokens 001 - You Can't Fool All the People Rustling.jpg And so, we step forward through a few setup situations to finalize a few more from 000 - Explanation and Setup. Before things go hot, we need to defin…

#TTRPG #Ironsworn #SunlessFane #solo

Having met Bryn, the best con man in all of the Ironlands, it's time to get him on his way to Stagkirk. On the way, he runs into some rustlers, some farmers, and a club. It's an awkward meeting.

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000 - Grim Tokens Session 0 of the solo Ironsworn conversion of the Sunless Fane, a scenario for ShadowDark.

#TTRPG #Ironsworn #SunlessFane #solo

I went through the trouble of doing the basic porting, so I might as well actually set up to play the thing. Actual play of the Sunless Fane in Ironsworn, or at least the Session 0.

grimtokens.garden/Game+Play/Th...

Adventure Design 102 - Grim Tokens Meta commentary on CF's most recent video talking about architectures of adventure design. Bah, adventures!

#TTRPG #design

CF provides an opportunity to discuss a taxonomy of RPG adventure design, which I do not object to in the main, but I think it misses a fairly significant aspect.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/Adv...

#TTRPG #DnD #SunlessCitadel #dungeon

Chubby Funster continues his analysis of old school D&D modules by taking on the Sunless Citadel. Perhaps not surprisingly, I have some thoughts of my own about his thoughts and the scenario itself.

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/The...

Dungeon Remanifest - The Sunless Fane - Grim Tokens A reimagining of a new classic of ShadowDark scenarios in Ironsworn.

#TTRPG #ShadowDark #Ironsworn #dungeon

So Chubby Funster posted his analysis of his own first ShadowDark scenario, and I promised him that if he did so, I would convert it into Ironsworn. I really need to stop agreeing to things.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/Dun...

RipIt With RipCrypt - Grim Tokens Does RipCrypt fall prey to the "I've never seen another RPG than D&D" syndrome?

#TTRPG #RipCrypt

We have here another lightweight, high-speed, low-drag game put together by someone unsatisfied with D&D. Cool. Creation is fun, but is it necessary?

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/_da...

Triangulating an Agency and Ascending to Management - Grim Tokens Reviewing a review of Triangle Agency and suggesting a couple of better choices.

#TTRPG #TriangleAgency #MSG

When Quinn's Quest is right, they are so right. Why is Triangle Agency not in my library? What would I suggest for yours instead?

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/Tri...

Frontier Scumming It in the Acid West - Grim Tokens What is the Acid Western and how do you become Frontier Scum?

#TTRPG #FrontierScum #AcidWestern

You ever have a moment where a review actually catches you sideways because the presenter does something entirely new and shows you something you've never seen? The acid western Frontier Scum made me hunt it down.

grimtokens.garden/Thoughts/Fro...

RPG a Day 2025 - Grim Tokens The month-long celebration of creativity that is RPG a Day 2025.

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025

Well, it's the end of the month for me, and RPG A Day 2025 is over. I've cranked out a ton of words on a pile of subjects and even a little fiction. Want all of it in one place? It's right here.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

Day 29 - Connect, Day 30 - Experience, Day 31 - Reward - Grim Tokens Connect, experience, reward. It's not just a series of words or themes. It's a topic.

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #experience

It's been a long month, but RPG A Day is over, at least for me. We end it with a philosophical consideration of multiple ways to approach experience and why.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

Day 26 - Nemesis, Day 27 - Tactic, Day 28 - Suspense - Grim Tokens RPG A DAY 2025: Day 26 / 27 / 28 - Nemesis / Tactic / Suspense tags: #thoughts #thoughts/RPGaDay/2025 RPG a Day 2025 (illo).png We continue to set a brisk pace with three more bits covered today beca…

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #writing

Another triptych of articles as I move toward DragonCon today. It's all about narrative theory and execution, whether it be regarding your nemesis, what the true purpose of tactics, and how to keep someone in suspense and why.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

Day 23 - Recent, Day 24 - Reveal, Day 25 - Challenge - Grim Tokens Recent acquisitions, the revelation of a gift, and what is a challenge rank?

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #starforged #coriolis

By necessity, I have to pick up the pace. We'll fold three articles into one today, targeting recent acquisitions, a revelation of gifts, and exactly what is a challenge rank supposed to do?

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

Making Friends and Influencing People - Hexed Press Allies are hard to come by in the harsh worlds represented by most tabletop-roleplaying games and systems don't always provide mechanisms for tracking the frien

#RPGaDay2025, Day 22, Ally: "Making Friends & Influencing People" - Here's a relatively painless way to use a persistent reaction rating to monitor their relationships with notable non-player-characters...
hexed.press/rules/making...
#ttrpg

Day 22 - Ally - Grim Tokens What happens when you take allies into space with you in Starforged? Generally, you just have a good time. But what does it mean mechanically?

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #ally #coop #solo

Everyone at this point knows that Starforged and Ironsworn are excellent for solo play, but not a lot, or at least not enough, has been said about how good they are for co-op and guided play, particularly co-op.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

Day 21 - Unexpected - Grim Tokens The unexpected can come at you from the front, in the middle, or even up from behind. How does fortune play into mechanics?

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #unexpected

What is truly unexpected in a tabletop experience? And where does that fortune come in? At the beginning, in the middle, or at the end?

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Day 20 - Enter - Grim Tokens How shall we bring new people into the hobby? Where shall they enter? Perhaps the question is flawed in itself.

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #recruitment

People in the hobby spend a lot of time asking one another, "How can we get more people in," and then criticizing one another for their answers. Perhaps the question itself is flawed.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

Day 19 - Destiny - Grim Tokens Destiny is cruel, but the use of destiny as a narrative crutch is more so.

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #destiny #writing

How many times have we told the chosen one story? What happens if we invert it, turn it upside down, twist it around? What else can we make of it? Should we bother?

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

spread from Rebellion Space

Spread from Rebellion Space

Rebellion Space is my submission to the 1PageRPG Jam

Basically solo Han Solo - using #ironsworn -lite mechanics. You play as the Ship! get upgrades, missions, recruit operators.
Includes map to travel around filling missions.
Might change some things, but knocked all out in a day. needs testing

Day 18 - Sign - Grim Tokens There are signs in the gaming hobby which I do not understand. They lead from OSR to story gaming, but OSR knows nothing of story gaming.

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #rstoryGames #OSR

There are new signs afoot in the gaming sphere, and I will honestly admit I'm not sure how to interpret them. The OSR is talking about story games, while not knowing about story games. It's mildly disconcerting.

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Polymath by Hedgemaze Press Polyhedral dice font

Before you make your next #TTRPG, check out my free font Polymath, which lets you create a bunch of different dice types in an accessible way:
hedgemazepress.itch.io/polymath-dic...

Day 17 - Renew - Grim Tokens Can you plan from the beginning for your character to have the end of a story? Should you? Might you?

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #renew

Do you want to live forever? Is it something that should even be on your plate? When you think about your characters, do you have an end goal in mind? Some thoughts.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

Day 16 - Overcome - Grim Tokens At a certain point, will indie RPG authors get tired of the "We Shall Overcome" rebel narrative? Let's hope so.

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #rebels #heroesJourney

If there's one thing I'm really tired of in modern RPG design, it is the repeated and now very tired motif of "we shall overcome!" I may have a few words.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

Day 15 - Deceive - Grim Tokens Deception in the context of roleplaying games has a long and complicated history with many approaches.

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #deception

What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. In the context of RPGs, deception is a complicated subject, especially when it comes to how it's reified.

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

Day 14 - Mystery - Grim Tokens On mystery, why it's hard, a couple of ways to tackle it, and a sense of overall resignation.

#TTRPG #RPGaDay2025 #mystery

Mysteries are a particular challenge, not just in RPGs, but in writing. Why? Are there ways to take care of the problem? Will you be put away for a long time if you do?

grimtokens.garden/Articles/RPG...

If there's nothing else I know, it is the obscure, darkened corners of the RPG hobby.