Aaron Marks

In talking about DIE on Cannibal Halfling, Seamus always said it 'hit me so hard that fiction falls out'. For today's post I'm reflecting on why it is and providing a bit of a preamble for my first piece of fiction on the site, which is based on a DIE character.

Weekend Update: 11/8/2025 Welcome to the Cannibal Halfling Weekend Update! Start your weekend with a chunk of RPG news from the past week. We have the week’s top sellers, industry news stories, something from the archives, and discussions from elsewhere online.

Weekend Update: 11/8/2025

Welcome to the Cannibal Halfling Weekend Update! Start your weekend with a chunk of RPG news from the past week. We have the week’s top sellers, industry news stories, something from the archives, and discussions from elsewhere online.

A chart showing the evolution of Apocalypse World games from 2010-2021 across four major categories: Powered by the Apocalypse (starting with Apocalypse World), Year Zero (starting with Mutant Year Zero), Forged in the Dark (starting with Blades in the Dark), and Belonging Outside Belonging (starting with Dream Askew).

How influential is Apocalypse World?

This influential. (And I wrote this chart four years ago.)

www.designers-and-dragons.com/2021/11/02/t...

Crowdfunding Carnival: November, 2025 Welcome to Crowdfunding Carnival for November! There are a ton of campaigns out there this month; my initial pass easily got to 20 even after I realized that there were a lot and started filtering more aggressively. We’ve definitely got more designers putting in the juice, but there are some other interesting developments going on. First, Gamefound has come roaring onto the scene again.

Crowdfunding Carnival: November, 2025

Welcome to Crowdfunding Carnival for November! There are a ton of campaigns out there this month; my initial pass easily got to 20 even after I realized that there were a lot and started filtering more aggressively. We’ve definitely got more designers putting…

Apocalypse World: Burned Over The 3rd edition of the groundbreaking original.

And away we go.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...

Definitely agree with that, though admittedly it happens less in better known games. We recently ran a game that one of our players got through Kickstarter, and found a core mechanic that had *no written rules constraints whatsoever*.

After reviewing TTRPGs for nearly a decade my only addition is that 'sometimes' is underselling it. Even well-known, ENnie-winning games often crumple at a table where the players don't think in the same way the designer and their friends did.

James Hoffmann makes a clear warning in all of his espresso technique videos: Buying an espresso machine will get you a new, expensive hobby way before it gets you better coffee.

Ok, @lumpley.bsky.social & I have been very up-front over the years on our sales data & etc, so here's a thing, & thanks Will, for bringing it up. Starting a career in #ttrpgs means making games. it means writing in a goggle doc or notebook, trying mechanics with a friend, finding 3 folks to play.

Today's post is a tarot read, the first of what is planned to be a regular monthly feature.

Weekend Update: 11/1/2025 Welcome to the Cannibal Halfling Weekend Update! Start your weekend with a chunk of RPG news from the past week. We have the week’s top sellers, industry news stories, something from the archives, and discussions from elsewhere online.

Weekend Update: 11/1/2025

Welcome to the Cannibal Halfling Weekend Update! Start your weekend with a chunk of RPG news from the past week. We have the week’s top sellers, industry news stories, something from the archives, and discussions from elsewhere online.

I'm starting New Wonk Media, a site for fiction and more narrative exploration of RPGs. This first post, for myself as much as for any audience, is attempting to explain why.

SPINE Review: Making A Game Of Getting Lost In A Book You and Granma were, frankly, on the worst terms. That's what made it such a surprise when you got a package from your cousin, who had wound up being the executor of her estate. Maybe, your cousin writes, Granma was able to overlook your differences since you had become a fellow academic? Either way, the actual package is a copy from her rare books collection, willed to you.

SPINE Review: Making A Game Of Getting Lost In A Book

You and Granma were, frankly, on the worst terms. That's what made it such a surprise when you got a package from your cousin, who had wound up being the executor of her estate. Maybe, your cousin writes, Granma was able to overlook your…

Get more from Vincent Baker on Patreon Creating a window into game design

T minus 3!

We've got just a few add-ons planned for the campaign, but they're pretty cool. I'm working hard today to pull together the preview for one of them.

I can't wait to show you!

(If you're on our Patreon, you'll see it early, just saying...)

Monthly Mecha: Beam Saber & Austin Ramsay, plus Seamus Conneely Mecha TTRPGs Monthly

Released one day early, the November Mecha TTRPG Newsletter is out, and it features Beam Saber by @austinramsaygames.bsky.social.

Plus, an interview with designer and reviewer @cannibalhalfling.bsky.social of Cannibal Halfling Gaming.

And be sure to check out this month's killer community content!

We had one hell of a DIE game at our annual in-person gaming weekend earlier this month. Check out my Adventure Log below. #ttrpg #dietherpg

What Makes Me Want To Run A Game? - Old Men Running The World Or, to give it its true clickbait title, "Why I have absolutely no interest in running 7/9 of the games Quinns Quest has reviewed."

New article on Old Men Running the World, where I drill down into what makes me want to run a game and what makes me run a mile. #ttrpg

Coming soon: Apocalypse World: Burned Over The 3rd edition of the groundbreaking original.

T minus 7. We're launching the KS next Monday, one week from today!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...

For the first time I'm heading to #PaxUnplugged this year. Mostly plan to roam the halls, so if you want to talk #TTRPGs, say hi, or press a review copy into my hands (unlikely but I can dream), feel free to reach out.

A Ritual of Dismissal Last week, a prominent YouTuber named Quinns released a video about the ENNIE award-winning RPG Triangle Agency. As someone who a) doesn’t regularly watch Quinns’ videos and b) has not read Triangl…

Taskerland hit the nail on the head for this kind of attitude: tasker.land/2025/09/25/a...

I dragged my feet so long on getting back into scrolling social media, but I've given in. Don't know how often I'll be posting here; when I do it'll pretty much all be #ttrpg stuff. At the same time, I'm starting a new writing project and the time is right to re-engage. So, here I am. Onward!