I think if you were ever prepared to commit to community organizing, if you were ever prepared to "do the work" (mutual aid, community defense, education, agitation) then now would be the time to fully commit to that. Actually a few years ago was time for that, but we're here now, will you join us?

Backs is the one who wins...
As terrible as everything else is, it just might be a distraction for this.

Been scatter-brained the last couple of days tbh, I think the effort to remove the top JAG officials (clearly with intent to replace them with collaborators) is the single most threatening move amongst a series of very threatening moves. Keep in mind that in most revolutions, the side the military

Walk right past you trick... The guard will notice you, and he also isn't nearly as "invisible" as Garret is. There's another one with a lady MC called Thief2X I'm trying to get a hold of so I can compare all 3 approaches to the varying levels of sneeki skill. She is just a merchant to start!

Yeah! Garret would be like a superhero in the Shadowdark, basically is in The City as is I guess, lol, have you played/seen the fan mod "Black Parade"? The MC is just a guy, pretty sneeki but not Keeper trained level of sneeki, like if you pull the stand in the shadows and let the guard...

Might be a requirement, but as for the mechanics specifically I have an idea of combining noise level with light level, which may enable it to work with a minimal amount of reliance on dice rolls, but this might require the use of minis, I'm still brainstorming, lol.

That, my friend, is the main challenge holding me back tbh, because I want to make something concise, and simple, the Kelsey Dionne way, y'know, but it also has to be really, idk what word I'm looking for, but it needs to evoke that "cling to the shadows" vibe. I'm thinking that "keeper" training...

Into it's own thing, but also instantly recognizable to anybody who has played the finest stealth simulator games ever created, what was that.... Erm, must've been rats.

The really convenient thing about "Thief" as a setting is that approx 80-90% of the names are generic as hell, The City, The Pagans, the Keepers, etc, etc, and I don't think there is a single "cannon" map of The City, so I can do whatever I want with any of that, and that's nice, I wanna make it...

What say you, taffer?
So, I'm working on making a "Thief" inspired setting/supplement for Shadowdark, gonna start off small and un-ambitious-like, maybe 10-20 pages, and after this is put into a suitable format I intend to put it out there as a free or "pay what you want" download for the masses

I'll be sure to check this out!

Like if Conan, or similar characters, have to rough it in the badlands there's some narrative purpose behind the author detailing this, but when you're playing, say BECMI, even just camping is life or death in most places until you're at least 8-10th level.

Yes, much of (if not most of) the fiction that inspired TTRPGs is very much a power fantasy, and to some extent almost any type of "escapist fantasy" will be that, to an extent, but the things left out of stories like Conan, are the everyday realities that player characters still have to deal with

That sounds really interesting!

I think you're right on the head of the nail with that; the idea of "manifest destiny" and that pioneer "spirit" has left an indelible mark on almost everything in US media, from books/films to gaming.
If there are games from other cultural perspectives I too would like to see them.

Well, you know how I feel about Halloween 3, lol, so yes! But for another example (or two) I nominate Van Helsing and Prometheus.

It is absolutely wild to see them act so brazenly in admitting to embracing hard/soft spectacle, but it is truly infuriating that people will hear this and just take a gulp of lite beer before murmuring "hell yeah" in response. The snake oil salesmen admit it's snake oil, and people still buy it.

For me, it's taking a page or two from theorists like, say, Kropotkin, Mutual Aid provides an adequate alternative to the traditional model of history where "Great Men" drive events, and even focuses on the realities of peasants in Medieval Europe, something most history texts tend to neglect.

To make it in a gritty and unforgiving world, this is much more relatable to anybody's IRL experiences than the tendency for fantasy RPGs today where even a 1st level character is a badass, and way more powerful than probably at least 60% of the population, in setting. So what's a leftist to do...?

But anyway, one reason why I like the "OSR" vibe so much, despite many a CHUD also feeling drawn to it, is that, perhaps ironically, it relies much less upon the lense of heroics; take an actual "old school" game like BECMI D&D, the average adventurer is just a punk really, somebody who is trying...

"never *jived* with is there no editing for posts on this platform?🤦 Fuck, now this is gonna be extra jumbled.

In other thoughts... one thing about most TTRPGs that I've never quite lived with is how, if you critically dissect what's going on, it's a pretty faithful reproduction of the sorts of worlds where "great man theory" actually works. Ie, they are power fantasies "only a hero can save us" etc, etc

The solution is, ofc, to track down a physical copy, or two, because I know somebody who well deserves her own copy, and she actually provided my first taste of the TW setting via the 3.5(ish) sourcebook. Idk why I've waited this long to check out the fiction but it is already engaging...

Ahhhhhhh
Just started listening to the audiobook version of the first "Thieve's World" book and neglected to notice it was only a preview on the YT device, so now I am merely... IDK, 25% of the way through, maybe less, and unable to continue for tonight, at least😥

Well I can't refuse an offer like that! Yeah I'll totally give it a peek.

Maybe fiction, maybe just more bad poetry, but I hope to get something positive out of being on this platform because social media in general is so full of bigotry and reactionaries that I feel a general dread, if I'm being completely honest, with regards to the enterprise.

And I don't refer to liberals as the left, if you can make sense of the references here then, congratulations, now roll me a DEX check to dodge the "Red menace" yes I DID make a multi-polar joke... You're welcome, comrade. I also wish to write TTRPG supplements, and other things as well...

In the context of this page and my purpose, it is to maintain a multi-polar "world" between my attempts at both art, and "political" and even poli-tickle sorts of of things and whatnots. Some might even call it "content" but idk if I'm climbing that much tbh. What can I say, left is best...

I am finally able to kickstart (I didn't know about SD when it was first KS) and I'm so ready for March!

Reply, reply, and self reply, self criticize but never lose sight of the glow of your own eyes, oh comrades.
For I can see y'all, and the night is so bright I can read by the ambiance.