realbrickwall's Avatar

realbrickwall

@realbrickwall.bsky.social

Writer and enjoyer of games. Located in the state of Ohio.

27 Followers  |  57 Following  |  31 Posts  |  Joined: 26.02.2024  |  2.0865

Latest posts by realbrickwall.bsky.social on Bluesky

Who knows? You could write the method that ends up getting adopted permanently at so many tables that WotC puts it in a D&D book and pretends they invented it.

...but in an encouraging way. /thread

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

And if you're designing TTRPGs, try to throw in a little something to make sure de-agencied players don't stay that way, or can't truly happen in the first place. We have precious little work in that design space (not zero!) despite PC death being about as old as the hobby itself.

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

One way or another, people will feel a lot better about setbacks and unexpected story elements knowing that nothing can happen in the story that will make them unable to keep telling the story with their friends.

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

If you are running a TTRPG, talk with your table about this. Even if you currently have a no-PC-death agreement in place, introducing fallback plans may re-open that possibility space.

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This even applies outside of the finality of death! Sometimes your character suddenly just winds up in a situation where it makes the most sense for them to be somewhere else for a while. Distressingly few games have tools to entertain players who suddenly find themselves without an agent.

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

To be clear, I am astoundingly in favor of having plans for "what does our friend do while they do not have a character in play" so that you can have a game where main characters can be removed from the narrative with little forethought.

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

If you are going to tell someone that they can no longer participate in the activity they put so much effort into, you'd better have an agreement in place or be ready to lose a friend.

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

The tricky thing with character death is that, in the vast majority of TTRPGs, having an alive character is a completely non-negotiable prerequisite to playing the game, the activity that everyone present blocked hours out of their week many times over to do.

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Some people say that an unexpected death can absolutely ruin a story (it can also make an incredible story but I acknowledge it's a huge gamble). There's lots of other variants of the argument, but too often the conversation ignores what I think is the most important point in all this.

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

There's an evergreen argument about handling player character death at tables. Some people say that the conflict feels meaningless if the PCs are protected (the incredible popularity of action movies certainly goes against this argument, but okay).

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

A cold take for people who play #TTRPG s that involve violent conflict. (longish thread)

25.11.2025 01:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

The number of old folktunes that were once stupid little ditties about banging is probably more immense than anyone could ever imagine. If you ever feel rootless and adrift, connect with your ancestors - listen to a piece of music, and make up a little lyric about banging.

12.11.2025 02:08 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Comin' Thro' the Rye - Wikipedia

Diving down the same wikihole I have also discovered that the tune we now use for Auld Lang Syne is one that the collector had originally used for one of the other poems in the collection: Comin Thro' the Rye, a song that is about...banging, apparently en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comin'_...

12.11.2025 02:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Ah! vous dirai-je, maman - Wikipedia

TIL the oldest written song with the 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'/'Alphabet'/'Baa Baa Black Sheep' melody is a folk song from the French countryside sung from the perspective of a young shepherdess about falling for a cheap pickup line and banging the neighbor boy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ah!_vou...

12.11.2025 01:26 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Apocalypse World: Burned Over The 3rd edition of the groundbreaking original.

And away we go.

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

06.11.2025 14:32 β€” πŸ‘ 323    πŸ” 165    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 27
Preview
Apocalypse World: Burned Over The 3rd edition of the groundbreaking original.

Here We GO! Come along, my dearies!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...

06.11.2025 14:31 β€” πŸ‘ 414    πŸ” 249    πŸ’¬ 19    πŸ“Œ 91

you even gave her a luxury ball

27.10.2025 22:03 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Anyway your FatT fact of the day is that the name of the shield character, Antistrophe, translates to "opposing turn", which I think means that either he's going to become a villain or it's just a joke about parrying or they thought it sounded cool.

20.10.2025 14:17 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

After several years of trying I finally caught up to Friends at the Table.

Well, FatT main podcast feed. Not counting Bluff City. Or any sidecasts like Media Club Plus or A More Civilized Age or Clapcast or anything that explains when these people find time to sleep.

20.10.2025 14:07 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

hi
gist.github.com/mary-ext/6e27b…

29.09.2025 10:46 β€” πŸ‘ 4135    πŸ” 3532    πŸ’¬ 29    πŸ“Œ 105

I've only gotten a barber shave once, but it did include a warm towel, so I think it's pretty common.

25.09.2025 15:58 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Just got finished watching this premiere. I can say that the hype was not only deserved, but arguably insufficient. Right now my #1 contender for favorite new show of the season, and could easily shape up to be my 2025 all-around favorite.

19.09.2025 22:34 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Would you believe this page was the launch pad for a 25 year long career of writing critically acclaimed comics? www.nuklearpower.com/2001/03/02/e...

01.09.2025 21:23 β€” πŸ‘ 880    πŸ” 300    πŸ’¬ 60    πŸ“Œ 10

I will reiterate once again: Redlines aren’t red because your text it’s bleeding and battered. Redlines are red because that’s how hot you need to get them to forge it to an edge.

24.08.2025 19:57 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

oh right social media exists what's up everybody

22.08.2025 10:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

TASK: Make an NPC the PCs Won't Adopt Given Half the Chance

CHALLENGE RATING:γ€ŒImpossible」

12.04.2025 23:36 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
11.04.2025 15:17 β€” πŸ‘ 300    πŸ” 44    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Exalted: Essence Player's Guide Project Update: Forging Ahead through the manuscript - Manuscript Preview #7 Hi Players, Are you ready to check out the next chapter, about our friends forged in Autochthonia? It's time for the Alchemical Exalted! Before we cross the Seal of Eight D...

#ExEssPlayersGuide Project Update: Forging Ahead through the manuscript - Manuscript Preview #7
#Exalted3

11.04.2025 14:18 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Exalted: Essence Player's Guide Project Update: You'll Wanna Play This Part, so We'll Carry On... to Manuscript Preview #6 Hello Players, We're into other realms now, getting ready to check out the Abyssals and their Deathlords. Before we get to our manuscript preview, a reminder about Onyx Path...

#ExEssPlayersGuide Project Update: You'll Wanna Play This Part, so We'll Carry On... to Manucript Preview 6
#Exalted3

09.04.2025 14:17 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Exalted: Essence Player's Guide Project Update: Snatched off the Glowing Road Snatched off the Glowing Road He had intended to sweep into Whitewall like a revelation; step out of the carriage stride before it for a mile to the gates and announce...

#ExEssPlayersGuide Project Update: Snatch off the Glowing Road
#Exalted3

08.04.2025 16:06 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@realbrickwall is following 20 prominent accounts