The continuing adventures of that eternal man of mystery…
Consequence Routing TTRPGs: When Getting Stronger Doesn’t Make You Safer This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see also: Horror TTRPGs: The Rules Are the Monster) This post isn’t about what deadly games look like, it’s about how TTRPG risk and reward design works at the system level. When people … Read more
The Best Hidden Gem PS2 games, Part 4 Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 I set out to highlight PS2 games that were well made, creative, or important, but never … Read more
What D&D 2e Got Right About TTRPG Endgame Design Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition is where I started in the tabletop roleplaying hobby. I was in college at the time, I found a great DM and a good group, and we had a lot of fun. As a professional RPG mechanics auditor I decided to … Read more
How Reddit Profits from Public Shaming Have you ever left Reddit feeling worse than when you opened it? It’s not an accident. While most platforms reward users for being liked, Reddit distinguishes itself by publicly displaying when users are not. The reason Reddit sometimes feels so toxic can be summed up very simply–it’s the downvote. … Read more
Breaking the Map: The 4 Players Who Redesigned the NBA My all-time starting 5 NBA team is right here; it’s not who you think I’ve been writing about professional basketball lately, and I kept coming back to the same question: who is the GOAT, because debates about the greatest or most influential NBA players usually turn … Read more