Graham Walmsley ⏩ Dragonmeet
@grahamwalmsley.bsky.social
I design games, especially tabletop roleplaying games (Cthulhu Dark, Cosmic Dark). I also write books on storytelling (Play Unsafe) and drift into interactive fiction (39 Steps) and LARP (Will That Be All).
And I love theatre, art and history.
And I love theatre, art and history.
There are four days until Dragonmeet and I'm getting excited, if by excited you mean "Wondering if I've forgotten anything".
I'm on booth E15, just behind Chaosium. Come and say hello. Here's an amazing map of where I am by @jogbrogzin.bsky.social.
I'm on booth E15, just behind Chaosium. Come and say hello. Here's an amazing map of where I am by @jogbrogzin.bsky.social.
November 25, 2025 at 8:06 AM
There are four days until Dragonmeet and I'm getting excited, if by excited you mean "Wondering if I've forgotten anything".
I'm on booth E15, just behind Chaosium. Come and say hello. Here's an amazing map of where I am by @jogbrogzin.bsky.social.
I'm on booth E15, just behind Chaosium. Come and say hello. Here's an amazing map of where I am by @jogbrogzin.bsky.social.
We don't talk much about the "feel" of TTRPG mechanics, so I thought I'd do that.
Imagine two sets of mechanics for finding clues in a mystery.
Imagine two sets of mechanics for finding clues in a mystery.
November 24, 2025 at 8:59 PM
We don't talk much about the "feel" of TTRPG mechanics, so I thought I'd do that.
Imagine two sets of mechanics for finding clues in a mystery.
Imagine two sets of mechanics for finding clues in a mystery.
This is where I am at Dragonmeet, sharing a stall with @patchworkfez.bsky.social .
Come and say hello! And, you know, buy things, that'd be good too.
Come and say hello! And, you know, buy things, that'd be good too.
November 24, 2025 at 6:22 PM
This is where I am at Dragonmeet, sharing a stall with @patchworkfez.bsky.social .
Come and say hello! And, you know, buy things, that'd be good too.
Come and say hello! And, you know, buy things, that'd be good too.
I'm reading Abir Mukherjee's A Rising Man, a murder mystery set in the Raj period. It's reminding me how powerful murder mysteries can be for exploring a setting or period of history. It's a criminally underrated genre.
November 23, 2025 at 9:17 AM
I'm reading Abir Mukherjee's A Rising Man, a murder mystery set in the Raj period. It's reminding me how powerful murder mysteries can be for exploring a setting or period of history. It's a criminally underrated genre.
Reposted by Graham Walmsley ⏩ Dragonmeet
Tomorrow, I get to share one of my favorite scenarios from Cthulhu Dark by @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social. The Screams of the Children. 1850 East London. Mystery, class horror, and themes galore. See you in chat.
twitch.tv/thirdfloorwa... N
twitch.tv/thirdfloorwa... N
thirdfloorwars Schedule - Twitch
Check out thirdfloorwars stream schedule, and set reminders so you don’t miss out!
twitch.tv
November 23, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Tomorrow, I get to share one of my favorite scenarios from Cthulhu Dark by @grahamwalmsley.bsky.social. The Screams of the Children. 1850 East London. Mystery, class horror, and themes galore. See you in chat.
twitch.tv/thirdfloorwa... N
twitch.tv/thirdfloorwa... N
Game: "Adjust the slider so you can barely see the logo"
Me: Adjusts the slider so I can clearly see everything because I don't want to be squinting at the game for hours
Me: Adjusts the slider so I can clearly see everything because I don't want to be squinting at the game for hours
November 22, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Game: "Adjust the slider so you can barely see the logo"
Me: Adjusts the slider so I can clearly see everything because I don't want to be squinting at the game for hours
Me: Adjusts the slider so I can clearly see everything because I don't want to be squinting at the game for hours
Here's me talking about storytelling on @symphonyhorror.bsky.social with some brilliant people.https://youtu.be/m9T9GpVUy0w?si=uxvQ_92gcd_kQ7xv
November 21, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Here's me talking about storytelling on @symphonyhorror.bsky.social with some brilliant people.https://youtu.be/m9T9GpVUy0w?si=uxvQ_92gcd_kQ7xv
I'm running The Cinnamon Bakery today, my cozy larp about a running a business in a happy little town.
One player, who's playing the baker, has baked this cake! It's incredible.
One player, who's playing the baker, has baked this cake! It's incredible.
November 21, 2025 at 8:18 AM
I'm running The Cinnamon Bakery today, my cozy larp about a running a business in a happy little town.
One player, who's playing the baker, has baked this cake! It's incredible.
One player, who's playing the baker, has baked this cake! It's incredible.
Reposted by Graham Walmsley ⏩ Dragonmeet
We don't know. What we do know is the wiring diagram works. We built it, virtually, in @godotengine.org. We fed it scans of the books we found.
And the books are very, very strange. The "game" that resulted is also strange.
We're hoping people can make sense of it for us.
And the books are very, very strange. The "game" that resulted is also strange.
We're hoping people can make sense of it for us.
TR-49 on Steam
Narrative deduction meets audio drama, from the creators of Heaven’s Vault, Overboard! and A Highland Song.
store.steampowered.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:12 PM
We don't know. What we do know is the wiring diagram works. We built it, virtually, in @godotengine.org. We fed it scans of the books we found.
And the books are very, very strange. The "game" that resulted is also strange.
We're hoping people can make sense of it for us.
And the books are very, very strange. The "game" that resulted is also strange.
We're hoping people can make sense of it for us.
If you're at Dragonmeet next week, I have a booth! Here I am, next to scrappy newcomers Chaosium.
I'm sharing with the incredible @patchworkfez.bsky.social (buy their stuff it's great). And I'll let you know later about what I'll have to sell: I'm waiting on one last delivery.
I'm sharing with the incredible @patchworkfez.bsky.social (buy their stuff it's great). And I'll let you know later about what I'll have to sell: I'm waiting on one last delivery.
November 19, 2025 at 5:38 PM
If you're at Dragonmeet next week, I have a booth! Here I am, next to scrappy newcomers Chaosium.
I'm sharing with the incredible @patchworkfez.bsky.social (buy their stuff it's great). And I'll let you know later about what I'll have to sell: I'm waiting on one last delivery.
I'm sharing with the incredible @patchworkfez.bsky.social (buy their stuff it's great). And I'll let you know later about what I'll have to sell: I'm waiting on one last delivery.
Reposted by Graham Walmsley ⏩ Dragonmeet
Cold City Second Edition is out now, with 100% 5 star ratings and some amazing reviews.
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5... #coldcity #ttrpg
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5... #coldcity #ttrpg
November 18, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Cold City Second Edition is out now, with 100% 5 star ratings and some amazing reviews.
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5... #coldcity #ttrpg
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5... #coldcity #ttrpg
I love this article. Once you know this, it's easy to spot the connection: Aliya, the protagonist of Heaven's Vault, is very different from the Doctor, but she definitely wanders around ancient sites, monologuing to herself until she understands exactly what happened.
How Inkle's Heaven's Vault started life as a Doctor Who game, before it was exterminated www.eurogamer.net/how-inkles-h...
November 18, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I love this article. Once you know this, it's easy to spot the connection: Aliya, the protagonist of Heaven's Vault, is very different from the Doctor, but she definitely wanders around ancient sites, monologuing to herself until she understands exactly what happened.
Reposted by Graham Walmsley ⏩ Dragonmeet
Tonight, I and @bschoner.bsky.social play brothers in the zombie apocalypse. We are on opposite sides of a closed door. One of us is infected. I've been wanting to get this game by @moreblueberries.bsky.social to the channel. Their digital play PDFs make it easy. Watch live or later. #ttrpg
November 17, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Tonight, I and @bschoner.bsky.social play brothers in the zombie apocalypse. We are on opposite sides of a closed door. One of us is infected. I've been wanting to get this game by @moreblueberries.bsky.social to the channel. Their digital play PDFs make it easy. Watch live or later. #ttrpg
I like this!
"he is wearing a long green coat that has pockets, with black sleeves and a cool hat"
vs
"Looking out suspiciously from under his hat, he pushes up his black sleeves and rustles around in the empty pocket of his long green coat"
it's just easier to remember when we code items to an emotion!
vs
"Looking out suspiciously from under his hat, he pushes up his black sleeves and rustles around in the empty pocket of his long green coat"
it's just easier to remember when we code items to an emotion!
November 16, 2025 at 10:03 PM
I like this!
When you're writing a tabletop roleplaying game, the mechanics should evoke the atmosphere you want in your story.
A simple example: we're writing a cozy woodland mystery game. What are the combat mechanics like? Well, clearly there aren't any. Combat isn't part of our cozy woodland story.
But...
A simple example: we're writing a cozy woodland mystery game. What are the combat mechanics like? Well, clearly there aren't any. Combat isn't part of our cozy woodland story.
But...
November 16, 2025 at 9:13 PM
When you're writing a tabletop roleplaying game, the mechanics should evoke the atmosphere you want in your story.
A simple example: we're writing a cozy woodland mystery game. What are the combat mechanics like? Well, clearly there aren't any. Combat isn't part of our cozy woodland story.
But...
A simple example: we're writing a cozy woodland mystery game. What are the combat mechanics like? Well, clearly there aren't any. Combat isn't part of our cozy woodland story.
But...
We played Dino Island! @savagespiel.bsky.social brought little dinosaurs.
November 15, 2025 at 5:51 PM
We played Dino Island! @savagespiel.bsky.social brought little dinosaurs.
I just backed Gravity: A Roleplaying Game on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/pot...
Gravity: A Roleplaying Game
A one-shot TTRPG about powerful people in a bad situation.
www.kickstarter.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:41 AM
I just backed Gravity: A Roleplaying Game on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/pot...
Reposted by Graham Walmsley ⏩ Dragonmeet
I've already fallen off the self-promotion train!
I'd just sort of assumed that £2k was a low enough goal that I could just coast over the line without much effort, and... no. 😓
I'd just sort of assumed that £2k was a low enough goal that I could just coast over the line without much effort, and... no. 😓
Gravity: A Roleplaying Game
A one-shot TTRPG about powerful people in a bad situation.
www.kickstarter.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:54 AM
I've already fallen off the self-promotion train!
I'd just sort of assumed that £2k was a low enough goal that I could just coast over the line without much effort, and... no. 😓
I'd just sort of assumed that £2k was a low enough goal that I could just coast over the line without much effort, and... no. 😓
Reposted by Graham Walmsley ⏩ Dragonmeet
DIE: Loaded's order cut off is on Monday. Talk to your retailer. It's all kicking off.
November 14, 2025 at 8:56 PM
DIE: Loaded's order cut off is on Monday. Talk to your retailer. It's all kicking off.
I'm reading the Hobbit and just got to the conversation with Smaug, which I'd totally forgotten. It's wonderful.
I want to write about dragons now. (Actually I'm writing a game about dragons, so maybe conversations with them will go into it.)
I want to write about dragons now. (Actually I'm writing a game about dragons, so maybe conversations with them will go into it.)
November 14, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I'm reading the Hobbit and just got to the conversation with Smaug, which I'd totally forgotten. It's wonderful.
I want to write about dragons now. (Actually I'm writing a game about dragons, so maybe conversations with them will go into it.)
I want to write about dragons now. (Actually I'm writing a game about dragons, so maybe conversations with them will go into it.)
I admit, I read the first paragraph thinking "This is a whole chunk of history I forgot".
And then I was delighted by the "What is a TTRPG" section.
And then I was delighted by the "What is a TTRPG" section.
Hurrah! My article on the Twilight 2000 RPG in the Journal of American Studies is now open access (OA), so anyone who wants to can have a read. OA is important to me, as I want my work on RPG history to go beyond the academy and reach the gaming public.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
When You Say, “Thermonuclear War,” I Think You Mean “the Call to Adventure”! The Twilight: 2000 Tabletop Role-Playing Game and the Postapocalyptic World’s Imaginary Spaces | Journal of American Studie...
When You Say, “Thermonuclear War,” I Think You Mean “the Call to Adventure”! The Twilight: 2000 Tabletop Role-Playing Game and the Postapocalyptic World’s Imaginary Spaces
www.cambridge.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I admit, I read the first paragraph thinking "This is a whole chunk of history I forgot".
And then I was delighted by the "What is a TTRPG" section.
And then I was delighted by the "What is a TTRPG" section.
Reposted by Graham Walmsley ⏩ Dragonmeet
Hurrah! My article on the Twilight 2000 RPG in the Journal of American Studies is now open access (OA), so anyone who wants to can have a read. OA is important to me, as I want my work on RPG history to go beyond the academy and reach the gaming public.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
When You Say, “Thermonuclear War,” I Think You Mean “the Call to Adventure”! The Twilight: 2000 Tabletop Role-Playing Game and the Postapocalyptic World’s Imaginary Spaces | Journal of American Studie...
When You Say, “Thermonuclear War,” I Think You Mean “the Call to Adventure”! The Twilight: 2000 Tabletop Role-Playing Game and the Postapocalyptic World’s Imaginary Spaces
www.cambridge.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Hurrah! My article on the Twilight 2000 RPG in the Journal of American Studies is now open access (OA), so anyone who wants to can have a read. OA is important to me, as I want my work on RPG history to go beyond the academy and reach the gaming public.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reasons I like the word "trash", rather than the UK version "rubbish": you can hold up something and say "Is this trash?".
If you say "Is this rubbish?", it's unclear whether you're asking whether the thing is bad or whether it can be disposed of.
If you say "Is this rubbish?", it's unclear whether you're asking whether the thing is bad or whether it can be disposed of.
November 13, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Reasons I like the word "trash", rather than the UK version "rubbish": you can hold up something and say "Is this trash?".
If you say "Is this rubbish?", it's unclear whether you're asking whether the thing is bad or whether it can be disposed of.
If you say "Is this rubbish?", it's unclear whether you're asking whether the thing is bad or whether it can be disposed of.
Reposted by Graham Walmsley ⏩ Dragonmeet
performative reading, lack of reading skills, nobody's reading anymore -- NO!
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
November 11, 2025 at 10:39 PM
performative reading, lack of reading skills, nobody's reading anymore -- NO!
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
tell me about a book that changed you
for me? the *extremely* ahistorical novel, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY which I read at 13 and was like, "Oh, art can be *everything* to a maker, for good and bad"
I'm reading The Hobbit! It must be thirty or forty years since I've read it. I'd forgotten so many scenes - the spiders, Beorn, the wood elves - and they're so much fun to read again.
November 10, 2025 at 11:49 PM
I'm reading The Hobbit! It must be thirty or forty years since I've read it. I'd forgotten so many scenes - the spiders, Beorn, the wood elves - and they're so much fun to read again.