WiddershinsWanderings
@naeolin.bsky.social
TTRPG Fanatic | Editor | Blogger: http://widdershinswanderings.bearblog.dev
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
If you'd like to nominate something I wrote, I'd really appreciate it. Here are my favorite posts from last year:
Sandbox Settlements: Prep, Run, and Thrive
Sandbox Settlements: Downtime
Running Mythic Bastionland
Mapping the Blogosphere
elmc.at
Sandbox Settlements: Prep, Run, and Thrive
Sandbox Settlements: Downtime
Running Mythic Bastionland
Mapping the Blogosphere
elmc.at
January 30, 2026 at 12:06 AM
If you'd like to nominate something I wrote, I'd really appreciate it. Here are my favorite posts from last year:
Sandbox Settlements: Prep, Run, and Thrive
Sandbox Settlements: Downtime
Running Mythic Bastionland
Mapping the Blogosphere
elmc.at
Sandbox Settlements: Prep, Run, and Thrive
Sandbox Settlements: Downtime
Running Mythic Bastionland
Mapping the Blogosphere
elmc.at
Sure, why not? I am pretty fond of this post I did on designing obstacles for OSR play: widdershinswanderings.bearblog.dev/a-lock-with-...
January 31, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Sure, why not? I am pretty fond of this post I did on designing obstacles for OSR play: widdershinswanderings.bearblog.dev/a-lock-with-...
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
What if I change Landmark, Hidden, Secret to use for character knowledge? idk!
elmc.at/common-recal...
elmc.at/common-recal...
Common, Recalled, Obscure
Landmark, Hidden, Secret reframed for character knowledge.
elmc.at
January 28, 2026 at 12:11 AM
What if I change Landmark, Hidden, Secret to use for character knowledge? idk!
elmc.at/common-recal...
elmc.at/common-recal...
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Puzzle Dungeon Jam was super fun and busy. I talk about the experience and looking at the wonderful submissions with so many awesome guests. #osr #ttrpg
puzzledungeon.com/a-look-back-...
puzzledungeon.com/a-look-back-...
A look back at Puzzle Dungeon Jam
A retrospective on the jam. My hopes and dreams and oh so many dungeons.
puzzledungeon.com
January 26, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Puzzle Dungeon Jam was super fun and busy. I talk about the experience and looking at the wonderful submissions with so many awesome guests. #osr #ttrpg
puzzledungeon.com/a-look-back-...
puzzledungeon.com/a-look-back-...
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
In tabletop rpg design, sometimes gameplay doesn't come from the mechanics we add, but the ones we omit.
www.explorersdesign.com/dominant-mec...
www.explorersdesign.com/dominant-mec...
Against Dominant Mechanics
Some rules guide play. And some rules monopolize it. Designing by omission.
www.explorersdesign.com
January 20, 2026 at 2:59 PM
In tabletop rpg design, sometimes gameplay doesn't come from the mechanics we add, but the ones we omit.
www.explorersdesign.com/dominant-mec...
www.explorersdesign.com/dominant-mec...
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Cover for Cairn Barebones Edition by @amandalee.bsky.social.
There is no one else as good as her, nope
There is no one else as good as her, nope
January 17, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Cover for Cairn Barebones Edition by @amandalee.bsky.social.
There is no one else as good as her, nope
There is no one else as good as her, nope
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
I wrote a theory post. Don't worry, I paid taxes at the end.
newschoolrevolution.com/turning-the-...
newschoolrevolution.com/turning-the-...
Turning the Dial
Nerds love taxonomy; it gives order to the world, and provides a meaningful sense of control. Of course, it's all an illusion. At best taxonomy is a useful t...
newschoolrevolution.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:06 PM
I wrote a theory post. Don't worry, I paid taxes at the end.
newschoolrevolution.com/turning-the-...
newschoolrevolution.com/turning-the-...
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Just so you all know this (overly) linear map is also from a Jennell Jaquays' product... Loops are good, but are neither necessary or sufficient for good map design.
January 15, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Just so you all know this (overly) linear map is also from a Jennell Jaquays' product... Loops are good, but are neither necessary or sufficient for good map design.
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Some notes about how I write TTRPG adventures:
My texts tend to be terse. A location described in two lines; a single spoken sentence to describe a character.
The aim is *not* to be laconic, but to mirror the pace of natural dialogue; a TTRPG is a conversation between players, after all!
1/
My texts tend to be terse. A location described in two lines; a single spoken sentence to describe a character.
The aim is *not* to be laconic, but to mirror the pace of natural dialogue; a TTRPG is a conversation between players, after all!
1/
January 15, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Some notes about how I write TTRPG adventures:
My texts tend to be terse. A location described in two lines; a single spoken sentence to describe a character.
The aim is *not* to be laconic, but to mirror the pace of natural dialogue; a TTRPG is a conversation between players, after all!
1/
My texts tend to be terse. A location described in two lines; a single spoken sentence to describe a character.
The aim is *not* to be laconic, but to mirror the pace of natural dialogue; a TTRPG is a conversation between players, after all!
1/
Great post. I agree with Ram that it is best to play procedures straight, especially if you are planning on playing over the course of several sessions. Sometimes things are chill, and sometimes everything is popping off at once and the plans of the PCs are for naught in the midst of pure chaos.
My first session of Mythic Bastionland was today. I was a little nervous, as I hadn't ran anything in over a year! (The last game I ran was the Mothership module Another Bug Hunt.) This was a quiet session, but fun all the same. Sometimes that's how the dice go. Some thoughts on my blog.
Save vs. Total Party Kill - My First Mythic Bastionland Session
I spent a little bit of time over the last two days getting ready to play Mythic Bastionland. I made a map over the holidays, but didn’t finish filling it with stuff at the time. I was writing down NP...
save.vs.totalpartykill.ca
January 15, 2026 at 12:36 PM
Great post. I agree with Ram that it is best to play procedures straight, especially if you are planning on playing over the course of several sessions. Sometimes things are chill, and sometimes everything is popping off at once and the plans of the PCs are for naught in the midst of pure chaos.
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
A tale of playtesting and how you don’t really know what mechanics work until you bring ones that don’t work to your table, maybe more than once
Playtest Early, Playtest Often — Prismatic Wasteland
To design a game, you have to break a few eggs and discard some rules or completely rewrite them. But you won’t know what to discard and what to rewrite until you feed those eggs to your players.
www.prismaticwasteland.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:08 PM
A tale of playtesting and how you don’t really know what mechanics work until you bring ones that don’t work to your table, maybe more than once
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Next month I will launch Cairn Press.
I tried to make a publishing agreement that is fair, free, and mutually beneficial. Once the lawyer approves final contract I'll release it as CC-BY-SA, if possible. I've also written up a "plain English" version that you can read here:
cairnpress.ink#terms
I tried to make a publishing agreement that is fair, free, and mutually beneficial. Once the lawyer approves final contract I'll release it as CC-BY-SA, if possible. I've also written up a "plain English" version that you can read here:
cairnpress.ink#terms
Cairn Press
The official website for the Cairn Press imprint.
cairnpress.ink
January 10, 2026 at 1:48 AM
Next month I will launch Cairn Press.
I tried to make a publishing agreement that is fair, free, and mutually beneficial. Once the lawyer approves final contract I'll release it as CC-BY-SA, if possible. I've also written up a "plain English" version that you can read here:
cairnpress.ink#terms
I tried to make a publishing agreement that is fair, free, and mutually beneficial. Once the lawyer approves final contract I'll release it as CC-BY-SA, if possible. I've also written up a "plain English" version that you can read here:
cairnpress.ink#terms
Always nice to see one's work appreciated! I have more thoughts on this subject, and hope to return to this series in 2026.
Also worth reading @naeolin.bsky.social's excellent, super-detailed post on building a player-facing pointcrawl sandbox. great resource!
widdershinswanderings.bearblog.dev/player-facin...
widdershinswanderings.bearblog.dev/player-facin...
Player-Facing Pointcrawl: Regional Sandbox
A blog post about how to design a regional sandbox pointcrawl map that is player-facing.
widdershinswanderings.bearblog.dev
January 6, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Always nice to see one's work appreciated! I have more thoughts on this subject, and hope to return to this series in 2026.
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Listen, I get it.
You're about to see "The Bloggies" all over your feed and it's going to get real old real quick. That's why you can mute it on BlueSky and bookmark the official page.
I made it so you can still participate without losing your mind.
Submissions are officially open til Jan 31st.
You're about to see "The Bloggies" all over your feed and it's going to get real old real quick. That's why you can mute it on BlueSky and bookmark the official page.
I made it so you can still participate without losing your mind.
Submissions are officially open til Jan 31st.
The Bloggies 2026
A yearly celebration of blogging in tabletop roleplaying games.
www.explorersdesign.com
January 1, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Listen, I get it.
You're about to see "The Bloggies" all over your feed and it's going to get real old real quick. That's why you can mute it on BlueSky and bookmark the official page.
I made it so you can still participate without losing your mind.
Submissions are officially open til Jan 31st.
You're about to see "The Bloggies" all over your feed and it's going to get real old real quick. That's why you can mute it on BlueSky and bookmark the official page.
I made it so you can still participate without losing your mind.
Submissions are officially open til Jan 31st.
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Scrambled to get a 2025 review post out. Instead of talking about me, I dug into my blog dataset and made a bunch of graphs.
elmc.at/2025-in-blog...
elmc.at/2025-in-blog...
2025 in Blog Data
Blogging isn't dead: a 2025 year-in-review of the blogosphere map dataset—posts per month, survival rates, and publishing patterns.
elmc.at
December 31, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Scrambled to get a 2025 review post out. Instead of talking about me, I dug into my blog dataset and made a bunch of graphs.
elmc.at/2025-in-blog...
elmc.at/2025-in-blog...
Too bad this was a commission. It would make a hell of a poster or t-shirt design.
The crowded Dungeon, a commission from 2024 for a project I am unsure the details of, but one of my favorites that I made that year.
December 29, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Too bad this was a commission. It would make a hell of a poster or t-shirt design.
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
This was a long time coming: Advice for Running a Hexcrawl, a Decade Too Late.
Save vs. Total Party Kill - Advice for Running a Hexcrawl, A Decade Too Late
Masters of Carcosa is the longest campaign I have run. My friends and I played 23 sessions, starting at the end of 2014, ending near the start of 2016. The game began after Brendan took a break from r...
save.vs.totalpartykill.ca
December 26, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This was a long time coming: Advice for Running a Hexcrawl, a Decade Too Late.
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Welcome to the barrow... Additional Bones of Bronze art - part of why it's taken so long is because it's just a lot of skeletons...
December 25, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Welcome to the barrow... Additional Bones of Bronze art - part of why it's taken so long is because it's just a lot of skeletons...
An alternate magic system for Cairn has entered the arena...
Sure, you know about Vancian Magic, but what about Jackian Magic? (Someone please finish this design.)
www.explorersdesign.com/jackian-magic/
www.explorersdesign.com/jackian-magic/
The Jackian Magic System
Experimental mechanics that combine Mausritter inventory, Tetris, and engine-building into an alternative Vancian magic system.
www.explorersdesign.com
December 23, 2025 at 4:48 PM
An alternate magic system for Cairn has entered the arena...
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Was thinking of doing an RPGs of 2025 review thing, but then couldn’t because one of my friends who I gamed with died this year and it’s all too much.
So I’ll just say that my number 1 RPG thing this year was running Beyond the Pale in Cairn 2e (both adventure and system written by Yochai Gal).
So I’ll just say that my number 1 RPG thing this year was running Beyond the Pale in Cairn 2e (both adventure and system written by Yochai Gal).
December 23, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Was thinking of doing an RPGs of 2025 review thing, but then couldn’t because one of my friends who I gamed with died this year and it’s all too much.
So I’ll just say that my number 1 RPG thing this year was running Beyond the Pale in Cairn 2e (both adventure and system written by Yochai Gal).
So I’ll just say that my number 1 RPG thing this year was running Beyond the Pale in Cairn 2e (both adventure and system written by Yochai Gal).
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Flatline on the Blocks has been such a fun project! I hadn’t written for Mothership in a while after writing Resonant so it was a good time to work with everybody. #osr www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
FLATLINE ON THE BLOCKS: A dicey district for Mothership RPG
Eighteen Mothership veterans tear open the Spinal Crux District, a 56pg zine detailing the EYE and its twenty Blocks on Prospero's Dream.
www.backerkit.com
December 23, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Flatline on the Blocks has been such a fun project! I hadn’t written for Mothership in a while after writing Resonant so it was a good time to work with everybody. #osr www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
One of the most gorgeous games I've come across in awhile is Vaults of Vaarn. I love these kind of settings born out of a creators' passion for an imagined place. Ultimately, they're some of my favorite things about roleplaying games.
vaults-of-vaarn-second-edition.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
vaults-of-vaarn-second-edition.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
Pre-order Vaults of Vaarn Second Edition on BackerKit
The second edition of Vaults of Vaarn, the acclaimed science-fantasy adventure game.
vaults-of-vaarn-second-edition.backerkit.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:56 PM
One of the most gorgeous games I've come across in awhile is Vaults of Vaarn. I love these kind of settings born out of a creators' passion for an imagined place. Ultimately, they're some of my favorite things about roleplaying games.
vaults-of-vaarn-second-edition.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
vaults-of-vaarn-second-edition.backerkit.com/hosted_preor...
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Citation is easy. It's a couple of lines on your credits page.
Citation is encouragement. Every time somebody else acknowledges me this way, I feel like the work is worthwhile.
Citation is introspection. You are marking your trajectory, the ports you have called at, as a maker.
1/
Citation is encouragement. Every time somebody else acknowledges me this way, I feel like the work is worthwhile.
Citation is introspection. You are marking your trajectory, the ports you have called at, as a maker.
1/
December 21, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Citation is easy. It's a couple of lines on your credits page.
Citation is encouragement. Every time somebody else acknowledges me this way, I feel like the work is worthwhile.
Citation is introspection. You are marking your trajectory, the ports you have called at, as a maker.
1/
Citation is encouragement. Every time somebody else acknowledges me this way, I feel like the work is worthwhile.
Citation is introspection. You are marking your trajectory, the ports you have called at, as a maker.
1/
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
New Dungeon (in blog form): Castle Claus, or The Keep on the North Pole
A Rankin Bass Christmas-themed dungeon for the Merry Hexmas Blog Bandwagon. Possibly one of my more high effort blog posts to date
#osr #ttrpg
A Rankin Bass Christmas-themed dungeon for the Merry Hexmas Blog Bandwagon. Possibly one of my more high effort blog posts to date
#osr #ttrpg
Castle Claus: The Keep on the North Pole — Prismatic Wasteland
A Merry Hexmas location: dungeoncrawl through Santa Claus’ castle. Whether you lead an elf and reindeer uprising is up to you!
www.prismaticwasteland.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by WiddershinsWanderings
Blog map update!
- Added many more blogs
- Pulled in more historical post data (Substack, Ghost + others)
- Reworked the side-panel stats to be clearer
The new data also reshaped the communities. We're at eight now.
graph.elmc.at
- Added many more blogs
- Pulled in more historical post data (Substack, Ghost + others)
- Reworked the side-panel stats to be clearer
The new data also reshaped the communities. We're at eight now.
graph.elmc.at
Blogosphere Map
An interactive map of TTRPG related blogs, linked by who cites whom.
graph.elmc.at
December 18, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Blog map update!
- Added many more blogs
- Pulled in more historical post data (Substack, Ghost + others)
- Reworked the side-panel stats to be clearer
The new data also reshaped the communities. We're at eight now.
graph.elmc.at
- Added many more blogs
- Pulled in more historical post data (Substack, Ghost + others)
- Reworked the side-panel stats to be clearer
The new data also reshaped the communities. We're at eight now.
graph.elmc.at