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Night of the Living Comus

@riseupcomus.bsky.social

5.6K followers 1.1K following 3.8K posts

Award-winning TTRPG designer/idiot His Majesty the Worm Out Now! http://hismajestytheworm.games/

hismajestytheworm.games

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · Mar 20

Hello! My name is Josh and I like RPGs.

Here's an overview of some of my current projects:

His Majesty the Worm - A new/old-school, tarot-based, megadungeon crawler

Dungeon Design Course - Make a dungeon with me!

Knock! - Adventure gaming bric-a-brac

His Majesty the Worm - New-school game, old-school sensibilities. Slice of life gameplay using tarot cards in an infinite megadungeon.

Designing Dungeons Course: Or, How to Kill a Party in 30 Rooms or Less. Step-by-step course on making fun dungeons. Like if Bob Ross taught dungeon design.

Knock! #5. Cover art of adventurer with sword gripping onto crumbling ledge, almost dropping into a swirling abyss below.

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 11h

You are correct

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 11h

Just rereading that book!

It's funny how I KNOW I'll jive with the vibe of a game if it has one of your covers

Reposted by Night of the Living Comus

Oozejar 🍯 @oozejar.com · 12h

Caught in-between Elfquest and the Hobbit

A slender person with pale skin, blond hair, four-fingered hands, wearing tight medieval clothing in various tones of green. Holds a white longbow and sports a curved dagger on their hip.

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Reposted by Night of the Living Comus

Zak H. | Bommyknocker Press @bommyknocker.bsky.social · 20h

New gameable blogpost: summon one of 3d6 good dogs with this holy relic.

#osr #blogpost #dogpost
bommyknocker.bearblog.dev/dog-dagger/

Dog Dagger

3d6 magical dogs and a means to summon them (apart from a juicy steak).

bommyknocker.bearblog.dev

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 15h

👁️👁️

High Shelf Collective 🔜 PAX Unplugged‬ ‪ @highshelfcltv.bsky.social · 16h

🪱 TONIGHT, 8:30PM EST - 🚨 NEW SERIES ALERT! 🚨

Meet the Reachers as they explore the City at the Center of the World and try to strike it rich in our new campaign of ‘His Majesty The Worm’, created by @riseupcomus.bsky.social, & GM’d by @supposed.name! #ttrpg #AP

#Twitch: twitch.tv/highshelfcol...

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 19h

It's me, your old friend. Do you not know me? Has the White Wizard addled your wits?

Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 19h

Man, Pippin got hustled into the Gondorian guard like a teen meeting an army recruiter at Gamestop

Pippin, in the garb of a Gondorian guard, following Gandalf as he carries the body of Merry

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 21h

I had NO IDEA! That's so cool, thanks for sharing.

Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 22h

Yes! The flavor is unmatched in Beyond the Wall. It actually nails its premise better than almost any other game that claims to be inspired by classic fantasy.

Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 22h

I also was a member of a party TPKd here, haha.

Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 22h

The Treasures tables in Beyond the Wall - Further Afield do similar work to the D&D Treasure Tables but are so much more approachable and gettable. "Uhhh, 5% chance of a Class D treasure" vs "Grave Goods Table." Perf.

A series of tables for RPGs, including Grave Goods, Magical Caches, and Faerie Treasures. Illustration of fairies in trees.

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 22h

Haha, I didn't get to play it today! I just sat down and reread it for the first time since...jeez, since I helped looked for typos in it before publishing.

Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

OH GOD
OH JESUS CHRIST
...
JESUS!
JESUS!

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

It's the champagne of beers!

Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

Hey, cool! It looks sweet! Congratulations.

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

Damn, this book deserved every award it ever won. It's so hilarious and inventive.

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

Playing hookie today. I like that the mural of the town in the cafe includes a You Are Here. Good way to give maps to players (me)

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

YOU BET YOUR SWEET BIPPY. I'm putting ALL these mf in there.

These little scenes are exactly what I'm trying to evoke in the Shire.

One of her fanfictions is about the three hobbit archers that fought in the Battle of Fornost. I put their graves on the map, too.

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

Tolkien Gateway (the _good_ Tolkien wiki) has this info. I also ordered her books and reached out to the Tolkien Society for more information.

Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

I'm VERY charmed by Woollard's story - an older person deeply involved in the early fan scene, creating fanfiction and fanart for zines. Thinking carefully about stories, not just in the books, but stories of her own. Someone who obviously knew a lot and cared about Hobbits.

Wonderful.

/thread

Older Hobbit playing strange instrument, child hobbit eating pie

Hobbit maids bathing in a river with a lookout

"A very necessary place" - aka a hobbit outhouse

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

She also had a character named Hob Painter, an independent "draughtshob" who (barely) earned his living by painting inn signs, but also did other illustrations. Many of her Hobbit scenes are attributed to him.

And I LOVE these. This person thought DEEPLY about the "real" lives of Hobbits.
+

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

As a fan, she had two "characters" that she embodied and even dressed up as during meetups. The first is Dora Baggins, a relative of Bilbo's. Here is a picture of Woollard in costume as Dora and an illustration she did of Dora.

+

A faded photograph of two older women in a turn-of-the-century costumes

Illustration of an old Hobbit woman writing letters

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

As near as I can tell from my research, Woollard's illustrations only appeared in fanzines, newsletters, and bulletins from the Tolkien Society and smaller, local Tolkien fan clubs

She also published (as books!) two small fanfiction stories about Hobbits.

Hobbit home scene of a peddler selling medicines and tinctures

Hobbit family inside their cozy home having dinner; many children and relations

Hobbit hole completely overgrown with a robust garden, vines, greenery

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Night of the Living Comus @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 1d

Y'all, I am VERY excited to introduce you to one of my new favorite Tolkien artists: Kay Woollard (1924-2008).

Woollard first read LotR in '79 when she was 55. From then until her death, she was heavily involved in Tolkien fan culture, contributing illustrations to Tolkien Society publications.

A🧵

A recursive cover of Amon Hen, Bulletin of the Tolkien Society, with a hobbit reading a copy of Amon Hen with a hobbit reading a copy of Amon Hen, and so on

A bulletin titled "A Long-Expected Party Progress Report: Preparation" depicting many hobbit chefs baking pies

Christmas card of a Hobbit couple carrying their child on their shoulders through a snowy landscape

A postcard titled "A Slumbering Pedlar" showing a sleeping Hobbit pedlar resting on his pack of goods

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Reposted by Night of the Living Comus

Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 2d

I have a confession... I haven't been doing any of the editing. This guy has been ratatouille-ing me the entire time

bsky.app/profile/mind...

Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 15d

This is what stares back at me as I edit THE CASTLE AUTOMATIC if anyone was wondering

A ceramic worm with a top hat on top of the book HIS MAJESTY THE WORM

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