Alistair Smith
@alistairsmith.bsky.social
Mid-life crisis: return to OSRPGs, painting and general escape from the mundane. Happiness through imagination and camaraderie. He/him. #grognard
That was what I was meaning.
January 25, 2026 at 9:06 PM
That was what I was meaning.
My input as a gamer from the 80s is that I played D&d/AD&D twice. It was fine but I can’t remember if I ever understood THACO. MERP, WFRP, CoC. That’s my grounding.
January 25, 2026 at 7:48 PM
My input as a gamer from the 80s is that I played D&d/AD&D twice. It was fine but I can’t remember if I ever understood THACO. MERP, WFRP, CoC. That’s my grounding.
I wasn’t trying to start a fight! And no you didn’t suggest all!
January 25, 2026 at 7:26 PM
I wasn’t trying to start a fight! And no you didn’t suggest all!
Feels like a whole con full of Carry On games with different rulesets might be fun. Carry on all the way to Mordor with TOR or MERP, Carry on Don’t Lose Your Head, with Master Dee and co, etc.
January 25, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Feels like a whole con full of Carry On games with different rulesets might be fun. Carry on all the way to Mordor with TOR or MERP, Carry on Don’t Lose Your Head, with Master Dee and co, etc.
In fairness most of the Grogs I know have an emotional attachment to the systems they played in their youth, but a powerful attraction to modern games doing interesting things.
January 25, 2026 at 6:50 PM
In fairness most of the Grogs I know have an emotional attachment to the systems they played in their youth, but a powerful attraction to modern games doing interesting things.
So who else has the same name (ok slightly different spelling) as one of these demons? 👹
January 25, 2026 at 6:48 PM
So who else has the same name (ok slightly different spelling) as one of these demons? 👹
And he’ll have known that he was with someone who loved him.
Our Oscar, who had begun life a stray, was a wonderful boy, who just wanted to be with us the night he passed on.
Our Oscar, who had begun life a stray, was a wonderful boy, who just wanted to be with us the night he passed on.
January 25, 2026 at 12:02 PM
And he’ll have known that he was with someone who loved him.
Our Oscar, who had begun life a stray, was a wonderful boy, who just wanted to be with us the night he passed on.
Our Oscar, who had begun life a stray, was a wonderful boy, who just wanted to be with us the night he passed on.
TBF Farage had to remove Trump’s appendage from his mouth in order to speak.
January 24, 2026 at 3:04 PM
TBF Farage had to remove Trump’s appendage from his mouth in order to speak.
Sounds v cool. And Miami a cool setting.
January 23, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Sounds v cool. And Miami a cool setting.
Happy birthday.
January 23, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Happy birthday.
That’s the start of a Seth Rogen movie - and if it’s not you should write it.
January 23, 2026 at 2:15 PM
That’s the start of a Seth Rogen movie - and if it’s not you should write it.
You must be getting low on Luck
Points now!
Points now!
January 23, 2026 at 2:14 PM
You must be getting low on Luck
Points now!
Points now!
It feels the case being made is v anecdote driven, when not relying on very flaky data: “half of all teenagers have watched a beheading video” for eg.
Needs looking into properly/ dispassionately. What kept my son, an only child, sane through Covid was in part being able to interact with friends.
Needs looking into properly/ dispassionately. What kept my son, an only child, sane through Covid was in part being able to interact with friends.
January 23, 2026 at 2:13 PM
It feels the case being made is v anecdote driven, when not relying on very flaky data: “half of all teenagers have watched a beheading video” for eg.
Needs looking into properly/ dispassionately. What kept my son, an only child, sane through Covid was in part being able to interact with friends.
Needs looking into properly/ dispassionately. What kept my son, an only child, sane through Covid was in part being able to interact with friends.
And given what it’s done to the older generation, I think there needs to be a cap too.
January 22, 2026 at 3:40 PM
And given what it’s done to the older generation, I think there needs to be a cap too.
Have been thinking about a Judge Academy game where for some reason the rookies have to be deployed to tackle an incipient Bloc War.
January 22, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Have been thinking about a Judge Academy game where for some reason the rookies have to be deployed to tackle an incipient Bloc War.
What a load of bollocks. He’s a vile man. Helmand Province was one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan. We need to agree with the rest that NATO is over and replace it with something else - for mutually respectful democracies.
January 22, 2026 at 3:28 PM
What a load of bollocks. He’s a vile man. Helmand Province was one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan. We need to agree with the rest that NATO is over and replace it with something else - for mutually respectful democracies.
I believe she may have been considered a little ‘fast’. But I shan’t risk slandering her further by repeating family stories on Blue Sky. 😉
January 22, 2026 at 9:09 AM
I believe she may have been considered a little ‘fast’. But I shan’t risk slandering her further by repeating family stories on Blue Sky. 😉
In her case, she was literally a domestic servant in London rather than John Major’s elderly spinsters.
January 22, 2026 at 9:02 AM
In her case, she was literally a domestic servant in London rather than John Major’s elderly spinsters.
In the 1920s my wife’s grandmother used to cycle from London to Manchester to visit her parents. Took her a couple of days.
These days that’s the preserve of middle aged men in Lycra on performance bikes. Then, a maid on a bone rattler in everyday clothes.
These days that’s the preserve of middle aged men in Lycra on performance bikes. Then, a maid on a bone rattler in everyday clothes.
January 22, 2026 at 8:34 AM
In the 1920s my wife’s grandmother used to cycle from London to Manchester to visit her parents. Took her a couple of days.
These days that’s the preserve of middle aged men in Lycra on performance bikes. Then, a maid on a bone rattler in everyday clothes.
These days that’s the preserve of middle aged men in Lycra on performance bikes. Then, a maid on a bone rattler in everyday clothes.
There had better be a plan for interning him if we ever end up in a conflict with the US.
January 21, 2026 at 6:55 PM
There had better be a plan for interning him if we ever end up in a conflict with the US.
In fairness to the Belgians. It doesn’t taste like piss there. Just when made here to a different recipe.
January 21, 2026 at 6:04 PM
In fairness to the Belgians. It doesn’t taste like piss there. Just when made here to a different recipe.
Hope you feel better soon.
January 21, 2026 at 7:23 AM
Hope you feel better soon.
I quite enjoyed them - and they are way better than the overblown Hobbit series. Still wish Ralph Bakshi had finished the job.
January 20, 2026 at 6:26 PM
I quite enjoyed them - and they are way better than the overblown Hobbit series. Still wish Ralph Bakshi had finished the job.