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Brian Johnson

@bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social

210 followers 280 following 190 posts

Literary, nonfiction, and TTRPG editor | Humanities research consultant | Former CRM archaeologist | Translator of grimoires | Scholar of the arcane https://bjohnsonfreelance.com/

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · Jan 9

Hello!

In case you don't know me, I'm a freelance editor, translator, and humanities scholar, specializing in TTRPGs, as well as magic and the occult.

My research reconstructs the cosmologies, epistemologies, and practices of historical individuals who engaged with various esoteric disciplines.

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 1d

Good afternoon! I am super excited to share that the Kickstarter for _101 Tales of Magic and Mystery_, a sourcebook of adventure frames for the Magonomia roleplaying game, has just launched. www.kickstarter.com/projects/she... 1/x

101 Tales of Magic and Mystery

TTRPG adventure plots of mystery, magic, and intrigue, grounded in the history and folklore of Renaissance England.

www.kickstarter.com

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Shewstone Publishing @shewstone.bsky.social · 1d

LIVE on Kickstarter - 101 Tales of Magic and Mystery! A treasury of #TTRPG adventure plots rooted in the history and folklore of Renaissance England! Rich atmosphere, narrative focused, rules-light, easily adaptable to any fantasy campaign. Only $15!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/she...

Cover image of the book: three adventurers confront a fey lord and his guards inside their hollow hill.

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The Faust and The Furious @gabrielswitch.bsky.social · 1d

kickstarter.com/projects/shews…

I have a lot of content in this one, so excuse my bias...

This is a genuinely fantastic resource. Literally, 101 TTRPG scenarios ready to go for most fantasy-set games. Written for Magonomia, using the Fate engine, but absolutely adaptable straight off the page.

https://kickstarter.com/projects/shews…

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 1d

I contributed six of the adventure frames for this collection, and I hope readers will enjoy spotting the historical 'easter eggs' I included as much as they do running these scenarios for their gaming groups!
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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 1d

The adventure frames in this book provide system-agnostic plot outlines, complete with key locations, characters, and story beats, to help gamemasters tell memorable tales set in a highly magical yet historically grounded Elizabethan England.
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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 1d

101 Tales of Magic and Mystery

TTRPG adventure plots of mystery, magic, and intrigue, grounded in the history and folklore of Renaissance England.

www.kickstarter.com

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 3d

Really hoping I live long enough to see high school history textbooks covering this shit in their treatment of the Second American Civil War.

competentposter @competentposter.bsky.social · 4d

wizard frog is insane

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Gulag Bound @gulag-bound.bsky.social · 3d

The time has come for blue states to establish state-run escrow accounts for businesses and individuals wishing to have their federal tax payments impounded until this nonsense ends

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Dennis Detwiller @drgonzo123.bsky.social · 4d

Peaceful protest against fascists accomplishes two things:

-It allows authorities to identify protestors
-It injures protestors

It does nothing else.

You can't protest a fascist regime. Your country has gone beyond where law or public opinion can change it.

Now or later, it will be violence.

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Parker Butler @parkerbutler.bsky.social · 6d

Last year, CNN ran a “fact check” of Kamala HQ that claimed we were lying for saying Trump’s plan is Project 2025.

Now Trump is outright admitting it’s his plan.

Legacy media failed the country.

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David Forbes @davidforbes.bsky.social · 7d

Ashe County conscript W.H. Younce repeatedly deserted. "I cannot and will not fight for a government that seeks to enslave me, and whose cornerstone is slavery."

His last desertion saw him gather 25 other deserters. They promptly turned to fighting the confederacy: www.ourstate.com/deserters-ou...

Tar Heel Rebel Deserters | Our State

Tar Heel soldiers grow weary of war and leave their regiments — only to become rebel deserters and fight for the north

www.ourstate.com

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 7d

Ah yes, everyone's favorite, Clanbook Tremere.

Cover image of _Clanbook Tzimisce_, depicting a monstrous vampire in 18th-century attire messily drinking blood from a goblet. Visages of several misshapen creatures loom in the background.

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 10d

See also the latest episode of Glitch Bottle, featuring an interview with Dr. Sofer, whose work underpins much of this reevaluation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOa7...

Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 11d

sect — the characters, whose very survival demands transgressive acts, have been enmeshed in a hierarchy of monsters, _by those very monsters_, where the only way out is _up_, and the only way _up_ is to murder the one (or one of their peers) who made you what you are. 3/3

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 11d

and the blood/hunger and humanity mechanics play into the theme of personal horror and degradation,
the actual play pattern, what the typical story at the table actually entails, is structurally that of the gangster film. It's an organized crime simulation. At every level — coterie, clan, 2/x

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 11d

OK, I keep thinking about this, so tell me why I'm wrong.

Thesis: There is an unintended, perhaps unrecognized, tension within the design of Vampire: the Masquerade. While the aesthetic clearly evokes "the gothic", in all its foreboding, grotesquerie, and romanticization, 1/x

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 11d

(particularly as exemplified by Gal Sofer's recent book, _Solomonic Magic: Methodology, Texts, and Histories_)

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 11d

The latest episode of the What Magic Is This? podcast touches upon recent advances in the historical study of Solomonic magic, and how our understanding of the practice and its transmission can be nuanced by a close text-critical analysis of the available sources.

Solomonic Magic: Addendum

The interest in the history of magic, witchcraft and the occult has seen a discernible rise in the last 25 years. In many cases, our picture of its story through the ages has been made much clearer…

whatmagicisthis.com

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Gareth L. Powell @garethlpowell.bsky.social · 12d

Just a reminder that if you enjoy a book, please leave a quick review on Amazon or Bookshop dot org, or wherever. Even if it's only a sentence, it really, really helps get the word out to other readers.

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 12d

I provided a bit of preliminary assistance in translating the Latin of the badly faded and fragmentary title work, and I highly recommend Dr. Leitão's study to anyone interested in the magical practices of early-modern Iberia. 3/3

Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 12d

The _Cypriani Magici_ is a fascinating little booklet of Iberian treasure-hunting magic, combining familiar principles with some (to me, at least) frankly bizarre innovations, and I am very eager to read Dr. Leitão's no-doubt valuable elucidation of its place in Iberian history and folk magic. 2/x

Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 12d

Happy Cyprianmas!

Hadean Press have announced a trio of forthcoming works on the magic and folklore of St. Cyprian of Antioch, and I happen to have some inside insight regarding the _Cypriani Magici Septem Horae Magicae_ by José Leitão. hadean.press/products/cyp... 1/x

A red book cover with black print, reading "Jose Leitao / Cypriani Magici / Septem Horae Magicae / An Iberian Book of Pacts and Treasure Hunting" along with an abstract geometric figure.

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JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · 14d

All right everybody, time to read (or reread) The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoleon. Ground rules: we are not reading for the history of 1848-1852 France, but we're also not looking for direct parallels to the contemporary US. We are looking for broad lessons on politics and just generally good lines.

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Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 13d

Cheers!

Brian Johnson @bjohnsonfreelance.bsky.social · 13d

...it seems highly probable that Discoverie was the proximate source for this operation as it appears in CoC.

Whew! That's probably enough for now. I hope you've enjoyed the trip down this philological rabbit hole as much as I have! 13/13

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