Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 1d

Is it gauche to carry the same protest signs twice? Is it like wearing the same outfit to another party???

Somebody tell me before October 18

#nokings

www.mobilize.us/nokings/?tag...

No Kings June 14 · No Kings on Mobilize

Find events, petitions, volunteer opportunities, fundraisers and more with No Kings.

www.mobilize.us

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 2d

real Microscope player confirmed

Patrick Joannisse @patrickjoannisse.com · 2d

If we could skip to the part of the Microscope game where we add a light period that would be great.

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 2d

I have been reminded that the second edition of Fiasco has no dice, so it should definitely be on this list!

bullypulpitgames.com/products/fia...

Fiasco

Fiasco is an award-winning, GM-less game for 3-5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with no preparation. During a game you engineer and play out stupid, disastrous situations, usually at th...

bullypulpitgames.com

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 3d

Oh wait, correction, second edition, right? So yes, no dice, just number cards.

I still think first edition when I think Fiasco

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 3d

Ummmm so many dice…

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 4d

Weren't we just talking about GMless + diceless games? Case in point…

When Suddenly! Games @whensuddenly.games · 4d

We had an amazing time playing Microscope from @lamemage.com for this month's Midnight Rollers at Giga-Bites Cafe. How we tied everything together was so organic and blew us all away.

youtu.be/TsouFWkAkIo?...

Microscope

YouTube video by GigaBites TV

youtu.be

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 4d

Classic!

Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 4d

This also raises the question of whether there's any real difference between using dice or some other randomizer (a deck of cards, etc).

For example, Follow: A New Fellowship doesn't use dice but you do draw stones. Is there a difference?

www.lamemage.com/follow/

Follow

Pick your quest. Assemble your fellowship. Face your challenges.

www.lamemage.com

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 4d

I should say Archipelago but instead I'm picking a different favorite game by Matthijs: A Thousand Years Under the Sun.

norwegianstyle.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/a...

A Thousand Years Under the Sun

This is a game – or a sandbox – about the rise and fall of tribes, civilizations, creatures and phenomena on the open steppes of an imaginary geography. It’s easily playable in an…

norwegianstyle.wordpress.com

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 4d

The Quiet Year. Wait are those dice on the table?? Yes, but they're just counters, you don't roll them, so I think it counts. You could just write down numbers on paper instead.

buriedwithoutceremony.com/the-quiet-year

The Quiet Year - Buried Without Ceremony

buriedwithoutceremony.com

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 4d

Eden. Talk to animals. Learn inappropriate life lessons from them.

I cannot fully explain the joy of everyone at the table trying to role-play raccoons at the same time.

lessthanthreegames.com/eden/

Eden - Less Than Three Games

Eden is a tabletop role-playing game about learning what it means to be human. You’ll collaborate to map the Garden, create the talking animals that live there, and role-play scenes as animals and hum...

lessthanthreegames.com

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 4d

Downfall. Build a whole society and watch it collapse.

A+, an all-time favorite. I have played this game A LOT

lessthanthreegames.com/downfall/

Downfall - Less Than Three Games

A table-top role-playing game for 3 people.No GM, no dice, no prep. In Downfall, you choose a Flaw you want to explore and build a unique and irredeemably broken world around it. See how Greed destroy...

lessthanthreegames.com

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 4d

"Which would you rather play, a GMless or a diceless RPG"

To which I say, "why not both"

To which you say, "examples please"

Leaving out (checks notes) every single one of my games, let me throw out a few. If I miss your favs, chime in!

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 4d

Very yes. Which now reminds me that I had rethought Microscope: Echo as a Lathe of Heaven game, since you're constantly going back and changing what happened

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 5d

WAT

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 6d

I should have also thought of Solipsist (Gregor Hutton, 2008), though it has a built-in antagonist (the "shadows") that I think is just a distraction

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Reposted by Ben Robbins

christine prevas @cprevas.bsky.social · 7d

Been thinking about these posts about the "star pattern" of conversation in games because this diagram is identical to one we use when talking about pedagogy. the question is the same: how do you get the people in a room talking to each other instead of seeking approval from a central authority?

Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 7d

Modern star-problems require modern star-solutions

arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/48...

The Star-Pattern (part 2): Breaking Free

It's game night. Precious, precious game night. Everyone is ready to play and have fun. And then two hours later, you realize the players are all talking to the GM but not each other. Your game is stu...

arsludi.lamemage.com

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 7d

Not gonna lie, you are not wrong

Now I want a game based on the idea of getting constant wishes and slowly changing the entire world to suit your desires.

It's not world-building, it's world-rebuilding

Raznok @raznok.bsky.social · 7d

Give them a wish. You can go nap for at least an hour while they talk to each other.

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Reposted by Ben Robbins

Dr. Emily Friedman @friede.bsky.social · 7d

Not entirely on-topic, but sometimes I just think if I go to every DM and say “you are enough just as you are, and you don’t have to make anyone love you” the entire DM/GM Industrial Complex would collapse.

Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 7d

Modern star-problems require modern star-solutions

arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/48...

The Star-Pattern (part 2): Breaking Free

It's game night. Precious, precious game night. Everyone is ready to play and have fun. And then two hours later, you realize the players are all talking to the GM but not each other. Your game is stu...

arsludi.lamemage.com

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 7d

Modern star-problems require modern star-solutions

arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/48...

The Star-Pattern (part 2): Breaking Free

It's game night. Precious, precious game night. Everyone is ready to play and have fun. And then two hours later, you realize the players are all talking to the GM but not each other. Your game is stu...

arsludi.lamemage.com

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 9d

"Why not both??"

Watch Well Games @watchwellgames.com · 9d

A "would you rather" styled question we're curious to know how you'd all answer. Bonus points if you give examples of #ttRPGs so we can check them out.

Main text says, Which would you rather play and why? a diceless tabletop RPG or a GMless tabletop RPG. In the upper left corner, the red, green, and purple tartan for Montgomery clan. In the bottom right corner, a set of seven polyhedral dice. In the backdrop, the faint image of a hedgehog.

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 10d

I'm avoiding watching this until I finish the second part but I am very curious what Sean has to say!

Sean 🔜 #GameholeCon @seanpkelley.com · 11d

GM Star Problem?
Topic originating from @lamemage.com

This and rpg news, crowdfunders, and new releases.
LIVE Saturday at 8am CT

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocvr...

GM Star Problem - GM Therapy (Group Screaming Starts at 8am CST)

YouTube video by RPG Sean

www.youtube.com

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 10d

Be still my heart!!!

Camilla Zamboni @czamboni.bsky.social · 11d

Saturday morning with a student in which we played "In This World" by @lamemage.com and discussed a bunch of other RPGs.

If only every meeting could be like this. ❤️✍🏻

Link to the game (an excellent choice to play in class - easy to explain and modular/quick to play): www.lamemage.com/inthisworld/

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Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 10d

Trying to finish up part 2 of the star-pattern but real life keeps getting in the way.

Why, Real Life, why???

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Reposted by Ben Robbins

Hexavexagon @hexavexagon.bsky.social · 14d

The latter star summons better demons.

Ben Robbins @lamemage.com · 14d

"Wait, Ben Robbins is posting GMing advice? What year is this???"

arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/48...

The Star-Pattern: a Pitfall of GMing

When someone tells me about a session of a GMed game (like D&D) that they didn't enjoy, I put on my investigator cap and ask a bunch of questions about what happened. Because I like understanding why ...

arsludi.lamemage.com

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