Mike Ferdinando
LightNews LightNews
banner
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Mike Ferdinando
@mikeferdinando.bsky.social
470 followers 600 following 2.7K posts
I'm an GenX IT manager in higher education, whose passion is tabletop role-playing games. I'm also a leftist and antifascist. I'll mostly be posting about gaming and politics. Twitter refugee.

I'm also on Mastodon: [email protected].
Posts Replies Media Videos
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
You just died.

The 6th photo in your phone gallery is what killed you.

...yep!
A small calico cat peeking out from behind a red knit blanket tossed onto a beige sofa.
November 27, 2025 at 3:12 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
My Pyrex pie plate just fucking exploded in the oven!
A partially-cooked double-crust pie inside an oven with hundreds of broken glass shards all over the inside of the oven
November 27, 2025 at 3:50 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
"You will be visited by three spirits..."

The three spirits...
Promo shot from "Charlie's Angels" (2000). Three young women each wearing black and standing in provocative poses, in front of orange and yellow burst effect that implies an explosion. (L to R): Dylan (Drew Barrymore), Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Alex (Lucy Liu).
November 25, 2025 at 7:20 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
#TTRPG Mail Call!
Black faux leather book slipcase with the 13th Age logo in gold foil. Black faux leather slipcase standing upright, showing spines of two books inside it. The 13th Age logo in gold foil is on the outside. The two books inside are: 13th Age Hero's Handbook and 13th Age Gamemaster's Guide. Two hardcover books: 13th Age Second Edition Heroes' Handbook and 13th Age Second Edition Gamemaster's Guide. Cover of the Heroes' Handbook shows an elf sorceress casting a spell and a dwarf warrior fighting several monsters. Cover of the Gamemaster's Guide shows a large gem with the image of a different monster or hero in each facet.
November 24, 2025 at 11:39 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Post your embarrassing hometown food abomination that is objectively terrible and subjectively delicious.

I present... corn nuggets.
A bowl of corn nuggets: small balls of breaded, deep-fried creamed corn. Three are cut open to show what they look like inside. Also in the bowl is a small dish of mayonnaise, the traditional dipping sauce.
November 18, 2025 at 9:42 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Post your favorite Star Trek character. Wrong answers only.
Scene from "Planet of the Vampires" (1965) directed by Mario Brava. Three people in severe black leather scifi military uniforms with gold trim and very high upraised collars stand before a mounted ray-gun. Left to right: Captain Mark Markacy (Barry Sullivan), Sgt. Harry Gash (Federico Boido), and Lt. Tiona (Evi Mirandi).
November 15, 2025 at 8:23 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Or alternatively...
Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules and Expert Rules softcover books, 1981 editions. Basic Rules has a red cover with an illustration of a sorceress and a knight with a spear fighting a green dragon. Expert Rules has a blue cover and shows a wizard casting a spell over a cauldron. Smoke rises from the cauldron forming a frame, in which is the illustration from the Basic Rules book.
November 12, 2025 at 3:23 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Repost with an iconic fictional band.
Band from the Mos Eisley Cantina scene from "Star Wars" (1977). Four melon-headed humanoid aliens with large black eyes play weird alien musical instruments.
November 12, 2025 at 2:01 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
No lying or making yourself out to be a cool kid: Post the first record you bought with your own money.
Album cover of "Freeze Frame" by the J. Geils Band (1981).
November 3, 2025 at 5:15 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
If you see this, quote with a robot that isn't from "Star Wars," "Star Trek," or "Transformers."
A Roomba automatic vacuum cleaner on a hardwood floor.
October 31, 2025 at 7:07 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
A vampire that's not Dracula.
Photo of a British DeHavilland Vampire fighter jet, produced from 1946 to 1953, and in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) until 1958. Single-seat plane with rounded nose, trapezoidal wings and a split tail. Painted silver with a yellow stripe on each wing and tait, with British RAF roundels also on the wings and tail.
October 30, 2025 at 3:00 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Someone shared this four-year-old Tweet and I laughed!
Twitter post from Nov 1, 2021 by account called "Classy Warfare". Account icon is black and white photo of a 19th-century military officer. "The War on Christmas cannot end until Christmas stops its illegal occupation of November. I am calling upon the Claus regime to return to the borders established in the Black Friday Agreement."
October 20, 2025 at 1:08 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Superman says that we're the heroes for marching.

#NoKings #NYC
Massive anti-Trump protest in Times Square, New York City. A man in a Superman costume stands on a platform with a sign that reads, "You are all the real American heroes!" Other signs in the crowd read, "Make Lying Wrong Again," "No Kings Since 1776," "SCOTUS = Supreme Corruption of the United States," "Trump's Ass Makes the Country Look Small," "It's Lies Corruption and Cruelty Plated In Gold," and "Nazi Trumps Fuck Off!"
October 18, 2025 at 10:44 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
We're marching through Times Square!
Massive anti-Trump "No Kings" demonstration marching through Times Square, New York City
October 18, 2025 at 5:09 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Selfie of me (a middle-aged white guy) at the No Kings NYC demonstration on 10-18-2025. I'm wearing sunglasses, an anti-fascist action t-shirt, an I love NY hat, and a progress pride pin. Many anti-Trump signs in the background
October 18, 2025 at 3:16 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Who's your favorite Jedi? (Wrong answers only)
Image of Thundarr the Barbaian from the 1980 Hana-Barbara cartoon. Muscled white man with a brown mullet, wearing skins and leather bracers. He holds a sword made of glowing energy.
September 30, 2025 at 2:25 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Okay... Done.
Screenshot of confirmation that I cancelled my Disney+ subscription, effective 9/19/2025. Confirmation that I cancelled my Hulu subscription, effective 9/20/2025.
September 18, 2025 at 2:30 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
Yup! And I recently bought the commemerative role-playing game...
September 13, 2025 at 6:41 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
I bought a copy of "Black Flame" yesterday morning, a few hours before she got dropped by DC Comics.
Screenshot of my order of a copy of "Black Flame" by Gretchen Felker-Martin, purchased through the website of Buffalo Street Books of Ithaca, NY.
September 12, 2025 at 9:17 PM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
I don't know if they ever did an actual print run. It came out in 2011, and I was still in my Pathfinder phase at the time. I didn't hear of it until 2017 or so.

This is my home-printed hardcopy...
Cover of The Final Girl RPG. Illustration of a blood-spattered young woman holding a large chef's knife in two hands, standing in a room with boarded windows. She is facing down a man wearing a hockey mask holding a large hunting knife.
August 14, 2025 at 2:41 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
#5 - Mothership
by Scott McCoy, published by Tuesday Knight Games

An #OSR scifi/horror #TTRPG about working-class protagonists in an outer space capitalist dystopia, fighting to stay alive against alien monsters, corporate greed, and the uncaring vacuum of space. It's a very solid game.
Cover of Mothership: Sci-fi Horror RPG Core Set, published by Tuesday Knight Games. Cover shows a black-and-white line drawing of a skeleton in a space suit, seeming in the process of standing up.
August 14, 2025 at 2:10 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
#4 - Apocalypse World 2e
by Vincent and Meguey Baker, published by Lumpley Games

The #TTRPG that started a revolution in indie RPG spaces: the progenitor game of the "Powered by the Apocalypse" design movement. Absolutely brilliant design that Opened My Brain to a whole new way of playing. #PbtA
Cover of Apocalypse World, second edition, by Vincent and Meguey Baker. Illustration shows a human figure wearing a leather coat with long sleeves, black gloves, and a red gas mask, head tilted back and right arm adjusting the breather.
August 14, 2025 at 1:52 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
#3 - D&D Basic/Expert Rules
by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, ed. by Tom Moldvay, published by TSR, 1981

The very first #TTRPG I played when I was 11 years old. I owned the books so I was the Dungeon Master. It's a classic and is still totally playable, though it very much shows its age.
Two softcover books: Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules and Dungeons & Dragons Expert Rules, 1981 editions. Basic Rules has a red cover with an illustration of a sorceress casting a green fire spell and a dwarf warrior with spear and shield fighting a green dragon rising from a pool of water in an underground chamber. Expert Rules has a blue cover with an illustration of a wizard conjuring the image of the cover of the Basic Rules over a fire burning in a kettle. Cover art for both books by Erol Otus.
August 14, 2025 at 1:43 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
#2 - Outgunned
by Rico Sirignano and Simone Formicola, published by Two Little Mice.

A cinematic action-movie #TTRPG that seeks to emulate big, action-packed, explosion-fueled films like John Wick, Mission: Impossible, and Fast & Furious. Uses a Yahtzee-like dice mechanic. Very, very fun!!
Cover of Outgunned: Cinematic Action Roleplaying Game. Cover shows a young woman with auburn hair wearing broken sunglasses and a torn leather jacket looking at the camera with a wry half-smile. Her face is streaked with dirt and a trickle of blood comes from the corner of her mouth. More than a dozen arms holding various sorts of pistols point at her from all edges of the cover.
August 14, 2025 at 1:25 AM
mikeferdinando.bsky.social
#1 Swords of the Serpentine by @kevinkulp.bsky.social and Emily Dresner.

A #GUMSHOE sword & sorcery #TTRPG that really feels like you're playing in a Fafhrd & Grey Mouser story. Highly recommended!
Cover of Swords of the Serpentine role-playing game. By Kevin Kulp and Emily Dresner, publishec by Pelgrane Press. Art shows a woman dressed in black leather scaling a brick wall, hundreds of feet above a city with extensive canals. Seabirds fly below her.
August 14, 2025 at 12:51 AM