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sam “logistics” sorensen

@samsorensen.bsky.social

880 followers 420 following 1.5K posts

Tabletop RPG writer, editor, graphic designer (for hire!). Corpselike academic. he/him

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sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · Apr 23

about six weeks ago, I started running a play-by-post real-time "logistics wargame" I made, called Cataphracts. It started with 5 players, now it has 23. I've tweeted about it a bit, but here's a short blogpost with more thoughts and observations ⬇️ (link below)

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Reposted by sam “logistics” sorensen

boshi's place @boshis.place · 2h

Join us tomorrow, Thursday October 9th at 7:00PM for our TTRPG bookclub. This week, Brindlewood Bay!

Poster by @samsorensen.bsky.social

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sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2h

tomorrow! come chat with us!

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 5d

NYC TTRPG Book Club at @boshis.place! this Thursday, the 9th, at 7pm! we're reading Jason Cordova's Brindlewood Bay, a book I have innumerable opinions about! come chat and discuss with us!

poster with an illustration from "Brindlewood Bay" depicting three old ladies shining a flashlight in the dark. red text reads "NYC TTRPG BOOK CLUB / Jason Cordova's 'Brindlewood Bay' / Thursday, October 9th, 7:00pm / boshi's place — 1002 Metropolitan"

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 3h

banger! banger! banger!

essential reading for RPG industry kiddies

Clayton @explorersdesign.bsky.social · 8h

Part 3 is here. The deep dive into the Ennies. If you're someone who doesn't know much about the Ennie Awards, you should read parts 1 and 2. But if you like a bit of inside baseball and are interested in award shows in general—this is the article for you.

www.explorersdesign.com/ennies-3/

How are the Ennies designed?

An insider's look into the 2025 Ennie Awards. Part three. How does the structure of the Ennies determine its outcomes? And what does it mean for others?

www.explorersdesign.com

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sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 18h

no such thing, imo. I don't think I've ever seen anybody use this term in any kind of consistent or readily-defined way

I think a more useful question might be "what does it mean for a board game [or videogame, or other game] to 'support storytelling'?"

Reposted by sam “logistics” sorensen

Lorde Stan Account @knightattheopera.bsky.social · 1d

My friend Directsun is on a mission to get more people creating Zelda-style puzzle dungeons. Give his blog a read and let him talk you into it:

puzzledungeon.com/puzzle-dunge...

Puzzle Dungeon Design: Themes & Gimmicks

Here are a couple of formalized steps for crafting puzzle dungeons that feel at home at the table—and are actually fun.

puzzledungeon.com

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Reposted by sam “logistics” sorensen

Katt Kirsch @thiccmomswag.bsky.social · 2d

"Do not be ashamed to be tired. You look good when you're tired. You look like you could go on forever. "

Leonard Cohen's Advice for Novice OSR Referees

kattkirsch.bearblog.dev/leonard-cohe...

Leonard Cohen's Advice for Novice OSR Referees

Leonard Cohen's (1978) speaks to a time when the public performance of poetry was transforming into what Marc Smith would call "slam poetry" some six years ...

kattkirsch.bearblog.dev

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sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

hmmm. do you have an example?? I'd be curious to see

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

both good for spells specifically but not good for the overall structure. I wouldn't pick up a grimoire of magic items, or have a spellbook of 36 monsters in the back of a corebook

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sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

compendium's not bad, but I fear it smacks of capital-letter RPG Words, you know? feels too genre-y, too idiosyncratic

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

both suggest coming at the end of something as a part of a larger whole. if I picked up a book of 50 monsters and nothing else, it'd be odd to refer to the whole project as an appendix or index

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

yeah "catalogue" is the closest so far, I think, but I agree that the vibes are weird

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

appendix is good but has connotations otherwise. if I picked up a book of 36 magic items and that was it, it would be weird to call the whole thing an appendix

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

I don't think I've ever heard the term used in this context. I'm not sure what I'd think if I opened a new RPG book and it said it had "20 pages of rules, then a 40-page corpora of monsters"

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

yeah there are a bunch of terms like this—terms that would work if you built a whole project around them, but don't work as a term for the generic structure overall

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

challenge is that most of these terms don't feel like they really describe the structural aspect—compendium gets close, maybe, but if I said "yeah my new book has 20 pages of rules text and then a 40-page monster annex," I think most of my readers would be confused

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

alas

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

a splatbook is a good term, but I feel like splats often involve rules or setting material. like I can tell you the common difference between a rulebook, a module, and a splat, but those three's Venn diagram still has some overlap

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

sure, but I'm hunting for like a specific technical term for these isolated lists, a thing that includes them and catalogues of stuff like them but excludes all things outside them

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sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

content also refers to adventures!!!

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

I do like catalogue, honestly. were it not for the commercial connotations it might satisfy me. inventory and compendium both feel too much like capital-letter RPG Terms, you know?

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

stolen by warhammer, I'm afraid. if somebody says they're selling a codex of spells I assume it'll have point values and army lists

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

compendium isn't bad. I worry it smacks a little of like, I dunno, RPG-speak?? but I am paranoid about these kinds of things

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

catalogue is pretty good. would it feel weird to pick up a book that starts with 20 pages of rules, then has a 40-page catalogue?

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sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

toooo artsy, imo. they're cute terms but not nearly precise enough to be used as a reliable technical term

sam “logistics” sorensen @samsorensen.bsky.social · 2d

yeah, agreed. I think that could work as a marketing line, or even just a simple description, but what I'd really love is a more technical term for this kind of structure of writing, as distinct from rules, adventures, and so on, since like, a lot of rulebooks include these sections as just one part