Vorpal Words
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vorpal-words.bsky.social
Vorpal Words
@vorpal-words.bsky.social
250 followers 230 following 75 posts
A sturdy creature fond of drink and industry. Often incorrect.

Writer, podcaster, tabletop game designer. Industrial fantasy, low-fi science fiction, existential horror, godpunk, etc etc

Chicago-based.
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Reposted by Vorpal Words
dieworkwear.bsky.social
heartbroken to learn the pope sympathizes with the poor. how can i continue to believe in god
The Pope tweets: "The poor are not there by chance or by blind and cruel fate. Nor, for most of them, is poverty a choice. Yet, there are those who still presume to make this claim, thus revealing their own blindness and cruelty. #DilexiTe" Someone replies: "I was so hopeful I could be a Catholic again after the disaster that Francis was, guess we just get Francis 2.0 now and I am heartbroken. How do I stay a Catholic now...I don't want to lose faith but I am. You belong to someone else, not God."
October 17, 2025 at 5:43 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Hello applicant,

Thank you for your interest in Cry Oblivion LLC! We were glad to see your application for our Orphan Crushing Technician role. While we are not moving forward with you today, we appreciate your data for our Worker Elimination Program LLM Model.

Good luck in your future endeavors!
September 14, 2025 at 7:21 AM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Superman gets 3/5 stars and a heart. Eddington gets 4/5 stars and a heart. But this isn't a review of those movies.

#superman #jamesgunn #thewashingtonpost #movies #eddington #substack

open.substack.com/pub/vorpalwo...
This is Not a Superman (2025) Review
The Crash-Out Manifesto, Vol. II
open.substack.com
September 1, 2025 at 6:05 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
New LinkedIn-ass title up on the substack, come say farewell to the NLRB with me:

vorpalwords.substack.com/p/what-getti...
What Getting Stuck in my Apartment's Elevator Taught me About the Death of America's Labor Unions
The Crash-Out Manifesto, Vol I
vorpalwords.substack.com
August 25, 2025 at 5:36 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS is up on itch, go pay what you want for a One-Page superhero anthology RPG.

vorpal-words.itch.io/megapolitus-...
MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS (no frills, abridged) by Vorpal Words
A PvP Superhero Anthology Game
vorpal-words.itch.io
August 14, 2025 at 9:41 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Another devlog about MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS, a PvP one-sheet superhero TTRPG in development for the itch.io game jam. This post is about powers and alignment and heat and how it all works.

vorpalwords.substack.com/p/megapolitu...
MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS DevLog #3
It's August, we're making games, apparently
vorpalwords.substack.com
August 12, 2025 at 7:05 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
New substack post about MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS for the Itch.io one-sheet game jam.

vorpalwords.substack.com/p/megapolitu...

#gamedesign #ttrpg #indiegamedesign #rpg
MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS DevLog #2
Mechanics for a kitchen-sink PVP superhero RPG
vorpalwords.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 9:50 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
The best part about making a crazy science-fantasy TTRPG is naming the techniques. Callous Eclipse stands out for weaponizing your own fall damage. GODMEAT HARVESTERS lets you get away with some whacky stuff.

#GODMEATHARVESTERS #rpgdesign #gamedesign #ttrpg #rpg
A screenshot of martial arts techniques from the Internal Path of the School of Repose in the in-development RPG GODMEAT HARVESTERS. Callous Eclipse allows a user to deal their fall damage to whomever they manage to land on.
July 29, 2025 at 4:26 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Chronicling my One-Page RPG Jam journey for MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS. We're talking about setting assumptions and early development thoughts.

#gamedesign #ttrpg #tabletop #gamejam
MEGAPOLITUS FREEBOOTERS DevLog #1
In Which I Take a Month to Design a One-Sheet Superhero RPG
open.substack.com
July 19, 2025 at 7:47 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Dang, I'm back on Substack. Back? I never was, so I never left. Whatever. Please come say hello!

vorpalwords.substack.com/p/blog-under...
[BLOG UNDER CONSTRUCTION]
Kicking and Screaming
vorpalwords.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 6:19 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Somehow gripped his magic and the next split-second split into a thousand split seconds. Most winked out when the sword caught his neck. He threw himself backwards into one which didn't -

His foot slipped on the wet terra cotta and he couldn't #stop himself sliding backwards off the roof.

#vss365
June 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Joe Abercrombie's 'The Devils' is airport fiction (respectfully) #booksky
May 30, 2025 at 3:51 AM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
One of thirty-six possible Careers in Godmeat Harvesters is, effectively, a member of the magical groundskeeping union. Nobody suspects the janitor when the heist gets hairy. #godmeatharvesters #ttrpg #gamedesign #rpg
Description of the Scapemender career for the Godmeat Harvesters TTRPG. Effectively magical janitors.
May 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
In Godmeat Harvesters, characters can tick Consequences to soak damage. Following the grand tradition of martial arts power fantasy everywhere, your injuries only make you stronger...but they take time to heal, so balancing is critical.

#godmeatharvesters #ttrpg #gamedesign #gamedevelopment
A chart from Godmeat Harvesters TTRPG showing possible consequences - status effects a player can tick to soak damage and gain a power boost. Includes Marked, Changed, and Doomed statuses, in order of increasing severity.
May 15, 2025 at 5:09 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
He would propose when the #eclipse hit totality. They'd gone to the festival for the band whose show had been their first date. 50,000 people partied in the center of the path.
Three hours out, the panicked messages arrived: early eclipse chasers were dead - everyone caught beneath totality.
#vss365
May 11, 2025 at 4:53 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Oh, like "blue prints"
#videogames
May 10, 2025 at 10:56 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Gunslingers in Sovereign utilize the pneuma suffusing the air to cast the Semiautomagic Liturgies. The House of Mantis, premiere manufacturer of firearms in the Eternal City, hosts workshops every Eclipse Day. #godmeatharvesters #ttrpg #rpg #gamedesign
A chart showing six techniques from the in-development TTRPG Godmeat Harvesters. Gunslinger Techniques - External (4-6) Transmute: Air to Bullets - Before you roll for an attack, you can gain a bonus to your roll equal to your firearm’s Reload Rating and +2 to your damage. If you do, you must reload after this attack. Trigger Interval - When you deal damage with a firearm, you can move a number of yards equal to your attack’s Scale. This movement does not trigger Attacks of Opportunity. Hunger of the Bullet - When attacked at range while wielding a loaded firearm, you can Resist Rust to parry the projectile and take no damage instead of making a Defensive test. This Resist roll triggers your weapon’s Reload Rating as usual. In the House of Mantis - When a foe triggers an Attack of Opportunity from an ally and is within your firearm’s range, you can make an Attack of Opportunity against that foe. Ammunition Alchemy - When you would Reload your weapon, you can instead spend Stamina equal to its Reload Rating to immediately reload it without consuming an item or action. At the Altar of the Ironsights - When you miss on a ranged attack, you can gain 1 Strain. On a success, your attack ricochets and deals Weapon damage with Scale 0 damage.
May 1, 2025 at 5:01 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Opened my wallet and a fly buzzed IN, so I guess you could say things are turning around
April 6, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Vorpal Words
alliumjournal.bsky.social
What a time to be alive - the sun☀️ is shining (sometimes), the birds🐦 are singing (on occasion) and we're having our print issue🕮 release party (reliably)! Come on through to the Conaway Center on April 17 at 3:30pm for readings from Lisa Fishman and other Spring 2025 contributors!
A flyer for the Efroymson Creative Writing Reading Series * celebrating the Allium Print Issue Release Party on Thursday, April 17 at 3:30pm at the Conaway Center in Chicago. *with readyings from Lisa Fishman & other Spring 2025 contributors. On a floral background showcasing the Allium cover.
April 4, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Vorpal Words
alliumjournal.bsky.social
My, oh my, what a lovely False Spring🍃 that was - let's get back to the normal stuff, now, shall we?❄️

We're thrilled to have a review of Chen Chen's new poetry collect, "Your Emergency Contact has Experienced an Emergency" available on our website! Check it out at allium.colum.edu/new-work-1
Blog 3 — Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose
allium.colum.edu
March 17, 2025 at 3:22 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Overheard at a Chicago bar: "...and all the blood came out of my Browns shirt!"
March 16, 2025 at 2:00 AM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
Election Season was the closest thing Laustrang had to an #interregnum. The Parliament of Masks recessed for the last month of the year, when the monsoon blew in from the salt sea and public opinion crashed over them like a hurricane striking the coast.
#vss365
March 15, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Reposted by Vorpal Words
alliumjournal.bsky.social
Yeah boss, I've got the New Work Friday post all ready to go...what do you mean Daylight Savings? SUNDAY?!

Not only do we have "Time and Space," an essay by Jeff Hoffmann, we've ALSO got an interview with Jeff! check them out at our website - allium.colum.edu

#newwork #literaryjournal #springahead
Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose
allium.colum.edu
March 9, 2025 at 3:23 PM
vorpal-words.bsky.social
The Parliament of Mask's namesake tradition of working #incognito served two functions. First, the hidden identities maintained some semblance of equality and projected the illusion of everyman membership. Second, it served to protect members from the targeted violence of Election Season.
#vss365
March 5, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Vorpal Words
alliumjournal.bsky.social
It's a drizzly, lovely false-spring🍃 Tuesday in Chicago, so we're reading YOUR submissions inside! When you're looking to get cozy, what's your go-to?☕

Today's a green tea and honey🍯 kind of day on our end...

#amwriting #litmag #falsespring #bees?
March 4, 2025 at 6:10 PM