28+ year veteran of writing, developing, and publishing ttRPGs. Co-Author of Starfinder and Star Wars Saga Edition, worked on D&D, Pathfinder, Fantasy AGE, Everyday Heroes and more. Freelance writer/consultant https://www.patreon.com/OwenKCStephens He/Him
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You can learn a lot from which of two matched pop culture choices a person selects. Coke or Pepsi? GoBots or Transformers? Ginger or Mary Ann? NOw we ask: WHICH 1980s Slasher Movie Rock Songs He's Back (www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-XA...) or Dream Warriors (www.youtube.com/watch?v=noLP...) #ThatorThis
Drop some facial hair
For Labor Day, I wanted to talk about the success of Paizo's unionization. We formed United Paizo Workers in October 2021, won voluntary recognition, and ratified our first contract in 2023. This happened because of solidarity, good union training from CWA, and empowerment of the workers.
More stories about AI douchebags getting kicked out of artists' spaces, please.
And yet, people keep doing it for kickstarter covers and game commercials, and the very least. Sigh. I hope is becomes harder and harder to make money with AI-generated content, but I fear that may not be the societal result.
I'm trying to do cancer recovery updates more often, as a lot of people have asked me to, but it's clearly not going to be regular and weekly. For one thing, my memory just isn't good enough for that. For another, my memory just isn't good enough for that. www.gofundme.com/manage/help-...
Those aren't just "words people made." Those are specific actual exceptions to the simplified xx/xy paradigm.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTAl...
#GameNightQuotes (Circa 2013) "The system is not foolproof." "I'm not sure it's even fool-resistant."
Typo of the Day: Improved Uncanny Doge. ... Much Uncanny So Improved
I love rain. Because it helps me hear the sound of calm.
Often called "Lashunta Opera", the telepathic performances of Ashavello are more than that. Actors perform as historic figures, which serve as context for the Asha'Vetti, who project the actual emotions those figures experienced, passed through generations of empaths. #StarFound
The more worn out you get, the more the idea of optionally replacing some of the meat of your brain with soulless metal isn't a dealbreaker.
#GameNightQuotes: GM - "And YOU... and I'll say your character's name here in a second, because I wrote it down... "
#GameNightQuotes: "We were just heading towards the light." "The light turns out to be a prismatic spray."
#Gamenightquotes: "How do you like your clothes, damp, or damp?" "Do they come in 'damp'?"
#GameNightQuotes: PC1 - "I mean, I was trained by druids, But I'm not a druid. I wasn't patient enough to become a druid." PC 2 - "Fuuuuuuuuuuck. Druids are flighty as FUCK. Who doesn't have even THAT much patience?" (Everyone stares at PC 1)
Guardian Eidolon Preq: Resilient Eidolon, Eidolon feature Benefit: If you fall asleep naturally, your eidolon can remain with you and watch over you. It cannot travel more than 30 feet from you while you sleep. #NewPF1feats
I decided, for no reason at all, to give my personal rankings for 1979 Science Fiction movies. Disagree? Tell me what movies ought to be higher or lower on the list! www.patreon.com/posts/my-per...
Going live in a few minutes!
No, I ran a homebrew. :)
I FINALLY ran a game using this map!
Heck, just the throne might be worth $15 as a "Titan's Throne" gaming terrain piece. toysrross.com/products/dc-...
Award-winning trRPG designer Owen K.C. Stephens is creating a new RPG from the ground up in weekly articles on Patreon. Each entry explains a specific topic, and all entries (and the ability to ask questions) are available to paying members, costing just $4 a month. www.patreon.com/posts/writin...
Mr. World wears a suit, and has a large rotating globe head mask, complete with weather patterns. He is a master of surveillance and emplaced illusions and tricks. He carries a pistol-shaped flashbang-gun and glue grenades. He thinks globally, and acts locally #StreetLevelHeroes
Professor Roadkill performs hit-and-run based crimes. He has a variety of Tire Launchers, from the truck-mounted Radial Cannon to his handheld Caster Caster. He has a flatted dead pet raccoon, Squashhead, which he talks to as if it was alive. #StreetLevelVillains
Knuckleduster is cleaning up the city one criminal jerk's jaw at a time. Wanting to ensure she never causes collateral damage, she uses gadget- and trick-brass knuckles, including taser knuckles and tranq knuckles. She otherwise wears jeans and white t-shirts. #StreetLevelHeroes
Laughing Corpse wears a bandit-style mask with an image of a zombie's open jaw. He can touch a body and hear the last 10 words it said in life. He uses this to solve mysterious murders... along with twin Glock 22s (often with plastic bullets) and street smarts. #StreetLevelHeroes
CW: Dental Stuff The Tooth Fairy is one of the most feared underword kingpins... though she also uses the term "Queenpin." She is a master of dental torture, but also gadget tooth implants. #StreetLevelVillains
New #TTRPGDesignDiscussion What's a thing that happens a lot in action movies, that your favorite ttRPG doesn't handle well?
Custom miniatures I kitbashed for the very first #Starfinder 1e playtest, circa 2017. #IWasThere
In my mind, there's a gaming table in the afterlife, filled with friends I lost too soon, playing and waiting for me to roll up a PC, then take a turn running a campaign. I have to keep them waiting, but it'll be a hell of a time when I join them someday in the distant future.
There's a whole slew of fantasy taverns (classic fantasy, cyber-fantasy, and even a dieselpunk train car!) at my Patreon, with quick entries for their origin, rumors, ownership, lodging, drinks, food, clientele-- for blog members only. Membership is just $4 a month! www.patreon.com/collection/7...
Yep! I personally STILL enjoy tracking to the 1/10th lb. of encumbrance as a player. And it's lead to some super-dramatic moments in games! But I understand WHY that's not the most common opinion. :) And Bulk is better for Stafinder.
Oh, I love the look of this. And I could see a lot of artists I know finding it a useful reference. www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/wheelch...
Your gateway to Starfinder Second Edition is here! Discover the secrets of the murder rocking the city of Striving in the Starfinder Murder in Metal City Deluxe Adventure! buff.ly/Leyq9J1
When the OG #Starfinder team adopted the brilliant Bulk system (created by Pathfinder design team), one SF team member wanted to see LOTs of load-outs for different character builds. "Why?" I asked. "You never cared before." "Because THIS system is so simple, people may actually USE it." #IWasThere
The U.S. is seeing a late summer surge in COVID-19 cases, tracking from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. Particularly in one region of the country, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. www.msn.com/en-us/health...
Oh these options aren't just OP. They're explicitly much more over the top than that. I actively encourage no GM to ever allow any of them.
Conversions for omdura and vampire hunter?
My completionist nature, and that of my Patrons, has me writing Horrifically Overpowered class features for "Official" PF1 classes a lot of players don't know exist! Rules for overpowered Omdura, for free and paying Patrons! www.patreon.com/posts/horrif...
Normally, Handle Animal. If a PC takes "Profession: Teamster" I'd certainly allow it. If there is a Drive or Pilot skill, I'd read it to see if it applies to "all vehicles" or something similar, in which case I default to that. But even if there is a Drive skill, I'd have Handle Animal *also* work.
Yeah, there's no system in place for ttRPG freelancers to learn how any specific publisher does any specific kind of product beyond "Read what we published recently and make it like that in format and tone, without duplicating anything else."
People like animation :) They should make more of it :) and hire me to work on it :) :) :)
Now that I know.... lol
Making them wear high-visibility vests over camo is such a good joke you couldn’t write it
Writing a ttRPG adventure for a company may mean writing an outline to meet their parameters, writing a detailed outline from a rough outline, or writing an adventure from their detailed outline. Per-word rates are often (but not always) based on only final adventure wordcount. #RealGameIndustry
Most ttRPG companies work as if they assume that all freelance adventure writers are equally skilled at writing adventures for which they must create map sketches and writing adventures for which they are given a map they must use. Even though many devs know that's not true. #RealGameIndustry
Here was the podcast if you missed it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=H148...
Pritzker is describing Trump’s fascist invasion of Chicago with total moral and political clarity. It’s an example that every other Democrat in the country should follow.
Not a Gamma World image, but absolutely an informative image in my post-apocalypse gaming fandom. Ad from 1981.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted that journalists and first responders were killed. There's no believable excuse. This was a deliberate targeting of civilians. It's a war crime. Backed and supported y the US. www.cnn.com/2025/08/25/m...
Many if not most trans people experience dysphoria as young people. For me it really started during puberty. The pain was unspeakable, it makes me cry sometimes just thinking about what I went through. To ask someone who *knows* they need HRT to wait till they're 25 is murder, plain and simple.
I was 25 when I started HRT and it's not because it was when my brain was developed enough for it. It was because transphobia is so pervasive and violent, I had been systematically repressing my desire to transition for over a decade. We shouldn't have to repress because it literally kills people.
there is *no* organic push for Gavin Newsom. there is marketing and there are marks. if you're caping for Newsom and not getting paid, I've got bad news about which one of those you are.
Begone puritan
If I hear “boys are falling behind!” one more gd time FINISH THE SENTENCE falling behind WHOM, motherfuckers? SAY IT SAY AND OWN THAT YOU THINK IT’S UNNATURAL FOR GIRLS TO BE BETTER AT SHIT THAN BOYS
I'm creating a new ttRPG from the ground up in weekly posts for paying Patreon patrons. Just $4/month gets you access to every post I make, and a back catalog of thousands of posts. www.patreon.com/posts/136808...
This bundle won't last forever! More than $650 of games for less than $30! www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...
What I wanted: Fresh coffee. What I got: Coffee all over the countertop, no coffee I could drink, and a new (very minor) expense -- replacement coffee maker.
This bundle won't last forever! More than $650 of games for less than $30! www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...
To end WWII, Germany, Italy, and Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, which called for their unconditional surrender, a doctrine announced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Casablanca Conference in January 1943. Vance is both ignorant and stupid.
Hey my fellow men, get your fucking heads out of your collective asses.
Yeah, that makes sense.
As it HAPPENS, I agree with you. But it very much puts me in the minority.
Can folks do me a favor? I was on Bluesky early & it was great. Mostly. I hit the eject button in January. I came back, many colleagues are here, but still don’t know I am. I co-created Halt and Catch Fire. I write TV & comics. Here’s two favorite set photos. Repost? I am in the wilderness.
I don't care what anyone says, I like that movie.
#GameNightQuotes: "He turns and signs to you 'You don't know sign language, do you'?"
#GameNightQuotes: "One MUST be careful when placing Peanut M&Ms next to your dice."
Here’s what was NOT released today: - the proffer agreement between Maxwell and the DoJ - the agreement transferring Maxwell to club fed - communications showing who waived Maxwell’s sex offender status allowing her transfer and possible work assignments outside prison - the Epstein files
It's been a WEIRD month!
Yes, agreed.
All posts available to paid members, which costs just $4 a month! Illustration licensed from @deanspencerart.bsky.social
How do you write game rules for range, speed, area and time? In Part 6 of his series creating the Wyverns & Warrens ttRPG, veteran pro designer Owen K.C. Stephens walks you through some considerations and options, including his choice for this game! www.patreon.com/posts/writin...
"So, half the heroes DIED defending cream from Unseelie saboteurs? Won't the mundanes NOTICE?!" "Not, not really." apnews.com/article/colo...
FOR FUCK'S SAKE! Stopđź‘ŹUsingđź‘ŹGenerativeđź‘ŹAIđź‘ŹForđź‘ŹLegalđź‘ŹCitations! apnews.com/article/aust...
You are hired to go rescue a teen influencer who got stranded on his own in Antartica... Shenanigans ensue. #UnderShadowedStars apnews.com/article/chil...
If, in 2018, I'd run a modern game for friends and told them the month's news had radioactive wasps, radioactive frozen shrimp, corpses being swapped for fake ashes, a boy biting a cobra to death, and rabbits growing horns on their face, NONE of it in Florida, they'd have said it was too weird.
My wife and I want to be cremated. ... But we want to ACTUALLY be cremated, not swapped for fake ashes and left to rot in limbo's worst waiting room. I bet there weren't even current magazines to read. www.cnn.com/2025/08/22/u...
Panzergrad, the beacon of the western coast. On top of being the second largest city in the empire, it is the gateway to the Cascadian Isles. #aclionchronicles #worldbuilding
The Springfield County Landfill is 60 years old, taking trash from 12 municipalities. Before that, it was the Springfield Dump. It's never filled, despite a century of refuse. Turns out there's a 2400m deep, 30km long cave under the dump. And things GROW in there. And... mutate. #UnderShadowedStars
Sea Pickle: An undead sea cucumber, essentially a mindless detritus-eating ghoul of a sea cucumber that craves, but can rarely reach, living flesh. (They get weird sometimes when I'm running out of time) #5monstersin5minutes
Ink Crab - Actually more like a big, armored land spider, but it shoots slippery, paralytic ink to blind and immobilize foes rather than webbing. #5monstersin5minutes
Flying Squid: Small carnivorous squid with massive mantle frill that allows it long jumps into the air like a flying fish. Swarm large prey on ship decks, islands, and beaches. Can operate in air for up to 15 minutes. #5monstersin5minutes
Faux Shark - Appears to be a shark but is actually closer to a squid. Boneless, its dorsal fin splits open to reveal a toothed mouth, and its other fins and tails separate into tentacles. Face is fake, with no mouth or eyes (which are actually under the dorsal mouth). #5monstersin5minutes
Writing warm-up: Five creature ideas in five minutes. Crushshell: Turtlelike creature with no neck (its head never sticks out of its shell). Instead its eyes lurk within the front shell-hole, and a froglike tongue shoots out and crushes things like a boa constrictor. #5monstersin5minutes
#TTRPG #RPG This sucks.
Yes, vampires are very popular with neck-romancers
While agree a LOT of problems can and should be fixed with frank, calm, OOC discussion. But for the most part, that's not the issue the X Card is designed to fix.
Hivewalkers are zombies that have had a wasp's hive move into their head, often through a missing eye or a cracked skull. The zombie and the wasps form a hive mind, an intelligence that wishes to create move hivewalkers. #AppendixO
#OverheardatGenCon2013 "It's kinda like a superhero campaign, but with a lot more leather, sex, and madness." "So... Batman?"
Do mummies play brass instruments? Only very rarely. They're toot-uncommon. #BadGMJokes