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nate (is proud of you)

@grinningrat

Back CERTAIN FATHOMS on BackerKit! https://tinyurl.com/Certain-Fathoms i also write about games and other stuff: natewhittington.com

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18.11.2024
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Latest posts by nate (is proud of you) @grinningrat

Can you give me one more day ?
Can you give me one more day ? YouTube video by Library of Memes
15.02.2026 18:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Just Tell Them What They Need! Better Interactive Text in RPGs

The post in question:

15.02.2026 18:40 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Bloggies: Advice Round 1 Welcome to The Bloggies. You're currently voting in the first round of the Advice bracket. What's in this category? This category includes advice for play, prep, publishing, and more. What are The Bl...

BLOGGIES!

Vote below AND if you really want to treat yourself I’ve done a reading of my article in the running as part of the We Read the Bloggiesβ€”also found below.

VOTE HERE: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

LISTEN HERE: podcast.bloggies.org/@WeReadTheBl...

15.02.2026 18:39 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Huge update! The basic rules are live and you can play the game with updatable playsheets!

Check it out now~

12.02.2026 17:30 πŸ‘ 20 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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We Read The Bloggies (@WeReadTheBloggies) β€’ Activity We’re volunteers turning Bloggies-nominated blog posts into audio. So you can enjoy them anywhere, in a more accessible format.

A group of volunteers is recording as many of the nominees for the Bloggies as possible, and uploading them as a podcast! I’m helping out a bit with this, and I’ve recorded a few already! Come listen at the link below, Spotify, and several other podcast platforms!

podcast.bloggies.org

11.02.2026 00:17 πŸ‘ 42 πŸ” 32 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 1
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We Read The Bloggies Games Podcast Β· We’re volunteers turning Bloggies-nominated blog posts into audio. So you can enjoy them anywhere, in a more accessible format.

Blog enthusiasts!

It's been a huge community effort. We're proud to present WE READ THE BLOGGIES.

The year's best blogging coming to you - in audio form.

A show to SAVE YOUR EYES and SOOTHE YOUR EARS.

Catch up on all your Bloggies reading before voting commences next week!

#ttrpg #podcast #blog

11.02.2026 01:22 πŸ‘ 48 πŸ” 26 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 9
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The Bloggies 2026 A yearly celebration of blogging in tabletop roleplaying games.

The Bloggies' page has updates!

1. "We Read the Bloggies" A fan-made podcast is live and linked!

2. A new submission has been nominated, "Book [Verb] Play" in Theory. The other post was removed on the author's request.

3. I've redesigned the page to keep things short and sweet.

Happy reading!

11.02.2026 02:53 πŸ‘ 52 πŸ” 32 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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We Read The Bloggies (@WeReadTheBloggies) β€’ Activity We’re volunteers turning Bloggies-nominated blog posts into audio. So you can enjoy them anywhere, in a more accessible format.

The awesome @bommyknocker.bsky.social, @elmc.at, Grace of Choir of Fire @seraphimseraphina.bsky.social and many community members have organized a group recording effort of every Bloggies post as podcast episodes inspired by Blogs on Tape!https://podcast.bloggies.org/

11.02.2026 00:35 πŸ‘ 80 πŸ” 46 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 8
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Moving On From Substack That's right - I'm outta here.

It's time.

30.01.2026 23:20 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

FINALLY

18.01.2026 23:49 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Skip the Gold; Give Better Treasure Gold is simple, ubiquitous, mundane. Let's create treasure that is anything but.

@grinningrat.bsky.social argues that treasure isn't just currency, it's change. let it carry status, influence, and power. make it precious

grinningrat.substack.com/p/skip-the-g...

12.01.2026 14:33 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Visual banner of Iron & Blood, the January Playtest packet for Inheritor RPG.

Visual banner of Iron & Blood, the January Playtest packet for Inheritor RPG.

Next week I’m releasing IRON & BLOOD, the inaugural January playtest packet for INHERITOR, my dark fantasy RPG.

Core rules, lifepath character gen, a demo region, treasures, and spells - all in the first of monthly playtests as we build toward release.

Excited for folks to tear it apart. πŸ—‘οΈ

09.01.2026 19:11 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

these druids ain't nothin to me man

09.01.2026 10:46 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You are Luke's father, put your foot down and force the issue!

09.01.2026 10:45 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Black Ice by Amber Macfarlane An exercise in becoming and unbecoming.

I wrote a game in ~8 hours. It's not fun, but it exists.
Experience being a young person in the alt-right pipeline, and what it's like getting out of it.
Content warnings listed on the page.
ambynavy.itch.io/black-ice

08.01.2026 18:22 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 17 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3
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a man with a beard and elf ears has a red light behind him ALT: a man with a beard and elf ears has a red light behind him

when ya drink a little too much caffeine and feel a little bit like you're gonna die

30.12.2025 23:25 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

hope ya like DISCOURSE

30.12.2025 23:23 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Looking Forward at 2026 The Biggest Year Yet for Grinning Rat

Stuff then, stuff now, stuff coming soon.

30.12.2025 22:11 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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BN-2 The Keep on the Borderlands by Juniper-C A Lyrical OSR Dungeon

A gift, for the festive season, my first ever an OSR. You can tell its an OSR because its made entirely out of offcuts from B2 The Keep on the Borderlands. Its compatible with many games and also incompatible with at least 3, probably.

juniperc.itch.io/bn-2-the-kee...

24.12.2025 15:48 πŸ‘ 25 πŸ” 16 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3
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How to Run a Crowdfunding Campaign As the year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on the past months and on this first truly real year of Golem Productions and OSR Rocks!. Above all, I feel grateful for the support we’ve receiv...

This year I ran my first TTRPG crowdfunding campaign. I wrote a post collecting the tools, resources, and essays that genuinely helped us run Ravaged by Storms for Pirate Borg, followed by an interview with @grinningrat.bsky.social on building momentum and community during a campaign. #OSR #NSR

17.12.2025 12:51 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Just Tell Them What They Need! Better Interactive Text in RPGs

This week, we’re talking about… getting to the point πŸ“!

So, so many RPGs go on and on as if they’re being paid by the word. Which, fair, you might think. Except, isn’t there someone you’re forgetting to ask?

THE READER. AND THE POOR PEOPLE THEY HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS TO.

Let’s try to fix this.

09.12.2025 19:17 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Interview: Alexander Jatscha-Zelt of Golem Productions From a successful game jam entry to a standout OSR sandbox in Ravaged by Storms, I interview Alexander to get the backstory on Golem Productions.

Thank you @grinningrat.bsky.social for having us on your channel! Nate asked me to talk about the (brief) history of Golem Productions, crowdfunding RPGs, our Pirate Borg adventure, and where we’re heading. Enjoy! #OSR #NSR #TTRPG
grinningrat.substack.com/p/interview-...

02.12.2025 13:04 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A screenshot from Final Fantasy Tactics on the original Playstation. Delita, here identified only as Knight says, "Tough...Don't blame us. Blame yourself or God."

A screenshot from Final Fantasy Tactics on the original Playstation. Delita, here identified only as Knight says, "Tough...Don't blame us. Blame yourself or God."

Your cards when you keep a two-land hand, then proceed to not draw lands:

23.11.2025 20:39 πŸ‘ 2191 πŸ” 210 πŸ’¬ 26 πŸ“Œ 13
Should you Gamify Role-Play Decision Making?
Should you Gamify Role-Play Decision Making? YouTube video by The Tomb of Lime Gaming

Tomb of Lime, as always, re-wiring my brain on RPGs

youtu.be/Wtw308eLAjk?...

18.11.2025 21:53 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You already know this is gonna be a banger.

18.11.2025 18:34 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
black and white portrait of triangular robotic head

black and white portrait of triangular robotic head

black and white portrait of a man with a heavily damage left side of his head.

black and white portrait of a man with a heavily damage left side of his head.

black and white portrait of robotic eye hanging from wires and tubes.

black and white portrait of robotic eye hanging from wires and tubes.

black and white portrait of woman with big eyes and swooping hair

black and white portrait of woman with big eyes and swooping hair

Over the course of the month I drew a portrait or 2(hundred) in #over/under and called them 🩸HEADSHOTS🩸

And @sean.tuesdayknightgames.com said he might put them in the Mothership app so now you can all apply gentle pressure to that situation too! lol

drive.google.com/drive/folder...

13.11.2025 21:40 πŸ‘ 234 πŸ” 58 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 11

i will be fine in several hours but i bounced off godot again today and since i don't understand everything immediately i'm cranky and will never be good at anything

18.11.2025 01:24 πŸ‘ 26 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Really really good. Very excited for Grim Merchants!

18.11.2025 10:53 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A bright magenta banner featuring bold black typography. The header reads β€œCERTAIN FATHOMS β€’ UPDATE #6 β€’ POST-CAMPAIGN.” The main title in large serif lettering says β€œThe One About Distributing Digital Files & Bonuses.” A subtle wavy line pattern decorates the right side, and a small black square with the number β€œ6” appears in the top-right corner.

A bright magenta banner featuring bold black typography. The header reads β€œCERTAIN FATHOMS β€’ UPDATE #6 β€’ POST-CAMPAIGN.” The main title in large serif lettering says β€œThe One About Distributing Digital Files & Bonuses.” A subtle wavy line pattern decorates the right side, and a small black square with the number β€œ6” appears in the top-right corner.

A NEW UPDATE TOUCHES THE BACKERKIT

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/g...

18.11.2025 04:08 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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a person is holding a samsung phone in front of a cartoon character 's face . ALT: a person is holding a samsung phone in front of a cartoon character 's face .
18.11.2025 01:08 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0