Levi Phipps

@likethejeans

they/he | 1997 contributor to sprigsandkindling.com and founder of @foolserrand.games pfp via @Makowka.bsky.social 's picrew, header by @DeepBlueInk.bsky.social professional inquiries at levi@foolserrand.games

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Levi Phipps@likethejeans· 23d

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Jun 27

P.S. during his overview of Dark Heart, @riseheroesrise.bsky.social called the tactics sidebars useless where I think they have a purpose but need work to serve it. But even those are better than "remember roleplay exists." Especially since this draws the eyes FROM the Tactics section.

a sidebar that reads "roleplaying the dragon/
The thorn dragon is a deadly threat. A Director could simply fly
up to safety and use ranged abilities to harry the party until they
retreat. Without flight, low-level heroes canʼt fight back.
Thankfully, the thorn dragon would never do this. They don’t
think like a computer trying to be maximally effective—the
dragon has no idea what an “encounter” is and has no desire to
“win” it.
As the Director, remember that it’s okay to play a monster sub
optimally—keep in mind that you’re roleplaying a creature with
goals, but only animalistic intelligence. The dragon doesn’t need to
pick the best possible attack every turn."

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Jun 22

Vandal Eyes by @catlinggun.bsky.social came in today! Hoping to give a read through soon!

A copy of the zine "Vandal Eyes" sits on a table. The cover contains scratchy artwork of a thin pale humanoid creature with a circular toothy maw where you wouldn't expect a face. It crawls towards the viewer.

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Jun 22

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Jun 12

Since I keep flirting with the idea of a dnd heartbreaker/fantasy dungeon-crawler, I decided to have my own version of this exercise.

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Jun 8

wait. waitwaitwait. I wanna change my '10s answer.

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Jun 1

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· May 24

NUMBER BIG

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· May 22

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· May 18

a version of the cover of John Green's "An Abundance of Katherines" edited to read "An Abundance of Katherines and Grogu"

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· May 13

Best film adaptation of The Odyssey, wrong answers only.

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· May 13

fascinating

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· May 6

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· May 5

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· May 3

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Apr 24

Someone in the Gauntlet discord raised complaints about Public Access having a limited scope. And he worried about keeping PLAYERS together once that limited campaign ends. and believe you me, I had opinions.

I'm sorry if this isn't very helpful, but the same group can play different games.

Let's say you and your group play Public Access once a week for the allotted 12-20 sessions. That's great! And the implicit "now what" doesn't feel *good,* but if you listen to your group's tastes you can carry it from game-to-game.
<@216217521198596096> and i agreed to co-gm the Between after Brendan's PA game once the upcoming expansion comes out, and in the mean-time our player <@340318035825000448> agreed to run Monsterhearts in the meantime!

and everyone involved is having a **blast** in that """interim""" game.
now, that requires multiple people who have a knack for GM-ing, but if you're the only one up to it, you can pitch two or three other games you're into running. If none of them like the games you pitch, you are well in your right to tell them,

"okay. one of you can run something then." If no one wants to GM, then maybe you all can find a video game to play. Or a book club or a board game night or trivia night.

I understand the desire to keep a group going, ***believe me.*** But you aren't their waiter. If they're into Public Access, run it. If you like GM-ing, keep GMing. But you aren't *solely* responsible for keeping the game group together.

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

Sorry to spoil THE Odyssey Tape, but these two prompts are so, so incredibly versatile that even before Signals from the Other Side are factored in, this truly will be different every single time you run it.

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

Even within the typical Mystery structure, there are certain things that are just weird even if you don't plan on running Starlight Kingdom, put this Location SOMEWHERE

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

another highlight of the Weird History of Degoya County. the group I ran for (and much of the Gauntlet community) FOCUSED SO HARD ON THIS ONE

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

My second favorite thing about the Deep Lake Lurker is that it is a good Friday the 13th pastiche... on complete accident! And that one of the only big hints about the "real story" that inspired its writer is hidden in the text of ONE Location

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

The combination of a single Clue and how our Latchkeys investigated it determined a LOT of how the Whisper went down. I didn't give it a second glance when running PA, but now it might be a top 5 Mystery for me.

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

I dunno how much Jason playtested the original version, but he had good instincts that the Chromatic Desert was tempting but WEIRD So it's good that at least one player could go into it without it being too challenging.

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

You can have a dog! What more do ya want?

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

It does feel like he's almost TOO disarming. Which is why he's a perfect PA side character.

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

sometimes a Clue just up and says "only use me on a mixed success."

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

Ya know, representation in media has always been important to me. And I have never been more represented than an absentminded and so tired guy who is into ttrpgs and also the only one who knows how the copier works.

Levi Phipps@likethejeans· Mar 22

As much as I like the suggested Happy Jack, I thought having the gang's first Tape have the word "Final" in it was too funny to pass up. And yet I am the only one I've heard even have this Tape in the game! Poor Pepper :-(