Sinful Games

@sinful-games

TTRPG designer | they/them A worldbuilder and tinkerer designing systems to help players find the fun in places they never thought to look Check out my itch store at Or my blog at

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Sinful Games@sinful-games· 25d

Map from round 2 of Far Lands at #gencon! The team glided down from their airship city to explore the world below, hoping to investigate a holy shrine the lore-keeper had read of, only to discover that it was the entrance to an ancient abandoned underground city. #indierpgs #ttrpgs

A map depicting a weathered mountains surrounded my misty valleys, a fjord, a deep forest, and a sheltered cove.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· 26d

Map from today's Far Lands session at #gencon! The team encountered blood-drinking flowers that conjure mirages to lure in victims. They climbed a tower at the center of a crater that revealed the vast desert beyond was once an endless ocean, and perhaps a chance for redemption.

A pencil map depicting a grassy valley through the mountains leasing to a massive crater with a mysterious tower at the center

Sinful Games@sinful-games· 26d

All set up for Far Lands at #gencon! I'll be running another session tomorrow at 2:00 at Games on Demand in Grand ballroom 3 in the Westin, right next to the skybridge.

A table set up with a deck of cards and a spread of reference sheets and role sheets for a game of Far Lands

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Jul 7

Finally played Old Morris Cave! Very neat game. Fascinating little secrets hidden in this game. I'll be thinking about it for a while. Also, filled with anger at amateur treasure hunters. As is just. #indierpg #ttrpgs

Strata chart from Old Morris Cave depicting layers of detritus on the floor of a cave, including numerous campfires, pits, animal remains, and burrows.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Jul 3

Just finished "Against Technoableism" by @ashleyshoo.bsky.social. An amazing book that has made me totally rethink my perspective on disability and accessibility. Plus, the last chapter on disabled futures is going to completely change how I read & write sci-fi moving forward.

The cover of Against Technoableism, by Ashley Shew. Subtitle: Rethinking who needs improvement.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Jun 15

Printed out some test spreads and I'm pleasantly surprised to discover that the font is actually plenty large enough! #indierpg #gamedev #ttrpgs

The "curse" scenario, featuring setup rules and a random table for generating a curse

The weather rules, featuring rules for storms, tables for example weather hazards and a reference for the severity of weather.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Apr 30

Rapidly discovering that this game uses an enormous amount of cubes. But it works! This definitely has legs. Though I have no idea how it'll scale to multiplayer, if at all, and flat pricing every card at 2 scrap is way too cheap! #gamedesign #boardgames

A first person view of a paper prototype of a game. A hand of various attack cards and a sheet of paper with various pools of cubes labeled "armor," "scrap," "threat," "battery," "energy," and "heat." Two cards off to the side labeled "burn" and "unstable," and above a row of enemy attacks and minions each with a pool of cubes.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Apr 29

Cards: cut!

Stacks of paper cards with various designs, including boss attacks and minions, player cards, and status cards

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Apr 26

I ran Far Lands at a convention for the first time at #somercon! Had an amazing time and I'm so excited to introduce it to even more folks at future events! #indierpg #ttrpgs

An overhead view of a few rows of vendors and tables with games

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Apr 25

Hehehe paper prototype time. I've got a *lot* of cards to cut out. #gamedesign

A stack of printed out pages containing 3x3 grids of cards with various designs

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Mar 31

This year at #paxeast I bought... Maybe too many books? Only time will tell. Very, very excited for just about all of these.

A grid of books: Fear and Panic, Cartograph, Community Radio, Anyone can wear the mask, Unboxed, Playing Oppression, Gender(s), War Pigs, Shadowdark, Carved in Stone, Imagine Queer Worlds, and a playmat featuring art from Spirit Island

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Mar 17

No game design blog post this month because I'm traveling, but instead enjoy this panorama I took. This kind of landscape is what inspired me to make Far Lands in the first place! Maybe I'll write up a blog post about my inspirations... The original idea came to me while hiking up Hurricane Ridge.

Very wide panorama featuring an extensive mountain range behind a vast field of grass

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Feb 25

Finished reading Vermis III and I cannot recommend it enough as a TTRPG resource. It has spooky art, creatures, & lore just like the first two, but it also has 3-4 incredible dungeons complete with maps and encounters and two awesome cursed cities you could drop into any dark fantasy game. #ttrpg

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Feb 13

Got to use this delightful zine by @weirdworks.bsky.social in a game the other day and my players instantly fell in love with Pibb the goblin trader. Really fun lighthearted moment in an otherwise very spooky session. #ttrpgs #indierpg

A zine named "You found a goblin trinket peddler." The back cover says "a zine for your ttrpg! What weird little goblin trinkets will you get? Pls don't harm the goblin"
Written, designed, and printed by Bee Ho.
www.weird.works

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Feb 9

In His Magesty the Worm today, my players fought some werewolves making a sacrifice to a horrible beast, and on the last round of combat I drew this card (The Moon.) With a draw like that I couldn't *not* infect a player with lycanthropy! #ttrpgs

The Moon tarot card, depicting a person transforming into a werewolf beneath a bloodred moon, reflected in a broken mirror.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Feb 7

Getting very excited to run His Magesty the Worm. Got a couple of dungeon levels planned out, which is probably way more than I need for session 0-1 but man does the book provide a lot of really good examples! #ttrpgs

A pair of hand-drawn dungeon maps, one showing a dense underground city

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Jan 19

Played Ex Novo by @sharkbombs.bsky.social! What an awesome city-building game. The excellent random tables and the mechanic for tracking the sources of influence for factions in the city over time made it a joy to play. Didn't finish the full game, but I love the weird pigment-based society we made

A map drawn on a piece of paper with various cubes and meeples on it, surrounded by index cards with historical events, city districts, and factions detailed on them

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Jan 5

Got physical copies of my RPG bookmarks! Download em for free on my itch store: sinfulgames.itch.io #indierpg #ttrpg

Two bookmarks with TTRPG tools on them: the Pre-Fight Checklist and the Battle Line

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Jan 4

First full print-out of the new-and-improved quick reference sheets and player materials! Can't wait to see how these feel in a playtest! #indierpg #ttrpg #gamedev

A spread of random tables laid out by rank and suit for a deck of cards, and character sheets, including the truth-seeker, vanguard, tracker, traveler, scout, seer, mentor, pilgrim, healer, lore-keeper, crafter, evoker, artist, and cook.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Dec 28

I built a mailing list for Far Lands! Far lands is a collaborative GMless game of worldbuilding, exploration, cartography, and growing closer to one another on the trail. Expect monthly updates as I make progress on the layout! [Sign up for updates](eepurl.com/jvBlFc) #indierpg #ttrpg #gamedev

The cover art for Far Lands
Three explorers look out over a vast landscape. In the distance, a colossal tree grows from the peak of a mountain. The title "Far Lands" emerges from the clouds that gather around the top of the tree.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Dec 10

I feel like the pile of books I'm actively reading has gotten out of control in a way that is easily explainable by the book on top (full list in alt text)

From top to bottom: how to ADHD, Invincible, Bone, A City in Mars, Hamlet's Hit Points, Beating the Story, Normal Life, An Infinity of Ships, Inspectres, Noirlandia, Questlandia, Kids in Cales, Complete kovold's guide to fame design, Blueprint for a Book, Gödel Escher Bach, Draw Steel Monsters, His Magesty the Worm

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Nov 27

In love with this little game I grabbed from @molomoot.bsky.social at pax unplugged- exactly the sort of worldbuilding game I love! Uses the form factor in a really clever way, beautifully laid out, and really makes me think. #indierpg #ttrpg

When the Walls Fell, a game by Molomoot, featuring art of a walled city and a tumbling tower of polyhedral dice

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Nov 26

Sometimes ya just get the itch to make a paper prototype. I think this siege defense game might have some legs... But will definitely need a lot of testing! #gamedesign #indiegame

Half of hexagonal ring, with each segment broken into a 3 by 3 grid. Above it, a row of cards show instructions for placing and moving soldiers, knights, and siege engines.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Nov 25

Very glad I grabbed this at #paxunplugged this year! Absolutely full of great advice, structure, and inspiration for #ttrpg design.

A copy of RPG design zine by Nathan D Paoletta

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Nov 12

It is amazing the difference the absolute minimum of layout work does to the experience of reading through this book! Now I just need to actually go learn Scribus or something... #indierpg #gamedev #ttrpgs

A series of four boxes: the first is green with a map icon and says "this type of box will tell you to draw on the map." The second is yellow with a book and says "this type of box will tell you to write in the journal." The third is blue with a thunderstorm and says "this type of box will give you additional prompts to respond to if a storm has broken." The fourth is purple with a building and says "this type of box will provide additional prompts to respond to if you are in a region with a landmark."

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Nov 2

Just got my copy of Menagerie of Unbearable Things by @thebreadwyrm.bsky.social and wow, this is such an incredible source of inspiration and art for TTRPGs. Just an absolutely inspired piece of work.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Oct 26

Ran Dread for the first time today! Absolutely incredible experience. Setting up the players with rumors about other characters to get them to distrust one another right from the start was so fun! Sometimes a house is a guy. And his wife is a killer robot.

A collapsed Jenga tower on a side table under blue light

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Oct 23

Cursed one-page RPG idea: These are the pools you can spend dice from to do stuff. Spend "spoons" as wild. Have a list of comfort activities that can refill pools or spoons. Earn extra resources by doing embarrassing stuff when one of your pools is empty. Would be tough to build respectfully...

Diagram of 8 types of executive functioning arranged in a circle: impulse control, emotional control, flexible thinking, working memory, self-monitoring, planning & prioritizing, task initiation, and organization.

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Sep 14

So excited to share the cover art for Far Lands! Far lands is a collaborative worldbuilding, map-making, and exploration game about a team of explorers venturing into an uncharted land. Let's see what lies beyond the edge of the map! Art by @arthur.baron-clement.com #indierpg #ttrpg #indie

A trio of explorers stand at a ledge overlooking a vast landscape of many different biomes. In the distance, a huge tree towers over the surrounding mountains. Clouds partly obscure the title text, which reads: "Far Lands"

Sinful Games@sinful-games· Sep 13

Baba is tarrasque #D&D