šŸŽ² Since Iā€™m hosting a micro-con this weekend I had to get out the shirts. #ttrpg

Left: The Real Thing Right: Monster Burner Not pictured: Eclipse Phase faction shirt

Two black t-shirts are laid out on a wooden surface, one with a hand design and the other with a detailed illustration.
  1. First #ttrpg you ever played? AD&D
  2. First you ever ran? WEG Star Wars
  3. Played the most? Burning Wheel
  4. Run the most? Burning Wheel
  5. Favorite? whatever is in front of us
  6. Most recently played? Legend of the Five Rings 5th ed.
  7. Most recently run? Whitehack 4th ed.

šŸŽ² via @juddthelibrarian.bsky.social

šŸŽ² last year, local gamers went to #GaryCon together. The best fun we had was the time we played at our own table.

Thus, we created #HeronCon to run the same weekend. Open #ttrpg gaming and each attendee has to bring a game (or more) to run.

I’m running the Undying Sands with Vaults of Vaarn.

šŸŽ²šŸƒšŸŽ­ New page: Games in Development.

(These are very-slow-moving developments, mind you!)

If one of these is interesting to you, feel free to ask questions or send ideas.

šŸƒ Euchre: Going Under

Like a lot of card games, there are variants depending on where you grew up, who you played with, etc.

Tonight, I learned a somewhat boggling (but also interesting) one: “going under”.

“Going under” means that when it is your term to bid (which is a yes/no or suit declaration in Euchre, rather than a number), you can sacrifice your bid to take three 9s or 10s from your hand and exchange them with the kitty. The extra interesting part of this is that the people I learned it from say you never show the cards you exchange with the kitty. I’m sure many players have taken advantage of that fact.

I grew up with something a little different. If you had all 9s and 10s, you could show them and declare “Farmers Hand” which became a misdeal, and thus, the deal passed to the next player.

Have you used any rules like this? What was your variation?

šŸ“š 2024 Books Review

other 2024 reviews here

I am tracking all my completed books on my reading page and everything on Storygraph. (why Storygraph?) I would like to use micro.blog’s bookshelves, but it’s too buggy and incomplete at this stage.

This was a slow year, so I only completed 42 books. Here’s the summary from Storygraph.

Highly Recommended Books:

Non-Fiction:

  • Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. Still a relevant diagnosis for many of our current ills. (book) (post)
  • The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World… by David Graeber (posthumously). What if things don’t have to be the way they are? (book) (post)
  • The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. We are reaping the results from sowing distorted thinking. (book) (post)

Fiction:

  • The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (book) (post)
  • The Curse of Chalion (World of Five Gods #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold (book) (post)
  • The Future by Naomi Alderman (book) (post)

Recommended Books

(Reverse-chronological order)

  • Polostan (Bomblight #1) by Neal Stephenson (book)
  • Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy (book)
  • Midnight Riot (Rivers of London #1) by Ben Aaronovitch (book) (post)
  • Mort (Discworld #4) by Terry Pratchett (book)
  • The Shape of Joy by Richard Beck (book) (post)
  • Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi (book)
  • Dopamine Nation by Anna Lemke (book) (post)
  • Death of a Cad (Hamish Macbeth #2) by M. C. Beaton (book)
  • The Nature of the Beast (Gamache #11) by Louise Penny (book)
  • Slow Productivity by Cal Newport (book) (post)
  • Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg (book) (post)
  • The Rise and Reign of Mammals by Steve Brusatte (book)
  • The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist (book) (post)
  • Equal Rites (Discworld #3) by Terry Pratchett (book)
  • Radical Respect by Kim Scott (book) (post)
  • The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne (book) (post)
  • The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (book)
  • Assassin’s Quest (Farseer Trilogy #3) by Robin Hobb (book)
  • The PARA Method by Tiago Forte (book) (post)
Covers of the books mentioned at [app.thestorygraph.com/wrap-up/2...](https://app.thestorygraph.com/wrap-up/2024/toddgrotenhuis)

šŸ•¹ļø got a very fun idea for some nonsense

šŸŽ² Resistance - Bundle of Holding

šŸŽ² Putting some of my #ttrpg books up for sale.

Most of these are being sold simply because I need more space (and maybe I have the digital version).

Some are because I can’t (or won’t) bring them to the game table.

Let me know if you have questions!

šŸŽ²šŸ“š Following up from my last post:

My top shelf is coming along. It’s got the “really phenomenal physical artifact” books. Tag yourself! #TTRPG

Not shown:

  • Trilemma Adventures 1 (it’s sideways)
  • Vaults of Vaarn (currently being used for inspiration)
  • solo or BWHQ books (have their own shelves)
A collection of role-playing game books and sourcebooks is neatly arranged on a wooden shelf.