Seraphina Garcia Ramirez 🔜 Metatopia

Sam has created something magical with Dice Exploder- it was the impetus for my passion for games blossoming. I'm so thankful for all the work he's put in. I'm stoked to carry the show forward! Great season coming up, and I'm thrilled to show you all what I have brewing for the future of the show

NEW: Remedy's latest game, Control Resonant, is filled with art galleries. The galleries are filled with real art When I began talking to Remedy about it, I was delighted to discover who the artists are: many are the game developers' parents My story... www.gamefile.news/p/control-re...

I was fortunate enough to sit in on a playtest of this- an incredible, strange, arcane, mystical experience that conceals greater secrets, while being visually gorgeous. Really excited to table the full game- go back this!

First run, FIST gets shrunken down to 1/10th size while being blown around by gale-force winds and dies three rooms in. Second run, FIST makes it 14/15 rooms before going out in a blaze of glory fighting a Warden under acid rain while a nuclear countdown blares. Believe in the heart of the cards!

I've got a special treat today! We organized a collaborative project in @prismaticwasteland.com's discord. Our goal was a hexcrawl project inspired by OVER THE GARDEN WALL. This is the PRISMATIC PUMPKINCRAWL. 31 powderkeg-packed hexes. It's completely free. mindstormpress.itch.io/prismatic-pu...

THE END IS NIGH!!! The final hours of The 7th Order & Ritual Deck funding are here! We are a few backers away from our next stretch goal! Join us for the end! ttrpg.link/kcc 29/X

Just now FIST found two “Really Red Energy Drinks” and buoyant towels, which they brought with them to a rematch with The Shark. S.K. can tell The Shark enjoys coming back for seconds- so he throws one Really Red into its open maw, and the other far into the ocean luring it away. I love this game.

This week, I'm returning to my thoughts on freelance. What the heck should I be charging if I wanted to do this full time? www.explorersdesign.com/hireling-you...

The Locked Room Murder Mystery Game is live on Kickstarter now. Make your own murder mysteries with this hybrid board game + ttrpg! www.kickstarter.com/projects/ada...

To Feel Your Warmth is LIVE on BackerKit! A tragic duet vampire TTRPG about two people in love, one of which has been cursed with vampirism, in the final hours before sunset. A conversation about love, trust, and the decision to move forward together or say goodbye forever. 🩸🚪🌅

My thoughts on the game!

I've played this twice and had an unbelievably fun time, everyone go back it, and check out the campaign trailer while you're there- so so good!!!

The second essay in my design series for Mousetrap is "Breaking Fourth walls and Magic Circles." It explores the stages and temporary worlds that we create in games and how/when we cross them. It pays special attention to a very clever Dread scenario by @ravensridgeco.bsky.social: Tully State Forest

My three player asynchronous journaling game about three witches cursed to share one body - We Three Shall Meet Again - is getting an actual play / novella release this December. @notwritinggames.bsky.social, @napel.itch.io and I essentially co-wrote a novella, and the audio book is coming soon.

to help smooth things over a bit i have put my entire itch library on same for the next *year*. consider me very, very available for freelance work. if you need playbooks, stretch goal content, anything, i'm your girl. itch.io/s/204730/fin...

this is incredible news for everyone involved, very excited to have somewhere to point people who want to check out suzi after i rave about it (besides my DMs). The lifepath stuff that's already in there has been a lot of fun. maybe i should share some of those suzis...

The House Edge on Party of One!! You can hear @calebzane.bsky.social introduce the rules and scenario, then referee the first loop for @jeffstormer.gobirds.online, who plays all four characters. It's a blast! Also featuring some very surprising guest voices I was delighted to hear!

i EDGE in THE HOUSE till Nobody Busts (extremely hyped for everyone to read and play this game so they also feel the urge to make jokes like that, it's extremely good and not just for comedy reasons)

the knives! 🔪

This might become required reading for people who want to play at my table...

For Halloween, I'm embracing my most diabolical impulses. To that end, I've written a player advice manifesto on the One True Way to play games- Pawn Stance. Read it, and be horrified at the lack of nuance. Come fight me about it, if you dare. diceexploder.com/posts/pawn-s...

At first I thought, “Well, I wouldn’t go THAT far,” but there’s a reason I design games that put things straight into “rules” that you may be used to seeing under “safety tools.” I feel strongly enough about this as a philosophy of play that I’ll hard code it into the design.

Don't let what you think you have to do get in the way of actually having fun!

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I enjoyed this because (1) my most recent games are interested in pawn stance and metagaming (2) the end notes

"Play games to have a good time with your friends. Your experience as individuals and as a group comes before everything else. If something is stopping you or your friends from having a good time, it must be recognized as less important than that goal and cast aside like dead weight." Yes!

I enjoyed this thing. You might, too!

If your blog post begins with a definition of terms I am going to repost it on principle. Thank you for defining terms instead of using a secret surprise definition and acting surprised when people misunderstood your blog.

Begun, the Player Advice Blogwagon has.

For Halloween, I'm embracing my most diabolical impulses. To that end, I've written a player advice manifesto on the One True Way to play games- Pawn Stance. Read it, and be horrified at the lack of nuance. Come fight me about it, if you dare. diceexploder.com/posts/pawn-s...

Issuing a correction- I said Teeth was the one that got away, but a few days later @rossignol.bsky.social reached out and offered to send this damaged copy they couldn’t sell across the Atlantic- and it just arrived! Many thanks to Jim for adding to my shelf, go buy GOLD TEETH! (which also arrived!)

The first interview in the Mousetrap design series is with @newmadras.bsky.social on Theatre and RPGs. Did you know Thomas is not only an accomplished journalist and RPG critic but also an award-winning playwright?

talking about games with seraphina is one of the loveliest joys to be found on this earth & we end on a pretty great discussion of what it even meansss to do gamey adaptation at all!!!!!

Satah and Jess were wonderful hosts, and I deeply adored the excuse to spend two hours going “wouldn’t it be cool if” over and over. this bit hit me like lightning rewatching the movie, and I’m delighted it stuck with them as well. What makes us not Things? Listen to us try and figure that out!

YOU DONT TRUST ANYBODY. YOU WANT TO SURVIVE. YOU WANT EVERYONE TO TRUST YOU. YOU WANT TO ESCAPE. YOU DONT WANT YOUR ENEMY TO ESCAPE. YOU ONLY REVEAL YOUR VIOLENT NATURE WHEN PUSHED TO YOUR LIMIT. with @seraphina.diceexploder.com 🧊

From last night- spicy lemony ice cream, topped with sesame-crusted gochugaru shortbread cookies. All homemade from scratch, including a homemade chili crisp in both the ice cream and the cookies! I’ve made the ice cream before, but not the cookies- really happy with how they turned out

As requested by @mousehole.press in the book, I am delighted to share a completed conspiracy board from The Slow Knife- the product of a single eight hour session setting up our wretched villains and then tearing them down. I cannot recommend this game highly enough- truly some quite brilliant play!

As requested by @mousehole.press in the book, I am delighted to share a completed conspiracy board from The Slow Knife- the product of a single eight hour session setting up our wretched villains and then tearing them down. I cannot recommend this game highly enough- truly some quite brilliant play!

I have a reason to ask this, but I also hate it... Who are the "biggest names" in your mode/modes of #TTRPG design & play? Don't tag them. But when you think of "Tabletop RPG Celebrity" within the type of games you play, who are the people that come to mind? Bonus points for your culture of play.

I talked with a local studio yesterday about making a zine, & I'm emailing the local library about bringing more gaming events to our community. As much as I love being part of my online community and I feel excited about making more Dice Exploder, I'm looking forward to doing more offline work too!

Practicing some basic illustration for a secret project, and I've learned how to make a basic pattern swatch- i love building new skills!

Practicing some basic illustration for a secret project, and I've learned how to make a basic pattern swatch- i love building new skills!

We're turning THE THING into a TTRPG with @adisasterqueer.bsky.social to round off the John Carpenter's Halloweenless Hallowe'en double-feature!

On this week's Shelfie, host of @nimbf.bsky.social and RTFM @aaronmfking.bsky.social shares their collection and reveals which classic work of literature is secretly the best RPG setting book. www.shelfie.email/p/004-aaron-...

Bit late on here due to some familial expansion, but Shelfie #3 is already out and in it @ghargremxul.mt shares his very unique collection that helps him produce games inspired by Maltese history and folklore: www.shelfie.email/p/003-ghar-g...

This is why Mario is the real one true heir and the first OSR game. In this essay I will-