Keithulhu Fhtammann

Keithulhu Fhtammann

@themonstersknow.com

ENNIE-winning author of The Monsters Know What They're Doing, Making Enemies and other stuff. Humanist, antifascist, curmudgeon. Teeth on the board. ✶✶✶✶

4.4K followers568 following6.4K posts

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Roll for initiative, folks: The Monsters Know What They're Doing is back, and it's REMONSTERED! All the battle plans you've relied on for years are freshened up for the 2025 Monster Manual, accompanied by brand-new tips to make every fight more exciting. Get it now! www.spyandowl.com/re... #DnD

Why would anyone be fool enough to post such an opinion on Bluesky?

Bill@bill-of-lefts.bsky.social

what is an *actual*, *specific* opinion that you hold that will be unpopular on bluesky ? Mine is that Javier Milei is horrible but probably did a better job in fixing Argentina’s hyperinflation crisis than any of his opponents would have

My top two methods: 1. Spend hours down linguistic rabbit hole generating plausible etymology 2. Spot funny typo on restaurant menu

SeanKReynolds has a Patreon@seankreynolds.bsky.social

Character/creature naming trick: Take 3 words you can see & use the first few letters of each. "Mini notecards for all occasions" … Minofo, Nofo-al, Foalocca, Alloccami. "Taste of India Restaurant" … Taofin, Taoin, Tastoin, Ofinree, Indreta. "Sean K Reynolds Game Designer" … Sekreg, Regade, Krega.

Keithulhu Fhtammann reposted

This issue is one of the most important to me, personally. I had to sacrifice a lot to work at Wizards. I wrote a really funny twine game last year and had several more in the works. I stopped work on all of them when I became a D&D game designer. I lost a creative outlet that was important to me.

United Wizards of the Coast - CWA@uwotc-official.bsky.social

Currently, Hasbro’s guidelines keep us from having total ownership over the work we make in our free time. Our union aims to change that and ensure we own what we make in our free time. actionnetwork.org/forms/uwotcp...

Keithulhu Fhtammann reposted

Before I lose my phone for the weekend: Modern TAG programs are *intended* to be special needs programs for a group of kids who struggle with regular programs, not status or treats for bright kids with good grades. Profoundly gifted children are at high risk of a lot of bad things.

Hmm. I feel like I need to name the first five RPGs I played MORE THAN ONCE, because back in the day there was a lot to dabble in: 1. AD&D (I had the Holmes blue box but never actually used it to play a game) 2. Villains & Vigilantes 1E 3. Shadowrun 1E/2E [hiatus] 4. GURPS 3E [hiatus] 5. D&D 5E

James D'Amato@oneshotrpg.bsky.social

Mine first 5 RPGs are pretty boring: 1. D&D 3.5 2. Shadowrun 4e 3. GURPS (Discworld, so 3e?) 4. Star Wars (WotC d20) 5. Feng Shui 1e

But in among those first three, there were several games I played only once. Call of Cthulhu 1E. Toon. Paranoia. A homebrew thing one of my friends made that was like a post-apocalyptic Kids on Bikes.

I lump Shadowrun 1E and 2E together because they weren't all that different aside from a few tweaks to dice pools and how armor and weapons worked; the core game mechanics were unchanged. We moved seamlessly from 1E into 2E without any drama. From what I gather, 2E to 3E was a much bigger change.

Keithulhu Fhtammann reposted

I don’t know why I bothered writing a review, this is a much better pitch, let’s pretend I said all this stuff instead!

Rowan Rook and Decard@rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social

Hearing about Hollows for the first time? Not sure what the vibe is? Don't want cool teens to laugh at you and blow bubblegum vape in your face about it? Let the WRETCH lay it out for you

Keithulhu Fhtammann reposted

There was a global, five-alarm cybersecurity crisis this week triggered by A.I. MSM mostly ignored it. Political elites mostly ignored it. A.I. discourse continues to overindex on killer robots. This is a metaphor for the ludicrous concept of alignment. www.offmessage.net/p/artificial...

offmessage.netWe Are The Alignment ProblemA.I. is on the brink of triggering catastrophe and the people who should be most concerned with preventing it are distracted, or engaged in malign neglect.

Keithulhu Fhtammann reposted

The Pale Mountains (Monti Pallidi), also known as the Dolomites (Italy), exemplify many aspects I associate with adventure across fictional mountains. Patagonia and the Yellow Mountains also possess these astounding aspects. #writingcommunity #dnd #photography #art #D&D #writing 📷: Max Rive

QsotN: "We've already got a mummy, a bush and a team of dogs just by TAKING them. Why would this dragon have a saddle if we weren't meant to ride it?" "A werebear riding a dragon is the most metal thing ever." "'Semantic satiation,' 'semantic satiation,' 'semantic satiation'…" #DnD #TTRPGQuotes

There's a reason why the company that produced a string of the best CRPGs ever made no longer exists as of today, and it's not because there's no demand for good CRPGs. It's because our economy has been whittled down to three industries: value extraction, gambling and fraud.

Keithulhu Fhtammann reposted

If you're a roleplaying designer, put something like this in all your contracts. If you're a fiction writer, put something like this in all your contracts. (Except it needs to add marketing with AI as also forbidden).

John Scalzi@scalzi.com

I've mentioned before I've updated my contracts to make sure everything in the production of my books is done by humans and not "AI"; if you're wondering what such a thing looks like, here's a clause covering that from a recent contract.

Hey, @forthefightpac.bsky.social, I just got my sixth spam text from you. I've replied STOP every time, so why am I still on your distro list? Never mind, I know the answer: Because you're just a bunch of consultants getting rich off trashing the Democratic Party's name.

Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social

The annoying spam texts destroying the Democratic brand: $678M raised through those spam tactics $282M to one consulting firm: Mothership Strategies. $11M to actual campaigns (1.6%) The party isn’t just treating donors like marks—it’s being fleeced itself yet continues to back Mothership.

@govpritzker.illinois.gov, is this really what you want us to think of when we think of you? Begspamming?

Keithulhu Fhtammann@themonstersknow.com

Hey, @forthefightpac.bsky.social, I just got my sixth spam text from you. I've replied STOP every time, so why am I still on your distro list? Never mind, I know the answer: Because you're just a bunch of consultants getting rich off trashing the Democratic Party's name.

This is one of the most unprofessional e-mail messages I've ever seen. Ye gods. This past weekend, someone suggested to me that I should attend UKGE sometime. Nope. Not now.

Katherine Stark@kastark.bsky.social

You may appreciate the naked contempt dripping from this email reply @loremistress93.bsky.social. Just a reminder to all UK creatives that UKGE does not give a shit about you or your opinions, and the recent AI stuff is more than just a simple mistake.

I'm late saying so, because last night was all about family and today was all about bookkeeping, but once again, #GameholeCon showed why it's the best darn TTRPG convention in the country: big enough to attract the brightest stars, small enough to feel like a community and not a corporate event.

I always enjoy talking with the Dice in Mind guys. Their questions are always especially thoughtful.

@DiceinMind@diceinmind.bsky.social

We are thrilled to welcome Keith Ammann back to Dice in Mind to discuss his latest tome, Remonstered! The Monsters Know What They're Doing. Trust us...they do! @themonstersknow.com #DnD podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

Last call! I'll be loading out within the next half hour. #GameholeCon

Keithulhu Fhtammann@themonstersknow.com

Spending my last few hours at #GameholeCon signing books at my table in Hall A. If you haven't picked up REMONSTERED! THE MONSTERS KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING, MAKING ENEMIES or HOW TO DEFEND YOUR LAIR yet, now's the time to do it!

Spending my last few hours at #GameholeCon signing books at my table in Hall A. If you haven't picked up REMONSTERED! THE MONSTERS KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING, MAKING ENEMIES or HOW TO DEFEND YOUR LAIR yet, now's the time to do it!

I'm also very happy to report that yesterday's ventilation problems in Mendota 2 and 3 were fixed overnight, and the air in those rooms has been breathable all day, with CO2 readings in the 600s to 900s over the course of the morning.

Good morning, #GameholeCon! Getting ready to run a D&D game at the AEC, then tabling for a couple of hours before I head home to Chicago. If you're looking to buy REMONSTERED!, MAKING ENEMIES or HOW TO DEFEND YOUR LAIR, don't wait until the end of the day—I might be on the road already!