Ben (he/him) // Award-winning TTRPG designer, layout artist, science guy // strange stories for strange people
Abolish prisons except for the person who came up with the "spooky" discord notification sound

@foresightstudio.bsky.social
Ben (he/him) // Award-winning TTRPG designer, layout artist, science guy // strange stories for strange people
Abolish prisons except for the person who came up with the "spooky" discord notification sound
When we play a game, we put our faith in the information we're given - but I think the power of TTRPGs is that we get to be more flexible about what's "true" than other mediums. I'll leave you with this: how else might we use narrative to shape reality?
In the meantime... bsky.app/profile/clea...
I won't spoil the ending, but it's a brilliant, horrifying shift in perspective that reframes everything that came before. (It makes a second watch especially rewarding.) All my favorite games and stories surprise you this way: they give you a piece of information that changes everything.
At one point early in the film, Amanda quips, "no one sees what they don't want to." For me, this is the thesis statement of Saint Maud. The camera shows us the desolate, oppressive life that brought Maud to her belief, then shows how, if we take what she sees at face value, she's proven right.
Eventually, supernatural elements begin to infiltrate the narrative. We witness divine guidance and satanic possession, and it's incredibly effective because we're trapped in Maud's head. It doesn't matter what's real and what isn't, because this is what her faith tells her.
Naturally, Maud makes it her mission to save Amanda's soul. As her attempt to play savior continues, Maud grows more desperate, more certain that if she suffers enough in the right ways, God will guide her hand, and will inevitably lead her ward to salvation. It goes very poorly.
For one thing, she hears God's voice. She says it sometimes feels like God's "in me or around me." A "shiver," a warm "pulsing." (yes, it's Like That.) For another, she's a recent convert. While it's never fully addressed, something awful happened at her last job, and it drove her down this path.
Maud is a home hospice nurse sent to care for Amanda Köhl, a dancer and choreographer who has spinal lymphoma. They're a study in contrasts, Maud devout and straitlaced, Amanda hedonistic and expressive. From the start, there are hints that Maud's relationship to God is... a touch unconventional.
The leaves are changing, the skies are gray, and that can only mean one thing: Haunt-Along! My first Haunt-Along pick is Saint Maud, a delightfully unsettling piece of religious horror from director Rose Glass. It's about loneliness, faith, guilt, and a little bit of murder.
Haunt-Along 2026 An annual tradition collecting a thread about a horror movie each day through the month of October. Find 'em all here. 🐈⬛
# BANNED AND RESTRICTED ANNOUNCEMENT / 09/30/2026 One-card spread: The Ten of Swords is *banned* The Nine of cups is *banned* Another season of pro tarot league is almost upon us. While most formats are thriving, in the fast and degenerate world of one-card we're seeing concerning metagame data,
Oh there's gonna be so many. Maybe like 60-70
Set up at LUGcon in Atlanta! Come buy some books and get a House Edge promo! If you don't have Playwalled Dice, I'll be including the last stock in bundle purchases while supplies last!
Fan of swords? Ambition? Tarot decks? You'll love Ambition Swordtember! 30 Swords bound in zine for use in Ambition or your favorite TTRPG! Each sword has its own oracle card with to wield against fate through divination or spread. Carve fate to the shape of your Ambition!
I've never needed a tarot deck SO BADLY
Coming soon to Kickstarter: We're celebrating our love of collage with a make 100/zine month project coming at the start of 2027 The core of this project is 100 individual unique hand made cards, each with a text prompt on them to enhance your games, or get inspired to create with. Follow the KS👇
whenever you feel like you’re too small to change anything know that citizens from small towns and cities that speak up against flock and axon cameras in their communities (and sometimes get arrested for it) are fighting and sometimes succeeding against this
Designs not final but here's a closer look at those cards :)
WE ARE LIVE!!! On lucky post #13.
Storm the heavens, shuffle your decks, stop the apocalypse (or not), it's time to DUEL!!!!!!
The Kingdom Carved Collab is live on @backerkit.com!
Zine Club members don't forget that you will get discount pledge codes shortly!
Super excited that The Firmament is officially a Kickstarter Project We Love!! And I put together a new banner image featuring some previews of the card designs.
Follow the campaign & see more at ttrpg.fund/firmament!