Prof of Game Design at CCNY. Games: Sumer (Switch, Steam), Goblin.bet, Odd Goblin (itch). Cohost of Dead Letters podcast (@dead-letters).https://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3mht7jqlgjk2jI spent nearly 4k words analyzing individual keys from 10 TTRPG modules and looking at how each of them chose what types of information to include and how to format it. I must regretfully admit that I'm joining team anti-bullet-points, after years of enthusiasm for them. https://baatag.blogspot.com/2026/03/elements-of-key-3-actual-keys.html24 Mar 2026 18:32 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mht7jqlgjk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3mhdlqqi5z227Some of the hardest I've ever agreed with a blog post. Fantasy is at its most fun when it's remixing the familiar. [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Mar 2026 13:28 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhdlqqi5z227https://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3mfu2dxldhk2wOh no these are really good. I've been saying for a while that the only real rule of a rpg is group consensus over contributions to the shared fiction, but RPGs are more fun if you meditate that truth through additional orienting rules (mechanical or social). Wish your cousins my best [contains quote post or other embedded content]27 Feb 2026 15:41 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfu2dxldhk2whttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3mfsivtu3hs2bSam (@samsorensen.bsky.social), Walid (blissfully off Bluesky), and I have launched a podcast! Dead Letters, after the NYC-based TTRPG collective of the same name, is live with 3 episodes released. Join us for close readings, academic analysis, and unhinged takes. https://baatag.blogspot.com/2026/02/dead-letters-podcast-launch.html27 Feb 2026 00:57 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfsivtu3hs2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3mfmqiu7sp224This is tomorrow! [contains quote post or other embedded content]24 Feb 2026 17:57 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfmqiu7sp224https://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3meyx4xgbrk2fNext Wednesday (2/25) at 7PM, we'll be presenting a new speaker in our lecture series! Barry Jospeh, author of Matching Minds with Sondheim, will be presenting "How To Play The Sondheim Way: A Parlour Game Workshop". The last one was really fun, game and theater folk in the NYC area RSVP below https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gaming-pathways-ccny-presents-guest-speaker-barry-joseph-tickets-1983103233154?aff=msh16 Feb 2026 21:02 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3meyx4xgbrk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3meyeastfj22fMy blog post, "Books [Verb] Play", was nominated for a Bloggie and is currently up for votes in the Theory category! Give it a read and a vote! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3T-XW06PltO9fHrcXTC2r1WzSPIuKp3R7luOLLtGrVSU5xg/viewform16 Feb 2026 15:24 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3meyeastfj22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3memw63bwmk2sShe refused to paint it so I had to [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Feb 2026 02:13 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3memw63bwmk2shttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3mboshboapc2sThe most common critique I see people have with TTRPG adventures is them leaving out info necessary to smooth play and leaving in bloat that lowers accessibility. I wrote a bunch trying to unpack what's useful to include in a module, what's best prepped by the GM, and what's best improvised in play. https://baatag.blogspot.com/2026/01/elements-of-key-2.html05 Jan 2026 15:56 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mboshboapc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3mbmp4xozfk2qI've been running a mash-up of a few great systems for a while, and I think it's put together enough to put up online. Odd Goblin is a 36-class GLOG/Into the Odd/a few other systems mash-up I specifically put together to be easy to run for people new to RPGs w/o being restrictively minimalist. https://baatag.blogspot.com/2026/01/introducing-odd-goblin.html04 Jan 2026 19:51 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbmp4xozfk2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3mbb6g7tijk24Is this the prime vein of that incentive discourse everyone is talking about other people talking about today? All of this feels like people talking past each other--the debate's not "should RPGs have incentives", it's "how cleanly should play be structured around a singular incentivized goal'. [contains quote post or other embedded content]31 Dec 2025 05:53 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbb6g7tijk24https://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3mbax4rod7k25I took a lot of photos of birds this year, and also a few mammals. https://www.inaturalist.org/stats/2025/mikhailfavorov31 Dec 2025 03:42 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbax4rod7k25https://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3mb35w2qlqs2oThere's an eternal debate on which is more important in play: the rulebook you're using or the habits and practices of the players? Here's my contribution, despite being more on the 'player practices' side: a taxonomy of ways books influence play. https://baatag.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-verbs-of-play.html28 Dec 2025 20:28 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3mb35w2qlqs2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3m5yx5hy2ds2bTomorrow! Come join us! [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Nov 2025 19:06 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5yx5hy2ds2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3m5u25a4a4c2eI've been organizing CCNY Digital Game Development’s first official lecture event with Demetri Detsaridis! The topic is “Gaming Business Models: Why Everything Feels Like a Live Service Now”. Join us this Thursday at 7PM on the CCNY campus (details in link)! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gaming-pathways-ccny-presents-guest-speaker-demetri-detsaridis-tickets-1815957089539?aff=MSH17 Nov 2025 20:16 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5u25a4a4c2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/the-goblin.bsky.social/post/3licwwgc65c2yMy wife asked me to compose a still life for her to paint16 Feb 2025 19:14 +0000at://did:plc:64nna65fbflsitc3hhwjo7ef/app.bsky.feed.post/3licwwgc65c2y