lumpley

@lumpley.bsky.social

4412 Followers 1887 Following

D. Vincent Baker, longtime indie ttrpg creator. Co-creator of Apocalypse World, Under Hollow Hills, and many more. Disarm, defund, abolish. He/him. https://lumpley.games

A simple graph showing two parallel skill acquisition lines. As you practice a skill, you don't improve steadily, you improve in steps: a sudden improvement, a long plateau, a sudden improvement, a long plateau... This chart shows "creative skills" and "critical skills" improving out of step with one another, leapfrogging: your creative skills suddenly improve while your critical skills plateau, then your critical skills improve while your creative skills plateau. Creative skills: design, development, production; critical skills: analysis, interpretation, vision.
Stonetop, an enormous boxed 2-volume book set, on my dining room table.
Vincent Baker talking at a podium, accepting Apocalypse World's induction into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (AAGAD)'s Hall of Fame.
A hat on the ground in the woods, blown away from us by the wind.
A cartoon drawing of a scowling fascist with an unfortunate haircut, swim flippers, and his arms stuck elbows-first into his coat sleeves. Caption: "In my dream, you could always tell the fascists by their duck suits."
A scratchy cartoon of a skeletal guy with two bloody swords, standing over a bloody mess with a crown in it. "Death to the wizard kings!"
Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven's surreal "Portrait of Marcel Duchamp," a wineglass full of feathers and wires and I dunno, the resemblance is conceptual I suppose.
Selfie, Vincent in hat & scarf. It's cold!
Text: Working title: An Apocalypse of Infinite Games Making Your Own RPG the PbtA Way 1st Look Excerpt
Cartoon drawing of a guinea pig in segmented armor ballooning like a spider on a spiral strand of guinea pig silk. Handwritten text reads "you wouldn't think this would work, but it does."
Help! My Executive Function is borked! (A cartoon illustration of a fox half-buried head-first in the snow.) Self-control: I’m having trouble stopping & thinking before acting Self-Monitoring: I’m having trouble seeing myself clearly Self-expression: I’m having trouble saying what I need to Emotional Control: I’m having trouble managing my feelings Flexibility: I’m having trouble adapting to changes Task Initiation: I’m having trouble getting started Organization: I’m having trouble keeping things organized Working Memory: I remember, but I’m having trouble using it Planning: I’m having trouble figuring out what steps I should take Demand Avoidance: Suggestions, reminders, & instructions are making it harder
Photo of a night sky showing a strange spiral glow partly obscured behind the tops of the trees.
A diagram showing the model of interaction that underlies the design of Under Hollow Hills. Two characters meet. They each reveal themself and learn about the other, and so come to understand who each other are. This gives them each the opportunity to draw closer, to rebuff the other, or to withdraw. The decisions they make change themselves and their relationship, so that now or eventually they might meet one another anew. So the cycle repeats for as long as their relationship exists.
Photo of page 85 of Montola & Stenros' The Rule Book, showing a folded corner and handwritten marginalia. The text is visible and partly readable, but isn't really meant to be read in the photo. It's generally about the difference in sports between cheating and fouling, and whether there is one. One of the handwritten notes says, "okay but this is BRILLIANT."
Characters from the cartoon "Battle of the Planets." Zoltar — a supervillain with a dramatic mask and distinct, glossy pink lips — laughs evilly behind Mark, the young leader of G-Force, in his eagle-wing cape and helmet, in an action pose.
A pen drawing of a raven wearing a wizard's hat, underlit by rainbow smoke as from a magical cauldron. Text: "Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven's Ars Magica: A Quaint & Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore."
A graph: "Creative Skills, Critical Skills." It shows two skill acquisition lines, one for creative skills (design, development, production), one for critical skills (analysis, interpretation, vision). Both step up like stairs, showing that as you practice a skill, it plateaus, then rapidly improves to the next plateau, in several cycles. They're out of step, showing that your two skills leapfrog from plateau to plateau: at one point your creative skills are ahead of your critical skills; at the next point, your critical skills have leapt to their next plateau and are ahead of your creative skills.
A photo of my laptop showing a drawing in progress, black lines over a pencil sketch. A goblin in a sweater and scarf offering birdseed to a little nuthatch fairy.
Album cover: Suzanne Vega Solitude Standing
Three Lectroids from The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension.
A pen drawing of a raven wearing a wizard's hat, underlit by rainbow smoke as from a magical cauldron. Text: "Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven's Ars Magica: A Quaint & Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore."
A pen drawing of a raven wearing a wizard's hat, underlit by rainbow smoke as from a magical cauldron. Text: "Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven's Ars Magica: A Quaint & Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore."
A charcoal drawing of the dam at Turners Falls, showing the flat water of Barton Cove behind the dam, three of the dam's pylons, and the jagged rocks of the Connecticut riverbed below the dam. It's impressionistic, not so easy to make out.
A sheet of paper with several fold lines labeled "mountain" or "valley," showing where the "reflection" panel is, with the rest noted "all this is hidden inside."
A sheet of paper folded into a complex-ish shape, but you can't see them here. It's closed to the plain rectangular back, labeled "postscript."
A sheet of paper folded into a complex-ish shape, showing several diagonal pages and surfaces. It's open to the middle page. It shows the triangular panel in the top right, labeled "constant," and the lower panel, labeled "reflection." The central triangular panel is labeled "illustration."
A sheet of paper folded into a complex-ish shape, showing several diagonal pages and surfaces. It's open to the middle page. It shows the triangular panel in the top right, labeled "constant." The lower panel is labeled "reflection."
A sheet of paper folded into a complex-ish shape, showing several diagonal pages and surfaces. It's closed. It shows the triangular panel in the top right, labeled "constant," and the front panel is labeled "introduction."
A sheet of paper folded into a complex-ish shape, showing several diagonal pages and surfaces. It's closed. It shows a triangular panel in the top right, labeled "constant."
A sheet of paper folded into a complex-ish shape, showing triangular and rectangular pages.
A pen drawing of a raven wearing a wizard's hat, underlit by rainbow smoke as from a magical cauldron. Text: "Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven's Ars Magica: A Quaint & Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore."
A graph: "Creative Highs & Lows." It shows two skill acquisition lines, one for analytic skill, analyzing and understanding games, the other for productive skill, creating games. Both step up like stairs, showing that as you practice a skill, it plateaus, then rapidly improves to the next plateau, in several cycles. They're out of step, showing that your two skills leapfrog from plateau to plateau: at one point your analytic skills are ahead of your productive skills; at the next point, your productive skills have leapt to their next plateau and are ahead of your analytic skills. Two points are highlighted: • When your productive skills are ahead of your analytic skills: "My game is AMAZING!" • When your analytic skills are ahead of your productive skills: "My game is TERRIBLE!" ...When of course it's the same game.
A Hero Forge miniature of, get this, a filing cabinet with a coffee cup on it. The third drawer down is slightly open.
Our cat Shmoopy Bibbins peeking out from under some blankets like a dork. He's sleek black, with orange eyes.
A pen drawing of a raven wearing a wizard's hat, underlit by rainbow smoke as from a magical cauldron. Text: "Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven's Ars Magica: A Quaint & Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore."
A pen drawing of a raven wearing a wizard's hat, underlit by rainbow smoke as from a magical cauldron. Text: "Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven's Ars Magica: A Quaint & Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore."
A pen drawing of a raven wearing a wizard's hat, underlit by rainbow smoke as from a magical cauldron. Text: "Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven's Ars Magica: A Quaint & Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore."
A photo of a gas pump showing an advertisement on its screen. In handwriting on top of the photo, on the right, the second touch button from the top is circled, with an arrow, labeled "mute." To mute a gas pump ad, push the second button from the top on the right.
A graph: "Beyond Highs & Lows." It shows two skill acquisition lines, one for analytic skill, analyzing and understanding games, the other for productive skill, creating games. Both step up like stairs, showing that as you practice a skill, it plateaus, then rapidly improves to the next plateau, in several cycles. They're out of step, showing that your two skills leapfrog from plateau to plateau: at one point your analytic skills are ahead of your productive skills; at the next point, your productive skills have leapt to their next plateau and are ahead of your analytic skills. Several points are highlighted: Your current level of analysis and your current level of design; Ahead of you, you feel the breakthrough you're reaching toward; Immediately behind you, you've tested and built on a past level of analysis, and you've tested and built on past designs; Further behind you, you've surpassed these past designs.