Hello. If you're here, know this. I am (a[n]):
➡️Autistic (on a journey)
➡️Professional Streamer/Podcaster
➡️Audio Editor
➡️Dog Lover
➡️Map Maker
➡️Depressed with PTSD/Anxiety
➡️Lover of TTRPGs
➡️Mental Health Advocate
➡️Military Veteran
➡️Nuclear Engineer
Follow if you'd like!
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Do NOT punish your players.
A story death, TPK, or something else 'negative' is completely fine if it's part of the tone and okay'd by everyone. But don't punish your players' decisions because it was 'bad'.
Let the story evolve and have fun.
#ttrpg
#DnD
Reminder that it’s a common neurodivergent tendency to relate to stories by explaining how you went through something that you feel is similar “and this is why”.
It’s not that we’re not listening or don’t care, quite opposite in fact, it’s how we listen and care.
That neurodivergent need to include parenthesis (like this), to ensure everyone knows what I'm internalizing (and what I mean).
Because otherwise, things just aren't taken the right way (most of the time, not always).
🎲
#GMtip
of the day:
Make Critical Failures just as fun as Critical Successes. A Natural 1 can push the story forward and be fun, all while keeping stakes high.
There's no reason players should LOATHE a Natural 1 so much it's unfun.
#WaffleTips
#ttrpg
#dnd
@CatieOsaurus
Judging what I’ve seen by
@Syrup_Ticious
… in the most loving way… no matter how many times you look in your backpack…
It’s probably in your backpack.
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Give the players a home base.
Whether this is a castle, a spaceship that moves, or a small shop... give the players something and somewhere to come back to and upgrade, put their money into, and love.
#ttrpg
#dnd
#pathfinder
#WaffleTips
🎲
#GMTip
of the day:
You can't prep everything.
First off, the players WILL ruin it, and that's a good thing. They have agency. But even more imporant IMO is to be a ReactiveGM™. Make lists of names, places, encounters, and loot, and React rather than Railroad.
#ttrpg
#DnD
🎲
#GMTip
of the day:
Respect player decisions and PC storylines.
Give the players a choice and respect their decision. Keep open communication to make sure it's what they want, of course. But respect it, if it is
The dice decide the fate, not Deus ex Machina.
#ttrpg
#DnD
🎲
#GMTip
of the day:
Take the game as serious as you want players to.
In a table that's been prepped by a Session 0, the players will likely fall into the GM's tone. If you want voices, roleplay, and drama, then lead by example.
Be the player you want, as a GM.
#ttrpg
#dnd
Based on discourse 🙄 that's going around... Let me say:
👏 Pathfinder2e is a good game.
👏 DnD is a good game.
👏 10 Candles is a good game.
👏 Blades in the Dark is a good game.
👏 Quest is a good game.
👏 FATE is a good game.
👏 Etc 👏 Etc 👏 ETC
#dnd
#pathfinder2e
#ttrpg
@AutisticCallum_
In my opinion, ‘common sense’ is a “nice” term for ‘normative conformity’ and ‘compliance’.
Common sense is usually “this is how it works” or “this is normal”.
It’s hard, honestly.
🎲
#GMTip
of the day:
Don't defend your actions.
Hear me out. You're human. You'll make mistakes. But don't defend your actions. If it was a bad mistake, fix it, become better. Otherwise, telling the players "You could have done this" is a bad road.
#ttrpg
#DnD
#rpg
🎲
#GMTip
of the day:
Safety tools edition.
Run vibe checks prior to the game. A simple 'how are you feeling out of 10?'. They can explain or not.
This allows you & players to know if someone is struggling but wants to play. It also helps clear the air.
#ttrpg
#DnD
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Talk to your players.
If you want… talk about everything. Sure, secret reveals are fun, I do them. But you know what’s more fun?
Having everyone at the table on the same page, receiving everything they need for the game, safely.
#dnd
#ttrpg
#WaffleTips
With everyone fielding these
#pathfinder2e
questions, I’ll throw my hat in the ring from a mechanical
#ttrpg
perspective.
Zero hate, all curiosity, no shame:
➡️ What are some questions you have, or roadblocks that are stopping you, from trying Pathfinder2e?
Let’s chat. 🎙
@AutisticCallum_
Very much so. So much so, that it's perfectly in line with what you're saying.
We're 'bad at compromising' because we are already compromising. Therefore, like many other things in the world, it's hard to 'just do more'.
For anyone who needs to be educated on this military TTRPG discourse.
I'm a veteran. I appreciate anyone who has joined and will judge them based on the people they are.
The military as an entity is horrible and should be fixed. That doesn't make everyone that joins it trash.
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Use your players’ expertise.
This can be asking them lore, rules, or backstory questions, or even having them keep track of loot and experience.
This always goes back to all of their minds together being better than just the GM’s.
#ttrpg
#DnD
GM Tip:
Let your players have agency while you move the world in the background. They are the center of the story, but the world is a living being too.
So, allow them to do what they want when they want, all while your world continues to grow towards what is to come.
#GMtips
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Let your players do the recap & reward them for it.
Start off the session with a player-driven recap, from their character's perspective if they want. Then give them something.
This reminds you of things missed & shows a different perspective.
#ttrpg
#DnD
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Draw for your players.
I can't draw, at all. But, drawing helps get a similar picture across to everyone sitting around the table. Sketch a couple of walls, a rectangle for a table, and a stick person.
Plus, the laughs are priceless.
#DnD
#ttrpg
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Strive for more cinematic-style combat.
We do this with gridless maps & a 'yes, and' approach. Other good ways are magic and martial explanations, environmental effects, and using different 'flavors' of attacks for the same creatures.
#DnD
#ttrpg
@mightbeautistic
For me it’s action-based, cause Alexithymia.
Would I rather be with you than my special interest sometimes?
Fill up your water? Be uncomfortable & cuddle?
Basically, being autistic makes stuff hard. If I’m willing to do stuff for someone & not burnout or resent it, then 💕.
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Ask for player feedback.
Often players have the best insights into the story, their characters, and the feel of the game. Ask for their feedback, and more importantly, LISTEN and INCORPORATE it. The players collectively can make a great GM.
#ttrpg
#DnD
I just gotta shout out that
#TTRPG
(s) first and foremost, then the community around them, have basically saved my life.
I was in a bad spot back in my childhood and military days, but I am, chugging along in life and on camera with amazing people beside me.
#pathfinder2e
#dnd
That feeling when you can look back on your life and explain every little thing that you did, why it was viewed as wrong, and how that turned you into a person you really weren't.
#autistic
🎲
#GMtip
of the day:
Use fantastical real-world or movie/tv/book examples in your own works.
It makes finding the common ground during explanation much easier. It also provides a solid building block for future use of that work.
#WaffleTips
#ttrpg
#dnd
#pathfinder
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Don't be afraid to call an audible.
If something is unbalanced from the get-go, or a story moment just did NOT make sense, change it. Mid-session if possible, retcon if not. The dice tell a story, the story just has to have a chance to unfold.
#dnd
#ttrpg
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Pull inspiration from popular things.
Books, shows, games, and movies that are at the forefront of popularity for the genre you want to run are there for a reason. Pull inspo, put YOUR amazing spin on it, and show the world what can be done.
#ttrpg
#dnd
That Neurodivergent urge to say “Thank you” to everything because you were taught to be polite and learned people like it…
Then feel bad after saying thank you to things you didn’t understand in the moment or really want to, because the other option is silent processing.
📢 Big Bad Con - Panelist Call! 📢
(In Person, Autistic Individuals and/or Mental Health Professionals only)
👉 Autism at the Table 👈
A panel discussing Autism & Autistic Representation in TTRPGs
Please reply or shoot me a DM!
#TTRPGs
@teachergriff
@AutisticCallum_
Big same on the no-picture memory.
Whether it is reading a book, having a place explained to me, or whatever... I have no way to create a picture in my brain.
That to say is even more frustrating when I have great spacial awareness and capabilities as an engineer.
Big this.
You can be Autistic and ADHD.
You can be Allistic and ADHD.
You can be NT and Allistic.
You can’t be ND and ADHD.
You can’t be Allistic and Autistic.
You can’t be NT and Autistic.
Most don’t mean this in a bad way, but vocab is important.
It’s come to my attention that when autistic people say NT, they usually mean allistic. A person with dyslexia or a PD is also neurodivergent, but they don’t necessarily understand autistic people, because they’re not autistic
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
The players are not in your head.
Write important things down, then re-read them a time later. Did you miss something? Leave something out? Some things can be easily forgotten when it's assumed the players know what you know.
#ttrpg
#DnD
Alright, hear me out.
I've been showered with love today and I'm not very good at portraying my feelings. I wish I could come up with more to say than:
"Thank you, you're appreciated, and love you too"
But my brain can't. So, from the bottom of my heart- it means the world. 💕
For anyone seeing that 4th line about “Can’t be ND and ADHD”
Big typo on my part, have been called out, and not what I meant. I’m leaving it because the interaction was kind as heck.
It should say:
“Can’t be NT and ADHD”
Day 3 of
#PAXUnplugged
- major burnout coming. I feel it.
That said, having BIG fun with great people. This only happens once a year, we only have one more day.
Back from a rough mental time, not completely out, but here’s something:
Don’t FULLY isolate yourself.
It’s my go-to & it helps in situations. But what helps just as much are the?words of encouragement from people that don’t get mad if you don’t reply.
You’re the heroes.
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Use pictures, music, and anything else to affect sense when possible.
It's always easier to see, hear, smell, and touch something to understand than just listen to words and be on the same page. Do everything you can to help that immersion.
#ttrpg
#dnd
Paizo’s push for inclusion and diversity, from unionizing to their amazing writers, from their beautiful APs to using the word ancestry instead of race, having nb gods… all of it.
Nobody’s perfect. They aren’t. But they want to be better. And they are trying.
5/?
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Talk outside your games about the game.
It can be expectations, plot threads, direction, or even character building choices & leveling up.
Waiting until you’re at the table can waste time & slow the game.
#ttrpg
#dnd
#WaffleTips
Also keeps interest!
@Mike_G_133
While Twitter is definitely too little to explain 'all' the differences, they both do the same job.
I enjoy PF2e more because I like rules that make common sense, even in a magic world. Also... to be frank, Paizo is a company more in line with my personal opinions than WoTC.
Autism is 5 years of figuring what why people want from you, only to realize it’s usually NOT YOU, and then infinity years of balancing masking and being yourself to avoid conflict.
Critical hits at +10 and fumbles at -10.
Love it. Just makes sense. You roll a natural 2 and it’s probably a fumble. Unless you’re very good at the attack or skill.
Same for a natural 19. The rolls feel more important. It’s just lovely feeling.
3/?
The neurodivergent tendency to respond to questions with:
"Whatever you want"
or
"I don't know"
Because the answer is usually wrong anyway.
That's me, I'm that tendency. 😅
🎲
#GMTip
of the Day:
Let your party go where they want and reuse the things they miss.
Homebrew magic item that was in that dungeon they skipped?
➡️ Now it's in a shop or randomly on the road.
Cool plot point skipped?
➡️ Journals, letters, rumors, or town criers.
#ttrpg
This is a beautiful rule to remember for your games.
It's already being implemented in newer games too, like
#Pathfinder2e
from Paizo, and I imagine it will probably be implemented in future renditions of a lot of games.
Here's a random houserule of mine that no one asked about: you know how damage cantrips, like firebolt, get an extra damage die at levels 5, 11, and 17?
At my tables, the utility ones scale too.
I allow mending, for example, to do bigger repairs. Druidcraft creates more. Etc.
Happy International Woman's Day to all you amazing peeps out there!
And some special love is thrown to the strongest woman I know,
@Revica_Syrup
, who is constantly growing and striving to be a better person, even though she doesn't realize how amazing she is. 💕
The 3-action economy:
Three fluid action decisions that make sense and really balance with a Multiple Attack Penalty.
Wanna run 3 times?
Attack 3 times?
Recall knowledge, drop prone, and stealth?
Or just cast a huge spell?
It’s all possible.
2/?
Very linear balance with very little game breaking or power gaming.
Might be a turn off to some, but I enjoy not being able to end an encounter with one combo every encounter.
Skills are +2/4/6/8 and + level. Easy to remember, and a perfect linear feel for the character.
4/?
I feel like I know upwards of 30 people (who probably each know 30 people) that’s not going because of the lack of restrictions this year.
Best advice, don’t get your tickets until restrictions you’re happy with are in place.
✨🎤 New Podcast Ep! 🎤✨
The Derelict Death Derby BEGINS. Our heroes fend off a giant snake, a toad with an Orb, and a mechanical spider en route to the Raven’s Eye!
Arc Two, Episode 13 of our all-trans, POC-led
#DND
show is now out in podcast form!
Edited by
@WafflesMaple
🧇
🎲
#GMTip
of the day (vacay vers):
Take breaks if you need them.
Trust me. Your players will understand AND the final product will be better for it.
The last thing anyone wants is to take 2-5 hours at a table for a sub-par game.
#WaffleTip
#GMTips
#ttrpg
#dnd
#pathfinder
#GMTip
of the day:
Normalize customizing classes WITH your players. Don’t JUST rely on what’s in the book or say “anything published”.
Give them the opportunity to express themselves. Let a character in your game be something that has never been done before.
#ttrpg
#pf2e
#dnd
REVEAL
#4
Soooo CLOSE!!🎉
"K", the Human Artificer!
Played by the dazzling
@gm_waffles
!
K recently discovered her whole life was built on a lie. Determined to uncover the truth, she sets off on her first clue: Fano.
🌊✨ Siren's Call PREMIERES FRIDAY 6/10 @ 8p ET ✨🌊
@baardvrouw
@AutisticCallum_
That there is “no” scientific hypothesis? No, that wouldn’t be true because there is.
And how science works, is a hypothesis needs to be disproven, instead of proven.
My autistic experience:
“Work more”
“Talk less”
“Do better”
“Ask more questions”
“Do it differently”
“Don’t ask that question”
“Why are you so withdrawn?”
“Talk less about that”
“Are you even listening?”
-Be more robotic.
-Be less robotic.
#ActuallyAutistic
@OregonRolledA20
Unfortunately, a lot of time DM's are looked at like it's a job- a major hobby. Player's are just sitting down 'for a game' while DM's are often looked upon as 'already having the time' to prep and run worlds.
1/2
As someone with autism, I find myself constantly needing to explain the “why’s, what’s and how’s of everything I do”.
That’s why today I’ve decided to partner with the privileged white males of America.
Normalize replying to posts instead of constant quote tweets. Worst case, please do both.
The people who made that original tweet deserve that interaction.
@baardvrouw
@AutisticCallum_
There is no scientific “proof”, but there are plenty of proper theories and hypothesis with statistics to back them up.
The CDC itself states genetics play a part.
@mightbeautistic
No favorite, honestly. I don’t get the concepts of favorites. They are all colors and look good in situations.
That said, my masking favorite color and go to answer has become blue.
Because it’s too hard to explain the first thing.
So many players are like:
"Can we level now?"
"Level Up!?"
"But we've had two fights!"
And I'm just sitting here like:
.
.
.
Right, but grinding builds character. 🤣
(It's a joke, no flame 😅)
Hey peeps.
We will not be streaming Journeys Adrift tonight. Waffles took his Capstone Test today, and we don’t want the show to suffer for a lack of prep or high stress.
So- remember. Mental health is important. Take care of yourself.
#MentalHealthMatters
#Ttrpg
📢 Announcement Time! 📢
We here at WMS are SO excited to announce...
✨ A BRAND NEW CAMPAIGN LAUNCH ✨
With some exciting new faces and... a new... GM? 👀
Lets take a look!
Outcast & Outclassed, a
#StrengthofThousands
AP:
Premiering 10/28 @ 8:00p EST on Twitch!
(1/6)