chaosworks.org

11 December 2025

TTRPGs beyond DnD and fantasy

In my previous post, I posted mini-reviews about roleplaying games that I’ve played that are not DnD, but that are mostly fantasy. This post is part two of that post, and lists RPGs I’ve played that are mostly not fantasy, at least not in the traditional medieval fantasy sense. Most of them are still full of fantasy elements or are straight up urban fantasy though. Brindlewood Bay: This is a cozy Miss Marple inspired adventure in which you play a group of old ladies solving murder mysteries. What’s different about this compared to other adventures is that there is not […]

4 December 2025

Fantasy TTRPGs beyond DnD

I’ve been playing DnD for quite a few years now and blogged about my DnD characters about a year ago. A lot of roleplayers are currently going through a bit of DnD fatigue – and while I agree that the combat in DnD can be tedious and frustrating, I still think it’s one of the best systems for long, epic campaigns because the sense of progression you get in DnD is excellent. However, ever since I have started running a regular roleplaying event, which massively contributed to the rapid rise of a local RPG community, I’ve been getting to play […]

27 November 2025

Good and Evil: Baldur’s Gate 3

Is there even a point in blogging about Baldur’s Gate 3? This game is over 2 years old, and surely it’s old news by now? Perhaps, but I’m probably not the only one still playing it, and this game is just something else entirely. I have 467 hours in this game of 4 full runs, but judging by some of the BG3 subreddits those are rookie numbers. I’ve been a big fan of Larian’s games long before BG3 – my favorite game was Divinity: Original Sin 2 before it, and in some aspects, I still think that DOS2 is the […]

17 November 2025

TFW when the biggest achievement of your life becomes your biggest curse

Conversations with recruiters usually tend to go more or less like this: “Are you looking for data scientists?” “Indeed we are! Do you have a degree in data science?” “I have an equivalent degree and over 8 years of experience in data science.” “So what kind of degree do you have?” “I have a PhD in English linguistics, but methodically I worked with data during that time.” [at this point the recruiter’s face usually assumes a puzzled look] “…That… doesn’t really sound like what we need… we’re not looking for humanities scholars.” “While linguistics is indeed often grouped among the […]

7 November 2025

Chief of War: An Accomplishment for Pacific Islanders

I love to watch historical TV shows, especially those that are a bit gritty and not stereotypical period dramas. Vikings is one such examples that comes to mind. This year a new show in the same spirit was released, but focusing on a completely different culture from the other side of the world: Chief of War, a TV show about late 18th century Hawai’i. So Chief of War, with Jason Momoa in the lead role? Sounds cool! I knew him only from GoT and the first Aquaman, both of which I wasn’t much of a fan, and he didn’t blow […]

2 November 2025

New: Subscribe to this blog via e-mail

I added an option that lets you subscribe to this blog via e-mail, meaning you will get an e-mail whenever a new post is published. If you’re interested in subscribing, head to the page Subscribe. It also lists the other two options to subscribe, namely by following the blog in the fediverse, or by subscribing to the RSS feed. I’m sure this might be of interest for about 2 of the about 10 people who regularly read my humble blog 😅

28 October 2025

10 years of attending SPIEL, the biggest board game fair in the world

I have the privilege of living not too far from the biggest annual board game fair in the world – SPIEL in Essen, Germany, which happens every October from Thursday to Sunday, and which has been around since 1983. As a board gamer, this is obviously a dream come true! I’ve been a casual board gamer for about 20 years, and a very serious board gamer for about 10-12 years. During my study abroad semester in Australia in 2013, I started to attend a weekly board game club, and once I was back home in Germany, I tried to find […]

13 October 2025

New York Nostalgia

Eight times I’ve been to New York in my life so far, and I feel the relationship that I have (or had) with this city has taught me a lot about life. Today when I think about New York, I get mildly overwhelmed at the thought of so many people and so much noise, but back when I visited, I really enjoyed this city. But let’s start at the beginning. My first visit to New York was in 1997 together with my mother. I was probably 12 or 13 years old, barely a teenager, and I definitely didn’t speak much […]

25 September 2025

Resurrecting Dexter

Just when I thought I was done blogging about Dexter… they released another new show. Yes, another one! I couldn’t quite believe it myself when I saw Dexter: Resurrection popping up a couple of months ago. Skeptical, I read a few opinions about it, and people say it’s actually really good? Well, guess I’ll have to watch it then. The first episode definitely required a bit of suspension of disbelief if you know what happened at the end of New Blood, but they tried their best to make it believable. Regardless of that, the show pulls you right in with […]