Call me Cerin (he/him). Welcome to my lair where I think big game thoughts and sometimes turn those thoughts into games.
Enjoy something I made? Consider buying me a ko-fi.
Find me elsewhere on linktree
Heart Heist: The Zine is out now!
Call me Cerin (he/him). Welcome to my lair where I think big game thoughts and turn some of those thoughts into games. Filipino-American, metalhead, artist, evil wizard.
Here is where I post about TTRPGs, game design, my own projects, and Current Events™ in the tabletop space.
BFA and a Certificate in Game Design, so someone out there thinks I know what I'm doing.
Check out my debut TTRPG - Heart Heist: a game where thieves work together on a heist while competing with each other to date a dragon. The zine version is available now on itch.io!
Find me around the net on linktree. If you enjoyed something I made, consider buying me a Ko-fi.
Putting these up on the shelf until a recurring type of numbskull's tiny worldview expands enough to actually contribute anything worthwhile to the conversation. Or can at least respect the boundaries of folks who share a table with them.
Putting these up on the shelf until a recurring type of numbskull's tiny worldview expands enough to actually contribute anything worthwhile to the conversation. Or can at least respect the boundaries of folks who share a table with them.
Looks like enshittification is coming for Microsoft OneNote. Does anyone know any good alternatives that support a similar level of organization and inter-notebook hyperlinks? This is going to seriously hinder my workflow.
Here's Aloe's outfit for 'season 3' of our Pokemon Tabletop game with @cerinslair! She's figuring some stuff out. They read 'Poke-Dykes to Watch Out For' and is working on some identity stuff. She'll get there soon
Plan of Action and Complaint Template Regarding Adult Content Being Delisted from Itchio
Alright so as y’all may or may not know, credit card companies and other payment facilitators have put pressure on digital storefronts such as Steam and Itch.io to remove “adult content” recently largely due to lobbying by fringe radical organizations. It would be bad enough if it just affected actual porn, but you know to these people “porn” means “anything that even mentions a homosexual.” Several of my team’s projects including mini-expansions to Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy “The Fanservice Files” and “The XXX-Files,” as well as team artist @chaospyromancy’s personal side project “A Squad of Drow” have been delisted from itch.io as of last night though they are still available by direct link or from our main account page and you can still pay us for them for now but there is no telling how long they'll actually stay up. Many others have had their projects completely delisted or outright removed, and are having payments withheld from them. If you don't want to see us and other creators pushed under by this crap, you need to do something about it.
People affected by this far outnumber the people who lobbied to make it happen. These organizations are very vocal but also relatively small and very fringe, and since it is a policy decision that was created by complaints it may be able to be destroyed by complaints.
Here are the phone numbers of these companies and an email address I was able to find. We need to blow their phones off the wall and fill their inboxes with customer complaints.
Saying stuff like “sex work is real work” and “this affects black trans women,” while true, is not the kind of thing that is going to tug at the heartstrings of lib-conservative CEOs and board members and their PR teams. They’re mercenary. You need to tell them how this is going to hurt their wallets and make their customers very unhappy.
If feasible, you need to get your moms and dads on this too, and get them to get their friends on it, etc.
40-60-year old middle class white people high credit scores and stuff will have more sway with these corporations than any young adult trans person.
My team has put together a template for your phone calls and emails. Take the template and delete the [bracketed parts] that don’t apply to you.
“My name is [_____], and I’m contacting you about your recent decision to alter your user policies regarding adult content and thereby putting pressure on digital storefronts like itch.io and Steam to hide and remove adult content. By doing so, you're cutting off a significant revenue stream, [and as someone with financial investment in your company, this has me extremely concerned]
[I both buy and sell that blocked content, so this is directly interfering in my finances, and I will seek compensation.]
Products I paid for are no longer available to me, [and people are buying my products without the money going to me because of your interference with the payment processing.]
If you don’t want to lose customers and face potential legal trouble, these policies which pressure itch.io, Steam, and other digital storefronts need to be reversed.
You have changed these policies because of Collective Shout, a radical group from Australia that sent only a mere 1000 calls to destroy a significant revenue stream on your part and to interfere with my finances. This decision literally affects millions of people and millions of dollars, and so I expect a prompt response on reversing these policy changes and removing the pressure on itch.io and Steam to ban adult content on their sites. [As a cardholder, I worry that these new policies are responding to a vocal minority of customers, and I’m left doubting the reliability, versatility, and integrity of your services. I use these services to securely and conveniently make the transactions I see fit, and it’s disappointing to see legitimate, legal transactions be excluded.]
[I am furious that an American company would bend so easily to a lobbying group from a foreign country.]”
Alongside the above actions, if you have the time or really want to turn up the heat on these companies, you can put your money where your mouth is and speak to your local regulatory bodies. If you're in the USA, these are the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and The DOJ Antitrust Division/FTC. Note the purpose of calling these bodies isn't necessarily that such efforts will be successful, but that this will cause these payment processing companies to realize that we will be more than simply angry for a while, and will actively encourage our government to investigate them and put them under extra scrutiny. Which is exactly what truly terrifies them as massive corps. These are the sort of actions that could hurt their bottom line overtime.
IF YOU HAVE HAD YOUR MONEY HELD BY ITCH.IO, STEAM, OR ANOTHER PLATFORM, OR LOST ACCESS TO GAMES YOU PURCHASED DUE TO THIS, USE THE FTC FRAUD REPORT FORM ASAP.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Phone: 1-855-411-2372
Mail: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552
Online complaint submission form
DOJ Anti-trust Division
Phone: 1-855-411-2372
Mail: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552
Federal Trade Commision
Phone: 1-877-382-4357
Mail: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580
Online report form for fraud (only use if you have lost money in some manner due to this)
Steam, Itch.io and the banning of explicit and LGBT+ Content. What can we do?
[All images in this post have alt/id text if you need it or want to copy paste anything]
With no warning, Itch.io, a site where many host their indie games, comics, books and more, has started purging and shadowbanning explicit and LGBT+ works. Creators got no warning. And if they were still owed payouts from these works, Itch.io is saying they won't give them their money as they 'broke the rules'. Rules that were only just set in place, with no warning, and therefore no way for creators to try and draw out their money or delete these 'offending' works before they got banned under the new rules.
So Itch.io has been the most recent to fall to the demands of a group that's been contacting Visa and Mastercard and convincing them to threaten sites/businesses with 'stop selling what we consider to be explicit content on your sites of we'll stop allowing your site to have transactions with Visa and Mastercard'. Steam folded, and now Itchio has too. And a reminder earlier this year Gumroad also stopped allowing explicit content, further back than that Patreon banned some kinks and fetishes even if it's depicted in fiction not real life, and I don't have to explain to you guys the great Tumblr explicit content ban of 2018.
And as always remember this doesn't stop with sexually explicit work as LGBT+ stories and people are often labelled as explicit and already we're seeing works being taken off Itch.io that are about LGBT+ and especially trans stories. Other non-sexually explicit works I've seen already getting shadowbanned, delisted or deleted are SFW games featuring furries/anthros, SFW dress up games (because when you take the clothes the model is nude), and the aforementioned SFW games that include LGBT+ characters and stories.
I'm compiling here information I've seen around various social medias, mostly Bluesky, because I haven't seen all these things shared over here.
I don't personally have explicit content on itch, but I had been considering one day selling things on there and I do currently have explicit content on my Patreon, my main source of income, and am terrified that Patreon is going to fold next (if anyone knows alterative for hosting audio content behind a paid subscription service please let me know so I can start maybe making a back-up in case the worst happens). Because for me personally if Patreon goes next, it's not like I can go out and easily get another job. Not only because in general finding and getting a job is difficult enough, but I'm autistic and have chronic pain and have been constantly getting sick or new pains over the last few years and don't feel safe being trans in the UK right now and all of that combined rules me out of a lot of jobs and makes me feel unsafe to apply to any. I'm so grateful I've been able to make a community around my work, but if Patreon caves next and I just leave my SFW posts on Patreon... 10% of my Patreons are signed up to the SFW tier, 90% are signed up to the explicit tier... I know if Patreon caves I will go from someone living comfortably who's searching to move out of my parents so I can live in a safer environment to someone who can no longer even afford the rent I pay to my parents. I'll try and get an alterative found and set up in case that happens and I can only hope you guys will follow me to whatever other site I have to set up... but it feels unlikely that people will get a whole new account on a whole new payment provider just to support me on a website they might never have heard of...
But what can we do right now?
A petition you can sign (international but you do have to give your name, email, and postal/zip code):
Mastercard's new policy unfairly targets the adult content industry, making sex workers more vulnerable, especially Black trans women. It mu
Get calling:
Mastercard (US): 1-800-627-8372
MasterCard (UK): 0800 964 767
Mastercard (International.): +1-636-722-7111
Visa (US + Can): 1 800 847 2911 / 1-800-VISA-911
Visa (AUS): 1 800 125 440
Visa (UK) : 0800 891 725 or use their international call collect +1 303 967 1096
Visa (International): (call collect - it costs them $): +1-303-967-1096
PayPal (US): 1-888-221-1161
PayPal (UK): 0800 358 7911 from landline, +44 203 901 7000 mobile
PayPal (International): 1-402-935-2050
(numbers gathered from these posts X X X )
Don't know what to say on the phone? Here's a script written by timidtanuki:
Creators have had their work removed off Itch.io with no warning and since it's been removed for 'breaking the rules' (rules that were suddenly in place with no warning) they aren't entitled to get their payouts. Just like other sites such as Youtube and Twitch and Etsy, Itch.io hold onto money from their users in a wallet and then give them payouts. So there is money creators have made, are owed, that Itch.io is not giving to them.
People are recommending that if you still have works on Itch.io to turn down the revenue sharing to 0% so that Itch.io no longer takes a cut or your money if you no longer want to support Itchi.io finically but don't want to remove your works from their platform. X
Other Bluesky posts and calls to action I've seen:
radiantg.bsky.social is asking for anyone on Itch.io who got their game deindexed, removed , or payouts turned off to reach out to them (espeically if you make explicit and/or LGBT+ games) for a piece of journalism about what is happening.
sleepyhart.bsky.social is making a thread of all the games that Itch.io has censored/removed from their site search function. Obviously be aware this will include 18+ only games, games with sexual content and other dark or heavy themes.
thetransfemininereview.com wants you to reach out to them if you're a trans creator on Itch.io who is being affected by this so they can make an accurate report. they say 'authors' in their post and I'm unsure if they also want game devs to reach out.
dropdownbear.bsky.com wants you to reach out if you have purchased things on Itch.io that you can now no longer access because of this ban. they can include them in a report being filed with the Australian Consumer Commission as this may be a violation of Australian Consumer rights. If you are Australian you can no longer access things you purchased of Itch.io you can report directly with this guide.
It's a scary time for adult creators and sex workers. It's a scary time to be trans. Support creators. And if anyone knows of any alternate payment providers that allow explicit work, and/or alternate websites to Itch (and in case things get worse, also give me Patreon alternates please) where people can host, sell and/or offer paid subscriptions to writing, images, videos, audios, games and more please leave them in the replies. And please help share this post, the posts I'm linking too, and any other resources you can find.
Introducing: Chimera Hearts!
A Network for People Who Care about RPGs
Check out the Chimera Hearts community on Discord – hang out with 14 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.
Way back in February, I made This Post (inspired by This One) talking about some of the issues facing the RPG hobby and industry, and calling some of my peers to action to see what we could do about it. Originally, the goal was to hold a discussion with speakers & debate, taking the lessons we learned from each other back out into the world. After a week or so of incompatible schedules, we decided to expand the discussion. After a bit more back-and-forth, something kind of amazing happened.
With the incredible leadership of Daniel of The Copper Compendium, that same gaggle of folks has been putting together a discord server to act as the hub of what we hope will be a larger movement in RPGs. We call it Chimera Hearts – and we want you to join.
The Chimera Hearts server isn’t the heart of the movement – rather, it’s a hub for discussion & teamwork between disparate corners of the RPG world. A place to share tips and tricks – effective methods we’ve found to address the heads of the proverbial hydra, and a place to go when we’re looking for the solutions others have developed.
We also want Chimera Hearts to be a place where folks from across the industry can get together to build programs, initiatives, and infrastructure to cultivate the health & longevity of the industry.
There are already a couple of folks developing such programs; Aaron Voigt is putting together a mentorship program to give people the tools to start making their own RPG videos on Youtube! And I am currently in the middle of an experiment (which you can read about here), the goal of which is to figure out how to create a casual indie RPG audience in your city.
Chimera Hearts isn’t centralized; this isn’t a project built around a group of experts or authorities. The goal of the network is to connect people between otherwise disconnected subcommunities and give them the tools to start improving this industry in accessible, practical ways.
I’m blown away by how people responded to my call to action, and intimidated by the scope of motion that seems to have been set by it. It was by the dedication and expertise of Daniel, Aaron, and the rest of the folks working to put this together that Chimera Hearts exists, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it in any way. I hope you’ll join us and be a part of it, too.
Currently, the founding team of Chimera Hearts includes:
@monsterfactoryfanfic; @thecoppercompendium; @in-case-of-grace; @theresattrpgforthat; @rowansender; @thefiresontheheight; @ladytabletop; @stoicheincat; and Julian, the Game Mistress of @tinytablepodcast!
Heart Heist: the Zine challenges players to carefully balance cooperation and competition. Play as a team of world-class thieves sent on a heist by your beloved dragon patron. Your partners in crime are also your rivals in romance, because it's not just about stealing the target - It's about looking the hottest doing it!
Puzzle out the dragon's dating preferences. Do your best to appeal to their tastes, while making your teammates look second-rate in comparison. Comb through your intel to devise a heist that gives you the best chance to come out on top. Intrigue, secret alliances, and inevitable betrayals all in the name of monster love. But be careful - If the heist is a failure, everyone loses!
This TTRPG is focused on one-shots with quicky + easy to learn rules, and an almost party-game-like settup. The zine edition is the rules-light/quickstart version, with a complete edition currently in development.
Dragongirl kidnaps a maid instead of a princess by mistake; comes back to her lair after a hunt to find the coins and gems in her hoard have been organized into neat piles sorted by type, value, and kingdom of origin.
Heart Heist: the Zine challenges players to carefully balance cooperation and competition. Play as a team of world-class thieves sent on a heist by your beloved dragon patron. Your partners in crime are also your rivals in romance, because it's not just about stealing the target - It's about looking the hottest doing it!
Puzzle out the dragon's dating preferences. Do your best to appeal to their tastes, while making your teammates look second-rate in comparison. Comb through your intel to devise a heist that gives you the best chance to come out on top. Intrigue, secret alliances, and inevitable betrayals all in the name of monster love. But be careful - If the heist is a failure, everyone loses!
This TTRPG is focused on one-shots with quicky + easy to learn rules, and an almost party-game-like settup. The zine edition is the rules-light/quickstart version, with a complete edition currently in development.
Heart Heist: the Zine challenges players to carefully balance cooperation and competition. Play as a team of world-class thieves sent on a heist by your beloved dragon patron. Your partners in crime are also your rivals in romance, because it's not just about stealing the target - It's about looking the hottest doing it!
Puzzle out the dragon's dating preferences. Do your best to appeal to their tastes, while making your teammates look second-rate in comparison. Comb through your intel to devise a heist that gives you the best chance to come out on top. Intrigue, secret alliances, and inevitable betrayals all in the name of monster love. But be careful - If the heist is a failure, everyone loses!
This TTRPG is focused on one-shots with quicky + easy to learn rules, and an almost party-game-like settup. The zine edition is the rules-light/quickstart version, with a complete edition currently in development.
Heart Heist: the Zine challenges players to carefully balance cooperation and competition. Play as a team of world-class thieves sent on a heist by your beloved dragon patron. Your partners in crime are also your rivals in romance, because it's not just about stealing the target - It's about looking the hottest doing it!
Puzzle out the dragon's dating preferences. Do your best to appeal to their tastes, while making your teammates look second-rate in comparison. Comb through your intel to devise a heist that gives you the best chance to come out on top. Intrigue, secret alliances, and inevitable betrayals all in the name of monster love. But be careful - If the heist is a failure, everyone loses!
This TTRPG is focused on one-shots with quicky + easy to learn rules, and an almost party-game-like settup. The zine edition is the rules-light/quickstart version, with a complete edition currently in development.
