Zedeck Siew

Zedeck Siew

@zedecksiew.bsky.social

Writer of small fictions. Creator of "Creature of Near Kingdoms", "Lorn Song of the Bachelor", and other SEAsian fevers. Port Dickson, Malaysia. https://zedecksiew.tumblr.com/

3.7K followers504 following2.8K posts

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Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

🌺What happens when a toxic man forcibly marries a murderous vampiress?🌺 You get A PERFECT WIFE, a modern-day TTRPG horror adventure featuring the Malaysian pontianak, set in a terrorised Southeast Asian city. Back now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/dav... PS: do not search for the baby crying.

kickstarter.comA PERFECT WIFE: TTRPG Adventure + Fundraiser!An urban horror TTRPG adventure zine inspired by Asian ghost films by Zedeck Siew, illustrated by Amanda Lee Franck and Scrap World.
Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

🚨NEXT COOL ADVENTURE ALERT🚨 The next new hotness by power couple @isaacisafraid.bsky.social and Citaaticat!

Afraid of Encounters (He/Him)@isaacisafraid.bsky.social

We will be launching Bastion Elysium in Indonesia at a local ren fair 🔥 Hopefully we can launch it internationally soon 🙏 44 pages (incl. covers), four political factions, a murder mystery, an apartment crawl, weird & quirky NPCs, and heavily inspired by Disco Elysium! #ttrpg #osr

Zedeck Siew reposted

warden
@cairnrpg.com

New from Cairn Press: The Theatre of Bones by @brendanbarnett.bsky.social! In The Theatre of Bones, the party must embark an underworld ‘party crawl’, with the PCs as gate crashers! store.cairnrpg.com/products/the...

store.cairnrpg.comThe Theatre of BonesDeep underground, the dead gather in the Theatre of Bones, ready for the players to make their entrance. There's a lost hero to rescue, an 'un-ssassination' to foil, and curses to be broken. WIll they survive the danse macabre? Or will their story end in mere oblivion? In The Theatre of Bones, the party must embark an
Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

"The next time you play a human fighter after you play a Kreen or a snake with no arms or a magic sword your experience as a human fighter is enriched. Because now you are aware about the shape of your human-fighter body." podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

podcasts.apple.comDice ExploderDesign Podcast · A show about tabletop RPG design. Each episode we bring you a single mechanic and break it down as deep as we possibly can. Co-hosted by Sam Dunnewold and a rotating roster of designe...
Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

Finally sat down to listen to this podcast! Oh the irony of advocating for more viscerality in how we imagine bodies in games, when I physically cringe at the sound of my own voice ... Still: what a privilege to get to talk to @sam.diceexploder.com about this subject! 💪 Or, rather, 🐍

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

"The kind of world that mainstream TTRPGs are too afraid to publish"??? Brother you are not even brave enough to give the Kreen a second pair of arms! At least WOTC does that! You are literally more cowardly than the corpo mainstream!

JellyMuppet@jellymuppet.bsky.social

dog idk how i tell you this, but "no warning label" is a warning label. i love this project has to warn people there won't be trigger warnings so they don't get triggered

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

OG Dark Sun had body diversity (the Kreen, the armless Aarakocra); aesthetic and cultural cribs from Bronze Age Persia to Meso-America to SEAsia; heterodox ethics (sacred cannibalism); radical ecological subjects. Also very camp, with Brom's desert oil and leather. Let's RETVRN to *this* Dark Sun!

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

(PS: I am tempted to read the dragon / avangion transformations, which are *central* to the Dark Sun setting's meta-narrative, through a trans lens, but folks more knowledgeable than I should speak on that)

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

🚨 IMPORTANT POST ALERT🚨

Seraphina Garcia Ramirez 🔜 Metatopia@seraphina.diceexploder.com

For Halloween, I'm embracing my most diabolical impulses. To that end, I've written a player advice manifesto on the One True Way to play games- Pawn Stance. Read it, and be horrified at the lack of nuance. Come fight me about it, if you dare. diceexploder.com/posts/pawn-s...

diceexploder.comPawn Stance is Objectively Correct* - Dice Exploder*and if you disagree you’re doing it wrong.   Defining our TermsPawn Stance is an approach to play that treats the characters and events of your game as tools for...
Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

🚨COOL BTS POST ALERT🚨 Always lovely to read how other folks make!

Yochai Gal@yochaigal.bsky.social

Super cool update from @karlyanddd.bsky.social on her process in creating A Sliver of Evidence. www.kickstarter.com/projects/cai...

kickstarter.comUpdate 3: The Story of A Sliver of Evidence · A Sliver of EvidenceHi everyone! Karly here. Gigantic THANK YOU to everyone who has checked out and backed this project!! I’m very excited for this adventure to be out and hopefully it brings a lot of fun to your ta...
Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

🍑I LIKE BIG BUTTS AND I CANNOT LIE🍑 Loved having this discussion with @sam.diceexploder.com about what bodies we get to inhabit, while we adventure. Down with the humanoid default! Opposable thumbs are overrated. If you don't have legs I'll carry you. Are we not an adventuring *party*?

Sam D@sam.diceexploder.com

This week on Dice Exploder @zedecksiew.bsky.social joins me to talk about Thri-Kreen, the mantis people from Dark Sun, and the broader idea of how playing non-humanoid characters changes the way you play, think, and imagine. This ep is PACKED with ideas, Zedeck is as always such a thoughtful person.

diceexploder.comTranscript: Thri-Kreen (Dark Sun) with Zedeck Siew - Dice ExploderListen to this episode here.   Further Reading Dark Sun, New Class: Really Good Dog, Lorn Song of the Bachelor, Nine Space Games, A Perfect Wife Socials Zedeck on Bluesky...
Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

PPS: Mace of the Monkey King, a tabletop roleplaying game & adventure about gods and their shadows, coming soon courtesy of Cairn Press / @yochaigal.bsky.social ! I'm making literal wayang-kulit-style shadow puppets for it. Also, as should be obvs from the podcast convo: full of non-humanoid NPCs!

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

🚨FRESH ADVENTURE ALERT🚨

Afraid of Encounters (He/Him)@isaacisafraid.bsky.social

Ea-nāṣir Must Die! is out now! Thanks @davidblandyrpgs.bsky.social Copy/Paste Co-op and @plusoneexp.bsky.social for making this full release happen! A Bronze Age sword & sorcery house crawl adventure for 3–5 players, inspired by the historical figure and meme, Ea-nāṣir. Links below! #ttrpg #osr

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

This is unrelated to the specific subject of the OP column, but: Look at that photograph. Look at that *haze*. Forest clearing in Indonesia, spurred on by agri companies in Malaysia and Singapore, creating trans-boundary haze ruinous to all three states. Another failed "ASEAN Way".

Lia Sciortino@liasciortino.bsky.social

My article in the @irrawaddynews.bsky.social #myanmar #asean #indonesia #malaysia www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/gues...

irrawaddy.comGuest Column | Between Bombs and Red Carpets, the ‘ASEAN Way’ Is FailingFrom Malaysia’s deportations to red-carpet welcomes for Min Aung Hlaing, ASEAN’s growing engagement with Myanmar’s regime raises questions about its principles.

Zedeck Siew reposted

The Amanda Lee Mystery House
@amandalee.bsky.social

Hi #Portfolioday I'm Amanda, i do lots of illustrations for #ttrpgs and I am pretty booked till later next year BUT there are over 400 pieces of spot art available on my patreon! free to use in books & games and I add about two more pages every month!

Zedeck Siew reposted

Brad Kerr
@bradkerr.net

This adventure I wrote is live now on Kickstarter! It's got 88 pages, 2.5 dungeons, a big point crawl, and a town with some problemsssssss, baby. Look at that art! Look at those maps! Stay frosty!!!

The Merry Mushmen@themerrymushmen.bsky.social

Winter and the Wolf Princess live now on Kickstarter. Pledge now! (or be damned for ever) (and ever). www.kickstarter.com/projects/xno...

kickstarter.comComing soon: Winter and the Wolf PrincessAn adventure playable with Old School Essentials and any other derivative of the classic Dragon game
Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

You cannot design a game against bad faith just like you cannot cook a meal so delicious it teaches diners how to be polite

Rise Up (From the Grave) Comus@riseupcomus.bsky.social

Rereading old blog posts, and Grognardia reminded me of this essential truth: "don't design rules with bad players in mind. Any rule, no matter how well written, can and will be abused by players looking to find a way to take advantage of a situation."

Zedeck Siew reposted

Rise Up (From the Grave) Comus
@riseupcomus.bsky.social

Rereading old blog posts, and Grognardia reminded me of this essential truth: "don't design rules with bad players in mind. Any rule, no matter how well written, can and will be abused by players looking to find a way to take advantage of a situation."

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

Today, in The Star: a feature on @chincarok.bsky.social 's solo show! We went out especially to track down a physical copy of the paper. However different our media diets are nowadays it still feels special to be on the front page of a national daily!

Zedeck Siew reposted

Reynaldo (Going to PAX U)
@naldodrinan.bsky.social

Another update - this one covers one of my favorite bits, where @greywizard.bsky.social and I are able incorporate things from our early collaborations into our latest stuff! www.kickstarter.com/projects/gre...

kickstarter.comUpdate 13: Lore plussing (and progress) · START a companion book for BREAK!! RPGHi Breakers!!Things are developing Work continues on editing, layout, and illustration touch-up. The adage that the last 20% takes 80% of the effort seems to be proving true, but...The primary ad...

Zedeck Siew reposted

Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
@kirstenhan.com

Replying to @kirstenhan.com

The “protest against the death penalty” that Neo Swee Lin and Lim Kay Siu (and others, including myself) have been charged for was this: we went to court to support a friend who’d been charged. Afterwards, we stood outside the courthouse and someone snapped some photos. Then we left. That’s it.

Zedeck Siew reposted

Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
@kirstenhan.com

This is how journalism that picks up a narrative from govt sources and other media end up misrepresenting reality to readers. This says charges are for “protests against the death penalty” which, w/o context, paints a diff picture from what actually happened. www.independent.co.uk/asia/southea...

independent.co.ukSingapore actors charged over protests against death penaltySingapore retains the death penalty for murder, certain drug-trafficking offences, and serious firearms offences

Zedeck Siew reposted

Yochai Gal
@yochaigal.bsky.social

I wrote a post about keying, and how it's weird that we don't have a name for all the various styles! Note: this post is not about the best kind of keying (though my preference does exist). It's more about naming the thing so we can discuss the thing. newschoolrevolution.com/the-keys-to-...

newschoolrevolution.comThe Keys to My HeartMy day job consists largely of reading adventures and providing feedback. And while I've read hundreds of OSR modules by now, I still don't have a good way...

Zedeck Siew reposted

Asa Donald | Backwards Tabletop
@backwardsttrpg.bsky.social

COMING SOON: In prelaunch w/ Violent Delights, another game inspired by Shakespeare: Mousetrap is a cursed game-within-a-game that won’t go back into its box. It’s game night. You and your friends have gathered to play a Hamlet-inspired game manuscript from 1983. But there’s a catch…

kickstarter.comComing soon: Mousetrap & Violent DelightsA cursed game-within-a-game that won't go back into its box, and a chess-based RPG about Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.
Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

🔥WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEKEND🔥 It was the opening of Sharon's exhibition: "Missing From The Scene". People came to see her prints, our puppets. People came to see each other after a long while, friends from Malaysia and Singapore and the Philippines. 1/

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Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

After rain the haze was gone, and we marched through a gloaming Kuala Lumpur, a string of silver animals, across the inner city. The monkey led, laughed; the ant was last, to leave a trail. Maybe other missing and sorely-missed things can follow? Not a funeral procession, but a pathway. 4/

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

We ended up at a music co-op, so the animals (and us), could dance. I'm sorry I didn't take better photos of the dancing. I was busy dancing. Thank you for dancing with us. Thank you, Liza + Ellen + Haymi + Eric + Jun Kit + FRIENDS Craft Coop + Moutou. Love you @chincarok.bsky.social 5/5

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

🔥WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEKEND🔥 It was the opening of Sharon's exhibition: "Missing From The Scene". People came to see her prints, our puppets. People came to see each other after a long while, friends from Malaysia and Singapore and the Philippines. 1/

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

The zine we made for the show opened with a form, a question: "What/Who Is Missing From The Scene?" Departed and absent friends; political shortcomings; lacks in our art scene, our ecology. People left their answers on a wall. 2/

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

People came to *be* our puppets. I was the monkey. Sharon was the ant. Others were the python, the bee hive, the roach, the baby pig, the severed tiger's head, the termite mound sprouting mushrooms after rain. 3/

Zedeck Siew
@zedecksiew.bsky.social

"Holding Form" Sharon Chin 2026 Shadow puppets made of Tetra Pak cartons,stainless steel wire, rattan rods, synthetic string, residual inks Dimensions variable "MISSING From The Scene", a new solo by @chincarok.bsky.social , opens today, from 3pm onwards, at The Back Room, Zhongshan Building, KL.