Here Be Tygers

Hey all, the show's currently in migration to a new network and likely video as well. Will keep you informed when we have more info. Good news overall, though. - JShow notes:Where Alphie learns that truth is power and should be used sparingly, magic is change, and avoiding The End is the only rule.

In which Alphie courageously defeats a river drake, an old treasure regains, and earns the undying friendship of a well-heeled name.

Where Cessie makes a new friend, learns how to fall with grace, and the finer details of what not, with goblins, to trade.

Dave and I and decided for this ep to go with two of our favorite questions:What kinds of worlds, stories and characters emerge when power, wisdom and courage hold sway?And which lend themselves best to a particular medium or form of play?As for the Thistledowns, you'll hear more from them in the next.We hope you enjoy.J

Hey all, been a month of moves, audio issues ( we're still ironing out some ) and medical stuff, so Andrew and I decided to take a day off from Alphie's solo run to talk about our experiences so far running Thistledowns, and our hopes for the story and game once everyone's back from vacations.We hope you enjoy.-J

Hey all, illness and a move have made it hard to keep to our usual pace over the summer, so we'll return to the regular schedule in September. Thanks for staying with us.- JAlphie takes the first step on his solo adventure, makes some newfound friends, and learns what a little knowledge applied can do when he's put on the line.

Fionn learns the world is old, Bo and a raccoon talk; and they both discover that there's more to Fionn's dad than cabbages, folk tales, and just being “Pops” --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Fionn, Alphie and Bo discover the source of their magic in the woods deep and old; but what it asks for and Alphie's promised it are not with fairness bestowed --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

After a brief stint in the wine cellar, the Thistledowns escape in a most unexpected way. Though what takes their place or would for just a little more magic trade…? They're only beginning to name. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Cessie, Fionn and Bo learn a few lessons about breaking into important homes, magic when trifled, and when, with their elders, to be (dis)respectful. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Dave joins the folk of the village with his character Bo, and shares his requests for the game as a whole—one of them quite presciently, it turns out, as things would blow. Or for at least one thistledown, as they stand at a threshold. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Anni, Andrew and I figure out the bare essentials of who we're going to be ( in game ), our favorite implements ( hint: one involves baking ), and and just how much mischief we can create in a town that's—for the most—everyday. We hope you enjoy. -J --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Show's in somewhat of a transitional space as I head into my fourth year of long Covid. Between that, preparing the initial reader packet for Book 1, and a full overhaul of the website and socials, we've needed a place where we can be more casual. So I'm going to call this a soft start to Season 4. Which we'll begin with a look back at some of our favorite narrative tropes, this time from video games ( retro ). Then we'll dive into a playtest on the next episode. We hope you enjoy, J --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Tonight, our ‘Glorious March' thread comes to an end. So join Ken and I as we explore the mad psyches of possible foes ( and friends ). And see what happens when the past quite literally comes back to haunt you—and perhaps monologue at—while wearing a funny hat. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Ken and I continue to build on our “Glorious March” thread, with a deep dive into old but inhabited ruins, unlikely friends, and regional conflicts. Oh, and crab monsters, too ( because we have to stay on brand ). --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Tonight, Dave and I talk about: • how to explore a world through the lens of particular objects within it that were pivotal • how roleplaying games — tabletop, video, card-based etc — are storytelling engines that both tell a tale and create one out of your experience with them • and when to disclose what kinds of stories a system could tell from the ones that you, as a Creator, hope that yours players will. We hope you enjoy. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

This week, Nic and I return to the question of what defines ‘soul', creativity, and whether A.I.—or even moments of artifice in our everyday lives—can arrive at those. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

How human notions of awareness and intelligence are built on observable truths and the stories we put them to. With your host & storytelling guide, Jarod Cerf and guest, Nic Lori --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Today, Andrew and I delve into some of the unique characters in an old and dark fantasy world and how they adapt to life in a small town. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Hi all, We're still in migration, so please bear with as both the show and some of the hosts move to new homes. For today's episode, Andrew and I decided to take an old setting and give it a new shape: one where big themes and myths would need to fit into a much smaller space. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Hey all, I was so busy preparing the first few chapters of the book for review that I forgot to put this week's episode up. Today, we're returning to the ‘Glorious March' thread, with further tales of what could or might happen, should your prestigious clan's most ancient regalia be already possessed. And how, through establishing some of the “big” beats, you can find all of the smaller ones in between—such as fancy hats, guillotines, and skeleton cryptkeepers with bespoke tastes in board games. We hope you enjoy, J --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Hi all, We'll return with the third and final “Belle of Theta 9” ep soon ( Dave's currently in the middle of a move ). In the meantime, Ken and I will be working on an new story thread: one full, as Phillip Hole, the Singing Gravedigger often said, of love, adventure and (un)death. We hope you enjoy, J --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Hey all, We'll be migrating to a new recording service soon, so please bear with us through these last few eps on Zoom. As for the convo, we take a deep dive into all of the potential weirdness that ensues when one great catastrophe leads to ‘a few'. We hope you enjoy. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Hey all, We had some fidelity issues with Zoom on this one, so the cleanup was longer than usual ( and there are likely a few, immutable quirks left ). That said, Ken and I had a good deal of fun with the second round of our pacing exercise: when, with “the great disaster!”, a tale begins. We hope you enjoy. J --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Today, we return to our intrepid space tourists in fantasyland as we ask: how much you should show, say, or tell ( of this provincial life ) before the one moment when ‘everything changes'? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Hey all, the second half of our foray into the tales found in small places is out tonight. So join Dave and I as we discover who transgresses and why, and how even the same rituals, phrases or rites can—with differing intents—a new thing convey. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Long Covid is a beast sometimes, and this month marks the third year. Still recording when we can though. Even when the schedule goes a little weird. For today's ep, Dave and I talk about remakes, remasters, and how in storytelling, even the smallest things, moments or actions can carry a tremendous weight. We hope you enjoy, J --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Here's the second half of our wild tour through sci-fi tropes in a fantasy land, now with space tourists, ‘wampires?', and the new people ( or places ) they'd rule. We hope you enjoy, J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, With the new trailer to Renfield making the rounds, it seemed like a good time to share one of our vampier streams. This one starts innocently enough, as we ponder the eternal question of “moon wizard v. spaceship

Hey all, We went on an unexpected hiatus last month into this one ( sometimes long Covid forces you to rest ). On a partial schedule at the moment but things should hopefully settle down by Feb. As for today's episode: sometimes Dave and I like to start with the simple to find the ‘complex'—what will give life to your world, story and characters once they're outside of your head. Just a quick note—this conversation was originally featured on Odder Worlds some years ago on older equipment, so the audio quality is a little rough. -J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

For the second half of my interview with Matt, we talk about how to give what you create enough time, space, and memory so that it can exist ( and persist ) outside of you without consuming your life. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, We just lost a close family member—it was quite sudden—a couple weeks ago, so things are still somewhat out of sorts here. Today's episode is part of an interview I did last year for Matt Selznick's show, Sonitotum. He's been kind enough to let us share it here while we take some time off to recover and find some peace of mind again. -J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Here's the second half of our initial concept session for The Conductors setting, where Ken and I delve into particulars such as ‘the passport': or how the world defines you ( and your actions ) through tags, as they accrue. -J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Join Ken and I as we try a little bit of alchemic synthesis with truths of world, story and character from a few different places—to see both what should and should not persist. As for whether or not you'll see more of Conductors and their world later… Well, we're still at work on a few more ingredients. -J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Join Dave as I we delve into post-apocalyptic tales, how to tell them and why. And what happens when you attempt to live out the final days in the vast and unfathomable terrain that is your newly awakened crew's ‘user guide'. Oh, and the novel I mentioned partway through about a collapsing ark ship is Marissa Levien's “The World Gives Way”. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Here's the second half of our short narrative livestream, using Honey Heist. Will our intrepid team of felonious ursines discover, survive, or even escape with their prize? Find out tonight. -J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Since we're exploring short narrative fiction and forms over the summer, we decided to share one of our earliest live attempts. This time, with Grant Howitt's Honey Heist and some of our fans. J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, For the second half of our conversation on finding your tale through one sheet game design, we delve into what kinds of stories we hope each set of truths will provide. - J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Dave, Andrew and I talk about using one sheet game design as a creative exercise, how to play with the truths that make for a good story, and (when they're live) fail successfully. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Join Dave, Grant (from Rowan Rook & Decard) and I as we talk about one sheet games, the art of the possible, and the joy of creating new worlds, stories and characters for the first time. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Here's the second half of our Possible Worlds session with Ken and Dex on what empires do when the world seems to end, how fiat alone cannot the sky's falling prevent, and why you start from the little truths (like spiders) to find what gives shape, intent and life to rest. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Today's ep is our first full attempt at the new Possible Worlds exercise, where you take a few truths of the world, story, and characters that you write, a particular premise, and ask yourself “what it…?” to see what /else/ might. Which should give you plenty of ideas to can play with, discard, or hold up as a mirror to your own work—without any fear of change to its original state. Unless you feel inspired by, or it sheds some new light. So join us today for the first half a romp through faith, empire, economics, haberdashery—and perhaps a little Vincent Price. We hope you enjoy, J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, It's our 50th episode! Join us as we celebrate, occasionally reflect (sometimes ruminate) on what's been, and talk about where seasons 3 and onward will go. And be sure to welcome Dave from Odder Worlds and Geekly Oddcast as an official co-host! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, This episode was originally meant to air last year. But like so many things during that time, it slipped away and into the far off reaches of mind until the moment, I suppose, was more ‘right'. We've talked before about how both fear and expectations can interfere with what you'll write—no matter the genre and in media of all kinds. Today though, I wanted to share some of what my own journey through that has been like: from “not at all” to “I'm still going to try.” And what better place to begin than the moment when what you've been working on meets an indefinite end? When you've lost what you thought you had, and there seems to be a chasm on the road that you'd pass… Oh, and there will be spoilers, starting around 12 minutes in, so if you'd prefer to keep everything about my books a surprise, you can save this episode for later. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, We're back today with the second half of our livestream, “A Mote in the Mad King's Eye.” And yes, that is a nod to both the Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle work as well as the parable from which they derived. When we left the last time, it was on the note that a vizier (and perhaps wizard) gave to the king his most mad designs. And from there did the world break, for others to right. Though of course, and as always, things oft go awry. So join us today as we bring this little ‘what if…' unto ‘why…?' exercise to a close, and discover what this brave new world holds when even its villains outgrow their old life. We hope you enjoy. J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Today, we're sharing part of a livestream episode we did for our Patrons back in 2020, when we were tasked with creating a world in which other tales could be made. Using only the premise: “who built the ruins that now lie in waste?” You'll hear my co-host, Dave, lay out the concept for the world. And then our panel will have a chance to make it grow from the simple and mundane into the new, the unique /and/ the strange. So join us as we look back to a different Stone or Bronze Age, the folks who'd create, and the maddest of kings who in bull wizards would put their faith. We hope you enjoy, - J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, For the holidays, we thought it would be fun to share a conversation that Dave and I had awhile back with one of the students from my writing class, Bee. When we initially recorded the episode for Dave's show, Odder Worlds, Bee had just begun to define the setting in which her story takes place. So we invited her to share a few of the most essential truths about her world, former princess Emery, and the nefarious villain Tarric, who is visited by an idea most unusual and strange. That said, there are a couple topics discussed that I would approach differently today: most notably, race. In fantasy tales, these are often distinct and discrete groups of people, with their own origins, histories, presumed biologies, and ‘one unique trait'. Though these frequently tend to borrow, mimic or outright appropriate from folks in our own world and their lived experiences without much thought or respect to “who” takes. Or how we profit as creators while things deemed ‘too fraught' are left off the page. Turns out it's hard work: making a world. Even more so the people who'd shape. And all the particular details and their impact that you have to contemplate. But it's worth it, I promise you. As you'll see today. We hope you enjoy, -J --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/herebetygers/message

Hey all, Today's episode is part of a conversation I had with my friend, radio expert, and archaeological buff, Ken. You may recognize him from our earlier world-building eps. 2 & 8, “Rambling Man” and “The Unforgiving Tree”, where we first delved into some of the more unusual places in the world of Here Be Tygers. Since then, I've discovered some peculiar (and perhaps, particular) threads about faith and the gods and things that occurred in the “way back, when…”. That I needed to chase to to their unraveling ends. Before, even to me, they could make some kind of sense. So rather than leave all of that behind some polished text, we wanted to use today's ep to show you how “truths of the world” and the journeys through can be laid from beginnings to ends. We hope you enjoy, -J

Hey all, My apologies for the delay on this week. I've been severely ill since last Thursday, and am still finding it difficult to breathe, much less speak. Today's episode comes from a world-building series on "how to create a space in which you can create", without fear of what might change or persist, that we ran for our patrons earlier this year. You'll probably recognize the first two voices you hear as the neuroscientist, Nic Lori, and my co-host, Dave Herman. They did such a wonderful job of explaining the premise on which everything else proceeds, namely: ‘what if the world evolved to ‘fit' man instead?', that we decided right from there to see what else could happen. We hope you enjoy. - J Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're here today to provide you with a bit of a preface for our upcoming miniseries on the ‘Seven Great Rules to Writing Stories that Sell'. These are things I found myself teaching all the time, so before we go into them, I thought it would be helpful for Dave and I to talk about what to do *before* you write—a ‘Lesson 0', if you will. And how you can shift from a critical (‘what is…?') state of mind to a more creative (‘what if…?') one when you'd like. We'll also share some of the more pernicious tales we tell themselves about why we ‘can't try' and what you can do to prove otherwise. We hope you enjoy -J Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey all, We're sharing the rest of our conversation with Kate from “Ignorance was Bliss” today. At first, we'd thought about having it all in one ep, but there was enough of significance, impact, and quality to warrant a different time for the rest. Above all, “The Stories We Tell Ourselves” is a reflection on the ones that we choose and the ones that we let: how much of our life is decided by them is something we get to decide. And to rewrite. Revise. So I invite you, as you listen to both of the tales shared today—on memory, loss, and of course, time—to think about the ones that /you tell/, of yourself and others as well, and those you'd care to keep in mind. We hope you enjoy - J Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices