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No episódio de hoje, contamos com a ilustre presença do Raca Vasques pra conversar sobre O Jogo pela Regra, um compilado de relatos em que criadores de RPGs e LARPs brasileiros compartilham seus processos de criação.Quem quiser anunciar com a gente, pode entrar em contato com caquitaspodcast@gmail.comPara entrar em contato direto conosco para assuntos não-comerciais, use as redes sociais ou o email caquitaspodcast@gmail.comNo mais, sigam o Caquitas nas redes sociais, e se quiserem virar nossos padrinhos, dá pra assinar pelo Apoia-se ou pelo Catarse!LISTA DE PRESENTES DO CAQUITAS
Special Guest Host Mary Lou replaces Joe for this one and talks with Jared about LARPing before launching into a debate over the work of Brandon Sanderson! Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/cXJqJtOHTl4 Access exclusive podcasts, ad-free episodes, and livestreams with a 30-day free trial with code "GCN30" at jointhenaish.com. Join Troy Lavallee, Joe O'Brien, Skid Maher, Matthew Capodicasa, Sydney Amanuel, and Kate Stamas as they tour the country. Get your tickets today at https://hubs.li/Q03cn8wr0. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit https://hubs.li/Q03cmY380. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week on the show we've got a double header.FIrst up: Amy Ashton and Mia Fiorella of the La Jolla Playhouse will help me make a path through the lineup of this year's Without Walls Festival, which is coming up April 24-27th on the campus of UC San Diego.Then Jimmy Reckitt and I talk about making Vampire LARPS which is exactly what he does as the Head of Story for By Night Studios and their upcoming event Darkness Emergent: Los Angeles, the latest in the Darkness Emergent series of blockbuster LARPS which comes to the Biltmore Hotel in LA on Memorial Day weekend.SHOW NOTESWithout Walls Festival Lineup AnnouncementWithout Walls FestivalDarkness EmergentBy Night StudiosEnemies of the Night Backerkit Campaign Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Who's ready for a run down of Millie and Bung's LARP events of 2025?! This week for a quick little catch up, Millie and Bungle have a little natter about their plans for 2025! Does Millie need a LARP intervention? Have a listen and find out! LARPs spoken about in this episode Empire + Various Player Events Menhirs Fate Eldritch Flying Lead Warriors Of Middle Earth Asphodel + Ardent Spacers Portents Dumnonni Chronicles: Outlore Northern Kingdoms Hoist The Colours 97 Poets of Ravachol Free Company We can't wait to get LARPing again soon and to bring you guys episodes for as many as we can! Which one of these are you planning to go to? Are there any you are keen to learn about?! What do you think about the combination of marmite and marmalade on toast?
Nicht nur Deutschland und Europa, sondern die ganze Welt, befinden sich in einer ökonomischen, politischen und ökologischen Krise. Können Rollenspiele, LARPs, Brettspiele und CoSims dafür die Lösung sein? Denn all diese verschiedenen Unterhaltungsmedien haben das Potential, durch spielbasiertes Lernen und realistische Simulationen unser Land, unsere Demokratie und generell unsere westliche Lebensweise krisenresistenter und sicherer zu machen. Aber was genau kann man von Kriegsspielen, Katastrophensimulationen und politischen Gedankenspielen lernen? Und wo liegen die Grenzen des Spiel- und Simulierbaren?
And so we reach the final act in this LARP! Join Millie, Morgan, Mattie and Sol once more as they embark on their final trip down the memory road that was Oasis 2! This week we have gun fights, betrayal, paintings and the final discovery that just because you say you're a player in the game...sometimes you have a dark secret! Photograph of the explosion from the incredibly talented Gorgon photography, Questionable photoshopping by Millie If you'd like to help us keep the podcast running please consider joining our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/thelarpnoobspodcast/ Please support our guest hosts by checking out their own podcasts! Morgan is part of the Larps and Tarps podcast Mattie and Sol are part of the Shattersong Larp Diaries! If you would like to enter the raffle! You have until midnight on the 30th of December!! Tickets cost £5 each and are payable to our PayPal Friends and Family (thelarpnoobspodcast@gmail.com) Please leave your name in the message and state 'FOR THE RAFFLE' in the donation message! Every penny will go to Young Lives vs Cancer We will announce winners via a live stream on the 1st of January x
We are back with a bang!!! Millie, Mattie, Morgan and Sol return to regale us with their adventures at Oasis 2! Will Millie live out her dream of being a Gorgon work experience? Find out on this Episode!!! Please support our guest hosts by checking out their own podcasts! Morgan is part of the Larps and Tarps podcast Mattie and Sol are part of the Shattersong Larp Diaries! If you would like to enter the raffle! You have until midnight on the 30th of December!! Tickets cost £5 each and are payable to our PayPal Friends and Family (thelarpnoobspodcast@gmail.com) Please leave your name in the message and state 'FOR THE RAFFLE' in the donation message! Every penny will go to Young Lives vs Cancer We will announce winners via a live stream on the 1st of January x
The DARK ALLIANCE! New age secret space larps with Jordan Sather!Music by Karl Casey @WhiteBatAudio Content created here by Spectral International, LLC.Buy me a coffe (or 100) to support the show :https://buymeacoffee.com/truthseekersMusic videos by Simon Fly. Visit our website here : https://truthseekershow.com Buy some merchandise to support our show : AMAZON STORE : https://www.amazon.com/s?rh=n%3A7141123011%2Cp_4%3ATruthseekershow+Official+Merch&ref=bl_sl_s_ap_web_7141123011 Subscribe to our youtube channel here :http://www.youtube.com/c/truthseekershowFollow Steven Cambian on twitter : @stevencambian Join our Patreon : https://www.patreon.com/stevencambianDonate by paypal : Send a paypal to TRUTHSEEKERSHOW@GMAIL.COMAny amount you wish. Please include your chatroom user id, and any message you would like me to read on air. We read every paypal message we are sent and thank every person who sends any paypal support. Listen to the audio podcast : https://www.spreaker.com/user/14526799Email us : TRUTHSEEKERSHOW@GMAIL.COMTags :#UFOTWITTER #UFOX #UAPTWITTER #ALIENS #ANCIENTALIENS #DISCLOSURE #UFO #UAP #UFOS #UAPS #F2B #UFOCRASH#DAVIDWILCOCK #BLUEAVIANS #SSP #20ANDBACK #COREYGOODE #SPHEREBEINGALLIANCE #JORDANSATHER
~~ AUTOMATIC UPLOAD ~~Date: 30/10/2024Location: Larps and Tarps HQEpisode: Secrets of the Deep Pre-LarpEditing: IncompleteApprovals: IncompleteFinal Review: IncompleteSponsor: Krazbantazka Sup - A Life Changing Energy Drink Experience Notes: Given as transcribed Audio: it's too late. Save yourself.Insert episode description boiler plate here:Got any questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch and follow us on our socials! Find us @larpsandtarps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Want to support us? Find us on Patreon!Get £15 off your first Empire Ticket with the following codes:Alex - 11870.22389 Cloe - 11871.22424 Kerrie - 11872.22558 Morgan - 11673.22378 Tom - 10603.19518
The carts of thousands of people roll towards Anvil, leaves crunching beneath their great wheels. The sun shines down through occasional clouds, no longer as warming to those who roll towards the festival. The days are shortening, the nights are cooling, and the Empire's Autumn equinox summit is about to begin.Welcome to Larps & Tarps E4.Got any questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch and follow us on our socials! Find us @larpsandtarps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Want to support us? Find us on Patreon!Get £15 off your first Empire Ticket with the following codes:Alex - 11870.22389 Cloe - 11871.22424 Kerrie - 11872.22558 Morgan - 11673.22378 Tom - 10603.19518
The carts of thousands of people roll towards Anvil, leaves crunching beneath their great wheels. The sun shines down through occasional clouds, no longer as warming to those who roll towards the festival. The days are shortening, the nights are cooling, and the Empire's Autumn equinox summit is about to begin.Welcome to Larps & Tarps E4.Got any questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch and follow us on our socials! Find us @larpsandtarps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Want to support us? Find us on Patreon!Get £15 off your first Empire Ticket with the following codes:Alex - 11870.22389 Cloe - 11871.22424 Kerrie - 11872.22558 Morgan - 11673.22378 Tom - 10603.19518
The Southern heat is turned up high as one man faces a filthy flock of sheep, a nonstop chatterbox, and an angry ram, all in a super explosive little shack. Plus, a story where an anarchist and an Amish family come together.STORIESSheep ShearerThe Southern heat is turned up high as one man faces a filthy flock of sheep, a nonstop chatterbox, and an angry ram, all in a super explosive little shack. Thank you, Brian Lee Knopp, for telling your story! Brian is a retired Private Investigator and sheep shearer. He's currently working on a collection of personal essays. Produced by David Exumé, original score by Renzo Gorrio.Chaotic GoodMalaclypse was part of a dangerous anarchist group. They stole, they killed, they escaped, until one day when Malaclypse could run no further…Dan has been playing and organizing LARPs for 20 years. He posts bad LARP advice on Twitter at LarpTips.Produced by Jazmin Aguilera, original score by Renzo Gorrio.Season 15 - Episode 44
The carts of thousands of people roll towards Anvil, leaves crunching beneath their great wheels. The sun shines down through occasional clouds, no longer as warming to those who roll towards the festival. The days are shortening, the nights are cooling, and the Empire's Autumn equinox summit is about to begin.Welcome to Larps & Tarps E4.Got any questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch and follow us on our socials! Find us @larpsandtarps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Want to support us? Find us on Patreon!Get £15 off your first Empire Ticket with the following codes:Alex - 11870.22389 Cloe - 11871.22424 Kerrie - 11872.22558 Morgan - 11673.22378 Tom - 10603.19518
The carts of thousands of people roll towards Anvil, leaves crunching beneath their great wheels. The sun shines down through occasional clouds, no longer as warming to those who roll towards the festival. The days are shortening, the nights are cooling, and the Empire's Autumn equinox summit is about to begin. Welcome to Larps & Tarps E4. Got any questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch and follow us on our socials! Find us @larpsandtarps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Want to support us? Find us on Patreon!Get £15 off your first Empire Ticket with the following codes:Alex - 11870.22389 Cloe - 11871.22424 Kerrie - 11872.22558 Morgan - 11673.22378 Tom - 10603.19518
Today we talk about how an editor approaches a TTRPG during the creation process with Dell Toro of Eerie Games. Founded by friends Scott Falzone, Del Toro, and Dacia Pennington, Eerie Games is a innovative game company making LARPs and TTRPG's. "Note from Eerie games: Our upcoming tabletop rpg, Fatebound is a dice-less, Tarot driven TTRPG where you step into the dark academia world of young witches at a military academy, training to become elite guardians of Witchdom. Our campaign launches on Oct 15th but you can catch gameplay on our Twitch channel every other Thursday until launch." Eerie's Website Fatebound kickstarter Go join Eerie's Twitch for weekly streams Check Tabletopped out on Patreon! We have a new monthly pod as well as behind the scenes clips that you can get on a secret Spotify feed! We will also be dropping some more treats from time to time! Instagram | Patreon Theme music by Michelle Poulin
Elliot and Brian are joined by the mind behind beloved TTRPGs For The Queen and Star Crossed, Alex Roberts, to discuss how to design for out-of-box play, what we can learn from LARPs and classic card games, and what it means to see two of her games given new life.Talk of the Table is hosted by Elliot Davis and Brian Flaherty. Links:For The Queen 2EStar Crossed: Love LettersSupport Alex on PatreonAlex's LinksAlex recommends: The work of Julia Bond EllingboeSteal Away JordanTales of the Fisherman's WifeMany Sided Media Discord Twenty Sided NewsletterCredits:Edited by Elliot DavisProduced by Many Sided Media
The banners of the glory square flutter in the gentle summer breeze. The coin purses of the League jingle as piazzas fill with princes seeking shade and drinks. In Varushka, the short nights keep the wolves at bay. Thorns and vines alike shelter in the trees, ever watchful of for unnatural movement in their verdant woods. All across the Empire, people march towards Anvil for the summer solstice. And, more importantly, it's hot merc summer. Welcome, to Larps and Tarps E3.Got any questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch and follow us on our socials! Find us @larpsandtarps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Want to support us? Find us on Patreon!Get £15 off your first Empire Ticket with the following codes:Alex - 11870.22389 Cloe - 11871.22424 Kerrie - 11872.22558 Morgan - 11673.22378 Tom - 10603.19518
The banners of the glory square flutter in the gentle summer breeze. The coin purses of the League jingle as piazzas fill with princes seeking shade and drinks. In Varushka, the short nights keep the wolves at bay. Thorns and vines alike shelter in the trees, ever watchful of for unnatural movement in their verdant woods. All across the Empire, people march towards Anvil for the summer solstice. And, more importantly, it's hot merc summer. Welcome, to Larps and Tarps E3.Got any questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch and follow us on our socials! Find us @larpsandtarps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Want to support us? Find us on Patreon!Get £15 off your first Empire Ticket with the following codes:Alex - 11870.22389 Cloe - 11871.22424 Kerrie - 11872.22558 Morgan - 11673.22378 Tom - 10603.19518
THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED WHEN!? dearest listener, allow me to take you back in time to JULY! When the sun was high and Millie was a year younger......Dave sits down with Millie to talk through their adventures at the ninth event in Northern Kingdoms! This is in our honest opinion one of the best LARPs in the UK at the moment (THE best if you talk to Dave!) so sit down, have a nice cuppa and listen to the chaos that is any kind of conversation between these two! For more information on Northern Kingdoms go to: https://www.northernkingdoms.com/ If you'd like to help us keep the podcast running please consider joining our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/thelarpnoobspodcast/
The banners of the glory square flutter in the gentle summer breeze. The coin purses of the League jingle as piazzas fill with princes seeking shade and drinks. In Varushka, the short nights keep the wolves at bay. Thorns and vines alike shelter in the trees, ever watchful of for unnatural movement in their verdant woods. All across the Empire, people march towards Anvil for the summer solstice. And, more importantly, it's hot merc summer. Welcome, to Larps and Tarps E3.Got any questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch and follow us on our socials! Find us @larpsandtarps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Want to support us? Find us on Patreon!Get £15 off your first Empire Ticket with the following codes:Alex - 11870.22389 Cloe - 11871.22424 Kerrie - 11872.22558 Morgan - 11673.22378 Tom - 10603.19518
The banners of the glory square flutter in the gentle summer breeze. The coin purses of the League jingle as piazzas fill with princes seeking shade and drinks. In Varushka, the short nights keep the wolves at bay. Thorns and vines alike shelter in the trees, ever watchful of for unnatural movement in their verdant woods. All across the Empire, people march towards Anvil for the summer solstice. And, more importantly, it's hot merc summer. Welcome, to Larps and Tarps E3.Got any questions, comments, or suggestions? Feel free to get in touch and follow us on our socials! Find us @larpsandtarps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Want to support us? Find us on Patreon!Get £15 off your first Empire Ticket with the following codes:Alex - 11870.22389 Cloe - 11871.22424 Kerrie - 11872.22558 Morgan - 11673.22378 Tom - 10603.19518
Elliot and Brian are joined by Banana Chan for a chat about their work across TTRPGs, LARPs, and board games and the lessons on business, creativity, and collaboration that she has taken from each.Talk of the Table is hosted by Elliot Davis and Brian Flaherty. Links:@bananachangames@readwritememoryRead Write MemoryWatch The Brothers SunFollow Triangle AgencyPlay Rebuilding SeattleMany Sided Media Discord Twenty Sided NewsletterCredits:Edited by Elliot DavisProduced by Many Sided Media
Ginger Frasier and Young Steve Buscemi aka Black Lodge Games join me to discuss vampire LARPs, Candela Obscura and unhinged fans. Music by John Page T-shirts and more available on TeePublic Rollin' Bones is live every Tuesday night at 8 PM Central! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rollin-bones/support
You may have heard of Live Action Role Playing (LARP), where people dress up like fantasy characters and sword fight in a park or a Wal Mart parking lot. Some data teams LARP too... Data LARPs are a real thing, often identified by pretending to do "data stuff", while never actually pushing anything into production. Are you Data LARPing? If so, what can you do? Listen and find out.
Hello hello! Today I've got for you another between-season bonus episode. This time we're breaking format to talk about i know the end, a module I published earlier this year about going back home after a long time away and all the horrors that entails. Because if you can't occasionally publish something self-indulgent in your podcast feed, what's even the point of having one?My cohost for this is my friend Nico MacDougall, the current organizer of The Awards, who edited i know the end and had almost as much to say about it as I did.For maximum understanding of this episode, you can pick up a free copy of the module here and follow along (or skim it in advance).Further reading:The original i know the end cover artThe “oops all PBTA moves” version of i know the endThree of my short filmsMy previous written designer commentaries on Space Train Space Heist and CouriersJohn Harper talking with Andrew Gillis about the origins of Blades in the DarkThe official designer commentary podcasts for Spire and HeartAaron Lim's An Altogether Different River, which comes with a designer commentary versionCamera Lucida by Roland Barthes, a photography theory book that we talked about during recording but which I later cut because I remembered most of the details about it incorrectlyWhat Is Risograph Printing, another topic cut from the final recording because I got basically everything about it wrong while recording (the background texture of the module is a risograph printed texture)Before Sunrise by Richard LinklaterQuestionable Content by Jeph JacquesSocials:Nico's carrd page, which includes links to their socials, editing rates, and The Awards.Sam on Bluesky, Twitter, dice.camp, and itch.The Dice Exploder logo was designed by sporgory, and our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey.Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show!Transcript:Sam: Hello and welcome to Dice Exploder. Normally each week we take a tabletop RPG mechanic, bait our lines with it, and cast them out to see, to see what we can catch. But you hear that different intro music? That means this episode I'm doing something much more self indulgent, a designer commentary on a module I released earlier this year called I Know the End.And just a heads up here at the top, to get the most out of this, you probably want to have at least read through the module in question before, or as, you're listening. I threw a bunch of free copies up on itch for exactly this purpose, so feel free to go run and grab one. I'll wait.Anyway, I love designer commentaries. You can find a few of my old written ones, as well as links to a few of my favorites from other people, in the show notes. But I wanted to try releasing one as a podcast, because one, that sounds fun, and two, what's the point of having a podcast feed if you can't be ridiculously self indulgent in it on occasion?And I picked I Know The End to talk about because it is... weird. I don't know. It's weird. I describe it on itch as a short scenario about returning home and all the horrors that entails. But you'll hear us take issue with, I don't know, maybe every word in that sentence over the course of this commentary. It was a strange experience to make this thing, and I figured that might be interesting to hear about.It was also the first time I ever worked with an editor Nico MacDougall my friend and the organizer behind The Awards since 2023. Nico was excellent to work with and you can find their rates and such in the show notes and they are with me today to talk through this thing in excruciating detail as you probably noticed from the runtime we had a lot to say. Definitely contracted two guys on a podcast disease. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. But regardless, I'd love to hear what you think of it. Should I do more? Never again? Want to organize the Dice Exploder Game Jam we mused about doing at the end of this? Hit me up! I'd love to hear from you. And now, here is myself, I guess, and Nico MacDougall, with a full designer's commentary on I Know The End.Nico: Well, Sam, thanks for being here on your podcast to discuss your... adventure.Sam: You're welcome.Nico: Yes.Sam: for having me.Nico: Very first question is adventure: is that really, like, the right term for this?Sam: Are we really starting here? Like, I, I don't know. I, I feel like I got, I really went into this thing with true intentions to write a proper module, you know? Like I was thinking about OSR style play for like the first time in my life, and like, we were both coming out of the awards 2022 judging, and a lot of the submissions for 2022 the Awards were modules. I thought that was great but it really was sort of like opening the floodgates of this style of play that I knew basically nothing about. And, at the same time that we were reading through all 200 submissions for the awards, I was also reading Marcia B's list of 100 OSR blog posts of some influence.And so I was really drinking from the fire hose of this style of play, and also, I wasn't playing any of it. Like, I was experimenting with Trophy Gold a little bit, which is this story game that is designed to try to play OSR modules and dungeons as, like, a story game kind of experience. And I was kind of figuring out how it works and like how I wanted to run it and how to make it go And Joe DeSimone, who was running the awards at the time was just encouraging everyone to make weirder shit and like, that was his ethos and those were the people that he got to submit to the awards. Like, it was just the weirdest stuff that I had ever read in the RPG space and... That's probably a lie. There's some weird stuff out there.It was just like so much weird stuff. It was like stuff on the bleeding edge of a whole side of the hobby that I didn't participate in in the first place. My intro to this part of the hobby was the bleeding edge of it. And I was like, alright, I, I just wanna make something there, I wanna try playing around there and see what happens.And Joe tweeted out the tweet was like, Now we're all making modules based on songs that make us cry. And I was listening to the Phoebe Bridgers album Punisher on loop at the time to inspire a screenplay I was working on. And the last track is called I Know the End, and just ends with this, primal scream.And it was, it was a hard fall for me, at the time. And the primal scream felt really cathartic. And I was spending a lot of time in the, small town where I grew up. And, this horror monster idea of a town that is, itself, an entity and like is a whole monster, and like, what does that mean exactly? I don't know, but intuitively, I like, understand it, and we're just gonna kind of drive... towards my intuitive understanding of what this thing is supposed to be. I just decided to do that and see what happened. And did that give us an adventure in the end? I don't know. Did that give us a 32 page long bestiary entry in the form of a module? Like, that sounds closer to right to me, but also, taxonomies are a lie and foolish anyways.I don't know, I made a weird thing, here it is. Nico: Yeah. So I was scrolling back in our, in our conversation to where you first shared this with me, and I... I would like to share with the audience the text that accompanied it. It was the Google Doc, and then it said, This might be completely unplayable, it might actually be a short story, or, like, a movie, but I'm gonna publish it anyway, and, you know... If that isn't exactly it, like...Sam: Yeah I like that stuff. I don't know, another thing I've been thinking about a lot this fall is writing by stream of consciousness. Like, I realized that I don't have a lot of confidence in any of my work that I feel like I created quickly. Like, the RPG thing I'm most well known for, I think, is Doskvol Breathes, which I just pumped out in an afternoon. It was just a thought that I had on a whim about how you might play blades in the dark maybe. And I finished it and then I released it and people were like, this is amazing. And I still get complimented on it all the time. I'm still really proud of it, but it, I don't have any confidence in it because it came so quickly.And, like, I know that this is something I need to, like, talk about in therapy, you know, about, like, It's not real art unless I worked on it for six months straight, like, really worked my ass off. But this process, I sort of looked back over my career as a screenwriter, as a short filmmaker, as a game designer, and started realizing just how many of my favorite things that I've made came from exactly that process of the whole idea kind of coming together all at once in like one sitting. And even if it then took like a bunch of months of like refining like it's wild to me How much of my favorite work was created by following my intuition, and then just leaving it be afterwards.Nico: Yeah, I actually did want to ask about the similarity between your, like, process for TTRPG design versus screenwriting, cause... While I have read, you know, edited this, but also, like, read your your game design work and know relatively well your thoughts on, like, you know, just game design sort of theory and stuff in general, I have never read any, like, screenwriting stuff that you've done. Although, lord knows I hope to see it someday. Sam: Well, listen, if anyone listening to this wants to read my screenplays, I'm on Discord. You can find me and I'll happily share them all. My old short films are largely available on the internet, too. You know, maybe I'll link a couple in the show notes.Nico: oh yeah,Sam: But I I think of my process for screenwriting as really, really structural.Like, I, I'm a person who really came out of needing a plot and needing to know what happens in a story, and to really especially need to know the ending of a story so I know kind of what I'm going towards as I'm writing the thing. I outline like really extensively before I write feature or a pilot, like there's so much planning you have to do, I think it is really, really hard to write any kind of screenplay and not have to revise it over and over and over again, or at least like plan really carefully ahead of time and like really think about all the details, revise a lot, run it by a lot of people for feedback over and over. But especially for me that, that having an ending, like a target in mind when I'm writing is so important. I just don't know how to do it without that.Except occasionally when I get some sort of idea like this one where I have a feeling of vibe and I just start writing that thing and then eventually it's done. And I, I've never had that happen for a feature film screenplay or like a TV pilot kind of screenplay.But I have had a couple of short films come together that way where I don't know what the thing is, I just know what I am writing right now, and then it's done, and then I go make it. And I I don't know why that happens sometimes. Nico: Yeah, I mean I would imagine length plays a factor in it, right? Like a short film, or, I mean, gosh, how many pages did I know the end, end, end up being? Sam: 36. Nico: But I find that really fascinating that, too, that you say that when you're screenwriting, you have to have it really structural, really outlined, an end specifically in mind, when, to me, that almost feels like, well, not the outlining part, but having an end in mind feels almost antithetical to even the idea of, like, game design, or, I guess, TTRPG design, right?Even the most sort of relatively pre structured, Eat the Reich, Yazeeba's Bed and Breakfast, like, Lady Blackbird games, where the characters are pretty well defined before any human player starts interacting with them, you can never know how it's going to end. And it's kind of almost against the idea of the game or the, the sort of art form as a whole to really know that.Even games that are play to lose, like, there are many games now where it's like, you will die at the end. And it's like, okay, but like, that's not really the actual end. Like, sure, it's technically the end, but it's like, we have no idea what's gonna be the moment right before that, or the moment before that. As opposed to screenwriting Sam: yeah, it's a, it's a really different medium. I still think my need to have a target in mind is something that is really true about my game design process too.Like the other game that I'm well known for, well known for being relative here, but is Space Train Space Heist, where I was like, I have a very clear goal, I want to run a Blades in the Dark as a one shot at Games on Demand in a two hour slot. And Blades in the Dark is not a game that is built to do that well, so I want to make a game that is built to do that well, but like, captures everything about the one shot Blades in the Dark experience that I think is good and fun .And that may not be a sort of thematic statement kind of ending, like that's what I'm kind of looking for when I'm writing a screenplay, but that is a clear goal for a design of a game.Nico: Yeah. even In the context of I know the end, and to start talking a little bit about my role in this as well, as, as the editor, I think the point of view, the vibe, the, like, desired sort of aesthetic end point Was very clear from the start, from the jump. And I think that in many ways sort of substitutes for knowing the end of the story in your screenwriting process.So that really helped when I was editing it by focusing on like, okay, here's the pitch. How can I help sort of whittle it down or enhance it or change stuff in order to help realize that goal.And sometimes it kind of surprises me even, like, how much my games shift and change as they reach that goal. Like, sometimes you can, like, look back at old versions of it, and you're like, wow, so little of this is still present. But, like, you can see the throughline, very sort of Ship of Theseus, right? Like, you're like, wow, everything has been replaced, and yet, it's, like, still the thing that I wanted to end up at.Sam: Yeah, another thing that is, I think, more true of my screenwriting process than my game design process is how very common that in the middle of the process I will have to step back and take stock of what was I trying to do again? Like, what was my original goal? I've gotten all these notes from a lot of different people and, like, I've done a lot of work and I've found stuff that I like.And what was I trying to do? Like, I have, all this material on the table now, I have, like, clay on the wheel, and, like, I just gotta step back and take a break and refocus on, like, what are we trying to do. I Think it's really important to be able to do that in any creative process.To Tie together a couple of threads that we've talked about here, talked at the beginning of this about how much this felt like a stream of consciousness project for me, that I really just like, dumped this out and then like, let it rip.But also, I mean, this was my first time working with an editor, and I think you did a lot of work on this to make it way better, like really polish it up and make those edges the kind of pointy that they wanted to be, that this game really called for. And that makes this, in some ways, both a really unstructured process for me, and then a really structured process, and... I don't know what to make of that. I think there's something cool about having both of those components involved in a process. Nico: Yeah, it is. I I very much agree that like, yeah, most of my sort of design stuff have, has proceeded very much the same way of just kind of like sporadically working on it, changing stuff, like revamping it, whatever. And it's like, it's sort of, yeah, in a constant state of fluxx up until the moment where I'm like, okay, I guess it's done now.What I was gonna say, I was gonna jump back just a point or two which is you mentioned Clayton Notestein's Explorer's Design Jam. And I was curious, like, what was your experience, like, using that design template? Sam: Yeah I really enjoyed it, I really had a good time with it. I had already gotten really comfortable with InDesign just teaching myself during lockdown. Like, that's what I did for 2020, was I, like, laid out a bunch of games myself and they all looked like shit, but they all taught me how to use InDesign as a program.And I think templates are really, really valuable. Like it's so much easier to reconfigure the guts of another template than it is to create something from scratch.And I like Clayton's template. I think it's nice and clean. I think you can see in all the publications that have come out using Clayton's template, how recognizable it is. How little most people stray from the bones of it, and on the one hand, I think it's amazing that you can just use the template and go really quickly and like, get something out.And also I just want to push on it a little bit more. I want something, like the template is designed to be a template. It is not a suit tailored to whatever your particular project is. But also, I think if I had tried to lay this out without a template, it would look substantially worse, and there are a few notable breaks here and there that I, you know, I enjoyed experimenting with. I like the use of the comments column for little artwork. I think that was a nice little innovation that I added.And, you know, I didn't write this originally to have that sort of commentary column as a part of it. Like, all of the text was just in the main body of it. And I like the way it turned out to have that sort of, like, director's commentary thing hanging out in the wings. lot of people have talked about how much they like that in Clayton's template. so I, I don't know, like I, think that on the one hand a template really opens up a lot of possibilities for a lot of people and really opened up a lot of possibilities for me, and on the other hand I do still look at it and I see the template And I'm like, I hope this doesn't look too much like every other person whoNico: Right, right. I mean, that is definitely the difficulty of providing those kinds of tools, because like, it makes it very easy to make things especially if you're sort of just getting started, or if you don't have a lot of confidence or familiarity with it inDesign or anything like that. But ultimately, I feel like Clayton himself would say that the Explorer's Design Template is not intended to be, like, the final template, right? It's intended to be, like, a tool that you can use to varying effects, right?Yeah, I was thinking about it when I was going through this earlier, and I was like, Oh, yeah, like, you only use the comments, column a few times, and then I literally only realized maybe five minutes before you said it, I was like, oh, wait, all the little artwork is also in that little column thing, like you just said, and I was like, oh, that's like, that's actually a really cool way to use the template, because that space is already provided if you include that column, but just because you have the column that's, you know, quote unquote, intended for commentary, doesn't mean you have to use it for commentary, doesn't mean you have to put text in there.Sam: Yeah, you definitely like learn a lot of stuff about the guts of the thing as you start playing with it.Nico: Yeah. is probably getting on the level of, like, pretty pointless, sort of what ifs, but I'm curious... If Clayton hadn't done the Explorer's Design Template Jam, or if you had, for whatever reason, like, not been inspired to use that as the impetus to, like, make this and get it edited and laid out and published or whatever, like, Do you think you still would have tried to use that template, or would you have just tried to lay it out yourself, like you've done in the past?Sam: Honestly, I think without the jam this wouldn't exist. I have like a long to do list of things at any given time, like creative projects I wanna on, youNico: Oh, yeah,Sam: know? And the thing that brought this to the top of that to do list was just wanting to have something to submit into that jam. You know, I wanted to work with you as an editor. I Always want to clear something off the to do list. I always want to have some kind of creative project. And, I wanted to submit something to that jam, but I think if you took any one of those away, I might not have put the thing out at all. Nico: Yeah, that's really interesting. But I guess that's also, again, kind of what a good template or layout or just tool in general can help is actually get these things made. Sam: That's what a good jam can do, too, right? I mean, there's a reason the Golden Cobra contest is something that I love. It's like 40 new LARPs every year and they only exist because the Golden Cobra is throwing down the gauntlet.Nico: That's very true. Well, maybe it's time to move along to more practical concerns Sam: Maybe it's time to do the actual commentary part of this episodeWe've done the waxing philosophical part, butNico: we, yeah, checked off that Dice Exploder box. Now it's time to do the actual game talk.Sam: your bingo cards Nico: Yeah, Sam: Yeah, so let's start with the cover.Nico: Yes, the cover, which I only realized it was a teeth, that it was a mouth with teeth open when you said in the outline, ah yes, it's a mouth with teeth. And I looked at it and I was like... Oh my god, it is. Like,Sam: I did my job so well. I wanted it to be subtle, but I always like looked at it and was like it's so obviously teeth, I'm never gonna get this subtle enough. But I'm I'm glad to hear that I succeeded.Nico: I truly don't know what I thought it was before, but it definitely wasn't teeth.Sam: Yeah. Well, it started as I'll share this in the show notes. It started as this image. It was like a 6x9 layout, and, the teeth were still there, and it was like, all black, and the teeth were this much wider, gaping maw, like, inhuman, unhinged jaw kind of situation. And then, in the middle of it, was a, like, live laugh love kind of Airbnb sign with I Know The End on it. It was like the mouth, like, eating the sign.And I liked that. I felt like, the problem with that was that... As much as creepy, live, laugh, love sign is kind of the like, vibe of this, I didn't really want to bring in the like, kitsch of that at all, like, I felt like that kitschiness would hang over the whole thing if I made it the cover, and I mean, this whole thing is just about my own personal emotional repression, right? And my feelings about my small town that I'm from, andabout like, my ambition, and, exactly, yeah.But I, I write a lot, and I make a lot of art about emotional repression , and I think the particular vibe of this game's repression doesn't have space for irony, or satire, or like, Do you wanna live, laugh, love? Like, I don't know how else to put it. Like, it just felt really wrong.It was like, if you put that into the space at all, it's gonna curdle the whole feeling. Nico: it's about the framing of it. I, know that Spencer Campbell of Gila RPGs has written something about this on his blog. I don't remember specifically what the context is, but he's a psychologist by training and is talking about how, like, the way that you frame something matters a lot to how people respond to it, right?So you like, if you're framing it as like, oh, you have, twelve things and I take away six from you, versus like, oh, you have nothing and then you are given six things. It's like, both scenarios, you like, end up with six but Sam: One feels like a letdown and one feels great. Yeah,Nico: yeah, and so I think in his article he was talking about in the, yeah, you know, tying that into the game design context, obviously.And I think it matches here where like, sort of runs the risk of like, priming people to expect kitsch, and I don't think that that's really present in the rest of the game. And that kind of mismatched expectations could really, like, lead to some problems when people are trying to, like, play the game.Sam: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean this cover is just kind of like, oh. Like, it doesn't it doesn't really tell you much other than just like there's something back there that's maybe vaguely menacing, and that's kind of it. That's kind of Nico: Yeah.Sam: Alright, speaking of which can we, can we talk about my favorite interaction between the two of us as we were working on this?Nico: Oh, yeah, I was not sure how to bring that up. yes, please do. Now that we're moving on to... For everyone following along at home, we are proceeding to the credits page.Sam: The comment I got from you while you were editing this was, IDK if it would look different in print, but having the text so close to the edge of the page is activating my fight or flight response. And I just replied, working as intended.Nico: It yeah, I had the feeling, I think, even when I sent that, I was like, this, this is not like an accident. Like, like, like no one makes this like no one does this by accident. But, yes, truly, I hope that you are following along at home because I believe that Sam generously gave a whole bunch of community copies of this game, or made them available. Sam: I believe it was 42, 069 I'm usually doing some number like that. This game, I might have done a different number, but that's, the other games that I've done.Nico: So, but the text on this, for credits page specifically, it's truly, like, at the edge of the page. Like, it looks like it could be cut off. It's like, in print, it would be like, cut off by the process of actually like, making it. In fact, feels like if you try to send it to a printer, they could almost send it back and be like, you've gotta give us some space there. Like, you simply can't do that. There needs to be a gutter, or bleed, or whatever the term is. Like, Sam: I love it. maybe one day I will print this. Honestly, like if I become a super famous game designer or something, like, this is one of the ones that I Nico: screen, slash screenwriter.Sam: yeah, yeah. This is one of the ones I'd like to go back and hold in my hand, but I also I don't know, I just love it. I, I love designing for digital as, like, a primary thing, because I just feel like most people who play the thing are gonna play it out of digital.And I don't know if that's, like, the primary audience for a lot of modules. Like, I think there are a ton of people out there who just, like, buy the zine and hold the zine in their hand and probably never get around to playing it. But I, I love the digital. I've always loved the digital. I don't know, I just like making for it.Nico: Well I mean I was even thinking about it in the context of like, you know, how you talked about how you changed the aspect ratio, I was like thinking about that and I was like, I mean, it's not like that would be impossible to print, but like, most standard commercial printers operate in like, one of the more standard like, page sizes. Even the risograph you said is what it's called, right?Sam: The, the RISO. Yeah, I don't know if it's Rizzo or RISO, but I'm gonna sayNico: The RISO background also makes the, again, just from like a fully practical point of view, it's like you're adding color to the whole thing,Like there are many potential barriers to this as like a physical product that would, that are simply not there when you're designing for digital, so like, it is nice to have that sort of freedom, like, when you're thinking about how to lay this out or, or put stuff on here, it's like, you're freed from a lot of those practical considerations.Sam: There's a few other details I want to talk about on this page just kind of like references I'm making that are not obvious.So the first is that the header font and title font of I Know The End is a font that I ripped from Lilancholy, which is this amazing book by Snow, which is ostensibly a game, but but also a reflection on childhood and personal relationship to emotions and trauma.And I love the look of the font, but I also intentionally wanted to reference that game while I was making something that felt really personal in a similar vein. And another another reference here is that the color of the whole game, like this red, is pulled from the cover art for the Phoebe Bridgers album Punisher that I know the end is off of. I, I just found the, like, most saturated red pixel that I could on the album and was like, that's the color! I love hiding little references in every little detail that I can. Nico: Yeah, it's so interesting because I did not know any of that, you know, prior to this conversation or seeing that stuff on the outline. What did you sort of hope to achieve with those references, right? Because I can't imagine that you're plan was like, for someone to look at it and be like, oh my god, that's the Lilancholy font, and that's the Phoebe Bridgers album Sam: that's one pixel from that album cover.Yeah.What am I trying to achieve? I don't know, like there's, so the Paul Thomas Anderson movie Phantom Thread Is an amazing movie, and it's about Daniel Day Lewis being incredibly serious, scary Daniel Day Lewis, making dresses, being a tailor, and an element of the movie is that he hides his initials inside the dresses, like, when he's making them, he, like, sews his initials in.And that's a real thing that, that people did, and maybe it's just for him. It's also kind of an arrogant thing to do, you know, that all these, like, women are gonna be walking around wearing these dresses with, like, his initials kind of, like, carved, it's like this power thing. But my favorite part of it is that Phantom Thread is PT, also known as Paul Thomas Anderson.Nico: Ha Sam: And, like, like, I, I just feel like when you're doing that kind of thing, it's just, what an act, it's just so beautiful and arrogant and satisfying. Like I think doing that kind of little reference and joke for myself brings me into the mindset of what I am trying to convey with the game.Like, if I'm thinking in the detail of the font selection, what do I want to reference? What do I want to bring to this game? Then, I'm gonna be I'm gonna be thinking about that in every other choice I'm making for the game, too. And even if half of those choices end up being just for me, I will have been in the headspace to make the other half that are for everyone else, too.Nico: Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. like, You could almost even call these, like, Easter eggs, right?But it also made me think about, I had to look this up actually as you were talking, because I was like, about that, the CalArts classroom number that like all of the animators that studied there fit into like Pixar movies and stuff, like, A113, A113. And I think that's also sort of a good example of it in some ways, because it's like now, with the advent of the internet, and you know, and a certain way of engaging with media, like, everyone knows what that, what that means now, or they could if they just looked it up, or they just see some BuzzFeed, you know, article that's like, you know, 50 easter eggs that you missed in the latest Pixar movie.But yeah, it's like, it's very interesting because it kind of asks who is the movie for? What's the intended or imagined audience for all of these things? And it sort of shows that, like, you can have multiple audiences or multiple levels of engagement with the same audience, like, at the same time. Maybe, I would say, it's very unlikely that any random person would just like, look at the cover of I Know The End and be like, oh, that's the Lilancholy font, but,Sam: I have had someone say that to me, though. Yeah.Nico: but, so, what I was just gonna say is like, but I don't think it's hard to imagine that like, the type of person who would, who would buy, who would be interested in I Know The End or Lilancholy, I think there's a pretty decent chance that they would be interested in the other if they're interested in one of them, right?And so it is interesting as well, where it's like, I am often surprised by like the ability of people to sort of interpret or decipher things that far outweighs my sort of expectations of their ability to do so.If only just because I have the arrogance to be like, well no one could ever have a mind like mine. Like, no one could ever think in the specific bizarre way that I do. Then it's like actually a surprising number of people think in a very similar way. Sam: Another thing I think about with making these really, really tiny references, easter eggs, it's the, not making a decision is making a decision, right? CentrismNico: Oh,Sam: Like, if you have literally anything that you have not made a choice about with intention, that is a missed opportunity, I think.And... I have so much respect for people who will just pump something out, like, write a page of a game and, like, upload as a DocX to itch. Like, Aaron King is a genius, and I know a lot of games that are put out that way, and I love that stuff. But for me, like, the kind of art creation process that I enjoy and like doing is so based on finding meaning in every crevice, finding a way to express yourself in every detail. just love doing it.Nico: you are the English teacher that the, the curtains are blue meme is referencing, in fact.Sam: Yes.Nico: The curtains are blue in I Know The End because,Sam: Well, and I know the end they are red, but Nico: yes.Imagine that being the new version of the meme: the curtains in this are red because there's a Phoebe Bridgers album that has a single pixel that is that color.Sam: Yeah, I don't know. It's true, though.Nico: Exactly. it is in fact true. But so would, in some ways, any other interpretation of...Sam: Yeah.Nico: of the red color, right? It's like you picked it because of the association with the album cover. Someone else could be like, Oh, it means this otherthing. And like that interpretation is correct. Sam: Yeah, I mean, I also picked it because of its association with blood, you know, like I, I wanted to kind of evoke that feeling too, so.Shall we do the table of contents? HehNico: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the most interesting thing to talk about, and I want to know when this entered the sort of the design process, is the blacked out Table of Contents entry which corresponds to an almost entirely blacked out, or in this case, redded out,Sam: Yeah, Nico: messily redacted,part of, the book,Sam: Yeah, I think this was always there, I think I started writing a list of locations very early on, and on that list of locations was, like, I work in Google Docs to begin with for most of my stuff, and it was a bullet pointed numbered list, and the last list item was struck through, and it was your mom's house.And I just thought that was a funny little joke. It's like really dark? Another, just like a little detail, I have such a great relationship with my parents. Like really just a better relationship with my parents than anyone I know. And, so much of my art ends up with these like, really bad, fucked up relationships with parents, and I don't know what that's about.But, there's, there's something about, there's a piece of your hometown that is like so traumatic that you can't bring yourself to look at it. There's a piece of yourself, or your childhood, or like, where you came up, there's something from your origin story that you can't bear to face is a lot of what this is about. And even as the climax of this thing is I think in a lot of ways turning to face everything that you left behind.I mean the whole module is about that but I think fact that even when you are doing that, there's one piece of it that you can't bear to look at is really tragic and a mood to me. You know, it really felt right. Nico: it's sort of like, yeah, I'm finally gonna stand my ground and face my fear, or whatever, except for that thing. That thing, that part over there, for whatever reason, because I'm actually just very afraid of it. It really, as always, is sort of like the exceptions to the rule make the rule, or emphasize the rule. You're kind of carving out the negative space around it. And it makes it clearer in so. so Well, Yeah, so like, then the first thing of the game text itself, so to speak, is like the front and back of a postcard. And where's the picture from? It looks kind of old timey in a sort of non specific way.Sam: It's from Wikimedia Commons, I believe. I was looking for pictures of old postcards, and I wanted a small town, and, this is what I found.The postcard image is actually like a hell of a photo bash too. The stamp on it is from a real postcard I received from my cousin. The handwriting was me on just like a piece of paper that I scanned, and then the postcard is another like open source postcard image.Nico: Yeah. I am, once again, sort of showing, showing a lot of my bias here. I am often kind of against a lot of little, like, accessories, or sort of, like, physical things that are often part of crowdfunding, like, stretch goals, you know, like, it's, I don't know. I don't think it's, like, ontologically evil or anything like that, it's just, I understand, it's part of the reality of crowdfunding, and, like, attracting attention, and yada yada yada, I just personally don't love that reality. Which, of course, is easy to criticize when you're not part of a project is trying to do that, but that aside, I think it would actually genuinely be very cool to have, like, this postcard as, like, a physical object like, if the game were to be printed.Sam: You gonna make me like, handwrite every one of the postcards too? Cause that isNico: I did not say that. Oh, is that really? Well, but then, then you have it already, you can just print it off, like, or you make that the, like, I don't know, the hundred dollar stretch goal, you know, they back it at that level and then the postcard just appears inside their mailbox. Like,Sam: That wa that is creepy. I will tell you that,Nico: You say that as though it's happened to you before. You're like, well, let meSam: well, I'm not, I, I revealing nothing. How autobiographical is this? Nico: Yeah. so I guess, yeah, so getting, So this is the introduction page, the background, the introduction, giving the context to what this module, extended bestiary, what have you, what it is. My question here from a sort of meta perspective is like, how much are you trying to sort of give away at the start of this? How do you pitch this to , like to someone you know?Sam: that's a great question. I'm pretty proud of the execution here. I think I do a good job of, like, leaving some juicy hints here as to what might be going on without giving anything away. Like, the fact that I advertise this as maybe closer to a bestiary entry than a module, like, uh, what? Like, like you, you have an idea of what that means, but also like, where's the monster, what is the thing that I'm looking like, that is kind of planted in your mind in a way that I think is intriguing and sets expectations without giving the whole thing away.And, also, this is just me, like, trying to figure out how to describe this thing in real time as I'm writing. It really came from intuition. Nico: yeah. I know that, you know you're on, very much on record talking about how, you know, like, taxonomy is fake and, you know, et cetera, et cetera. Sam: As much as I love it.Nico: right, right, exactly, I mean, I feel the same way, but I, I am curious as to like if you were trying to sell someone on the idea of even just playing this game, like, how effective do you think it is of like communicating whatever this is, you know, like, is it effective to say it's kind of this, or it's not this, or maybe it's this, like, Sam: I think this is going to be really good at reaching the kind of person who will love this, and really bad at selling this to like a mass audience, you know? But luckily, I'm not trying to sell this to a mass audience. I'm like trying to make Joe Dissimone proud, you know? Like I'm trying to make like something as weird as fucking possible.and I think there's a kind of person who really appreciates that and this struggle to define what this is using existing terminology, I think is going to really appeal to the people who like this.Nico: yeah, I agree, I think it signposts well hey, you, there, like, look at this thing. Isn't that interesting. And if they're like, If they're like, no, that's confusing and I don't know what to do with it, and they go somewhere else, in some ways, it could be argued that that is like, working as intended, right, likeSam: I kind of find it interesting in the sidebar here to watch me sort of like struggle with how you're supposed to play this game, like what rule system are you supposed to use?I do think with some distance from this, the best way to experience this is as a solo game. Like to just read the thing but pause and journal about your character's experience as you sort of walk through it. I have started playing more solo games since I wrote this in preparation for a Season 3 episode of the show, and I think this would serve that experience really well.I considered even, like, rewriting this to be more of explicitly a solo experience, but I, ultimately was really happy leaving it in its sort of nebulous, provocative, what if, is this, what is this sort of state. Nico: Yeah. I would genuinely be interested to have like, the two of us play the game, like this game, like one running it, one as the player, because I don't necessarily disagree with what you said, might be better suited as a solo game, but I really do think that there is something that can be gained about, like being in a room with, like, one other person, or, you know, being on a call with one other person, or whatever and going through this,Sam: Yeah, yeah, I can feel the intensity of that as you describe it. And it sounds harrowing and... Amazing. I do, I do have this dream of like running a Mork Borg dungeon, like over the course of like three sessions, and then like taking one of the players who survives and being like, I've got another module that I think we should play with the same character. Nico: yeah. Anyways, you go home and you think you're safe, but actually, like, Sam: I do think that this as a response to OSR play is really an interesting way to try to play the game, like to Nico: just sort of experienceSam: Yeah, to try to take the kind of character that you would have coming out of that and the experience you would have coming out of that and then like get tossed into this, like that disorientation I think would serve this really well and would do something that I found I really like to do with the OSR kind of play of like finding ways to bring in more character stuff, to just have people to reflect on their person, rather than on the logistical problem solving.Nico: Mm hmm. Which, of course, in some ways also is like, I don't want to say direct contradiction, but like, moving perpendicular to a lot of the sort of OSR principles, rightSam: But yeah, I mean, fuck em. Nico: exactly, I mean, I'm not, saying that to discourage you from doing it, I'm just saying, like, I just think it's an interesting for those to come into sort of, conflict or, or whatever in, in that specific way.Sam: I mean, that's what the bleeding edge of something is all about, right? It's like, what are our principles? What if we throw them out? What does thatNico: Right, right. What if we smash things together that, like, should sort of repel each other like magnets? Like,Sam: Yeah.Nico: Let's move on to the town?Sam: Yeah. So this is the, like, GM spoiler page.Nico: Right.Sam: I don't know that I have a lot to say about this particular page. It's, it's the town. There are, like, two suggestions in the first chunk of this book that came from you that I think are really valuable to this. Like, the first is that the town is always capitalized throughout. Which I like sort of was doing, but you really emphasized, and I think was a great decision.And, the second is that there aren't any contractions in this book except for possessives. And, that was another suggestion that came from you, to have this sort of stilted, formal, slightly off kind of language of not having contractions, that I think serves it really well and is just really cool.Nico: Yeah, I have to give credit for that, to the Questionable Content webcomic, which is a webcomic that has been running forSam: God, is it still going?Nico: oh, it very much is still going, I, it updates Monday to Friday, and I, am reading, I am seated and reading,Sam: stopped reading that like a decade ago.Nico: It is officially 20 years old. It started in 2003.but so one of the characters in that she initially never uses contractions. It is always, it is, it is never, it's. Do not, not, don't, you know, is not, not, isn't and over time, as the character sort of gets more comfortable and starts to open up about her kind of mysterious past, and they'll deal with a lot of the sort of like, serious emotional turmoil that is present in the character, she like, starts to use contractions.And so, it's a specific device that is very weirdly ingrained in my head at this point, because I remember, like, realizing that when it was called out the first time, and then I will fess up and say I have re read the webcomic from the beginning several times. I have a lot of time on my hands sometimes. And it is always kind of a delight to go back to the beginning and see this character and to really notice that device because you know where she ends up and how much more comfortable she is and so to see that difference in the beginning makes it very effective on a reread in a way that is sort of present in the maybe subconscious the first time on the way through.Thank you. And I feel like it's similar here, not quite the same because I don't know if you would ever necessarily actively realize, like, oh, there are no sort of contractions here.Sam: and the town is never gonna stop being a entity of repression.Nico: Yeah, exactly. And so it's giving this like underlying anxiety kind of like,like, you're just like, Ooh, this is Sam: Yeah. It's like, what is going on? What's wrong with the language here?Nico: Yeah. And you might not even really be able to, articulate it because it's sort of hard to articulate the absence of somethingSam: And like, that's the feeling of the whole module. yeah, It's, it's just, it's a great decision. Nico: Yeah. And then of course, capitalizing town, you know, are you even really a game designer if you're not capitalizing some random words in Sam: yeah. gotta have one at least, come on.Sam: I will say I really enjoy the fact that I give no origin story for the town. I think that's also really powerful, of leaving a hole that people can fill in if they want.The mom repression stuff is kinda like that too, the like, the blacking out sharpie. Of like, that's a hole you could fill in in play if you wanted to, but I, I'm not going to. I'm gonna intentionally leave that hole there.Nico: It also is the kind of thing, right, of like, oh gosh, Nova was saying this in the Dice Exploder Discord recently, where like, part of the reason the OSR can be so sort of rules light and stripped down is because like, it is relying a lot on the sort of cultural script of like, what is a fantasy role playing game, or even just like a fantasy story in general, you know? What your knowledge of an OSR game is.And this, in a similar way, is sort of like, you know what a hometown is. Like, you know, I don't need to tell you what the backstory of this is, because you know what it's like to be from somewhere. Cause it's also worth saying, like, this game does not give any character creation instructions, right? I mean, actually, I guess that's not entirely true, because underneath the postcard, you know, it just says, A decade or more gone since you fled the small backwater town that spawned you.And it's like, yeah, that's basically all the sort of character creation information you need, like,Sam: yeah, yeah, like wait, gonna play yourself and you're gonna be sad about this, like uh, Nico: Right, or, like, or if you're not playing yourself, you are playing a person who's sad about it, like, you know, it's like, it's kind of all you really need, Sam: you have internalized the tone of this thing, like, your character is in ways the negative space of the voice of the text. Nico: Like, a weird relationship with your small hometown, we just don't need to spend very much, time covering that broad background. It's much better spent covering the specific, like, locations and people in this town that also sort of help to convey that, feeling, that information.Sam: Temptations and terrors?Nico: Yes, probably The closest thing to a system that is in here, inasmuch as it's taken roughly verbatim from Trophy Dark Sam: yeah, I do think it is notable that when I wrote this I had not played Trophy Dark, and Trophy Dark is the one where you definitely die,Nico: Right. Right. Sam: My intention was not that you would definitely die in this. I really want escape to be a big possibility at the end and so it's interesting that I went with Trophy Dark as, like, the obvious system.Yeah, I like these lists. This is just a lot of tone setting, basically, right? I don't have a lot to say about the details here. The first terror, a children's toy, damp in a gutter, is a reference to another song that makes me cry. The Rebecca Sugar song for Adventure Time, Everything Stays.But most of the rest of this is just, vibes. Here's some vibes. I don't know, I re read these lists and I was like, yeah, they're fine, great, next page. But I don't know, is there anything that stands out to you here?Nico: I mean, I think the most important thing about these lists, these kinds of things, you could maybe even sort of broaden this to like pick lists in general, is that, they kinda need to do two things, like they need to both give you a good solid list of things to pick from, if you're like, at a loss, or if you just are like, looking through it, and you're like, this is good, I want to use this.Or, the other purpose of using it is to have it sort of identify the space that you're playing in to the point where you can come up with your own thing that like, could just be the next entry on that list, right? For me at least, the whole point of like, buying a game is like, I want something that I like, can't essentially come up with by myself, you know? Because I like to be surprised, I like to be sort of challenged, I like to be inspired, and so I think a really good game is one that you sort of like, read it, and you're like, okay, like, there's great things to use in here that I'm excited to use. I also, after having read this, am coming up with my own ideas. Like, equally long, if not longer, list of things that like, fit into this perfectlySam: Bring the vibes of your small town. Nico: Yeah, exactly, that I could also use. It's like, and so it's like, it's kind of funny that like, for me at least, the mark of a good game is like oh yeah, you both want to use everything that's contained in it, and also you immediately get way more of your own ideas than you could ever use when you're running the game.Sam: Yeah. Next?Nico: Yes. Act 1. Sam: I love this little guy, I love Wes he's just kind of a pathetic little dude, and I feel sad for him.Nico: It's so funny, too, because this particular little guy, like, doesn't look very pathetic to me. Like, he looks like he's kind of doing okay. Sam: I definitely like drew, like all the art in the book I drew, and I did it by just drawing a lot of little heads, and then assigning them to people. Like, there were a couple where they were defining details about how the people looked, that I knew I needed to draw specifically. But in general, I just drew a bunch of heads and then doled them out, and like, this is the one that ended up on Wes. And, I think that the contrast between, like, in my mind, Wes is this skinny, lanky, little kid, you know, he's like early 20s, finally making it on his own, and he has no idea what the hell's going on with the world, and he always looked up to you, and he's finally getting out of town. And then he's, he's like overcompensating with the beard for the fact that he's like balding really early, and like, you know, he's, I don't know, like, I think the contrast is just fun.Nico: I love this whole life that you have for this, this little, this little guy, like, which is, I can't stress this enough, mostly not contained in the text,Sam: Yeah. yeah. I think a good NPC is like that. I think it's really hard to transcribe the characters we get in our heads.Nico: yeah, Sam: I really like the, the pun in the Town Crier, I mean like the Town Crier feels like a horror movie trope, like the old man who's gonna be like, You got don't go up to the cabin! But it's also, like I wrote that down first and then just started describing this Wes guy and then I was like I'm gonna just like make a pun out of this.This is something I did all the time while writing this, was I had, like, a little oracle going, actually, at a certain point, like, in the same way that you would in a solo game with an oracle. Like, if I was stuck for an idea, I would just roll on the oracle table and then, like, fill in a detail that was somehow related to the oracle. Nico: Mhm. Sam: That, that didn't happen here, but the idea of, Oh, I want a little bit more description for this guy, like, what should I do? I, like, pulled the word crier, and then was like, Oh, that's really interesting, like, when would this guy have cried? Like, oh, that's a great question, let's just, like, put that to the player. I'm always, like, a thing in screenwriting that is really hard to do, and that I'm always looking for is, like, really good, pithy character descriptions.Like, a friend of mine loves the one like, this is a woman who always orders fajitas at a Mexican restaurant because she loves the attention that she gets when the fajitas come out.She hates fajitas. And that description just says Nico: That's Sam: much. It's so good, right? And that one's even a little bit long for like a screenplay, but it'd be great for like an RPG thing, right?And something about like Here's a little bit about this guy. You remember when he was crying once, like a baby? What was the deal with that? Like, it's such a, like, defines everything else about him. Like, I, I, I'm really proud that.Nico: Yeah. No, that's, that's how I felt a little bit with I ran Vampire Cruise at Big Bad Con this year. And that game has some of, like, the best random NPC generating tables that I've, like, ever seen and played with.I remember one specifically, it was, like, I was like, rolling to generate a passenger, and I think it was like, the secrets part of the table, or something like that, and what I rolled was like, regrets that she never got to see the dinosaurs, and it's like, what does that mean?Like, like, Sam: She had a traumatic experience at a science museum as a kid, or maybe she's like 10 million years old, like, I don't...Nico: or, yeah, or she's just like a weirdo who like really loves dinosaurs? It's like, it's, Like, it really gives you sort of what you need to just sort of like, spin a world out of that specific detail. Sam: It's weird because I like completely agree with you, and you know, I was tooting my own horn about like this question about Wes sobbing and also like, in every single spread of this thing, I'm taking like two full pages to talk about like one or two NPCs, which is a terrible way to do the thing that we are talking about doing. Like,Nico: That is true, that is, it must be said,Sam: it makes it feel so much more like a short story, or maybe like a solo game, right? It's like, eh, spend two pages, like, getting to know this guy. Nico: who won't come up again, spoiler alert, Sam: Yeah, it feels like the right call for this thing where like, I mean it's like the text is forcing you to sit with the memory of this guy, it's like forcing you to come in and like spend more time than you would like to like back at home with these people.And there's some like location context built into all these descriptions too, and we like learn about the bakery thing here and like old stories and stuff. And like, already it's like, do we need that shit to run this game? Like, absolutely not, like, get, get out of the way, like, but also, I don't know, it feels right?And it's one of the things that makes all this weird and, you know, unrunnable.Nico: Which is of course the goal, we don't want people to run this. Yeah, no, that's something that I've thought about in my own games as well, is, is, and just sort of like, my life, I guess, is sort of like, what makes a place that place, you know, like, what makes a town a town, what makes a city a city, like, is it the people who live there? Is it the places? Like, again, kind of back to the sort of Ship of Theseus metaphor, it's like, if everyone you know leaves, and a lot of the stores turnover, like, is that still your hometown? Like... Does your relationship to it change?And so I, in defense of, of what we're doing here, it makes a lot of sense to spend so much time thinking about the people and the places that are here because that also basically is the game, right?Like, like, this is not a dungeon crawl, right? Like, this is not a hack and slash thing, It's not a dungeon crawl, like, Sam: it's a person crawl. Nico: Yeah, exactly, you're yeah, the point of you coming home is you're trying to find Sidra, the person who sent you this postcard, asking you to come home, and yeah, you're basically doing a point crawl, trying to find this person.And then there are various conditions that need to be in place for you to actually find them = And yeah, so it's like, using more words than a sort of your standard OSR like dungeon crawl or point crawl or whatever, or hex crawl, but like, it's kind of the same way where it's like, yeah, but like, that's the game, that's the adventure, like, Sam: yeah, yeah. Another detail here I'm really proud of is the like, offhand remark about how Wes and Sidra aren't talking for what are probably romantic reasons. Because the implication, there's like a strong implication that you, player, have some sort of romantic history with Sidra, like, whether it was ever consummated or not. And I love the just sort of, like, offhand, Wes and Sidra had a thing that didn't work out, because it both... leaves open your potential romantic relationship with Sidra, but also like complicates it and like darkens it from whatever sort of nostalgic quote unquote pure like memory of it you had.And I love that it just sort of brings a little complexity into what happens when you leave for 15 years. And then like what it feels like when you like, hear, oh yeah, your ex has been like, dating someone for a couple years. What were we talking about? Like just that, like sometimes like a bolt of like, information about like, someone from your past that like, you care a lot about will just hit you and you'll be like, oh, wait, what? And we're just I'm supposed to just like, take that and move on? Like, yeah, yeah, Nico: It's also a very small town, right, where it's a sort of like, oh yeah, passing reference to this because everyone knows this already, right? Like, this is old news as well as, like, in a small town, it's like, there's a small pool of people your age that you're interested in, so, not like you're gonna get with all of them inevitably, but it's like, yeah, there's a pretty high chance that you might.Last thing I did wanna say on this, do you wanna share what Wes's name was in the first draft of this that I received?Sam: What was it? I don't rememberNico: It was Glup Shitto. It was, it was one of the first comments I left! It was one of the first comments I left! I was like, Sam, you've gotta know this can't be the final thing, right?Sam: knew it couldn't be the final name. But there was something really funny to me about like the one person who like doesn't fit into town, like this little fucking Star Wars fanboy like schmuck kid is just Glup Shitto. And he's leaving town cuz like when you got that name, it doesn't fit anymore. You gotta get the fuck out of there.No wonder the town couldn't absorb him. His name was Glup Shitto.Nico: I want to say, like, I might have, like, made my first round of comments because I was, like, yeah, feeling the same way of, like, okay, obviously this is not the finalSam: yeah, yeah, I just didn't change it and you were likebruh Nico: and then, yeah, and then you, like, made changes based on the comments that I left, and I went back to it, and I'm like, it's still Glup Shitto. Like, it simply can't be this! It's not allowed! It's, it's not legal! Like, Sam: there ought to be a law.Nico: yeah.Sam: Alright, let's do Act 2 gosh.Yeah, so I made this little map. I like the little map. This is just my hometown, incidentally. Like, there's so much in this that is just, like, pulling details directly from my hometown. That oracle that I mentioned earlier, like, Northfield, Minnesota was, like, one of the things on the oracle. And you can see that here in like, the riverwalk and this little bridge over it was very Northfield. the Rube, which we're getting to next, these two bars, the kind of cowboy themed bar thing was a thing.Nico: Again, it's a very small town of just like, no sort of reasonable business person would have these specific Sam: yeah, but they, they exist here for some reason Nico: it almost feels like the kind of thing where it's like, like they can exist in a really small town, because it's sort of like, well they're the only things here, and they can exist in like New York City Sam: yeah. Nico: everything's in New York city, and like every kind of place is there, but like anywhere in between, people would just be like, I don't understand, and then it goes out of business,Sam: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, doctors always also a big portion of my childhood and my past always coming up in my stuff just because I spent so much time in hospitals as a kid. So the, inclusion of a doctor here is also very much something coming out of my hometown.I like the little mechanic here of, like, rolling and you, like, add one every, every time. I think that's a nice sort of way to handle trying to find Sidra. Nico: as like a classic Nico mechanic 'cause I simply haven't made and published that many things. But in my mind, my narcissistic fantasy, it is a classic me mechanic.Sam: I believe that came from you.Nico: I fucking love a table that like evolves over time.And it's not like I invented it, but like, I think my more standard thing is sort of like you have a table of like 12 things, and then you change which die you roll on it, you know, it's like, oh you can do like a d4 through d12 or whatever and that's like, I really like the ability to sort of go back to a table and, like, use it multiple times as opposed to, like, Okay, we have one table for this, we have a different table for that, you know.Sam: Additional persons. I really like this format for sort of generic NPCs, like, I'm not gonna tell you anything about this person, but I am gonna tell you what you think about them and your relationship to them.I think it's a really cool way of doing... Oh, do you just need to, like, bring someone in? You, like, met someone on the street or whatever? In a lot of other settings, you would just have, like, a random person, and it would be, like, the Vampire Cruise thing. If you give them an interesting detail in here, it'd be a cool thing.But I think, especially in, like, a small town format, the, like, here's your relationship to this person, because everyone knows everyone, and, every character that comes in, like, is gonna have to inspire some kind of feeling and past in you. I think this works really cool, reallyNico: It also feels very sort of true to life in terms of, at least, how I often GM things. Someone will be like, hey, can I, like, ask just, like, the next person I see on the street what they know about this thing? And I'm like, I mean, I fuckin I guess, like, it'll shock you to learn I don't have a name for that person, but, you know, I just have to, like, come up with, like, here's a weird voice, and like, a random thing they know, and like here's a name, Sam: This is a great way to turn that experience back on the player.Nico: exactly, yeah, there's this random person, you're like, alright, this is someone who owes you an apology, why is that?Like, Sam: yeah, Nico: I also wanna say that I feel like this was actually a relatively late addition to theSam: Yeah, it was. I always intended to write these, but it was like the last thing that I wrote.Nico: Yeah.Sam: Yeah.Nico: There was definitely some time when I sort of came back and looked at it, and all of a sudden there was this relatively large additional persons section in here, and I was like, huh, interesting.Sam: Yeah. I'm happy with how it came out. I think these are my best little guys. Nico: Oh yeah, Sam: I really like the unfinishedness of these little guys that you can project a little bit of yourself onto them while there's still some, like, major details there. This someone you seek vengeance upon looks a lot like a penis, and I don't know how I feel about that one, butNico: I was gonna say, I find that one fascinating as the ide
This week, I am excited to present my interview with David Gaider, a veteran writer and narrative designer who has made significant contributions to the gaming industry. David started his career as part of the BioWare team, working on some of the most iconic games of our time, including Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. As the lead writer for Dragon Age: Origins, he helped create the complex world of Thedas, which has captivated gamers worldwide. David's work on Dragon Age: Inquisition also earned the studio numerous awards and recognition from the industry. So, come on in, grab your seat by the fire, and let's hear what David has to say about his journey and experiences in the worlds of gaming and writing. We dig into, amongst other things: How David "stumbled" into the gaming industry, His history and experience creating games for tabletop rpgs and LARPs, Starting out at BioWare, How to craft a story without controlling the protagonist, The struggles of moving from prose writing to creating branching narratives, The importance of looking after yourself as a writer and avoiding burnout, Focusing on creating characters first and plot second, and The challenges and excitement of creating a branching narrative musical! Give it a listen! David's Links: -> Twitter -> LinkedIn -> Bluesky -> Summerfall Studios -> Stray Gods on Steam The Corner of Story and Game: -> Facebook -> Instagram -> Twitter -> TikTok -> Threads -> Bluesky -> LinkedIn -> Email: gerald@storyandgame.com If you have any questions or comments on this or any other episode, please let me know. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to hear more conversations with professionals in the video game, tabletop, and fiction industries. #DavidGaider #Writer #GameDesigner #NarrativeDesigner #BranchingNarratives #StrayGods #RoleplayingMusical #SummerfallStudios #BioWare #DragonAge #WritingAdvice #CreativeLiving #Storytelling #Storycraft #TheCornerOfStoryAndGame
It's the listener show! Today we bring on a group of cohosts to attempt the impossible task of filling Shannon's shoes while she continues to recover. Tanner presents a segment on the Kinderhook plates, drawing larger implications for how it disproves other Mormon scripture “translation” claims. Then Will takes us on a journey through reconciling his relationship with his mom through LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) and making his own “translation” of the Kinderhook plates. Then Julie gives us a rundown on the new Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. After that we're joined by Friend from Serbia (V) to discuss the ongoing situation involving Connexions and its leaders, Jodi Hildebrant and Ruby Franke. We round out the show with some happy climate news based in the U.S. Show Notes: Will's Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheSeerStoners / Tail end of Heavenly Mother LARP - https://twitter.com/TheSeerStoners/status/1576569834384809984 Ryan Gosling Talent Show at a Mormon church 1991 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJQvXCoNDzM Julie's Twitter - @juliebr83 Tanner's blog - https://diligenceovertime.blogspot.com/ Come see us on Aron Ra's YouTube channel! He's doing a series titled Reading Joseph's Myth BoM. This link is for the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXJ4dsU0oGMKfJKvEMeRn5ebpAggkoVHf Check out his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@AronRa Email: glassboxpodcast@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GlassBoxPod Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/glassboxpodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlassBoxPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glassboxpodcast/ Merch store: https://www.redbubble.com/people/exmoapparel/shop Or find the merch store by clicking on “Store” here: https://glassboxpodcast.com/index.html One time Paypal donation: bryceblankenagel@gmail.com
Author Stories - Author Interviews, Writing Advice, Book Reviews
Do you have a recommendation for a guest on the show? Want more of a particular direction of guests? Drop me a line at hank.garner@dabblewriter.com and let me know! Join us at our YouTube channel to join in LIVE for upcoming author interviews! https://tinyurl.com/dabbleyoutube The Olympian Affair (The Cinder Spires Book 2) Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in the mountains outside Denver, Colorado. Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990's when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist. All the same, he refuses to change his nickname.
Do you have a recommendation for a guest on the show? Want more of a particular direction of guests? Drop me a line at hank.garner@dabblewriter.com and let me know! Join us at our YouTube channel to join in LIVE for upcoming author interviews! https://tinyurl.com/dabbleyoutube The Olympian Affair (The Cinder Spires Book 2) Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in the mountains outside Denver, Colorado. Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990's when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist. All the same, he refuses to change his nickname. When you click a link on our site, it might just be a magical portal (aka an affiliate link). We're passionate about only sharing the treasures we truly believe in. Every purchase made from our links not only supports Dabble but also the marvelous authors and creators we showcase, at no additional cost to you.
______________________ Recording live 7/26/23 BK OG Mr.Robot got some things he needs to get off his chest - this got be spicy!! ______________________ https://zbd.gg/bitcoinkindergarten Send tips over lightning by clicking link above or scanning QR code top right during stream and your message will pop up on screen . ______________________ IF YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF THE CONVERSATION JOIN US ON TWITTER SPACES: twitter.com/btckindergarten ______________________ FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/BTCKindergarten FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/bitcoinkinderga...
Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021 Presented by Olivia Montoya, Acata Felton. In some circles, Secrets and Powers LARPs are dismissed as outdated or "too obscure." Our panelists flatly reject this mindset, and invite you to join them for a discussion about what Secrets and Powers games have to offer. Come learn more about this specific type of LARP, which has a focus on pre-written characters, hidden information and roles, and ability mechanics. Learn about why secrets and powers games are cool, get a crash course on how to write and GM them in the modern day, and consider how to make a better future for communities that run them.
Rob interviews Sean Nittner about the Backerkit for, "Big Bad Con 23"! Support this Backerkit at this link: https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/79ab90a4-9eed-4b37-a417-01692df6f57c/landing Big Bad Con is a tabletop gaming convention focused on supporting gamers from marginalized backgrounds and nurturing a space to grow the gaming community by hosting a convention that is as physically, socially, and financially accessible as possible. We are a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization composed of volunteers, staff, GMs, and players. We welcome you to join us on September 28 for Big Bad Con 2023, featuring four days of TTRPGs, LARPs, board and card games, panels, workshops, and more. Social Media Links & Tags Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BigBadCon Twitter https://twitter.com/bigbadcon Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bigbadcon/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZTZeTM1WamDePxRpEMCftw Discord: https://www.bigbadcon.com/community-discord/ Website: https://www.bigbadcon.com/ Email: info@bigbadcon.com Find Go Fund This at: southgatemediagroup.com twitter.com/rsouthgate facebook.com/gofundthispodcast patreon.com/southgatemediagroup
Lindsey and Ash discuss weather-based migraines, the psychic connections between witches, and whether or not horse girls always end up in LARPs after all. Lindsey's favorite topic of the week is not conservatives' sudden hatred of Bud Light. It's a surprise for listeners to discover. Ash and author Jason June talk about Queer joy in literature, the detrimental effects of Queer book bans, the potent metaphor of merpeople in this episode. For more info, visit www.heyjasonjune.com. RADIO SGN INFO Merch: www.redbubble.com/people/SeattleGayNews/shop Instagram: @radio.sgn Twitter: @radiosgn Music Intro: Meatball by Jesse Spillane Transitions: Night Sun by TRG Banks --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/seattle-gay-news/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/seattle-gay-news/support
Ruth Catlow is an artist, researcher, and recovering web utopian. Her projects include: the CultureStake app for collective cultural decision-making and LARPs for planetary-scale interspecies justice. She was an early visionary when it comes to seeing the potential of the blockchain to democratize art, and is the author of Radical Friends - DAOs and the Arts and Artists Re:thinking the Blockchain. Let's dive in! Key Takeaways:Planetary scale interspecies justice and live action role play, or LARPMore than human equal rights Effects of LARPing as a dog Pressure to maintain status and culture over tech Coordination vs collaboration and democracy Voting, deliberations, and understanding what we care aboutComplexities of nested systems Opting out of a system Catlow's new book with Marc Garrett Additional Resources:Learn more about CultureStakeFollow FurtherfieldAmber Case on Controlling our own User DataLearn more about Logos DAOConnect with Logos DAO on LinkedIn and TwitterGet all the news from DAO or NeverIf you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform!
Episode 077 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick features an interview with author Rhiannon (R. Z.) Held. Rhiannon Held is the author of the Silver series of urban fantasy novels published by Tor. As R. Z. Held, she writes the Amsterdam Institute series of space opera novellas. Her short fiction, also under R. Z. Held, appears in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Hybrid Fiction, and a number of other publications and anthologies. Rhiannon lives near Seattle, where she works as an archaeologist for an environmental compliance firm. At work, she mostly uses her degree for copy-editing technical reports; in writing, she uses it for cultural world-building; in public, she'll probably use it to check the mold seams on the wine bottle at dinner. Our conversation goes deep on... cultural worldbuilding deep time in fiction touching people through our stories balancing writing from the heart and following genre tropes reaching new readers the benefits of walking and "buffer zones" between our working and writing life... ...and a whole lot more. This one is chock full of good stuff. Listen! This episode was recorded on March 27th, 2023. The conversation with Rhiannon Held was recorded on January 22nd, 2023. Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode My day job? I'm a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters and other creators. How can I help you? Rhiannon mentions LARPing. That stands for Live Action Role Playing. Here's a little more about LARPs. Rhiannon also mentioned play-by-email role playing games... a modern(ish) version of play-by-mail games that started in the 1970s. Personal creative franchises (storyworlds) come up a lot on this show. In this episode, I mentioned Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion, Stephen King's loosely interconnected Prime Earth, and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar. Rhiannon mentions Chaco Culture and Mesa Verde. I bring up Kevin J. Anderson's walking / dictation routine. What is walking meditation? Rhiannon mentions NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Here is the episode where I reveal my proposal for fixing the Amazon bookstore. Rhiannon mentions the DARE program, which, surprisingly, is still a thing. Maybe you would like to be a future guest on Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick? Learn more! Big thanks to my Multiversalists patron community, including Amelia Bowen, Ted Leonhardt, Chuck Anderson, and J. C. Hutchins! This episode took almost nine hours to record, edit, produce, and publish, so I'm incredibly grateful for the support of my patrons. If Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick brings you joy, become a patron! The Multiversalists patron member community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, patrons get an additional half hour of content, including an entire side conversation on Rhiannon Held's particular day to day life as an archaeologist, plus lots of other stuff. Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too. Every month the member community has at least twenty members, I will donate 10% of net patron revenue to 826 National in support of literacy and creative writing advocacy for children. Let's go! Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and have the desire and means to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.
Yochai Gal joins us to discuss Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", Ursula K. LeGuin, Cairn's influences, Book of the New Sun, the Blade Runner movie, androids and empathy, what makes a belief system valid, Philip K. Dick's less approachable works, sex as a survival strategy, current concerns about AI, cyberpunk LARPs, Jack Vance, and much more!
Sereia Spinner (they/them) is a sensitivity consultant, burlesque performer, avid LARPer, a historian. In all that they do, Sereia specializes in bringing important truths to the spotlight while motivating others to do the same. In this episode, Sereia speaks on the need for sensitivity consultants in creative projects, why LARPs should care about making their communities inclusive, and how to make your LARP more accessible to people of color. 00:00 - Intro 02:02 - Play & Games As Survival Skills 04:40 - Sereia's First Forays Into Gaming 04:50 - “What is D&D but text based rp spoken out loud with dice?” 06:28 - How Sereia Found LARPing 12:30 - A Sensitivity Consultant Is Born 18:10 - Why Games Need Sensitivity Consultants 27:54 - LARPing in Color 31:46 - Consulting as an Act of Care 36:34 - Getting More POC in LARPs 42:46 - The Necessity of Intentionality & Accessibility in LARP 50:54 - Final Thoughts Resources LARPing in Color: Consultant List -- https://larpingincolor.com/consultants Support my show! www.bubblegumbitchcraft.etsy.com Credits Guest -- Sereia Spinner, sereia.mcdaniel@gmail.com Production by Victor Media Group, Inc. -- https://victormediagroup.co/ Original Music by Byson -- https://spoti.fi/3eoC47l Creator / Host -- Clara Mount (@bubblegum_titan on Twitter) Executive Producers -- J.B. Adams and Gerard Mitchell Sound Editing -- Anna Hughes Production Assistance -- Bishop Clarke
E346 Father Sebastiaan is a vampyre, master fangsmith, author and impresario of the Endless Night Vampire Ball. His story is an adventure around the world. We talk Vampire/Vampyre culture, Anne Rice, the birth of the literary vampire, the importance of LARPs, his Sabretooth children, vampire tv shows, movies and more! For more information and links, […]
RECOMMENDED PODCAST: The HR industry is at a crossroads. What will it take to construct the next generation of incredible businesses – and where can people leaders have the most business impact? Hosts Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich have been through it all, the highs and the lows – IPOs, layoffs, executive turnover, board meetings, culture changes, and more. With a lineup of industry vets and experts, Nolan and Kelli break down the nitty-gritty details, trade offs, and dynamics of constructing high performing companies. Through unfiltered conversations that can only happen between seasoned practitioners, Kelli and Nolan dive deep into the kind of leadership-level strategy that often happens behind closed doors. Check out the first episode with the architect of Netflix's culture deck Patty McCord. https://link.chtbl.com/hrheretics (0:00) intro and sponsor (1:20) introductions (who the f are we?) (3:00) Antonio introduction (5:12) Dan introduction (6:50) Farcaster (10:10) Erik introduction (12:30) the life of the mind vs the life of the founder (16:00) Being in the arena as a requisite to comment (18:30) Why is the podcast named “Moment of Zen”? (20:20) Erik is the Johnny Appleseed of group chats (23:30) Group chat culture (26:55) Reforming institutions vs building new ones (29:30) Antonio's intellectual evolution (30:40) Europe is behind, but Antonio prefers it (31:40) Antonio feels like a teetotaler who runs a bar (32:50) LARPs (34:00) Explaining Fukuyama (37:50) What's the best functioning institution today? (39:10) Richard Hanania (42:30) We don't have a grand unifying projects anymore (45:00) Should the China threat be the unifying narrative? (48:05) Taiwan (49:56) Explaining Zeihan (1:00:20) When shit hits the fan, what country do you flee to? (1:02:40) Why doesn't Prince Harry get a paternity test? (1:04:00) Europe vs America (1:08:20) Dan is bullish on Europeans, bearish on Europe (1:11:20) “Everything except the startup scene is better in Europe” (1:15:19) Why is the US public sector so much worse? (1:21:35) Why are we doing this show? (1:22:32) “How about we just don't get canceled?” (1:23:55) Teasing upcoming guests (1:24:34) Erik's favorite ex-convict?
A BONUS EPISODE? In this economy?! That's right! Welcome to a very special episode of Goodnight and Good Game. We are coming to you with an interview with Caroline Jensen as a follow-up to our episode last week on the importance of roleplaying. Caroline has done work with the twitch channel TTRP Theather and is featured in the World of Darkness documentary, currently available to view on Amazon Video. In this episode we talk about why Roleplaying has hit the mainstream in a big way, discuss various LARPs including The Night In Question and of course, Saturnalia. Where can you find her content? https://www.twitch.tv/ttrp_theater Special thanks to: https://bynightstudios.com/ http://reverie.studio --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gnggcast/support
This week on the show — Felix Barrett, the Artistic Director of Punchdrunk is here to talk about The Burnt City — currently playing in London — but that's not all. We get into the state of the London immersive scene, LARPS, Punchdrunk's own experiments with immersive gaming, that time they created a DOCTOR WHO event for school kids, video games, and the origins of Punchdrunk itself.I tell you straight - I was nervous as heck going into this and I shouldn't have been. Not only is this the biggest interview of the year for us, it's also one of our best in ages.Show NotesPunchdrunkThe Burnt CityInscryptionImmortalityQuills FestRematch: Rumble in the JungleNoPro Patreon Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Larps, larps everywhere. Happy ADU DAY.
As promised, we're finally talking about The Murderbot Diaries! And on the topic of soap opera serials, such as a SecUnit might like to watch in order to avoid doing its job, tune in to hear us gush about a Court of Fey and Flowers! Also featured- Nona the Ninth, the difficulties in running intrigue LARPs, and things you can put in your ears (such as this podcast)! Enjoy! Make sure to check out our two other podcasts, "Yavin Radio" and "The Edge of Reality" You can find The Ace of Geeks at aceofgeeks.net Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/M3MYrdkP2X On Twitter @aceofgeeks On Facebook facebook.com/aceofgeeks Please check out The League of Swords, a high octane sword fighting experience that combines the best of pro wrestling, fighting games, and cinematic sword fights at leagueofswords.com You can find Mike @VengeanceGOD on Twitter, @VengeanceGOD2 on TikTok, and @brokeninfinityfilms on Instagram Jarys' writings on spirituality and magic are available at firstchurchofthemorningstar.com Rowan's music is at: https://soundcloud.com/user-791152727/sets/the-plague-overstayed-its/s-hAJL0cWcAdr?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing , and you can buy him a boba at www.ko-fi.com/saleibriel And Mae Linh's TikTok is @mlkitty1875
David had been skeptical about reverse mortgages and now considers himself a “late convert.” Don Graves sees reverse mortgages as a financial planning tool cleverly disguised as a mortgage. Using a football analogy, think of a reverse mortgage as the 11th player on the team (along with income, pension, social security, etc.), which will increase the chances of you winning. Don explains why reverse mortgages should be considered a tax-free stream of income, right along with Roth IRAs, Roth 401ks, Roth conversions, LARPs, and so forth. The idea is that, when you take income by way of a reverse mortgage, it's a true tax-free stream of income. This income does not count as provisional income, thus not counting as a threshold that causes Social Security taxation. Don shares a couple of examples of how reverse mortgages can lead to great outcomes. Don describes the profile of the typical person for whom the reverse mortgage strategy may apply. Mentioned in this episode: David's books: Power of Zero, Look Before Your LIRP, The Volatility Shield, Tax-Free Income for Life and The Infinity Code DavidMcKnight.com PowerOfZero.com (free video series) @mcknightandco on Twitter @davidcmcknight on Instagram David McKnight on YouTube HousingWealth.net AskDonGraves@gmail.com Ed Slott
Featuring: Ammosart, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra, Tamrielo, and Thalen Sometimes a big week happens where there is a collision of events leading us to all want to talk about a game. We welcome Kodra back from GenCon 2022 and he talks about his experiences namely the LARPs he participated in and this leads to a discussion of Warmachine 4.0. From there we spend some time talking about the Path of Exile 3.19 Lake of Kalandra league reveal stream and the changes it is ushering in. Bel and Ammo talk a bit about Tower of Fantasy which seems to be a universally better version of Genshin Impact set in a science fiction borderlands/wildstar-like universe. Finally, we wrap things up with some talk about Cult of the Lamb where you sacrifice your friends for fun and profit. Topics Discussed GenCon 2022 LARPs Warmachine 4.0 What is going on? Path of Exile 3.19 Lake of Kalandra Stream Tower of Fantasy Cult of the Lamb
Welcome to the FuturePerfect Podcast where we talk with compelling people breaking new ground in art, media, and entertainment. This podcast is produced by FuturePerfect Studio, an extended reality studio creating immersive experiences for global audiences. Episodes are released every two weeks, visit our website futureperfect.studio for more details.The text version of this interview has been edited for length and clarity. Find the full audio version above or in your favorite podcast app.For episode 005, Wayne Ashley interviews Nick Fortugno, co-founder of the New York-based game studio Playmatics and designer of numerous digital and non-digital projects, including board games, collectible card games, large-scale social games, and theater.INTRODUCTION AND ROLEPLAYINGHey Nick, thanks for joining us. I'm really excited to dig into some of your background, ideas, projects, and particularly your alternative vision for a future of theater. I see you as a catalyst, a kind of cultural interlocutor making links across different forms of knowledge and practice, and the work you've done really attests to this. You've designed video and board games as well as outdoor public games. You're the co-founder of Playmatics, a New York game studio and the lead designer on many theater works, including Frankenstein AI and The Raven. And of course, one of the lead creators of the blockbuster mobile game Diner Dash. But first I want to go back a bit. Your cousin introduced you to roleplaying when you were quite young and you ran your first game of Dungeons and Dragons at six years old. Is it too much to assume that roleplaying is one of the most critical activities for you, if not a central organizing practice leaking into everything you do? Give us a sense of how roleplaying has activated much of your thinking and practice.Nick Fortugno: I think a central organizing principle is like a good way of thinking about it. It doesn't inform all of my work in a literal sense, but it's the heart of how I think about aesthetics. In Dungeons and Dragons, essentially what you do is you tell stories with other people and you use a rule system to adjudicate disagreement. You have a lot of “I hit you”—“no you didn't” stuff in roleplaying so you need rules to deal with that. When you're storytelling in that system and you're the person responsible for making the story, you don't story-tell the way you do in other forms where you have an idea of the story in your head and you're figuring out how to implement it in a way that will affect the audience. Instead, the players or the protagonists are interacting with you and they're changing it constantly. And so you don't know where the story is going. You have ideas of where you could go, you have ideas of what you might want to happen, but you're really in this collaborative process. And so this idea of improvising and using systems to generate things and being responsive to the interactions of other people is very much at the heart of my work. It's how I teach, how I think about storytelling centrally, and it informs a lot of my aesthetics. So yeah I would not be the person I was today if my cousin Joey didn't teach me D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.DESIGN THINKINGYou're also a prolific researcher, not only of games, but of literature, theme parks, new technologies, and performance. I'm thinking about a previous discussion we had where in one breath you mentioned cultural forms that most people would never bring together in the same conversation. The list is long, but indulge me here: the British theater company Gob Squad, Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland, Harry Potter hotel, the theater collective The Wooster Group, the blockbuster event Sleep No More, the novels of Joyce and Pynchon, Evermore Park in Utah, and the epic video game Elden Ring. This cluster excites me because it's how we think as well, across these kinds of groupings. You also use this concept of affordances to enable you to think systematically across all these activities. Can you say more about that?NF: Affordance is a concept from design thinking, Donald Norman really popularized it. It's the idea that a form has features about it that lead to certain kinds of use. There are things that are intuitive in a way, or natural in a way, that come from a form. If I put a handle in a certain place, you hold the handle and that changes your use of the device. That idea that the forms start speaking to certain kinds of use cases is very central to thinking about interactive design. Because when you're a designer in those spaces you make the affordances. You don't tell users what to do. You give them something and you have them do it. That's why it's interactive. It's not like a roller coaster where I strap myself in and I just ride the rails that were put out in front of me. It's more like a theme park where there's just a bunch of stuff. But I don't go wandering off into the most boring part of the theme park. I go towards the lights, I go towards the sound, I go towards the interactive things. The design of those things that attract me, the things that challenge me, the obstacles and the rewards, all of that stuff moves me around in those spaces. This is central to the way I think about my practice.LITERATURE, PLAY AND AMBIGUITYYou have a BA in graduate study and literature. In our previous conversation, you noted an overlapping relationship between post-war American literature and the kinds of interactive narratives found in gaming. Do I have that right?In our other podcasts I've been really interested in what brings disparate people to these emerging hybrid media spaces. They come from film, dance, theater, visual art, and gaming. I think you're the first person in our podcast series making connections between Pynchon and James Joyce with interactive gaming structures. I'm curious about how you came to make these connections.NF: When I got interested in literature I was drawn to postwar postmodernist approaches to writing, like I'm thinking fifties, sixties, and seventies. But really you could stretch it from a Borgesian and Joycean and Steinean space up through the modern day. There's still authors like Ali Smith doing stuff like this. But when you look at like things like Pynchon and Nabokov in particular, their works start becoming a little bit obsessed with interpretation. Interpretation becomes the center of the novel. The novels become games about interpretations. There are other authors in that space who are really breaking down the sense of what you're supposed to consume from the story because they are, in a meta way, thinking about the fact that you're interpreting them. Whether it's Crying of Lot 49 asking you to think about what communication systems are and then challenging you on how we interpret conspiracies. And that's also all over Foucault's Pendulum. Or a book like Lolita, which is basically laughing in your face about your attempts to understand it. Or Pale Fire for that matter, which I think is an even deeper experiment. What you see over and over again is this idea that the novel is a game that the reader is playing with the novelist. It's not a puzzle. You're not going to get the answer out of it. That's not the point. And certainly postmodern poetry and people like Asbury would argue that if you got one meaning out of a poem, you didn't really read the poem anyway. The work becomes something that you as the audience have some ownership of because it is open to you and because it's an ambiguous object that you have to work with. That's what got me. I was already, just from roleplaying, very used to the idea that I participate in stories and that they come from this relationship with me and the text.So I don't like talking about interactive narrative. I think that's a bad phrase because I I'm always interacting with story. That's not new, what's new is the types of affordances of interaction that I get from stories, and what the possibilities for changing those stories are, and how much the story is a fixed thing that I encounter, and how much the story is flexible to my input. To me, the literature study was partly just giving me an outlet for stories and a place where stories can actually be quite experimental because when you just write it's cheap to make crazy worlds. It's the same amount of ink to write a crazy world as it is to write a realistic one. You can go very far with literature in a way that would be harder to do in film because you have to shoot all that stuff. The drive of novels from the modernist period on has been a drive towards more and more stylistic experimentation and that has been really engaging to me because you start seeing it as almost a formal thing. You can look at it like a structure and then you can see that the structure is doing something. Joyce's Ulysses is an excellent example of that. Each chapter is written stylistically and formally different. There are chapters that are dialogues, there are chapters where the stream of consciousness changes radically, there are chapters that drift, and that's part of the narrative. If you go back to the Oulipo experimentation that Calvino and other French and Italian authors were doing, they were literally creating that whole idea of branching trees. You start to see that there are patterns of structures of story that we can start to establish.That's the approach I take to this question of rhetoric. Exploration is a set of tropes, and branching is a set of tropes. It's similar, whether you're branching in a YouTube video or branching in a choose your own adventure, or branching in a game like Until Dawn. The branching is similar, it has similar tropes. So we can look at it structurally and say, well, what does the structure do? How do the choices in the design of the structure change things independent of content. And then what is the intersection between the content and the structure?DYNAMIC STRUCTURES AND GAMESIt's interesting to note how the strategies found in avant-garde and experimental literature have leaked into, or have become one of the dominant ways of constructing narrative within popular culture, video games, and even marketing. What was on the periphery has, in a sense, moved to the center and become part of the entertainment industry.NF: I think so because as you start moving into more dynamic and particularly digitally dynamic work it starts to have to be structural. Although that spills back into the analog, especially as internet of things (IOT) becomes very reduced in size and cost and technology starts coming back into the real world. You start seeing this there too.I'm riffing a lot on arguments in a book called Expressive Processing by Noah Wardrip-Fruin. If I make a piece of work that changes with every user and produces a different outcome, then the output of that work is not really an analysis of that work. If the work has a hundred thousand possibilities, one possibility is such a small segment of what it could be. That it gives me information as a user, but I can't really critique the work from that perspective. I have to look at the structure because it's procedural, it's not predetermined. And I think as we start moving into works that are like that, and since computers enable us to do that, that's what computers are good at is that kind of dynamic procedural, then we start to see that structural analysis and system design become more and more important. As it does, and we see the affordances that has, we can start pulling those affordances into other forms where we see similar audience relationships. So I don't think: does theater need this? Does film need this? Does installation need this? No, It doesn't need it. You can make good art without it, and obviously we have made thousands of years of good art without it, but the possibilities of the art change when you start seeing those things. That's why I think it's starting to permeate. Digital games are a very big industry and there's been a lot of really interesting storytelling in them. I don't think all people who study this stuff know that because it's locked a bit behind barriers of picking up a PlayStation 4 controller and trying to get through it. Shadow of Colossus, for example, is one of the most important digital works ever made. But not many people experience it because it's a really hard digital game. And it has to be hard. That's part of its aesthetic. But I think that the people who have bridged this are starting to see that you can inherit things from those forms into these other spaces. That's just changing the way we think and then you start to see work in the world that is just more procedural. Work that does just become more dynamic in its nature. Then you end up with stuff like LARP (Live action role-playing) where, you can't make LARP the way you make theater because I don't know what the players are gonna do. So my scripts in LARP can't be like a theater script, it doesn't make sense. I need a structure that will support 40 people running around doing random things.PARTICIPATORY EXPERIENCES DRIVEN BY TECHNOLOGYThis brings me to theater, particularly two participatory theatrical installations that you co-created. First, Frankenstein AI: a monster made by many which was an AI powered immersive experience that premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. And The Raven, which was performed as part of the Lincoln Center's New York Film Festival in 2019. Tell us what audiences might have experienced when they participated in Frankenstein AI and what was the genesis of that work?NF: Frankenstein AI has had a couple of different forms. Its original form was a small audience immersive experience where you came into a room and you interacted with another audience member at a surface computer that was like built into a table. It was formulated as an artificial intelligence asking you questions about what it was like to be human and you're sort of marking values on the table using a physical computing device that looked like an ouija board. That information was sent to an actual AI that was in a cloud which was used as the seed to determine a mood that the AI had. And then when you finished that exercise, you were brought into a room that was mapped with projections and IOT procedurally played drums and you would have a chance to talk to the artificial intelligence. The artificial intelligence would generate a question and then it would be delivered in text to speech to the audience in the room. And then the audience in the room would direct the docent to type a question into a typewriter and that would be sent back to the AI. This was all formulated where there's this AI that's been created, it has escaped into the internet and it is trying to understand what it is and what humanity is. And it's using the narrative of Frankenstein as this thing that was created that doesn't understand its role as a seed to understand where it's going. The whole thing was essentially a meditation on two things. One is this question of what is AI and what should we be worried about AI? These were the conversations that I had with Lance Weiler and Rachel Eve Ginsburg who were the co-creators of that project. My big argument was that everyone worries about Terminator, but what we should really be worried about is Kafka. AI is not a monster that takes us over. AI is a thing that doesn't understand us and then just acts procedurally in ways we don't understand.This is around the time that Microsoft had released an AI that became wildly racist and we were thinking about what it meant that we're teaching AI and how could we make a piece that gets people to reflect on the idea that we're engaged with artificial intelligence in the world? We are training it and we are going to teach the AI what it does. So if that's the case, what is our responsibility? The whole piece was kind of a meditation on that process. I did the creative technology design on that and some of the interactive narrative design of the sequencing of it. I'm very proud of that piece personally, because it was the first piece of creative technology that I ever actually showed in an exhibit. I worked on the technology that connected all of devices. So it meant that when the AI changed mood, the projections changed, and the drums changed and it pulled the AI's response and then fed that into the speech to text and delivered it into the room. So I basically did the technology that connected the surface tables to the AI, to the projectors, and to the drums. This was a topic of research I've had for a long time about how technology could be used to create these like kind of seamless connections between things. You didn't see anything happen, you just asked a question and suddenly the projections and drums changed. I call that seamless technology—technology that doesn't have clear lines where it connects. I think that could be a kind of magic and that was important to me. What did you learn from producing Frankenstein AI that changed your approaches when you then began to develop The Raven? How does The Raven work as an experience that grew from or built upon your previous work?NF: The Raven was an immersive performance where we allowed an audience into The American Irish Historical Society where they experienced a magically real story of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven. The center of the technology of the piece was that every user had a lantern that they carried around with them. The lantern was an IOT device that was reading beacons in the space and connected to a central system. The audience also had a set of headphones that were playing audio for them. So most of the audio that was present in the piece came from the headset that was being played based on where they were and based on a character they picked at the beginning of the piece. Everyone was sort of playing a performer in the piece. The performer Ava Lee Scott, who was playing Poe and co-wrote the piece, was moving through the space as Poe meditating with these characters. But you, as the audience, were one of the people that Poe knew from his life or his creations. What Lance Weiler and I carried from Frankenstein AI was this idea that we could create a central technology system that was guiding all these users without having to have actors on top of those users moving them around. And that the storytelling could really be based on their decisions, because it was in part based on where you went and what you encountered. The other thing that Frankenstein AI taught me, in a real sense, was that these technologies could be stable. The work had a server system, that's how it ran, it was a server that was running on a small piece of technology called the Raspberry Pi. We turned it on and on the first day when we were running it we just didn't turn it off. We wanted to see if it would stay up overnight. And then we didn't turn it off for two full weeks. It just ran nonstop for two weeks and it never broke. We never had to restart it. So that taught me these things can be made battle ready. We brought a similar kind of technology to The Raven. There were obviously different technical constraints to The Raven and there were different bugs we were facing, but we went through a similar process of creating a central system that guided the narrative. If we do that right and we have the right affordances to connect to the audience that can take the place of a bunch of docents, a bunch of rules, a bunch of structures, and people can just explore. Then through that exploration they can find story. I should say that we worked with pretty robust technologies on that project. We were in partnership with Microsoft and we were using pretty heavy Azure servers and things like that, but it was not for heavy lifting stuff. It was for reliability of the delivery of the material. And then we built this gigantic XML file that was the branching script of the entire piece so that we knew where people were. We could time lights and sound cues and things like that.THE LIMITS OF THEATERWhat I find compelling about both of these projects is their capacity to posit alternative models for theater's future. They either directly or implicitly suggest that theater needs to be remediated or fixed. For the purposes of this discussion, can I make that assertion?NF: Yeah, I will also defend traditional theater, but… [laughs]That's good [laughs], but what is it about certain kinds of theater that need to be remediated and how are your explorations accomplishing this? I'm very careful to say alternative models and I'm not asking you to generalize. I think from our audience's perspective, people are going to ask: what's wrong with the kind of theater that I do? And why do I need these other systems? Why do I need to even consider these technologies? All these kinds of questions are implied, for better or worse, in the kind of work that you're proposing and the kind of exciting research that you're carrying out.NF: First of all, there's just aesthetic possibilities that are very hard to create in a linear format like theater. Guilt is hard to create in an audience. Triumph is hard to create in an audience because they don't do anything. You can get to shame, but there's types of shame you can't get to. So there's aesthetics that become possible just when someone is culpable and when someone has the ability to achieve. That becomes kind of interesting. Games have lots of emotions attached to victory and failure that can be leveraged in all sorts of interesting and weird ways. There are pieces like The Privilege of Escape, which was an escape room that was a meditation on systemic bias. That's an interesting example of a piece where the designer was trying to use the affordances of games to demonstrate a problem in the world. And games typically do that. There's just pure emotions that are inaccessible to linear media. I think because there aren't affordances for the audience to access them, despite the diversity of emotions that these forms can create. The second possibility is, it's a question of how you want to engage with your audience. As an artist, I don't really like telling people stories, that doesn't really engage me.You're the second person we've interviewed who has talked disparagingly about stories and storytelling. Say more about that.NF: I don't mind being blunt about this. I'm not that interested in my biology. I'm not that interested in my history. I don't find those things that interesting. I don't think I have a vision of storytelling that's so powerful that some muse came to me uniquely and now the word of heaven is coming through my body or something. And this isn't to knock people who do that, there are geniuses who make that work, but that's not how I create and that's not what I do. What I want is to play with you. I want to be able to engage with you and you know, catch the ball you throw and throw it back. And this isn't altruistic just to be really clear, I mean I like doing that with people, but it's also really fun to catch a bunch of balls coming at you in crazy directions and keep the whole thing on track. There's an artistry to that. That's what running an RPG is, it's like throwing track in front of a moving train. So I think that's really powerful and you get things that you would never get otherwise. Similarly, if you jam you get something that you would never get when you compose. The improvisation and the participation of other people leads you to create something new and you can do that with audiences. And you can do that with audiences in ways that don't make crappy, thin, gray, over-democratized work. Because I'm not saying that's not a problem, if you just let everybody come in and cook in the kitchen then you get no food or you get bland food or inedible stuff. Structures make it possible for people to participate in ways that are meaningful, but controlled, that fit within the aesthetic. So people understand what kinds of creations are possible in this space. And that is a whole set of techniques that then allows audiences to come in completely ignorant of what you're doing and then tell a story that they helped make that is still in the aesthetic you wanted. There's a magic to that that I think is really powerful. It opens up whole new kinds of forms and it's a different way of engaging with the world for the audience and I think that's powerful because we haven't really seen it before. There are some experiences like that, but they tend to be very high demand on the creativity or they tend to be gate-kept or they're high skill-based. And what immersive theater can do that I think is unique and independent of digital games and LARPs, is that they can be approachable. I can show up and not really know much and still participate. And I think that's a space that's really powerful. And then the third beat that I just have to mention all the time is that tickets are very expensive to these things. They charge a lot of money to get people into those things. I think that there's opportunity, from a business perspective, if you can figure out the scaling. You're seeing pieces like Particle Ink in Las Vegas which is a piece with projection mapping and dance where they're starting to figure out how to grow the audiences in ways that don't hurt the piece. You start looking at genuine business models for keeping those things up. What are other business models that can keep dancers, actors, and set designers involved? Because none of those people are going away in immersive theater, we need all of those people. We need them the same way we need them in other forms. It's a parallel skill if not an identical skill right. So we're not telling actors they're out of work. We had actors in The Raven, the actor was the center of The Raven in a lot of ways, but the actor was supplemented by all of these other things to create a new form where people can explore and make choices and feel directly engaged.NEW FORMS OF PEDAGOGYGiven this technologically seamless environment within which performance might take place, do you see the training of actors taking a different path? Or different ways for how writers produce scripts? Do we need new kinds of training for scenographers, sound and lighting designers that will accommodate and respond to these ideas and new approaches to performance? NF: Well acting, for example, in these kinds of cases, has a lot more improvisation in it. It's much more deeply based in that kind of improvisation, but it's also a lot about vulnerability. This is something that I'm just going to riff off of a writer and actor that I know Char Simpson would talk about. Char was part of the Blackout Haunted House for many years and talks very much about how they created vulnerability and that the creation of vulnerability was really important. That becomes a different way of thinking about acting. But also the idea that an audience member might ask you your favorite color and you need an answer that seems natural. That's a more roleplaying kind of acting than I think some actors are trained in, of course some actors are good at that. You don't know what's going to happen so you can't write a script the way you would normally write a script. It has to have some variation in it. You have to think about it more like story, like world building. I think directing changes because I don't know when we're gonna hit a specific moment or I don't know what perspective I'm gonna be coming from in a specific moment. So I have to think differently about that too. And you see that in digital games which will sometimes have cut scenes that are very film-like, but they'll also have scenes where users can walk around and watch what's happening. Which is why when we talk about VR we talk more about immersive theater because the viewpoint is not singular, it is a multiple viewpoint environment. So I'm thinking about it more from that perspective. Theater in the round is also relevant here. Again, that's not a new form, but it solved this problem. So maybe VR should look at theater in the round and then learn some lessons for how you keep an audience's attention in a broad space. And in fact, we're getting that big, we could think about station-based theater where people are really just drifting over a whole plaza and engaged in an experience. Are these forms going to change acting, writing, directing and set design? Sure, of course they are because the affordances of the audience are going be different and that's going to lead to different outputs. But it's not like we made up all this stuff just because the technology came along. We had happenings, we had station-based theater, we had rituals.I'm thinking about the Ramlila which I participated in India many decades ago in Varanasi. This is a month-long event that is played out over the entire city in which the inhabitants take on all the various roles. The city performs and becomes an immersive ritual and religious space. So there are absolutely precedences that are centuries old that we can draw upon. I'm thinking about how the pedagogical needs of theater will continue to change in response to these new forms that are becoming more and more central to our lives.NF: Yeah I teach immersive and dynamic narrative and I teach it in the way that we've been talking about. I teach it in this very broad, cut-across-media way. Media does not matter for the purpose of the class, that's not what it's about. It's about the tropes that the media use and how those things relate. And then you see this in disciplines like narratology where people are really coming at narrative from lots of different directions and trying to figure out how stories get told.Another point that's just very important to me is in the intersection of these forms. Because you're not going to get immersive theater from theater alone. There's a bunch of pieces that theater doesn't really know about like interaction design and a sort of multiple viewpoint about the pacing for that kind of stuff. Games understand that, but games don't understand what theater's good at. Games don't understand how you create scenes or understand how you create dramatic power, and games don't understand the value of liveness, frankly. Some of that we can get from LARPs, but LARPs aren't theater either. So it really is in the intersection of all of these fields.I think more of this is happening. You're seeing escape rooms get more theatrical. I think it's too slow, like way too slow. We could have gotten to where we are five years ago and we could be five years ahead of where we are right now. But you're starting to see some of that thinking happen. You're starting to see immersive pieces that are bringing some game elements into them. You can have conversations with people about VR where you talk about digital games and they don't scoff. This focuses again on the ideas of interaction and affordance and how those relate to storytelling that changes the orbit of everything. And then the skills that people have been learning, like the acting, writing, directing, set design, costuming, they all have a place. They're all going to be there, they're just going to circle around a different sun. And that sun is this audience member who can change what you do. That's different.Nick, thanks for all of the conversations we've had. I look forward to working with you. I think you're a really important thinker and maker, and your experiments and research bring a lot of insight into the future of performance.NF: Thank you, I appreciate that there are people like you that are thinking about these problems and working in these problems. Like with your own wonderful work and that podcasts like this exist to have these conversations. I look forward to a really bright future because there's other people like you in it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit futureperfect.substack.com
This week we're honored to chat with author and game designer Lizzie Stark (Leaving Mundania, Pandora's DNA) and game designer Jason Morningstar (Fiasco, Night Witches, Desperation, and others) who collaborate as Six of Hounds to create fun improv-heavy roleplay experiences. We delve into GM-less games, emotionally intense RPGs and LARPs, the power of love and trust, the dark side of space westerns, and so much more! Check out Six of Hounds! https://sixofhounds.itch.io Lizzie Stark: https://lizziestark.com Jason Morningstar: https://bullypulpitgames.com Do you have a worldbuilding prompt you want to send to us? Send us your prompt! Email us your suggestions at: WorldbuildWithUs@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @LetsWorldBuild Or come chat with us on our Discord server! Or if you're feeling particularly generous, you can support us on Patreon! Intro theme: "Half Mystery" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 Outro Theme: "Study and Relax" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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This episode, Keepers Murph, Dave & Bridgett bid farewell to the good, bad, & ugly of 2021. We also discuss what we're looking forward to in 2022! Campus Crier We forgot to mention it in the audio, but we need to thank Ogdru Hem from the Discord for allowing us to use his music, Miskatonic Library, for the new intro bumper. You can find his work on YouTube, DTRPG, and BandCamp. The Campus Crier is where we keep all the mythos related news and info for the podcast, this episode was recorded on December 30th, 2021. Free League Publishing's recent kickstarter, Vaesen RPG – Mythic Britain & Ireland, has wrapped up! In this expansion to Vaesen, a game about Nordic Horror Roleplaying, players face the mythic creatures of Britain and Ireland. Unsurprisingly, this kickstarter funded in under 6 minutes, and wrapped up with just under 8,000 backers. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192053011/vaesen-rpg-mythic-britain-and-ireland Chaosium has sold enough tickets to ensure that the inaugural Chaosium Con is for sure happening!!!! April 8th and 9th, Chaosium will be hosting an in person convention in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Guys, this isn't something that you'll not want to miss. We're talking seminars with Mike Mason, Lynne Hardy, Jeff Richard, Jason Durall, David Larkins. They have non stop gaming rooms, VIP gaming sessions with some of the heaviest hitting folk at Chaosium, an auction, LARPs, and more. This is going to be a blast, and I'd love to see you guys there if you can make it! Speaking of conventions, Necronomicon pushed back badge sales for their 2022 show in Providence, Rhode Island. Advance badges to previous gold ticket holders have already gone out, and general tickets go on sale January 10, 2022. Keepers Dave, Bridgett, and Murph will be attending, along with friend of the show and previous guest, Michael Diamond. Definitely consider attending– it'll be a good time. The Discord Plug We have our MUP Discord and we are all there! We invite all of our listeners to come and enjoy the community of horror gaming and cute pet pics. Today, I'd like to shout out our own Keeper Murph's baby, Lulu. Check out the Discord to see some of the biggest beggy eyes and the cutest cuddle selfies with Lulu and Murph! MU Discord server invite link: https://discord.gg/vNjEv9D And thank you beaucoup to Murph for editing this episode. Patreon Plug We have a Patreon! To back us you can click the button on the sidebar of our website, mu-podcast.com or head over to Patreon directly at www.patreon.com/mup! Just a reminder, we're offering Patreon Backers a sneak peek into future episode guests! Back us for an opportunity to ask your favorite creators in the TTRPG circuit your questions! ALSO, we just kicked off a new offering where Patreon backers will have an exclusive opportunity to play in games run by one of us co-hosts! And you can also help out the show by buying some merch from our Teepublic store! Thanks to our backers so much for supporting the show!! Main Topic -- The Hosts Unpack 2021 We want to hear from our listeners, and we have lots of ways you can reach out to us. For the complete list, check out our show notes - that's where you'll find our email address, which is mup.feedback@gmail.com, and a link to our Discord server! Send us your questions, feedback and topic ideas - or join a discussion! Tell us who you are and give us a hearty “Go Pods” for our home team, the Fightin' Cephalopods! Find all the links you need to keep in touch - at mu-podcast.com, or on the Discord channel ep-241. And please back us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/mup Thank you for joining us for another episode. Class is dismissed!
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