Herp a derp a derp I forgot to do a writeup this week. Happy belated news writeup everyone!
A few weeks back we did an interview with Sci-Fi Laboratory about our group, our playstyle, and our motivations (both individual and as a group). It was a fun time and we managed to tell a lot of weird stories. It played a week or two back on the Sci-Fi Lab main show, but we have it here as a permanent archive to our idiocy brilliance. Enjoy!
This version is considerably less radio-safe or time-edited than the version that was played on Sci-Fi Lab. I do not wish to cast any inaccurate opinions on the other program.
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This is the completely non radio-edited version. The one we played on the air was still fun and crazy, but it was missing something not having Mandaz cursing fit, or Nayte’s lofty goals for SD.
Can we do the reverse of the usual podcast? Can I get questions, comments, reviews on the interview? I am always looking to improve.
You interviewed seven people simultaneously and kept them mostly on-topic. There’s not a whole lot more you could have hoped for, I think. Overall, it was fun to listen to, your questions were good, and you were more or less able to keep things on track. Normally the host is more involved in the banter, but once again, it was seven people. You did what you could.
Although why your friend asked about Charlie going axe-crazy on a hut instead of why he broke into his companion’s car, or, say, why he murdered the sheriff , I will never understand.
I saw the list! He was in on it!
THEY WERE THE GOOD GUYS
In CoC, there are no good guys.
Hey, first time commenting. I’ll try to keep it limited to what was in the interview, maybe toss together an email of the accumulated comments from listening to, well, pretty much everything so far.
Two things were mentioned that struck me as uncanny; the first being that I was very close to sending DnU an email suggesting Neight run Magical Burst, a free magical girl rpg based on the themes of Madoka. Because Nate is a weeaboo. Then I learned, from the previous newspost and then this interview, that such a thing was already underway, although using a different system. The other thing is that I had been thinking about MaoCT while listening to some of your games, and couldn’t help but think it would be an excellent system to run a Shin Megami Tensei, particularly Persona, game in. None of my group seems to have any interest in the system, but I’m glad to hear you guys will be running it.
Thank you for a highly entertaining interview, Travis and the DnU crew. The only other thing I can think to mention is that I am now trying to imagine Mandaz attempting to play some kind of grizzled badass; it is highly amusing.
I am a girl of many hats
Hello! Let it be said that while my inner weaboo is little more than smouldering remains of a once great bastion of Japanophilia–on which I’ve constructed vast wonders in the names of Western noir and the literature of the Roaring Twenties–there are still periodic flair ups, much akin to strange things happening at a Starbucks built over an old Native American burial ground. That being said, Madoka Magicka is the best thing to come out of Japan in the last ten years, and I’m going to look into Magical Burst right the hell now.
Magical Burst was the one I mentioned that had a Persona mod.
on the Buttz note, would point out that I think Charlie/Buttz would be my favorite character in the Road Trip setting (Everett and Max get honorable mention; Max mostly for the time he spends playing off/being suckered by Charlie and Everett because she actively hates everything while still going along with it). he’s got a lot of faces (and a lot of Face), applied depending on who he’s talking to. Buttz is largely one-note, but more and more he seems to come off as if he IS a dumb jerk, but that his persona is at least a little bit of a front. at the very least, that he’s TRYING to come off as a too cool for school jerk (freaking out about Charlie missing during the toad war, sticking his neck out a little for Daniel, etc.)
and while I’m at it, Manny and August probably make for my Frieda’s favorites (NELE and Jingles honorable mention because they make an amazing straight man to anyone else)
Haha, now I can’t help but be curious on your opinions about Daniel.
Daniel has incredibly ups and downs to me. first off, excellent as a part of the group. outstanding. basically has to be there or else there’d be a lot more dead people and neglected problems. even if nobody totally listens to him, he’s at least there to point the direction of the moral compass that nobody else thought to look at. whether or not his advise is sound or sane…
the design of him and his monster is something I hadn’t seen or considered, which seems to work out well and poorly all at once. it saves some space for dice pool by not having to move or do much besides stabs, but it also means that the monster basically doesn’t have to care about “hit points.” Daniel, however, really really does. makes him something of a boon between fights because even if the kids are fine, Daniel has been fighting in the front lines with Buttz and Bos, taking just as many punches from Cool Rat and Pink Ranger. Grinning Man Thing was unavoidable, but still “Daniel ends another session covered in his own blood.” Daniel has no Tough or Useful of his own to fall back on, after all
down sides, Daniel seems to suck up a lot of time when he acts. might be your writer coming out in the descriptions, or just that he does some complicated moves, or the nature of his weapons, but while Bos/Manda will go “I go invisible and kick the Red Ranger,” Daniel will “Pause a minute, take out (sword name I won’t dare spell) and (other name), takes an offensive stance, and wait for him to strike before just… SLASHING up with both swords.” to the point where the DM then has to go “…yea, what does that mean mechanically?” and to more hilarious results, when Doug actually called him out on “You had to use Anime bullshit.” when Daniel’s turns come around, I find sometimes I’ll actually space out for a few seconds until I hear the attack description winding down or some key words like “Roll” or “success.”
varying degrees of cool and annoying when Daniel tries to Courage danger in the face, but most likely because I had a That Guy a few games back who I just had to go “no, shut up, that’s not how physics/game breaking works” (honest, I’m pretty laid back on my players).
it IS really interesting to see how he is/will deal with his developing intelligence, particular since he’s coming into realizing more directly his feelings for Everett, and how she’ll have to more actively ignore him for it (or not…). also, Buttz, Charlie, and Daniel all trying to fight the black rain together might be my favorite scene in the whole story, possible exception of the tail end of Jim’s Puck Band with the monsters camping out, the Buttz medley, and Charlie/Max’s heart to heart
The descriptions–that’s just me. I tend to think of things in a cinematic way, and describe them as such. I lose interest in games when descriptions are sparse. Just a personal quirk of mine, I suppose. If the GM isn’t too terribly descriptive, I tend to start describing things on my own, if only for the sake of imagery. I blank out during combat, otherwise.
Honestly, because what you guys do is just as much show as game, I think the descriptions are pretty great. For one, there would never have been the Coolrat and Daniel quickdraw duel, which was ratical (to the max). Plus, without them you end up with something like a D&D 4e AP, where you just have people saying “I use this ability.” and then rolling dice. Which then either gets super boring, or ends up with a lot of side chatter to keep things listenable, but that really detracts from the moment, especially when it’s supposed to be a pivotal moment in the story. Imagine that black rain fight if it was just “I use Tempesta,” then some dice happen.
I can see maybe streamlining it for hordes of mooks, but even then it’s more fun, at least to me as a listener and when I play in games, to flesh out whatever your guy is doing. The roleplaying part shouldn’t stop being a thing just because some rules are happening.
worth mentioning Doug’s always a laugh, just not quite enough of him to call a candidate for a favorite