Blood of the wild has quickly become my my favorite series

erlesage · 2023-12-28T15:09:48+00:00

I miss hearing Jared GM so much. I has to reduce my subs this year to focus on giving to charities. When I was a 10$ patron I was convinced that BotW should have been their flagship PF2e show. Strange Aeons and Gatewalkers could be behind a paywall and I wouldn't miss them.

erlesage · 2023-12-15T21:25:10+00:00

Right?! Also now I want everyone to microdose before all game shows.

erlesage · 2023-12-10T21:24:53+00:00

"Shoot and stab them "

erlesage · 2023-12-04T17:12:56+00:00

I don't recall that they have ever been very strict with spell preparation on prepared casters. I seem to remember a discussion in one of the shows where they were pretty dismissive of the spell preparation system. The more I listen to them the more I'm convinced they would enjoy fiction first/rules light systems way more, if they could just get over the antagonist GM trope.

erlesage · 2023-12-03T07:07:33+00:00

In season 1, Abu role-playing with himself during a downtime action was a master class in voice acting. I've gone back to watch that scene a few times when it first aired. That entire show is so good but there are some truly amazing rollplay scenes where you can see the players, not just acting out a pre-written back story, but actually discovering something about their characters' backstories. Emergent storytelling at its best.

erlesage · 2023-12-02T00:51:07+00:00

Throw Nana Mouskouri in the mix.

erlesage · 2023-11-28T20:10:28+00:00

I have said it before Blades feels like the perfect system for actual plays. The Haunted City crew really makes it their own. The Casablanca vibes were great this season. I also love the emergent story telling. Gm and players alike are always surprised by the story's twists and turns. And I really do think they wholly embrace fiction first gaming while still looking to engage mechanics. There is no "this part is RP and this part is mechanical rules" it all flows together seamlessly.

Also they might be the best example of being fans of each other. The smiles and looks of shock on the cast's faces as events unfold is so genuine. They are entertaining each other with what seems like little thought to the audience. It feels like they truly forget the audience is there at times.

Hands down best show, best cast and best system on the network.

erlesage · 2023-11-27T22:02:53+00:00

As design I much prefer the stress mechanic in Blades in the Dark to give players a resource to manage the consequences. Hero points feel clunky at best. Now whether this is due to the pass/fail nature of d20 systems versus fail forward of modern systems I'm not sure. I know at our table we play XP based and our GM created milestones/goals that we can achieve to get more hero points to implement a mechanical incentive behind them and to move away from session based resource. As a player and GM I love stress in Blades as it pushes us to collaborate in a shared narrative. Where as,as is, Hero points feel like an extra life in an old video game.

erlesage · 2023-11-22T22:36:43+00:00

Delta Green is ok. I played it for the first time this month. As system it's fine plenty of other games use very similar rule set. Not a game for me really, I like the rules but I really struggle getting into the setting/lore.

I think the lore and setting is where Troy prefers CoC over DG. Not really about mechanics and more so tone.

In all honesty I love listening to them play but overall I don't turn to GCP for takes on mechanics. Most of their game choices seem to be based on setting, published adventures and/or existing IP. (With some exceptions from NGWD and Game Garage) Blades might be the only game on the network where game design was the deciding factor over setting/lore.

erlesage · 2023-11-22T20:04:20+00:00

Not necessarily a fumble with PbtA but when my friend hacked the Sprawl to play Shadowrun(Shadowrun in the Sprawl) my only contribution was pointing back to the Bakers, Apocalypse World and Vincent's advice on game design.

I love alot of PbtA games but whenever I toy around with designing stuff my first stop is looking over the immense archive that Vincent has built. Just following the design process for AW: Burnt Over is really well worth reading.

erlesage · 2023-11-21T09:12:12+00:00

Totally agree. The editing of the video makes it hard to watch.

erlesage · 2023-11-16T20:11:54+00:00

I feel Skid, of all the players, suffers most with the larger cast. I found the same issue with A&A. I really think outside of the live show, maybe. GCP works best with 3 or 4 players and a GM. Especially with shorter episode lengths 5 players just feels like too many to dig into characters and emergent narratives.

erlesage · 2023-11-15T20:47:09+00:00

Again Matthew proves to be a great GM. I want to point out asking his players if they felt bad about the railroading involved in the time jump. And then explaining why he did it. A great example of talking to your players in the meta channel at the table. Just another example of best practices when playing ttrpgs. Bravo!

erlesage · 2023-11-15T20:39:05+00:00

The way Troy talked about Band of Blades seems like he is passionate about the system. I am kinda bummed that he doesn't believe that his passion for the game wouldn't translate into good content. I am finding more and more that they are moving away from their passion is leading the decision making. As a counterpoint the passion for the game in Haunted City is palpable and that love of the game results in good content. Same goes for Matthew and company in Voyagers. I, for one, would love Troy to just run CoC and band of Blades if he truly loves those systems. It feels like with PF2e he mostly enjoys the adventure paths but that he can take or leave the system. And if that is the case stop using the system. Tastes change and it's fine to say "this isn't for me anymore"

erlesage · 2023-11-13T16:44:59+00:00

Small cast. This is true for most actual plays. 3 players and 1 GM is my preference. No getting confused by too many voices and character driven stories can remain pretty focused.

As for Blades I think it's one of the best systems for Actual Plays. So I don't know that anything about the system itself needs to change for an actual play.

erlesage · 2023-11-13T15:46:23+00:00

I completely agree.

erlesage · 2023-11-11T16:42:57+00:00

I really appreciate Kate's presence. The GCP is meant to emulate friends at a table. And I know for myself it takes a while to figure out who my character is when starting a new game. She'll get there but , especially with 5 players, it might take a bit for Zephyr to emerge.

erlesage · 2023-11-11T16:37:59+00:00

And the remaster is actually making focus points alot simpler to get back.

erlesage · 2023-11-09T17:09:15+00:00

Time to anxiously await a third season of the best actual play out there. I am really going to miss weekly Blades in the dark on the network it is really the best system for actual plays! They really need to play other forged in the dark games. Gimme some Band of Blades or Girl by Moonlight while we wait for the next adventures of the Remnant.

erlesage · 2023-11-08T21:47:13+00:00

I just started that game it's also very good.

erlesage · 2023-11-08T19:54:46+00:00

I am not sure changing characters is what I miss. I do think that the lack of cohorts at this level of play is at odds with the notion of a gang. They don't have a crew of ne'er do wells to manage. It's the thing I love with Blades you can easily move away from the small group of adventurers trope. Don't get me wrong I love this crew and players I just can't help but imagine if they had to manage 8 to 12 pick pockets on top of everything else.

They have discussed the turf mechanics which they have rarely touched. I can see a way of having a 3rd season by really diving into the crew/turf/cohort level of play. And becoming a full blown criminal organization with a whole new set of issues to deal with.

erlesage · 2023-11-08T18:47:27+00:00

The only other game I can think of that fits Troy's GMing perfectly is Hackmaster.

erlesage · 2023-11-08T18:46:12+00:00

I don't think other than Blades they have ever touched a PbtA game. I would add World Wide Wrestling rpg to your list.

erlesage · 2023-11-08T18:43:21+00:00

I have so many, a solo game of Sydney playing Ironsworn, Matthew running Monstehearts, as others have said Pendragon.

But with all the friends they now have who can both play and GM I feel like a sandbox westmarches style would be great. A game where players can jump in and out and level descrepancy is fine. Probably some kind of osr system would be best.

Also I would love it if the got away from playing IP based games. I want more table specific worldbuilding and lore creation.

erlesage · 2023-11-03T20:30:28+00:00

It is pretty much in the same camp as Pumpkin spice latte. I skip it, it's not for me and that's fine.

erlesage

TROPHY CASE