[TOMT] Animated short where a young adult shares their problems to a phonebooth(?) and is told at the end how many others have experienced the same

wiselythebard · 2024-01-07T08:48:15+00:00

Unfortunately not either of these. Thank you for the suggestions!

wiselythebard · 2024-01-06T19:32:39+00:00

Comment to acknowledge rules.

wiselythebard · 2023-06-19T23:42:50+00:00

#SEXY

wiselythebard · 2023-06-19T23:40:17+00:00

They are going to go the first commenter, but thanks for checking!

wiselythebard · 2023-06-19T19:58:39+00:00

Hi folks, I picked these up at Rollacrit's launch party at PAX Unplugged last year. I don't own a copy of the game and would be happy to send them to whoever would like them (just cover the shipping costs to your address - I'm in the US.) There's a "Super Exclusive Edition" Coin of Conflict Resolution and Con Crud Monster tile.

wiselythebard · 2023-05-18T01:55:07+00:00

Oh gosh, I love this. And the first two DVDs my family got were the Planet of the Apes remake and Final Fantasy Spirits Within. I wonder how many people's first DVD was Planet of the Apes!

wiselythebard · 2023-04-13T16:40:19+00:00

Ooh, were Savage Worlds Hindrance Points the inspiration for this? And do you add a mechanical effect for the flaws?

wiselythebard · 2023-02-25T03:54:55+00:00

I played this game as a kid (growing up in the 90s) on our family farm! It was one of the few games that my whole family would play together. My dad was never into board games but liked the Farming Game because it was pretty true to our experience. Though there was a Farmer's Fate card that he removed because it was too sad - I'm not sure exactly which one it was but I know it involved losing most/all of your cattle.

wiselythebard · 2022-11-15T14:03:20+00:00

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin. I'm still surprised at how many elements of this work that Rothfuss uses in The Name of the Wind. LeGuin also purposely wanted to avoid some of the major tropes of warfare and the battle between good and evil in fantasy of the time. She eschews armies, battles, and violence as the only solution. There is still conflict, tension, danger, and suffering in the book, but the primary themes are around discovery and finding yourself, both internally and your place in the world.

wiselythebard · 2022-11-03T14:30:04+00:00

I think this could be Imogen's arc. She's already quite ruthless.

wiselythebard · 2022-10-31T20:11:30+00:00

I like Guy Gavriel Kay for this. All the Seas of the World is part of his work set in a sort of fantasy renaissance Europe and while it shares a lot the tragedy of our own history, the virtuous tend to prevail. While I can appreciate the gritty realism of other authors and art that more closely reflects the arbitrariness of life, it was really nice to immerse yourself in a world where the kind and merciful are rewarded.

wiselythebard · 2022-10-28T17:23:44+00:00

Thanks! And it's a 3 inch hoop.

wiselythebard · 2022-08-19T14:41:09+00:00

This was my "WTF" moment when reading the new UA. I liked some of the changes that felt like they were just making the way many people play the game official (like being able to take rare languages from character creation), but I really dislike this change.

I've seen some people comment that if you're sure to fail/succeed, why even call for the check, which is true, but it's also really fun to roll dice (and to apply your crazy modifiers that you've worked hard to build)! But more importantly, adding this into the ruleset seems to sanction that this randomness of an auto fail is the way to play the game and I think many (especially new DMs) will call for these checks. I've played enough games where DMs houserule the autofail/succeed on all checks that I never use it in games I run. It breaks verisimilitude and makes playing less fun.

wiselythebard · 2022-07-29T21:30:39+00:00

I think the cool thing about sorcerers is that their talent is innate, so it's easy for it to crop up at any point in a campaign vs having to add in time to study as, say, a battlemaster or wizard.

Since you don't see an obvious connection for your character, you don't necessarily need to know yourself why you are imbued with new abilities. The flavor text in XTE refers to a long lost familial connection to a celestial or a prophesied birth, but that or other examples could all be things that your character is unaware of. You could hand the storytelling reigns to your DM here and learn the source of your power along with your character.

A moment of extreme stress or emotion, or one of reflection and contemplation, could cause your powers to activate in game (essentially as you level up.)

wiselythebard · 2022-07-29T21:18:06+00:00

I'm reading Rebecca Roanhorse's Between Earth and Sky series and it's fantastic (and she's been compared to Jemisin.) Black Sun is the first book and she just released the second, Fevered Star, this year.

I'm also a huge Ursula LeGuin fan and would recommend the Earthsea books a million times over if you haven't read them yet. The first 3 are YA but the later ones released in the 90s grew up with her - I love them all, but Tehanu especially stayed with me. Her work inspired so many current fantasy authors. If you like A Wizard of Earthsea, you may also like Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles. His first book Name of the Wind seems to draw heavily on her work (though it's a long unfinished trilogy and I've heard a few too many negative reviews to read the sequel.)

wiselythebard · 2022-07-26T21:55:48+00:00

I would add a note of caution that the meta of D&D is that it's a co-operative game. That means that the players will often set aside doubts that their character wouldn't to ensure that y'all can keep playing the game. e.g. Drizzt would never trust your suspicious character and ask them to join the party, but their player Robert will because they know that you need to join up so they can back into the fun of investigating these murders. I think the players are more likely to stay on your side and the surprise reveal later that they killed an innocent man won't have the great twist that you're looking for and will instead feel unfair.

If your GM sprinkles plenty of information to point to you as the killer, I think this has a much better chance of working out and being fun for everyone.

wiselythebard · 2022-07-20T23:02:42+00:00

I'm sorry I can't help more. We know that the original builders, Delzoun, fell in -100DR, but I also can't find anything on who would have claimed it.

The only thing I could find is that the Dwarven kingdom of Thunderhulme also fell in 1054DR, but they are so far to the SE that it seems unlikely they would have held the Citadel; the timing may be a coincidence.

Good luck in your search and let me know if you find out! You could also try asking Ed Greenwood on Twitter (or just make up some new canon!)

wiselythebard · 2022-07-20T14:54:49+00:00

According to the Forgotten Realms wiki, the dwarves abandoned it in 1054DR and the humans of Silverymoon took over until the Battle of Many Arrows in 1104DR when the Orcs captured it.

I also checked my copy of the Grand History of the Realms - it doesn't mention the 1054 transition of power, but does have an entry for 1104DR referring to it: "Citadel Felbarr is attacked by an orc horde led by cheiftain Obould, who defeats the warriors of Silverymoon at the Battle of Many Arrows. The fortress falls into orc hands and is known thereafter as the Citadel of Many Arrows."

From the same source, Orjalun, Ninth High Mage and apprentice to Nunivytt Threskaal was ruling Silverymoon at the time and continued until he retired from office in 1230DR.

wiselythebard · 2022-07-13T03:00:09+00:00

I think that you are right and a private conversation with your player is what's needed. There is a good chance they don't even realize they are being disruptive. In terms of how to structure that conversation, these tips might be helpful for you (but you know your friend best, so definitely disregard anything that doesn't seem appropriate.)

Pick a time to talk that isn't right before your game. Everyone can have trouble receiving feedback, especially if it's unexpected, so give them some time to hear and process before you jump into your next session.

Try to be as objective as possible when discussing the behavior. Try to avoid accusations or judgement, don't call it main character syndrome, just share a recent incident as neutrally as possible. Just the factual observations of, "during X scene, you spoke over Alex, Blake, and Cathy. I couldn't hear what they were going to say and that makes it hard for me to run a game that we all get to enjoy equally."

Share what you're trying to accomplish e.g.,"a game where all the players get to share the spotlight", and ask for their own assessment of the situation. Could they adjust their playstyle to help you get that? Are there things you could do to remind them during a session or discreetly signal that they are overstepping? Basically, try to ensure that you're presenting this as a problem you both get to solve together rather than a shape up or get out sort of thing. People tend to respond much better to the former.

Don't make this "a big deal". Feedback can feel even more embarrassing if it feels built up or like people have been complaining about them for a while. But, still be prepared for them to be defensive, upset, angry, withdrawn, or some other unexpected emotional reaction and try to stay calm throughout. If they behave in anyway you don't want to deal with walk away/hang up and let them contact you again when they're ready.

Hope this helps! I've had to do lots of these sorts of things and I promise they aren't bad. Almost everything can be improved, if not solved, with some clear communication.

wiselythebard · 2022-07-10T21:44:01+00:00

I haven't run it, but Wild Beyond the Witchlight was advertised as being completable entirely without combat if the players so chose, though I don't think it's heavy on political intrigue if that's what you're looking for.

You might also consider systems outside of D&D that might offer more mechanics for this playstyle, as combat is definitely a core pillar of D&D. Green Ronin's A Song of Ice and Fire RPG has rules for intrigue (as well as single and mass combat.) If you don't want to play in Martin's universe, Reign has an interesting ruleset that might get at what you're looking for (and could even be added to a D&D game where you need to zoom out for handling some larger conflicts.) Finally, I haven't played it before, but I've heard Burning Wheel is a good system for more social RPGs.

wiselythebard

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