Bonus Episode 104 - WPC 1: random traits
Fear the Boot
* (0:24) A joke to an AI becomes a show topic. * (2:48) Characters born in a cursed forest, without sunlight. * (7:48) Characters who compulsively collect…feathers…? * (13:18) Characters who accidentally caused a rebellion. * (19:29) Characters with an unusual knowledge of fungi. * (25:03) Characters who cannot stand the sight of open water. Hosts: Dan, Julia, Mary, Wayne
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Episode 628 - player bucket list
Fear the Boot
* (0:29) Switching to a bucket list of what we want to play. * (1:30) Wayne wants to play Dresden Files. * (4:13) Dan still wants to play an Injustice game. * (6:11) Mary wants to play a necromancer. * (9:05) Doug wants to play Stargate (or something like it). * (10:18) Wayne wants a settlement building game. Rebuild 3 demands compliance! * (14:38) Dan wants to play ourselves. . * (18:08) Mary wants to play multiple characters. * (22:25) Doug wants to play Greek mythology. * (26:00) Wayne wants to play a game with plenty of alternate history. * (28:50) Dan wants to...
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Episode 627 – GM bucket list
Fear the Boot
* (0:29) The bucket list of games we want to run. * (1:31) Doug’s long-term campaign. * (3:10) Wayne’s : St. Louis game. * (7:03) Dan’s Battletech: Silver Scorpions game. A . * (9:37) Mary’s Castle Ravenloft / Curse of Strahd game. * (12:41) Doug’s western game. * (14:58) Wayne’s campaign based on . and . * (18:57) Dan’s Hunter game. , watchable on Netflix. . * (22:39) Mary’s Mummy game. . * (25:40) Doug’s campaign. * (26:51) Whatever Wayne backed last on Kickstarter. Right now, that’s . * (29:47) Dan’s...
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Episode 626 - video games to tabletop
Fear the Boot
* (0:30) An old Apple //c computer and early computer RPGs. * (4:16) Transitioning from video games into tabletop RPGs. * (9:44) The expectations players bring from a video game to pen-and-paper games. * (12:41) The tyranny of choice brought on by a lack of a character-driven path. * (18:05) A lack of clear and connected outcomes. * (19:50) Mixing new and veteran players. * (26:13) Expanding intra-party roleplaying. * (28:39) Asking why someone wanted to make the jump. * (35:06) Trying to translate one medium into another. Hosts: Caleb, Dan, Doug, Mary
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Episode 625 - profiting from session one
Fear the Boot
* (0:29) What is your goal for the first session of a game? * (2:10) Who are these characters really? * (6:08) When who you wanted to be isn’t who you became. * (11:34) A buffet of NPCs. * (16:14) Keeping the first session low pressure and shorter length. * (20:33) The social leader of the group. * (25:30) The flexibility in session one. Using the first game as a test of session zero. * (33:43) Testing the waters as the Game Master. * (37:09) Using rules and rolls a bit more than you otherwise would. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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Bonus Episode 103 – WGM 3: clockwork crystals
Fear the Boot
* (0:23) Prompts and prepositions. The clockwork circus is coming to town! * (1:40) Wayne’s circus in space. * (4:13) Mary’s circus on the frontier. * (7:53) Doug’s carnival of nightmares. * (8:41) Dan’s carnival of hope. * (13:10) Celestial crystals that grant power. * (14:05) Mary’s crystal preppers. * (16:08) Dan’s crystal entanglement. * (19:45) Wayne’s crystal invasion. * (24:57) Doug’s crystal gift. * (27:05) A whole lot of tests, quandaries, and Faustian deals. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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Episode 624 - back to what you enjoy
Fear the Boot
* (0:29) Fear the Con has funded and ! We hope to see you Thursday, June 20th to Saturday, June 22nd. * (1:58) Getting back to what you love, inspired by Ray Bradbury’s . * (5:16) The tyranny of compromise. * (9:54) Wanting the GM to build the world instead of “yes-and” player input. * (15:43) Why Wayne discarded some ideas he was excited about. * (19:06) The passion for sharing stories. * (22:06) Watching players engage with obstacles and NPCs. * (26:06) Hopeful or despondent? Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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Episode 623 - too big to fail
Fear the Boot
* (0:29) Wayne has a problem: the Wardens from Dresden Files. Coming up with too many excuses for why powerful organizations don’t care about the characters’ problems. * (7:14) Session Zero can help…or maybe not. * (10:29) There’s always someone bigger, and maybe your allies lack what you need. * (14:42) What if the characters are the backup? Or maybe they’re starting to get a reputation. * (17:41) Not letting it become a chip on the GM’s shoulder. Players that hamstring themselves. * (23:45) The assistance not being what the players expected. * (27:54) Falling back to the mature...
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Episode 622 – bringing your PC to life
Fear the Boot
* (0:30) What steps do we take to bring a character to life? * (1:49) Ask what’s important. * (6:53) Seeing the good and bad in a single trait. * (8:06) Doug’s personality triangle model. * (10:54) Demonstrating character quirks. * (16:34) Making characters that both have and express personal growth. * (18:57) Taking a hobby, off-topic skill, or development path. Keeping your character in continuity. * (23:11) Practicing a character. * (29:43) Developing your idea in other creative media, but consider leaving a gap before the game begins. * (35:35) The last few days of the ! Hosts:...
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Bonus Episode 102 – WGM 2: dead consuming the living
Fear the Boot
Today’s ingredient: The dead are consuming the living. Why and how? Let’s find out! Fear the Con 2024’s Kickstarter . Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
info_outline* (0:36) An odd tangent on names.
* (3:39) A conversation about AI art. Some parameters we’re putting on this episode. AI art wins a fine arts competition.
* (8:08) An admittedly non-technical overview of how AI generally creates its work. Syntax versus semantics.
* (17:43) AI creations as a starting point instead of the final product. Why the lack of semantics may distinguish what inspires humans as opposed to AIs.
* (29:32) The positive impact of AI creativity, contrasted with the intellectual property and monetary concerns.
* (37:02) The human-seeded meta-thought used by AI, and the inevitability of its adoption across multiple industries.
* (47:26) After taking jobs, technology may also improve lives and push humanity forward. Automating simple tasks or “shifting them left”.
* (54:45) The financial incentive to use AI art versus the status incentive to use human art.
Hosts: Dan, Julia, Mary, Wayne
Some of the sample AI art Dan made while playing around with an app…
A man with two beards that’s holding a third beard (stupid beard hog), Jesus with hot dogs for fingers, and…OH NO! Its mini-Jesus off the ropes!
What’s that Lassie? Jesus is here? And he thinks our dogs are gnolls? And Gabriel is also a dog?
OK, so now we’ve got gnolls with underbites, some random people in the background, Jesus with John Wick levels of determination, and…what the hell is that thing in the lower-right!?
What the AI thought Gnarl should look like. I’m totally going to stat this out and use it in a fantasy game.
