Extinction
Once again I welcome Lucas Zellers, a.k.a @SparkOtter, as we continue our theme from the Monster episode. We discuss a critical topic as Lucas takes us through his new project: Book of Extinction. The book gives game statistics and lore for D&D 5e, alongside real-world history for some of the world’s most famous extinct animals. The project comes at a critical time as earth’s sixth mass extinction accelerates, with more species likely to disappear in the next 20 years than in the last century alone according to the National Academy of Sciences. We discuss the possibility of society becoming numb to extinction, and how these natural events have inescapably shaped the Monster Manual.
- 02:00 - Extinction: The Core of D&D
- 08:39 - True Stories Behind Some of the Monster Manual's Extinct Creatures
- 23:58 - Dino Discussion
- 31:10 - Extinction-Level Events
- 38:01 - Content Deprecation
- 41:48 - TPE: Total Party Extinction
Find Lucas on:
- Scintilla Studios: https://scintilla.studio/extinction/
- DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/388997/Book-of-Extinction--Preview
- DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Lucas%20Zellers
- Mage Hand Press: https://store.magehandpress.com/products/book-of-extinction-preview
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sparkotter
Find Thinking Critically online: https://www.thinkingcritically.co.uk
References:
- S03E02 'Monster' episode of Thinking Critically
- Center for Biological Diversity: https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/new-dungeons-dragons-book-to-support-endangered-species-protection-2022-04-11/
- Atlas Games - Planegea: https://atlas-games.com/planegea
Patrons:
- Robert Hartley @RobertHartleyGM: https://www.patreon.com/RobertHartleyGM
- Optional Rule @optionalrule: https://www.optionalrule.com/
- Matthew Perkins @mperkinsDM: https://www.matthewperkins.net/
- Matt Street @mpstreet88: https://www.virtualtimehustle.com/
Intro Music: 'Local Forecast' by Kevin MacLeod
Intermission Music: 'Chill' by Kevin MacLeod
Outro Music: 'Local Forecast - Elevator' by Kevin MacLeod
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welcome thinkers to season four episode
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seven of thinking critically a d d
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discussion
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no new announcements this week
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so the only thing left to say is i hope
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you really enjoy the episode so without
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further ado here it is
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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and today i'm joined once again by lucas
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sellers thank you ever so much for
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returning to the show lucas can you tell
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us a little bit about yourself
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thanks for having me back dan i have
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styled myself now as a narrative
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designer
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wow i know it's very fancy i've been
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working at the intersection of game
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design and natural history and i'm the
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creator of book of extinction with me
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chan press a best-selling dm skilled
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author host of the podcast making a
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monster and a creative marketing
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professional in my day job amazing and
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of of course your number one credential
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is you were on thinking critically again
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of course okay i forget yes uh november
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guest of uh
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thinking critically major federation way
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up there yeah
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[Laughter]
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um
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yes of course lucas with us before
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talking about monsters which will be
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linked to the episode description and i
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would encourage everybody to check it
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out it's a fan favorite if i do say say
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oh great yeah indeed however today's
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topic is perhaps the other side of that
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same coin extinction
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so
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what does that mean to you within the d
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and wider ttrpg framework it did come up
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a little bit last time i was here
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extinction
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is the defining scientific idea of our
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time
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and it is
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at the core of what makes dnd
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what it is
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i mean
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how how deep do we want to go how long
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do you want me to talk like right out of
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the gate at the beginning of the show
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like for 55 minutes if you could in the
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morning
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[Laughter]
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gosh why don't you why don't you
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elaborate on that because you just said
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they're what it's the core of of d and i
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don't think i would ever find another
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guest to
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to open an episode with such an
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audacious comment
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that's that's the journalist in me uh
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i'm i'm running with the headline first
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so first of all extinction is probably
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the first thing about natural history
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that you would learn if you were born
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i don't know any time after the release
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of jurassic park or probably within
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about 20 years of that
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we give kids plastic dinosaurs and uh
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we're just used to the idea now that
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there used to be big giant things that
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aren't around anymore
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so it's it's one of the primary ways in
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which we relate to the natural world now
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so extinction is the defining scientific
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idea of our time we're very used to
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extinction at this point we just sort of
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take it for granted
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but it wasn't always a part of
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scientific discourse in fact it's fairly
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it's a fairly recent addition
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um thomas jefferson was
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wrote in his notes on the state of
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virginia that such is the economy of
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nature that no instance can be produced
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of her having permitted any one race of
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her animals to become extinct of her
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having formed any lincoln her great work
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so weak as to be broken and that was in
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1781 and it didn't it wasn't that idea
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wasn't unseated like that was based on
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just the assumption of all of natural
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history back to pliny in ancient greece
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and it persisted until 1796 when georges
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cuvier was the first one to
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suggest that the bones of the american
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mastodon belonged to an espicia perdu
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or a lost species and now i have tried
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to pronounce a french word which is
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making me extremely self-conscious but
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you're talking to an englishman here
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notoriously unable to
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it's probably better that i
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mispronounced the french i suppose
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i wouldn't be able to tell you here if
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it's a correct or not so no that's fine
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you made me think there that
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in a way do you think people are maybe
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uh
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numb is maybe too strong a word but like
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desensitized to that now as it's so oh
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absolutely ingrained in our childhood
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that like oh another animal was going
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extinct well that's just life i guess
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yeah and that's er that's kind of the
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point we're in the midst of what
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elizabeth colbert calls the sixth mass
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extinction there have been five of them
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over the course of uh recorded history
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or rather the historical record that we
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have back to
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back through
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time and this is the one
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you know the last one was the kt
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extinction event or at least that's how
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we sort of think of it the one that is
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thought to have been caused by an
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asteroid impact in the yucatan the one
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that killed the dinosaurs and now we're
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in a place where
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extinction is happening at an estimated
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45
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000 times higher than the background
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extinction rate
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it's incredibly difficult to calculate
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how often species go extinct even before
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this ecological situation in which we
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find ourselves but the best estimate
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i've found is that for mammals the
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background extinction rate is one
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species every
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700 years
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and i have a list of
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over a hundred that i have been uh
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working through
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but go back to years with four digits
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like the what's known as the holocene
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the most recent geological epoch um
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after after humans came to prominence in
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the in the geological record so it's
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numb is a good word
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it's an overwhelming
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part of how we experience and interact
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with the natural world right now yeah
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yeah i must admit i am apart from
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being into
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dinosaurs my
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my knowledge on the on the on the
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subject is lacking
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and it is not you know it's not the most
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glamorous of topics or let me let me
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rephrase that it's not the most um
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uplifting i guess yeah it's hard to talk
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about um
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i've been digging up extinction stories
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for
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about a year now to put this book
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together and there have been moments
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where i just uh i've had to walk away
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from my desk in tears because of what
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i've read um and i and i do
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i have found a way to be hopeful about
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it and that's really why i'm here
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so you know i i i imagine we'll get to
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that soon
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well
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uh kyrgyzstan the uh youtuber series
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they did a similar kind of hopeful take
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on on climate change as a as a whole and
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the ending note was like
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it's not all
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doom and gloom there is there is still
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possibility for change oh yeah every
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endangered species is a success story
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waiting to happen oh that that's so
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wholesome save that for the end man
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i'll say it again if i have to have a
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few more of these
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yeah it's hard to talk about because i
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have to like i have to bring people into
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the podcast right out of the way um
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thankfully we've talked already and you
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you kind of know me but i have to sort
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of meet people and say hey we're living
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in a zoologically impoverished era
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and that kind of sucks doesn't it and
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then you know then we have to like
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that's the place that we have to be
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um
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where we have to kind of have the
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conversation so it's hard to do
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in point of fact the uh the american
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psychological association recognized eco
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anxiety
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as a
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uh i don't want to say disorder or a
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symptom um or as a source of a kind of
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anxiety in 2017 it's sort of the fear
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that we're living on a world that will
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soon be unable to support the basic
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biological functions of life so this is
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real and it is hard to talk about and
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i'm more familiar with that difficulty
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than most but one of the things that i
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am desperately trying to do when i write
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about extinction especially in the
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context of dungeons and dragons is to
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write about it in a way that provides
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hope or at the very least an antidote to
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despair
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let's do let's do that classic academic
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tip that certainly younger teachers who
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teach younger generations doing is it's
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making the thing interestingly exciting
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so the the question i have for you is
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obviously been working on
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both making monster and book of
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extinction and i wanted you to
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what kind of interesting animals have
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you
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looked at
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which may have gone extinct that i may
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not have heard of that were probably
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weird and wacky to my uneducated brain
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yeah okay this is this is the fun part
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of this this is
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this is what makes this worth doing
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because every extinction story that i
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have read has been just
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bonkers like i couldn't have made this
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stuff up
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so first of all there's a few that
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everybody wants to talk about right like
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when people talk to me about extinct
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animals they have their favorite
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um and i tried to pick a couple that
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were
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consistent favorites to put in the
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preview so there's three of them out
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right now and you can kind of see my
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design process for how this works one of
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them is the great awk i have the
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thylacine or tasmanian tiger and the the
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passenger pigeon
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i think my favorite of those is the the
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tasmanian tiger
262
00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,720
it was a
263
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:54,000
marsupial wolf and and wolf
264
00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:56,480
tiger nor wolf nor hyena nor jackal are
265
00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,320
really an appropriate
266
00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:01,680
label for this thing
267
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um but it's the best we we have it's
268
00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:07,120
uncanny in a way that uh the feywild is
269
00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,560
uncanny it defies description and
270
00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,920
explanation
271
00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:13,040
but it was a
272
00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:14,399
roughly dog-sized uh marsupial that was
273
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native to
274
00:10:14,399 --> 00:10:20,560
the island of tasmania and was
275
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at the time of european settlement just
276
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a major feature of the forests there
277
00:10:23,279 --> 00:10:28,640
and when europeans settled it they
278
00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:31,120
brought with them the kinds of domestic
279
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animals that they knew to be helpful for
280
00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,920
setting up a life
281
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and so
282
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the tasmanian tiger with its frankly
283
00:10:36,399 --> 00:10:41,120
huge gape
284
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was an obvious target for
285
00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:46,959
uh mythologizing it became the sort of
286
00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:49,839
big bad wolf of of tasmania and it
287
00:10:46,959 --> 00:10:52,079
became responsible uh although
288
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it became responsible in myth at least
289
00:10:52,079 --> 00:10:56,160
for the the loss that farmers
290
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experienced of their
291
00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:00,000
uh their sheep and i i don't think we
292
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had cow of their sheep like every sheep
293
00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:04,160
that got killed was the result of a
294
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thylacine attack so there was this huge
295
00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,800
concerted effort
296
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to
297
00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:11,920
eliminate the thylacine from tasmania
298
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and most experts agree it worked
299
00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:17,519
not every but most
300
00:11:15,519 --> 00:11:21,040
the last one was named benjamin and he
301
00:11:17,519 --> 00:11:23,680
died in the hobart zoo in tasmania in
302
00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:25,680
1936.
303
00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:28,320
but the way that people talk about the
304
00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:30,320
tasmanian tiger is exactly the same as
305
00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:34,000
the way people talk about monsters with
306
00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:35,920
this weird mix of both fear and love
307
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,160
it has a devoted
308
00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:40,880
i don't want to say fan base
309
00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:43,120
i do want to say fan base
310
00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,959
there's a huge i've i've read at least
311
00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:47,279
three books claiming that it is still
312
00:11:44,959 --> 00:11:50,000
alive somewhere out there in the wilds
313
00:11:47,279 --> 00:11:52,639
of tasmania um living in america we have
314
00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:55,519
bigfoot we have sasquatch that's our guy
315
00:11:52,639 --> 00:11:57,360
and in tasmania it's the thylacine
316
00:11:55,519 --> 00:11:59,120
so i've written the thylacine as a fae
317
00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:03,600
creature it had to be
318
00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:05,839
with the bizarre mix of both charm and
319
00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:08,240
fear effect so it has the same frightful
320
00:12:05,839 --> 00:12:11,040
presence that you would find in a dragon
321
00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:13,120
and the same enchanting call that you
322
00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,880
would find in a siren
323
00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,800
because i wanted to get at that like we
324
00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:19,360
were scared of this thing
325
00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:22,160
uh just until we realized that we loved
326
00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:23,920
it um and there's a weird kind of
327
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:26,720
contrast and a weird kind of
328
00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:29,440
dissimilarity and and discontinuity
329
00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:31,760
duality yeah between the way we talked
330
00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,720
about it uh and and what ended up
331
00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:34,320
happening
332
00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:37,440
cool i was i was going to say like when
333
00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:40,399
you do these these animals do you add in
334
00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:42,480
like fantastical elements
335
00:12:40,399 --> 00:12:44,240
or do you try and keep it quote unquote
336
00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,399
mundane but the fact that you've given
337
00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,600
it a charm and fear it war is i think
338
00:12:46,399 --> 00:12:48,399
queer
339
00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,320
yeah
340
00:12:48,399 --> 00:12:52,480
yeah and it was kind of at issue like
341
00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,480
how do we even do this book because i
342
00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:57,040
didn't want to just give you a hundred
343
00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:59,120
more beasts to put in your in your book
344
00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:01,360
because that would be disproportionately
345
00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,480
serving the druids in my audience
346
00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,800
um
347
00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:06,800
i also wanted to be able to point out
348
00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,800
the the vera similitude here and walk
349
00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:11,200
the line between real and fantastic so
350
00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:13,920
we've decided to just do both um you'll
351
00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:15,440
find a stat block for for these animals
352
00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,880
on the one page and then on the right
353
00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:19,519
hand page we'll have
354
00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:22,000
or on the facing page we'll have the
355
00:13:19,519 --> 00:13:24,240
fantastical stat block so i've just kind
356
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:26,639
of juiced it a little bit for it to be
357
00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:28,720
competitive in a world where magic is a
358
00:13:26,639 --> 00:13:30,720
selective pressure something that could
359
00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,320
stand alongside the monstrosities and
360
00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:34,880
the aberrations and the things that you
361
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,839
find roaming around d and d so i've done
362
00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:39,199
both
363
00:13:35,839 --> 00:13:40,480
oh amazing amazing so you've done i know
364
00:13:39,199 --> 00:13:41,839
you did you've done the book of
365
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,040
extinction right which is what currently
366
00:13:41,839 --> 00:13:45,120
three
367
00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,959
the three monsters you've monsters so i
368
00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,720
feel bad saying that to him now yeah and
369
00:13:46,959 --> 00:13:52,320
we can talk about why we use the word
370
00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:54,959
monster because i have an opinion
371
00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:56,240
but yeah i'm calling them monsters okay
372
00:13:54,959 --> 00:13:58,959
okay and then obviously we've got making
373
00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:00,160
a monster as well obviously that we've
374
00:13:58,959 --> 00:14:01,600
talked about previously i just wanted to
375
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:02,880
know if there's what have you learned
376
00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:05,600
from
377
00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:07,519
doing this kind of unique take on
378
00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,199
homebrew because obviously most homebrew
379
00:14:07,519 --> 00:14:11,519
is either
380
00:14:09,199 --> 00:14:14,240
trying to make something that is in the
381
00:14:11,519 --> 00:14:16,880
real world that we know of or it's it's
382
00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,839
a creature of pure imagination or
383
00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,959
fiction
384
00:14:17,839 --> 00:14:23,279
yeah and these these kind of creatures
385
00:14:20,959 --> 00:14:25,199
these extinct creatures kind of exist in
386
00:14:23,279 --> 00:14:27,279
this liminal space between those two
387
00:14:25,199 --> 00:14:28,560
states that they they did exist at one
388
00:14:27,279 --> 00:14:30,560
point and with the physical things you
389
00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:32,399
could touch and stroke
390
00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,920
but then now they don't and they they
391
00:14:32,399 --> 00:14:35,360
are now unfortunately
392
00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:37,199
fiction almost
393
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:39,839
yeah their story isn't progressing which
394
00:14:37,199 --> 00:14:41,680
i think is why one of the reasons that
395
00:14:39,839 --> 00:14:43,440
writing them as monsters is particularly
396
00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,720
appropriate but i think the most
397
00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,959
surprising thing that i've learned from
398
00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:48,160
this process is that it's already
399
00:14:46,959 --> 00:14:50,639
happened
400
00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:52,800
i'm not the first one to do this and
401
00:14:50,639 --> 00:14:54,800
that's why i said at the top of the
402
00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:56,320
interview that it's part of the core of
403
00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,880
what d is
404
00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:01,120
and i think there are two instances that
405
00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:03,600
i can point to explicitly for where this
406
00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,519
happens uh and they are the dire wolf
407
00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,279
and the cave bear
408
00:15:05,519 --> 00:15:09,040
so first of all
409
00:15:07,279 --> 00:15:10,399
you daniel i mean you've you've been
410
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:12,000
running games and you've been talking to
411
00:15:10,399 --> 00:15:13,680
people who make this what is and i'm
412
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,720
genuinely curious what does the word
413
00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:18,320
dire mean to you as a prefix first when
414
00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:21,920
you stick it in front of
415
00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:23,040
uh another another another noun um
416
00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:26,880
like
417
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:28,320
the bigger badder version
418
00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:31,519
imagine the thing
419
00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:33,040
like add 50 more size maybe make it more
420
00:15:31,519 --> 00:15:35,199
spiky
421
00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:37,360
and that'll do it yeah
422
00:15:35,199 --> 00:15:38,210
like dial the contrast down on the color
423
00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:39,440
scheme
424
00:15:38,210 --> 00:15:40,639
[Music]
425
00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:41,920
just so it's like a bit darker and
426
00:15:40,639 --> 00:15:42,800
grayer and then yeah and then you're
427
00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:43,600
there
428
00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:45,440
yep
429
00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:47,279
yeah and that's it that's
430
00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:50,079
basically what it is so
431
00:15:47,279 --> 00:15:52,000
i resisted the urge i thought making
432
00:15:50,079 --> 00:15:55,040
just creatures that were extinct in the
433
00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:57,519
holocene so somewhere in the last couple
434
00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,399
usually in the last couple hundred years
435
00:15:57,519 --> 00:15:59,920
i thought that was going to be the
436
00:15:58,399 --> 00:16:01,759
thrust of the book and then i started
437
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:03,680
digging up these little bits of what d
438
00:16:01,759 --> 00:16:04,959
and d has inherited from natural history
439
00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,720
in the past
440
00:16:04,959 --> 00:16:09,519
and most of them hinge on the idea of
441
00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:12,000
that dire creature and that comes to us
442
00:16:09,519 --> 00:16:15,519
from the phenomenon of pleistocene
443
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:17,680
megafauna so if you look at the previous
444
00:16:15,519 --> 00:16:19,360
geological era the one that is before
445
00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:23,360
the one we're in now
446
00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:25,440
animals tended to be bigger and i mean a
447
00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:27,360
lot bigger
448
00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:30,000
so not just like 150 percent we're
449
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:31,519
talking like 250 percent but at least um
450
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,680
we had uh
451
00:16:31,519 --> 00:16:36,480
uh i just i just got a piece back from
452
00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:39,199
my artist about the glyptodon which was
453
00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:41,839
a mammal with basically an armadillo the
454
00:16:39,199 --> 00:16:43,519
size of a volkswagen we had a cheetah
455
00:16:41,839 --> 00:16:44,800
fully twice as large as the one you'll
456
00:16:43,519 --> 00:16:47,440
find now
457
00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,880
we had a giant ground sloth the size of
458
00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:52,320
an elephant
459
00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:54,480
uh everything else oh yeah oh yeah we
460
00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:57,040
have what i uh the project took a
461
00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:58,639
strange turn when i had to add a dire
462
00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:00,399
kangaroo
463
00:16:58,639 --> 00:17:02,959
wow amazing
464
00:17:00,399 --> 00:17:05,839
so yeah there um when
465
00:17:02,959 --> 00:17:09,120
d says dire whatever
466
00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:11,679
it is inheriting the idea of pleistocene
467
00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:15,039
megafauna which really came around in
468
00:17:11,679 --> 00:17:18,319
the 17 to 1800s when we started digging
469
00:17:15,039 --> 00:17:20,480
up bones of old extinct things and being
470
00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:22,400
able to sort of write that down and
471
00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,000
transmit that information in a way that
472
00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:25,919
permitted the uh
473
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,600
the historical journal
474
00:17:25,919 --> 00:17:29,840
so the original direwolf and now i'm
475
00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:31,520
going to mispronounce latin was
476
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:34,320
an asean
477
00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:37,520
an extinct pleistocene megaphone wolf
478
00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:38,960
um so really the word dire means exactly
479
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:42,160
what you would expect it would bigger
480
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:43,919
hairier darker probably bonier um and
481
00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:45,760
those uh
482
00:17:43,919 --> 00:17:47,200
that was just the way of the world
483
00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:49,280
before
484
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,360
back back during the the pleistocene era
485
00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:53,440
so we have all of these
486
00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:55,280
remnants of of giant animals that we
487
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:57,600
just sort of that just sort of became a
488
00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:59,360
part of the way
489
00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,520
fantasy was written so everything in
490
00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:03,200
appendix n a lot of it
491
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:06,559
appeared a lot of that fiction that
492
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:10,240
inspired d d appeared during this period
493
00:18:06,559 --> 00:18:11,760
uh the 1800s or or was inheriting ideas
494
00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:14,880
that appeared during you know the late
495
00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:16,559
17th early 1800s that were generated as
496
00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,799
part of
497
00:18:16,559 --> 00:18:21,760
this kind of wave of natural history i
498
00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:23,679
know for example that that is the era in
499
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:26,559
which
500
00:18:23,679 --> 00:18:28,799
lovecraft grew up
501
00:18:26,559 --> 00:18:31,039
and at a certain point i think lovecraft
502
00:18:28,799 --> 00:18:33,760
had it right that at a certain point
503
00:18:31,039 --> 00:18:36,240
sheer size is enough
504
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:37,600
to reconceptualize a human's place in
505
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:40,480
the food chain
506
00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:42,720
from predator to prey and in lovecraft's
507
00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:44,720
case it was perhaps to paramecium that
508
00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:47,120
we became creatures so comparatively
509
00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:48,640
small that we were beneath the notice of
510
00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:50,160
the food chain entirely and to
511
00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,480
comprehend that would be to drive you
512
00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:52,480
mad
513
00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,400
so that's that's what dire means that's
514
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,000
that's why extinction is baked into this
515
00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,760
and i did mention the cave bear because
516
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,520
i've just learned that that is in the
517
00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,760
back of the book it's a little green box
518
00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,360
text that says uh if you want to use a
519
00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,360
cave bear add
520
00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:09,360
uh add 60 feet of dark vision to the
521
00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:11,919
polar bear stat block which weirdly
522
00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:14,240
means that cave bears can swim
523
00:19:11,919 --> 00:19:15,679
so i don't know
524
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,760
i don't know that i agree there i've
525
00:19:15,679 --> 00:19:19,679
rewritten the cave bear to my my
526
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,679
purposes but cave bears were the fulcrum
527
00:19:19,679 --> 00:19:23,360
where archaeology turned from mythology
528
00:19:21,679 --> 00:19:25,280
to history
529
00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:27,600
there are and you you may you might know
530
00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:29,600
a couple there were these caves all over
531
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:32,000
europe that were known as dragon's cave
532
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:33,520
or dragon's lair or dragon's hole and
533
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:36,720
often in those caves you would find
534
00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:39,600
piles and piles of cave bear bones uh
535
00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:42,960
and as late as 1672 there's a famous
536
00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:45,360
engraving by pj hayne that uh
537
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:47,280
give that draws cave bare bones and just
538
00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:49,520
calls them dragon bones and it looks
539
00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:51,679
exactly like what you would find saint
540
00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:53,039
george stabbing with a spear like that's
541
00:19:51,679 --> 00:19:55,280
the skull that
542
00:19:53,039 --> 00:19:56,559
that you would picture if you if you
543
00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:59,440
ripped it out
544
00:19:56,559 --> 00:20:02,720
so yeah and it took us a while uh it
545
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:04,880
wasn't until 1794 that um johann
546
00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:07,280
christian rosenmueller a german
547
00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:09,919
anatomist was the first one to give it
548
00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:11,120
the name ursuspalius or literally cave
549
00:20:09,919 --> 00:20:13,600
bear
550
00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:15,200
so the the the legacy of extinction is
551
00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:18,000
all over
552
00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:19,280
the the monster manual and it's all over
553
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:20,960
the way that
554
00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:24,240
heroic fantasy is thought about in
555
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:26,320
general insofar as j.r.r tolkien is kind
556
00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:28,000
of the godfather of d d and heroic
557
00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:30,480
fantasy in general
558
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,720
his idea of history was that it was
559
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:35,200
always progressing downward
560
00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,039
lesser echoes of the past from less cool
561
00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:39,360
and less magic
562
00:20:37,039 --> 00:20:41,760
or rather from great and awesome to less
563
00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:44,480
cool and less magic as we go on
564
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:47,200
and it's uh it's echoed by
565
00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:49,120
the opinion of of natural historians of
566
00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:49,840
his time so alfred russell wallace who
567
00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:52,240
is
568
00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:55,039
a contemporary of darwin
569
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:57,120
wrote in the geographical distribution
570
00:20:55,039 --> 00:20:59,120
of animals 1876.
571
00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:02,159
yeah i'm giving footnotes i'm sorry the
572
00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:03,919
gda yeah i'm familiar with it yeah how
573
00:21:02,159 --> 00:21:05,520
are you really no yeah
574
00:21:03,919 --> 00:21:06,640
oh okay
575
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:07,370
just trying to sound like i know what
576
00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,120
i'm talking about
577
00:21:07,370 --> 00:21:10,380
[Laughter]
578
00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:12,559
hi and welcome to the show
579
00:21:10,380 --> 00:21:14,240
[Laughter]
580
00:21:12,559 --> 00:21:16,559
he said we live in a zoologically
581
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:19,200
impoverished world from which all of the
582
00:21:16,559 --> 00:21:22,159
hugest and fiercest and strangest forms
583
00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:24,400
of life have recently disappeared
584
00:21:22,159 --> 00:21:26,640
the natural history was was echoing that
585
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:30,799
idea of less cool and less magic as we
586
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:33,280
go on and d is in a in a very real way
587
00:21:30,799 --> 00:21:36,240
reaching back toward a more epic and
588
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:39,919
more dangerous and more magical past a
589
00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:41,440
giant low saturation probably spikier
590
00:21:39,919 --> 00:21:43,679
higher past
591
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,559
there's two things i want to talk about
592
00:21:43,679 --> 00:21:46,880
after
593
00:21:44,559 --> 00:21:48,799
all of that information one is
594
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,720
i'm petrified by the thoughts of dire
595
00:21:48,799 --> 00:21:52,240
kangaroos because
596
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,640
because regular kangaroos are like
597
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:58,559
shredded af or at least
598
00:21:54,640 --> 00:22:01,360
like it's it's for real
599
00:21:58,559 --> 00:22:03,520
eight feet tall and jacked yeah like
600
00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:06,720
they're gonna they're like a diet
601
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:08,320
kangaroo i got god forbid like whoa
602
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:10,720
he's gonna be picturing him three feet
603
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:13,840
higher and proportionately broader yeah
604
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:15,440
and uh brachycephalic like a bulldog
605
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,440
shorter face
606
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,600
and that's what you've got
607
00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:22,720
geez louise that okay that's nightmare
608
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:24,720
fuel uh for sure um
609
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,080
and then um also the other reason the
610
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:28,000
other thing i wanted to say is this is
611
00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:30,880
why i love having you on the show is
612
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,559
because for me personally you you give
613
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,760
me another dimension
614
00:22:32,559 --> 00:22:35,360
of the books
615
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:37,440
and we did that on the on the last
616
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:39,919
episode where we talked i think about
617
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:42,000
like the mummy uh the monster in the
618
00:22:39,919 --> 00:22:44,000
monster manual the mummy and on the face
619
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:46,799
of that it's just like well that's like
620
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:49,520
the brendan fraser film which is great
621
00:22:46,799 --> 00:22:53,120
um but then you know you you you kind of
622
00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:56,159
are like yes but down low look like
623
00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:58,240
ever so slightly more deeper
624
00:22:56,159 --> 00:22:59,679
and it reveals like it gives you so much
625
00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,120
more context in the same way now we're
626
00:22:59,679 --> 00:23:03,120
talking about these diet creatures that
627
00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:05,120
on the face of it to me it just like oh
628
00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:07,039
yeah world of warcraft taught me that's
629
00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:09,039
just a harder version and that's where
630
00:23:07,039 --> 00:23:11,120
the the end of my knowledge lies now
631
00:23:09,039 --> 00:23:12,960
it's like well no wait
632
00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:15,520
there's more
633
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:18,000
and it can be both because d does need
634
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,919
to have a mechanism by which
635
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,720
things can get more
636
00:23:19,919 --> 00:23:23,600
dangerous because monsters don't level
637
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,679
up
638
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:27,280
uh when you polymorph you trade your
639
00:23:25,679 --> 00:23:29,280
character sheet for a stat block and the
640
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:31,360
stat block doesn't improve so it had to
641
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,400
create kind of these pokemon evolution
642
00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:35,360
chains
643
00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:37,600
of of progressively badder monsters
644
00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:40,720
uh i had to write out the hierarchy of
645
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:42,190
bears from from bound brown or from
646
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,880
black bear up to cave bear
647
00:23:42,190 --> 00:23:46,880
[Laughter]
648
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:50,080
but yeah in that case it's it's sort of
649
00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:52,400
reflecting the idea that uh you know
650
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:55,360
it's it's using game design to reflect a
651
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,400
reality of the world that it inherited
652
00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:58,559
we talked about it a couple times
653
00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,480
already about i mean dinosaurs as you
654
00:23:58,559 --> 00:24:02,720
you opened the episode with when people
655
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,400
talk about extinct animals
656
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:06,640
a lot of people are like
657
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:09,279
t-rexes are cool and jurassic park's a
658
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,320
thing and this is now like you know that
659
00:24:09,279 --> 00:24:11,760
that is it
660
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,799
and so of course for better and for
661
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:15,039
worse
662
00:24:12,799 --> 00:24:18,080
both the standard monster manual and of
663
00:24:15,039 --> 00:24:20,640
the expanded books as well have several
664
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:22,640
creatures tagged dinosaur essentially
665
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,640
beasts but they are i think by their
666
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:28,559
original names as well right yep there's
667
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:30,799
a t-rex there's a plesiosaur yeah uh
668
00:24:28,559 --> 00:24:34,080
yeah triceratops yeah tricep
669
00:24:30,799 --> 00:24:36,080
tyrannosaurus rex velociraptor yeah um
670
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,799
so yeah they've all got them in there
671
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:40,240
like verbatim to the to the the words
672
00:24:38,799 --> 00:24:41,520
that people would know them pretty much
673
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,039
yeah so i was going to say like what
674
00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:43,679
what are your have you do you ever look
675
00:24:43,039 --> 00:24:45,840
at
676
00:24:43,679 --> 00:24:47,120
those stat blocks for you know for
677
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:50,000
inspiration when you were looking at
678
00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:52,320
yours or have you got any uh hot takes
679
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:54,159
on their interpretation of extinct
680
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:56,000
creatures
681
00:24:54,159 --> 00:24:57,919
uh by and large i left it alone i was
682
00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,320
trying to do things that didn't already
683
00:24:57,919 --> 00:25:01,840
exist in the book i didn't want to just
684
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,159
rehash what was there but there were a
685
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,400
couple instances in which my work
686
00:25:04,159 --> 00:25:07,840
overlapped with what's there i straight
687
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,440
up took the mammoth like we're
688
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,720
reprinting the mammoth because i have a
689
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,240
point to make
690
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,799
about how it's the mona lisa of
691
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:16,880
extinction the hot take i think my
692
00:25:14,799 --> 00:25:18,320
favorite hot take about uh d and d's
693
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:21,039
dinosaurs is that it got the
694
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:22,559
velociraptor right where jurassic park
695
00:25:21,039 --> 00:25:25,440
got it wrong
696
00:25:22,559 --> 00:25:28,000
in the monster manual they are small
697
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:30,720
they're small beasts tiny beasts in fact
698
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:32,880
oh tiny yeah rather my bad they are they
699
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:35,679
are the size of a chicken which is
700
00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:38,400
consistent with the fossils that we dug
701
00:25:35,679 --> 00:25:42,640
up the reason that we know them as the
702
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:44,400
six foot long door opening dinosaurs
703
00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:46,720
that jurassic park gave us is because
704
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:48,640
they needed to put a dude in the suit
705
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:51,760
and they couldn't do it
706
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,760
when it was that small
707
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:56,159
like you're kidding velociraptors are
708
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:58,400
tiny no no i know velociraptors i've
709
00:25:56,159 --> 00:25:59,600
seen the movie yeah yeah they're
710
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,679
clanging around in the kitchen
711
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:04,159
downstairs and yeah yeah yeah and in
712
00:26:01,679 --> 00:26:06,080
fact d d got it right where jurassic
713
00:26:04,159 --> 00:26:08,000
park got it wrong so props to you
714
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:09,440
monster manual
715
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,679
that's good the next time anyone
716
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,600
criticizes dnd for anything right or
717
00:26:11,679 --> 00:26:15,200
wrongly i'm gonna go yeah but
718
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:18,240
but
719
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:20,400
they've got chicken sized
720
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:23,440
and that means
721
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,440
everything else is fine
722
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,960
okay i didn't know that i mean i've
723
00:26:25,679 --> 00:26:28,960
probably looked at it before but it
724
00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:31,120
hasn't ever clicked in my head uh until
725
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,320
i look at it right now it's a time it's
726
00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:33,520
easy to miss
727
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:36,000
yeah
728
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:37,279
a lot of writing beasts like that is and
729
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,600
a lot of writing
730
00:26:37,279 --> 00:26:41,120
that is is like finding the tiny tiny
731
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,480
little piece of the stat block to
732
00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:44,720
enshrine
733
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:46,799
uh the detail about like when we were
734
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,240
talking about the giant ground sloth the
735
00:26:46,799 --> 00:26:49,600
thing the size of an elephant i gave it
736
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:51,760
a burrow speed
737
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:54,240
um because some ground sloths in its
738
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,840
genus were known to dig burrows that we
739
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:58,240
found after the fact
740
00:26:55,840 --> 00:27:00,240
so instead of like taking 25 or 50 words
741
00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:02,880
to tell that story i just put comma
742
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:06,320
burrow 15 feet and now you have to deal
743
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:07,520
with that as a dm and a player but i
744
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,039
mean i love
745
00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,520
burrow speeds as well so we're going to
746
00:27:09,039 --> 00:27:13,600
go back to brass tacks dnd now but yeah
747
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:16,080
like uh what's the land shark known as
748
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:17,919
in uh the uh
749
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,440
yes yeah like that is great to just like
750
00:27:17,919 --> 00:27:21,360
smash through if they're in a mine
751
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,840
abandoned mine and it just dives through
752
00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:25,360
the cave wall and it just keeps going
753
00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,120
underground and stuff the players can't
754
00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:29,120
chase it is
755
00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:31,440
reconceptualizing your place in the food
756
00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:33,039
chain yeah
757
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:35,440
yeah sharks aren't scary because they
758
00:27:33,039 --> 00:27:38,000
live in the wet bit
759
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:40,320
and we're very i don't go to the wet bit
760
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:42,480
and so i'm fine but the bullet is a
761
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:44,320
shark that lives on the dry bit
762
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:46,559
now everything is different but we live
763
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:49,840
on the dry bit lucas
764
00:27:46,559 --> 00:27:49,840
that's my bit
765
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:56,960
i did i did do in my the last the last
766
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,000
chapter last arc of my homebrew campaign
767
00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:01,200
was
768
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:03,600
themed as your classic land before time
769
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:06,700
an island that nobody's been to for oh
770
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:09,120
yeah thousands of years and so tasmania
771
00:28:06,700 --> 00:28:11,360
[Laughter]
772
00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:13,919
or mauritius where we found the dodo
773
00:28:11,360 --> 00:28:15,200
like or the the last resting place of
774
00:28:13,919 --> 00:28:17,290
the great oc like you're in great
775
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,480
company as far as natural history goes
776
00:28:17,290 --> 00:28:19,440
[Laughter]
777
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,840
um
778
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:23,919
unfortunately it was all trivialized by
779
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,120
my players having a cubic gate so
780
00:28:23,919 --> 00:28:27,279
they're just like teleporting everywhere
781
00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:29,360
and just teleported through the jungle
782
00:28:27,279 --> 00:28:31,279
so all the jungle jungle monsters were
783
00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:33,840
just like
784
00:28:31,279 --> 00:28:36,799
so the closest we got was the
785
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:38,880
essentially the glass of water shaking
786
00:28:36,799 --> 00:28:41,200
uh the water in the glass shaking uh
787
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:43,840
rhythmically but then they never needed
788
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:46,080
to explore or go further so that that's
789
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:49,360
as close as i got to bringing them in uh
790
00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:52,159
i was as a half queueing up a huge epic
791
00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:55,360
dinosaur fight and uh
792
00:28:52,159 --> 00:28:56,159
it wasn't it wasn't to be on this land
793
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,000
before
794
00:28:56,159 --> 00:29:01,200
there is something kind of tragic about
795
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:02,080
that i i know it's i know it's fine but
796
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,640
like
797
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:06,000
huge like come on guys
798
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:09,360
it's like hulk at the end of thor
799
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,360
ragnarok big monster
800
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,840
fight the
801
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:12,840
to fight dinosaurs
802
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:18,080
i know now that i find normal boring
803
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,840
creatures but anyway yeah
804
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,520
well and that that kind of catharsis was
805
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:24,159
a part of what i wanted to do with
806
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:25,840
extinction was to to sort of be able to
807
00:29:24,159 --> 00:29:28,080
bring you into contact with these things
808
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:30,080
that i knew that you were gonna like um
809
00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:32,399
i have a giant beaver in the book it's a
810
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,559
beaver six feet high that's just it's
811
00:29:32,399 --> 00:29:37,200
there for no other reason then i know
812
00:29:34,559 --> 00:29:39,919
you're gonna love it yeah
813
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:42,080
you gonna i mean if you don't spec a a
814
00:29:39,919 --> 00:29:44,080
dire kangaroo i will but please tell me
815
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:46,480
it's in please tell me it's on the it's
816
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:48,080
on the cards oh yeah it's it's one of
817
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:50,480
the ones i've actually finished i've got
818
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:52,320
an art order out for it uh
819
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:55,520
i've asked for three things i've asked
820
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:58,080
for a giant uh short faced
821
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,790
and i want it to be full-on cold [ __ ]
822
00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,039
and a guy
823
00:29:58,790 --> 00:30:04,399
[Laughter]
824
00:30:01,039 --> 00:30:06,840
just a just a mean left hook yeah
825
00:30:04,399 --> 00:30:09,760
shredded jacked up
826
00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:12,000
yeah just a kangaroo punching a guy's
827
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:13,760
lights out yeah large beast unaligned
828
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:16,640
challenge rating two
829
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:19,279
i've just thought of a great rug pool
830
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:20,720
is having that jurassic park telling
831
00:30:19,279 --> 00:30:23,120
your players as the dm you've got a
832
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:25,600
glass of water it's rhythmically the
833
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:27,120
water is is shaking another place like
834
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,720
oh yeah yeah i know this we've seen this
835
00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,399
trade a hundred times before and then
836
00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,840
out through the bushes
837
00:30:30,399 --> 00:30:35,440
hops a
838
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:37,840
and they're expecting a t-rex no no
839
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:37,840
not today
840
00:30:38,799 --> 00:30:41,280
you're wrong
841
00:30:39,919 --> 00:30:43,600
this is way worse
842
00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,630
[Laughter]
843
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:47,360
and it's angry
844
00:30:44,630 --> 00:30:48,960
[Laughter]
845
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,799
oh great that's that's a free all the
846
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:54,919
listeners that's a freebie please take a
847
00:30:50,799 --> 00:30:54,919
news use that in your campaign
848
00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:00,159
[Music]
849
00:31:02,750 --> 00:31:08,799
[Music]
850
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:11,039
another thing i wanted to talk about
851
00:31:08,799 --> 00:31:12,799
in regards to
852
00:31:11,039 --> 00:31:14,320
building a dnd
853
00:31:12,799 --> 00:31:16,399
campaign and you mentioned them earlier
854
00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:18,720
on like extinction events extinction
855
00:31:16,399 --> 00:31:19,760
level events as hollywood would like to
856
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,519
call it
857
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:23,440
i think you mentioned we're at number
858
00:31:21,519 --> 00:31:25,440
six or something
859
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,840
yeah that's that's the idea that is
860
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:31,120
being put forth in the scientific
861
00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:33,600
discourse now um i should say that uh
862
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,480
geologists recognize five based on their
863
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,000
work
864
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:38,000
and then you know we're making the
865
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:40,080
argument that we are in the sixth
866
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:41,840
currently in it yeah yeah i hope it
867
00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:44,080
won't be one of those things where
868
00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:46,080
people look back and go oh yeah those
869
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:47,519
guys were like definitely in number six
870
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:49,039
and they just couldn't see it for
871
00:31:47,519 --> 00:31:51,360
whatever reason because that'll be sad
872
00:31:49,039 --> 00:31:52,240
i'd rather at least know we're in it
873
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,799
yeah
874
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:57,919
yeah me too
875
00:31:54,799 --> 00:32:00,320
kind of writing a book about it
876
00:31:57,919 --> 00:32:02,320
well i was gonna say like have you ever
877
00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:04,880
dealt with or thought about those
878
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:08,799
extinction events or epochs in
879
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:10,480
a a campaign uh usually the trope is
880
00:32:08,799 --> 00:32:11,600
there's gonna be one if you don't stop
881
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,120
it players
882
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,480
sometimes it's not even that big it's
883
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:15,840
it's just
884
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:17,440
you know the scope is a lot smaller but
885
00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:19,760
i was just wondering on your take on
886
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,799
extension level events because maybe
887
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:24,399
there's a unique approach to it or kind
888
00:32:22,799 --> 00:32:25,519
of those little things that people don't
889
00:32:24,399 --> 00:32:27,919
often think about yeah the end of the
890
00:32:25,519 --> 00:32:30,399
world okay hollywood's taught me that
891
00:32:27,919 --> 00:32:32,720
it's a desolate wasteland and there's
892
00:32:30,399 --> 00:32:33,919
robots that stamp on skulls but like
893
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:36,080
there's probably a little bit more
894
00:32:33,919 --> 00:32:37,679
nuance to it than just
895
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:40,000
fallout new vegas
896
00:32:37,679 --> 00:32:42,399
right yeah that's really interesting i
897
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:44,960
haven't structured this book such that
898
00:32:42,399 --> 00:32:48,000
it's a campaign set in a
899
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:49,679
post-extinction event world so i'm i'd
900
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,440
be reaching to write this i think i
901
00:32:49,679 --> 00:32:53,760
think it'd be on the spot
902
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:55,519
but i will say that there is at least
903
00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:56,799
one story
904
00:32:55,519 --> 00:32:59,039
let me let me tell you the thing i know
905
00:32:56,799 --> 00:33:00,720
i can tell you there is at least one
906
00:32:59,039 --> 00:33:03,200
story of a creature that
907
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:05,440
survived one extinction event only to
908
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:07,360
die in the in this one
909
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:08,480
actually let me let me answer the
910
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,559
question that you're actually asking
911
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:12,240
which is how do you use this in a d
912
00:33:10,559 --> 00:33:14,320
campaign
913
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:17,440
i have at least one example of a stone
914
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:20,240
punk setting okay there's a book by
915
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:22,159
atlas games called plain gia which was
916
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,120
used a lot of the same monsters that i'm
917
00:33:22,159 --> 00:33:24,799
using
918
00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,799
but built them as part of a setting that
919
00:33:24,799 --> 00:33:28,720
was sort of pre-history where everything
920
00:33:26,799 --> 00:33:30,799
was new and vital and you were sort of
921
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:33,440
living in the in the beginning the top
922
00:33:30,799 --> 00:33:36,559
of the spiral that that tolkien pictured
923
00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:37,679
um so you could go hard and just do it
924
00:33:36,559 --> 00:33:40,559
that way
925
00:33:37,679 --> 00:33:43,679
the tomb of annihilation adventure line
926
00:33:40,559 --> 00:33:46,080
in dnd owes a lot to that kind of work
927
00:33:43,679 --> 00:33:47,840
the jungles of chult are basically
928
00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:49,200
the land before time
929
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,720
that's why they're filled with monsters
930
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:52,960
so i think the tools are out there for
931
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:54,960
you to do this already
932
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:57,919
as uh and sort of engage with with
933
00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:59,440
extinction events as a narrative device
934
00:33:57,919 --> 00:34:01,519
yeah i'm just yeah this is this is what
935
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:03,200
i'm doing the show it's been
936
00:34:01,519 --> 00:34:05,120
a break from recording for a while and i
937
00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,799
have missed it because it makes me all
938
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,800
giddy about thinking
939
00:34:06,799 --> 00:34:10,720
because i am not even ignorant i never
940
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,399
you know it would be very cool to have a
941
00:34:10,720 --> 00:34:14,560
i'm only thinking i'm only realizing now
942
00:34:12,399 --> 00:34:17,359
is that it would be cool to have
943
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:19,839
those archaeologists and geologists
944
00:34:17,359 --> 00:34:21,520
being and like digging up bones and then
945
00:34:19,839 --> 00:34:24,000
it just gradually being this slow
946
00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:26,800
realization that a there was
947
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:29,440
an extinction event prior and b
948
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:31,679
much like we are and now perhaps there's
949
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:33,760
going to be another one soon and to have
950
00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:35,839
that be the driving
951
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:38,079
force for the player characters to be
952
00:34:35,839 --> 00:34:39,839
like let's find out what it was that's
953
00:34:38,079 --> 00:34:42,000
you know and you could you could still
954
00:34:39,839 --> 00:34:43,760
have your classic sword and board
955
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:46,320
fantasy of like well we've heard there's
956
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:48,639
some ruins that were old and maybe they
957
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:50,240
were pre the last event so won't you go
958
00:34:48,639 --> 00:34:52,639
in there and creatures have moved in
959
00:34:50,240 --> 00:34:54,800
yada yada fight your way to the end uh
960
00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:57,440
but the reward is like yes there might
961
00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:58,960
be some mechanical ward but the rule is
962
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:00,800
some ancient information that you then
963
00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:02,880
take back to the university and they go
964
00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:04,880
oh yeah this is this has got that last
965
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:07,200
bit of the cipher or that last bit of
966
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:08,560
translation that we needed to to work
967
00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:09,839
out what's what's coming up next and
968
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:11,920
then you can kind of
969
00:35:09,839 --> 00:35:13,760
turn that campaign
970
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:14,800
into a well it's there's going to be
971
00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,680
another
972
00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:19,359
meteorite or climate shift or something
973
00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:22,000
and how the and how the players can help
974
00:35:19,359 --> 00:35:23,920
to avoid that or perhaps depending on
975
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,839
your point of view and encourage it on
976
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,680
if they're part of their like life is a
977
00:35:25,839 --> 00:35:30,000
cycle and
978
00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:32,560
rebirth and all that other stuff if you
979
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,720
subscribe to that kind of uh ideology
980
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:37,200
yeah yeah that'd be great and there's
981
00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:39,040
precedent for it i think those caves
982
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:42,120
full of bare bones
983
00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:44,079
would uh or bear bare bones
984
00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:46,000
[Laughter]
985
00:35:44,079 --> 00:35:47,920
got to give you a good place to start
986
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,079
yeah yeah for sure
987
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:52,000
and i i do i'm kind of in love with the
988
00:35:50,079 --> 00:35:55,040
idea of
989
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,480
not having a bbeg like that doesn't have
990
00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:59,200
to be a single
991
00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:00,240
entity it can just be a force of nature
992
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:01,200
that is just
993
00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:03,440
almost
994
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:05,359
unreasonable it's um you know
995
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:07,119
unforgiving there's not much you can do
996
00:36:05,359 --> 00:36:11,359
in some ways it is inevitable it's just
997
00:36:07,119 --> 00:36:12,000
can you postpone it maybe for another
998
00:36:11,359 --> 00:36:13,440
that is yeah
999
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,359
cosmic horror
1000
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,960
uh and it's something i i toyed with
1001
00:36:15,359 --> 00:36:19,200
this for book of extinction too because
1002
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,640
i i thought about personifying
1003
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:22,320
extinction and then making that
1004
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,079
something that you could kill
1005
00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:26,240
and i'm not sure i'm still not sure
1006
00:36:24,079 --> 00:36:28,880
that's the best way to go about it if i
1007
00:36:26,240 --> 00:36:29,839
did i would uh i would do something with
1008
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:31,839
the
1009
00:36:29,839 --> 00:36:34,240
kytrid fungus
1010
00:36:31,839 --> 00:36:37,520
which is a a virulent strain of fungus
1011
00:36:34,240 --> 00:36:39,200
that is worldwide leading amphibians and
1012
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:40,880
frogs to being
1013
00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,800
the the group of animals with the
1014
00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:44,880
dubious distinction of going extinct the
1015
00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:46,960
most quickly oh
1016
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:49,040
yeah it's it it interferes with their
1017
00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:50,640
ability to absorb moisture through their
1018
00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:52,800
or absorb electrolytes through their
1019
00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:54,880
skin and essentially gives them a heart
1020
00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:56,560
attack and it's impossible to find it's
1021
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:58,560
impossible to stop
1022
00:36:56,560 --> 00:37:00,960
at least as far as we know now and there
1023
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:02,079
are some very dedicated people working
1024
00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:04,480
on it
1025
00:37:02,079 --> 00:37:06,640
yeah if i were to personify extinction
1026
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:09,200
it would be in that line but i'm still
1027
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:10,880
not sure i'm gonna do it because i i
1028
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:12,640
think it would be
1029
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,720
more in keeping with what i'm trying to
1030
00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:16,000
do to just give you the tools to grapple
1031
00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:18,480
with this and let you come to your own
1032
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:21,040
answers and not have something as
1033
00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:23,680
as fairy tale like as just being able to
1034
00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:26,000
stab it with a sword no i i i would
1035
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:29,200
agree with that i think it would be very
1036
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:31,760
easy to like accidentally trivialize
1037
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:33,760
it in a way and then reduce it quite
1038
00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:35,599
reductive to bring it this
1039
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,960
a very real issue into something which
1040
00:37:35,599 --> 00:37:39,350
is just like
1041
00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:42,000
i'm an evil guy in my castle
1042
00:37:39,350 --> 00:37:43,760
[Music]
1043
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:47,440
and and then there's the the cognitive
1044
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:50,920
dissonance of like i i killed extinction
1045
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,920
i killed them
1046
00:37:51,310 --> 00:37:57,440
[Laughter]
1047
00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:59,119
yeah that'll be a tricky one
1048
00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,839
and we're going to get
1049
00:37:59,119 --> 00:38:04,560
a real meta which i guess is saying
1050
00:38:01,839 --> 00:38:05,599
something considering the last 40 or so
1051
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:07,760
minutes
1052
00:38:05,599 --> 00:38:09,920
and only because in my preparation for
1053
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:11,200
the episode we at the time of recording
1054
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:13,520
we are
1055
00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:15,440
still pre um
1056
00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:18,720
the new book uh monsters of the
1057
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:22,079
multiverse coming out which looking at
1058
00:38:18,720 --> 00:38:23,119
my chosen online dnd platform of choice
1059
00:38:22,079 --> 00:38:24,960
actually but by the time this is
1060
00:38:23,119 --> 00:38:26,180
released it will be wizards branded so
1061
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:27,760
dearly beyond
1062
00:38:26,180 --> 00:38:30,400
[Laughter]
1063
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:32,480
safe and safe now they are
1064
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:35,440
basically deprecating
1065
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:38,640
or that is to say making extinct wink
1066
00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:38,640
roll credits um
1067
00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:44,240
uh two of the old books fellows guide to
1068
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,480
monsters and one kindness team of photos
1069
00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:48,800
and their stat blocks within so my my
1070
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:49,680
thought process here was like in a way
1071
00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:52,400
this
1072
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:54,000
incessant march of time is making
1073
00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:55,200
content and monsters and in a way you
1074
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:56,800
could even fold this into your campaign
1075
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,880
like the monsters you might have used
1076
00:38:56,800 --> 00:39:00,480
last session and now
1077
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:03,200
for all intents and purposes
1078
00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:05,040
you know in in canon not a thing anymore
1079
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,560
those you know they don't encourage you
1080
00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:09,040
to use those stat blocks and use new
1081
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:11,200
stat blocks so i just wanted like
1082
00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:15,599
i know it's a slightly tenuous link but
1083
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:16,800
that's welcome to the show again um
1084
00:39:15,599 --> 00:39:18,560
no i think there's something there
1085
00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:19,920
because what what
1086
00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:21,599
i think the best comparison to make
1087
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:23,760
there would be the comparison between
1088
00:39:21,599 --> 00:39:26,240
species i made the decision in writing
1089
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:27,920
book of extinction to use linnaeus's
1090
00:39:26,240 --> 00:39:30,320
taxonomy for every creature i wrote
1091
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:32,160
about so genus species name in the case
1092
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:34,560
of the giant short-faced kangaroo it's
1093
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:36,160
procoptidon de la golia
1094
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:39,440
in the case of
1095
00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:41,359
the tasmanian tiger it's thylacinous
1096
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:43,280
cyanocephalus
1097
00:39:41,359 --> 00:39:45,280
but that has introduced a layer of
1098
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:47,760
difficulty to this in that there's more
1099
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:50,320
than one giant ground sloth there is
1100
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:52,480
more than one heath hen
1101
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:55,760
which is you know an extinct bird from
1102
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:57,040
the northeast coast of of the
1103
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:58,320
us
1104
00:39:57,040 --> 00:40:00,480
so i think in this case what we're
1105
00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:03,680
looking at is maybe a deprecation of the
1106
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:05,200
species or maybe sort of a loss of
1107
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:07,040
i would think of it as a loss of
1108
00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:10,240
biodiversity where
1109
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:12,000
members of the genus are being removed
1110
00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:13,520
at the species level
1111
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,280
and we we do talk when we're looking at
1112
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:17,359
extinction events about whether that
1113
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:18,480
extinction happens at the species level
1114
00:40:17,359 --> 00:40:20,160
whether we're
1115
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:22,880
just losing different variations of the
1116
00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:24,400
same thing or at the genus level
1117
00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:25,440
in which case we're losing
1118
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:27,040
whole
1119
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:30,400
i don't want to say families but whole
1120
00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:32,160
large groups of life propositions
1121
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:34,400
that were around before
1122
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:36,079
so yeah there's a weird parallel here
1123
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:36,800
and it's funny because i've still got
1124
00:40:36,079 --> 00:40:39,280
the
1125
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:41,040
the search window open for dinosaurs and
1126
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:43,119
in a some beautiful
1127
00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:45,440
twist of fate
1128
00:40:43,119 --> 00:40:46,800
the majority are marked now as
1129
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:49,119
legacy here
1130
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:50,480
which is really it's kind of like
1131
00:40:49,119 --> 00:40:53,040
oh it's like
1132
00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:54,560
a grim humor to that so i think they get
1133
00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:57,599
replaced with like kidding i think they
1134
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:59,599
get replaced with updated stat blocks
1135
00:40:57,599 --> 00:41:00,880
but we're doing some rebalancing but
1136
00:40:59,599 --> 00:41:02,960
yeah
1137
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:04,800
things that worked in the pleistocene do
1138
00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:06,880
not work in the holocene
1139
00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:08,880
things that worked in
1140
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:10,400
you know things that worked before
1141
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:12,160
the extinction event that is
1142
00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:14,160
mordenkainen's
1143
00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:16,240
uh more or rather monsters of the
1144
00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:18,800
multiverse yes
1145
00:41:16,240 --> 00:41:20,640
no longer work in the current edition or
1146
00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:23,440
geological era it's like a oh it
1147
00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:25,119
imitates life uh happening before my
1148
00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:26,270
very eyes as we were recording this
1149
00:41:25,119 --> 00:41:28,319
thing
1150
00:41:26,270 --> 00:41:30,240
[Laughter]
1151
00:41:28,319 --> 00:41:31,040
uh yeah that's great i'm really glad
1152
00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:32,720
that
1153
00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:34,079
these dinosaurs are marked as legacy for
1154
00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:35,119
this content that i'm producing now i'm
1155
00:41:34,079 --> 00:41:36,960
very happy
1156
00:41:35,119 --> 00:41:39,760
i've been able to do that
1157
00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:41,520
oh no we're making them extinct again
1158
00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:44,800
yeah yeah well they've already done it
1159
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:44,800
once guys come on yeah
1160
00:41:45,119 --> 00:41:47,599
and then um
1161
00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:49,440
we're gonna we're gonna move away from
1162
00:41:47,599 --> 00:41:51,599
monsters just for a second before we we
1163
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:53,440
talk out the show because of course one
1164
00:41:51,599 --> 00:41:56,000
way to consider
1165
00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:56,960
extinction in a in a dnd campaign would
1166
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,240
be
1167
00:41:56,960 --> 00:42:01,520
you could
1168
00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:04,160
describe as a tpk as in the players
1169
00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:06,560
rather than the monsters uh or the the
1170
00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:08,880
characters not the players god i'm not
1171
00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:11,520
definitely not playing their characters
1172
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:13,839
um going extinct and yeah i just wanted
1173
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:15,119
to what again a bit like how
1174
00:42:13,839 --> 00:42:17,280
maybe you've got a unique take on how
1175
00:42:15,119 --> 00:42:19,599
extinction events could be interpreted
1176
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:22,400
in your campaign in any given campaign
1177
00:42:19,599 --> 00:42:25,280
uh maybe there's another take on
1178
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:27,280
a total party kill and how that might
1179
00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:29,680
have ramifications
1180
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:31,760
that i haven't thought of i think at the
1181
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:36,000
level at which book of extinction
1182
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:38,240
operates a tpk would be
1183
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:38,870
not to sound callous
1184
00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:41,119
minor
1185
00:42:38,870 --> 00:42:42,560
[Laughter]
1186
00:42:41,119 --> 00:42:46,400
i don't think that
1187
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:47,599
it doesn't compare on the level of of an
1188
00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:49,280
extinction event because we haven't
1189
00:42:47,599 --> 00:42:50,880
reached species level and we certainly
1190
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:53,119
haven't reached genus level like there's
1191
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:54,880
going to be another tiefling warlock
1192
00:42:53,119 --> 00:42:56,880
there's going to be another half elf
1193
00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:58,000
bard it's just going to happen i was
1194
00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:59,920
just gonna say you've given me the back
1195
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:03,119
of the box quote which is
1196
00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:05,839
lucas thinks tpk's a trivial or minor i
1197
00:43:03,119 --> 00:43:08,000
think so uh just to just uh just to be
1198
00:43:05,839 --> 00:43:10,560
the clickbait so yeah thank you
1199
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:12,800
oh great
1200
00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:16,319
take that put that on a context and oh
1201
00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:16,319
yeah let them come for me
1202
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:21,040
no but it's uh i think the point with
1203
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:23,599
extinction is that it is it is bigger
1204
00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:25,920
than any one of us at this point and and
1205
00:43:23,599 --> 00:43:28,400
in a way that's that's very d and d as
1206
00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:30,800
well like this is an asymmetrical
1207
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:33,680
heroic fantasy game in which strength
1208
00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:37,280
comes through diversity and extinction
1209
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:39,280
events represent the loss of diversity
1210
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:40,720
whole life propositions or ways of
1211
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:43,040
looking at the world that we will never
1212
00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:44,800
have access to again and i certainly
1213
00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:47,200
don't mean to trivialize
1214
00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:50,240
the idea that every person every player
1215
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:52,319
character represents a way of looking at
1216
00:43:50,240 --> 00:43:54,240
the world and a way of moving through it
1217
00:43:52,319 --> 00:43:56,400
and solving these challenges that is on
1218
00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:59,440
its own incredibly valuable
1219
00:43:56,400 --> 00:44:02,560
if you can start there and then imagine
1220
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:05,760
that we made extinct the very last
1221
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:08,640
tiefling warlock to ever be in the game
1222
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:10,480
then you would find i think the kind of
1223
00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:13,599
impact that
1224
00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:15,359
the things in the book are meant to have
1225
00:44:13,599 --> 00:44:16,880
yes thank you
1226
00:44:15,359 --> 00:44:18,000
is there uh
1227
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:20,640
anything else you want to talk about
1228
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:22,480
that we might not have got around to yet
1229
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:24,960
let me give you two reasons to be
1230
00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:27,359
excited about this uh that are that are
1231
00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:29,440
very much in the spirit of of d because
1232
00:44:27,359 --> 00:44:30,480
i want to tell you the two instances in
1233
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:32,560
which
1234
00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:35,520
i had to do very little writing to
1235
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:37,599
translate the animal to the monster
1236
00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:39,839
um the first is the passenger pigeon it
1237
00:44:37,599 --> 00:44:42,079
lived in flocks of
1238
00:44:39,839 --> 00:44:44,160
billions literal billions on the north
1239
00:44:42,079 --> 00:44:46,640
american continent for those listening i
1240
00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:47,920
am a shocked face i've got shocked you
1241
00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:50,880
face right now because i was expecting
1242
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:52,720
like thousands and okay
1243
00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:55,760
not a chance they would block out the
1244
00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:57,040
sun for days at a time
1245
00:44:55,760 --> 00:44:59,040
uh
1246
00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:00,640
this is uh this is a creature whose life
1247
00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:03,599
proposition was to basically have
1248
00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:04,560
satellites everywhere they could know
1249
00:45:03,599 --> 00:45:05,680
exactly
1250
00:45:04,560 --> 00:45:08,319
in which
1251
00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:09,760
chestnut forest or oak forest in the in
1252
00:45:08,319 --> 00:45:11,119
the americas
1253
00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:12,720
mass fruiting was happening where there
1254
00:45:11,119 --> 00:45:15,040
were loads and loads of acorns to just
1255
00:45:12,720 --> 00:45:18,240
get for free and they could then fly
1256
00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:19,200
there immediately it's a phenomenal bird
1257
00:45:18,240 --> 00:45:21,280
that was
1258
00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:22,960
totally at odds with the way in which we
1259
00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:25,920
live our lives now like we couldn't
1260
00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:28,640
resurrect a biological storm and bring
1261
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:30,800
it back and have it co-exist with the
1262
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:32,640
level of population that's on that's in
1263
00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:33,599
the united states now
1264
00:45:32,640 --> 00:45:36,079
but
1265
00:45:33,599 --> 00:45:38,000
it is a perfect
1266
00:45:36,079 --> 00:45:41,119
reconstruction of what
1267
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:44,480
d d's swarm mechanic is trying to do
1268
00:45:41,119 --> 00:45:46,640
no single one of these animals
1269
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:48,640
represents the entire decision-making
1270
00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:50,000
force of the swarm as a whole
1271
00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:52,240
and uh
1272
00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:53,760
one of the reasons they went extinct
1273
00:45:52,240 --> 00:45:55,520
so suddenly was that they're only
1274
00:45:53,760 --> 00:45:57,040
comfortable reproducing when they're
1275
00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:58,000
surrounded by hundreds of their closest
1276
00:45:57,040 --> 00:45:59,359
friends
1277
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:02,480
so oh
1278
00:45:59,359 --> 00:46:05,119
in a way yeah again
1279
00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:05,920
in a way the passenger pigeon was what
1280
00:46:05,119 --> 00:46:08,240
is
1281
00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:10,800
a swarm it's the it's the only maybe the
1282
00:46:08,240 --> 00:46:13,520
only swarm to have ever truly existed so
1283
00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:15,200
writing that one was a slam dunk it's
1284
00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:18,240
already in the book
1285
00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:21,760
um the other example that that d gave me
1286
00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:23,839
was of on death there is one creature in
1287
00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:25,920
the book that did i didn't expect to be
1288
00:46:23,839 --> 00:46:28,160
at the top of the cr range and it's the
1289
00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:29,359
perennian ibex it's a small mountain
1290
00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:31,520
goat used to live in the mountains
1291
00:46:29,359 --> 00:46:33,200
between spain and france
1292
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:35,839
and it is the only
1293
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:37,200
animal to have to have gone extinct
1294
00:46:35,839 --> 00:46:39,760
twice
1295
00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:41,359
wow the last perennial ibex was given
1296
00:46:39,760 --> 00:46:42,800
the name celia
1297
00:46:41,359 --> 00:46:44,160
her movements were tracked closely
1298
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:45,599
enough to know that she was the last of
1299
00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:48,000
her species
1300
00:46:45,599 --> 00:46:49,920
and bef one summer a sample of tissue
1301
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:51,920
was taken from her left ear the
1302
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:55,839
following summer she was found
1303
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:57,680
crushed to death under a fallen branch
1304
00:46:55,839 --> 00:46:59,680
sad and this is like the tragic moment
1305
00:46:57,680 --> 00:47:00,400
but what happened uh
1306
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:02,640
the
1307
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:03,599
the research team was able to take that
1308
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:06,640
sample
1309
00:47:03,599 --> 00:47:09,119
and implant uh and and do some gene
1310
00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:12,560
editing and implanting and
1311
00:47:09,119 --> 00:47:14,440
clone a perennial ibex over the course
1312
00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:16,720
of 10 years
1313
00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:18,560
439 embryos were created from the
1314
00:47:16,720 --> 00:47:20,960
original tissue sample
1315
00:47:18,560 --> 00:47:23,359
of those only 57 were able to be
1316
00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:24,880
implanted in a host
1317
00:47:23,359 --> 00:47:26,960
surrogate mother
1318
00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:28,160
of those only seven resulted in
1319
00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:31,040
pregnancies
1320
00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:32,079
and of those only one resulted in a live
1321
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:34,800
birth
1322
00:47:32,079 --> 00:47:36,960
and that died after several minutes due
1323
00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:38,720
to difficulties breathing from malformed
1324
00:47:36,960 --> 00:47:41,440
lungs
1325
00:47:38,720 --> 00:47:44,000
which to me
1326
00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:46,000
is exactly what undeath looks like
1327
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:49,280
jeez yeah so
1328
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:52,480
i was given by history itself
1329
00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:54,230
the story of an undead lich
1330
00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:55,920
that happens to be a goat
1331
00:47:54,230 --> 00:47:58,640
[Laughter]
1332
00:47:55,920 --> 00:48:01,520
and uh very quickly it ranked its way
1333
00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:03,440
all the way up to a cr-20 cr-22 if you
1334
00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:04,839
encounter it in its layer
1335
00:48:03,440 --> 00:48:09,280
so d
1336
00:48:04,839 --> 00:48:11,680
d uh d d just just gave me the way of
1337
00:48:09,280 --> 00:48:13,680
talking about this uh in a way that's
1338
00:48:11,680 --> 00:48:16,640
cool and interesting and useful to have
1339
00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:20,079
a good time rather than inherent or
1340
00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:22,079
rather than only tragic and depressing
1341
00:48:20,079 --> 00:48:23,920
um and i want you to be able to put this
1342
00:48:22,079 --> 00:48:25,760
in your game and talk about it and and
1343
00:48:23,920 --> 00:48:27,839
interact with these stories and tell
1344
00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:30,000
them in a way that that's able to get at
1345
00:48:27,839 --> 00:48:32,960
the details and sticks in your mind in
1346
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:36,800
the way only d's real time storytelling
1347
00:48:32,960 --> 00:48:38,880
can so i was very grateful to see and i
1348
00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:40,400
was i'm really excited to continue doing
1349
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:43,440
this work for the other
1350
00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:46,160
100 or so monsters on my list to be able
1351
00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:48,640
to give people a way of of talking about
1352
00:48:46,160 --> 00:48:50,160
extinction of experiencing it of staying
1353
00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:53,680
with the trouble
1354
00:48:50,160 --> 00:48:55,520
that doesn't drive them to despair um
1355
00:48:53,680 --> 00:48:56,800
yeah that's such
1356
00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:59,839
a great
1357
00:48:56,800 --> 00:49:02,000
thing i've lost the superlatives to
1358
00:48:59,839 --> 00:49:03,839
describe uh i'm just because all i'm
1359
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:06,319
thinking of is like
1360
00:49:03,839 --> 00:49:07,760
any given dnd game and there's all
1361
00:49:06,319 --> 00:49:10,240
players they're happy having a fun time
1362
00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:11,920
having a fight with some bum with some
1363
00:49:10,240 --> 00:49:13,520
with some creatures
1364
00:49:11,920 --> 00:49:14,800
and that's where we learn the session
1365
00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:15,920
the dm stands up and says hey guys you
1366
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:18,240
know those creatures you were just
1367
00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:20,000
fighting they're actually based on
1368
00:49:18,240 --> 00:49:23,520
this and here's the cool story about how
1369
00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:25,040
we tried to clone this extinct creek
1370
00:49:23,520 --> 00:49:26,880
this is this extinct goat and if you
1371
00:49:25,040 --> 00:49:29,119
want to find out more go and do some
1372
00:49:26,880 --> 00:49:31,520
research and then we'll be like that's a
1373
00:49:29,119 --> 00:49:32,640
sick story and i want to learn more and
1374
00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:33,839
it's such a
1375
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:36,400
unique
1376
00:49:33,839 --> 00:49:38,640
and interesting way to to have those
1377
00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:40,800
experiences as you've just said yeah or
1378
00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:42,400
better yet turn it to the other page
1379
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:43,760
like i want you to have this book in
1380
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:45,119
your hand and turn it around and be like
1381
00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:46,340
yeah that thing you just bought this is
1382
00:49:45,119 --> 00:49:48,000
it her name was celia
1383
00:49:46,340 --> 00:49:49,839
[Laughter]
1384
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:52,160
and this is like i've written the story
1385
00:49:49,839 --> 00:49:55,520
for you i want you to hear this
1386
00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:56,880
amazing amazing uh yeah so wow this is
1387
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:59,760
why i love having
1388
00:49:56,880 --> 00:50:01,839
you on the show is is to to to elevate
1389
00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:03,920
thinking critically from just how do you
1390
00:50:01,839 --> 00:50:05,780
feel about hit dice well i could take
1391
00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:07,359
him or leave him really to
1392
00:50:05,780 --> 00:50:08,800
[Laughter]
1393
00:50:07,359 --> 00:50:11,440
you know do you roll for stats or not
1394
00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:12,960
like to to another a
1395
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:14,640
i won't say another level uh but another
1396
00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:16,960
dimension different a different uh point
1397
00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:18,720
of view uh which is which is fantastic
1398
00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:20,240
well thanks dan that's that's really
1399
00:50:18,720 --> 00:50:22,240
encouraging i'm glad it's working for
1400
00:50:20,240 --> 00:50:23,599
you yeah absolutely that's what i'm here
1401
00:50:22,240 --> 00:50:25,119
to do
1402
00:50:23,599 --> 00:50:28,480
uh is there well is there anything you
1403
00:50:25,119 --> 00:50:30,000
would like to uh promote or in any way
1404
00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:33,040
other people can can support you in this
1405
00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:35,200
endeavor yeah so book of extinction is
1406
00:50:33,040 --> 00:50:36,920
a part of it is out right now you can go
1407
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:38,559
and get it at
1408
00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:40,800
cintilla.studio
1409
00:50:38,559 --> 00:50:44,079
extinction it's also on drive through
1410
00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:46,400
rpg and the may chan press website
1411
00:50:44,079 --> 00:50:48,400
you can have that preview as a pay what
1412
00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:49,760
you want download and anything that you
1413
00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:51,920
pay for it
1414
00:50:49,760 --> 00:50:54,400
i'm not going to keep i'm partnering
1415
00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:56,160
with the center for biological diversity
1416
00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:58,880
which is an advocacy organization based
1417
00:50:56,160 --> 00:51:01,359
in the u.s that advocates for
1418
00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:02,880
endangered species and habitats
1419
00:51:01,359 --> 00:51:04,000
and everything that we raise through the
1420
00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:06,480
preview up until the time of the
1421
00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:08,640
kickstarter is going to go to them 100
1422
00:51:06,480 --> 00:51:10,800
and they're going to turn that around uh
1423
00:51:08,640 --> 00:51:13,440
and use that in their work again i think
1424
00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:16,079
the best antidote for despair is action
1425
00:51:13,440 --> 00:51:17,599
i didn't want to give you things that uh
1426
00:51:16,079 --> 00:51:19,119
things that challenge your hope and
1427
00:51:17,599 --> 00:51:21,280
things that challenge your sense of
1428
00:51:19,119 --> 00:51:22,640
tragedy without giving you a way to give
1429
00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:24,400
directly into it so that's what the
1430
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:26,640
preview is meant to do
1431
00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:29,359
it comes with the thylacine the great
1432
00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:30,960
awk and the passenger pigeon
1433
00:51:29,359 --> 00:51:32,400
as we've talked about and you can put
1434
00:51:30,960 --> 00:51:35,440
those in your game right now and the
1435
00:51:32,400 --> 00:51:37,440
full book is coming to kickstarter oh
1436
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:39,359
okay cool well perhaps i'll have to have
1437
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:41,440
you on at that time again and then we
1438
00:51:39,359 --> 00:51:43,359
can i think it'll be a good time yeah
1439
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:46,400
i'd love to drop in and give the wrap up
1440
00:51:43,359 --> 00:51:48,319
uh by then i will have god help me
1441
00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:49,520
finish a hundred of these monsters and
1442
00:51:48,319 --> 00:51:51,760
then i'll be able to tell you like how
1443
00:51:49,520 --> 00:51:53,920
did it go and how much did we how much
1444
00:51:51,760 --> 00:51:55,920
were we able to donate yeah and what did
1445
00:51:53,920 --> 00:51:57,760
people actually really enjoy about this
1446
00:51:55,920 --> 00:51:59,119
piece so yeah i'd love to come back if
1447
00:51:57,760 --> 00:52:01,839
you'll have me yeah
1448
00:51:59,119 --> 00:52:03,119
absolutely so yes as as usual all the
1449
00:52:01,839 --> 00:52:05,760
links will be in the episode description
1450
00:52:03,119 --> 00:52:07,200
i would very very much encourage lucas
1451
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:08,640
is exceptionally hardworking and
1452
00:52:07,200 --> 00:52:10,800
exceptionally knowledgeable so please go
1453
00:52:08,640 --> 00:52:12,480
and check out the stuff and even more so
1454
00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:14,960
it's all for a good cause so like why
1455
00:52:12,480 --> 00:52:16,559
would you not
1456
00:52:14,960 --> 00:52:18,720
so the the only thing that's have to say
1457
00:52:16,559 --> 00:52:20,640
for me is one final thank you so much
1458
00:52:18,720 --> 00:52:23,200
for joining us today thank you for
1459
00:52:20,640 --> 00:52:24,720
having me it's always a pleasure
1460
00:52:23,200 --> 00:52:26,800
really glad to be here and i'm really
1461
00:52:24,720 --> 00:52:28,880
glad of being been able to take the time
1462
00:52:26,800 --> 00:52:31,200
to talk through this uh in a long form
1463
00:52:28,880 --> 00:52:33,040
way it's it's a lot to unpack and thanks
1464
00:52:31,200 --> 00:52:34,559
for being a good audience about it no
1465
00:52:33,040 --> 00:52:35,599
horace wants to give me some stuff to
1466
00:52:34,559 --> 00:52:37,920
think about
1467
00:52:35,599 --> 00:52:39,280
oh good perfect see i've provided some
1468
00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:40,480
value as well which makes which made my
1469
00:52:39,280 --> 00:52:42,960
day
1470
00:52:40,480 --> 00:52:43,920
thank you to everyone for listening at
1471
00:52:42,960 --> 00:52:44,960
home
1472
00:52:43,920 --> 00:52:47,040
please
1473
00:52:44,960 --> 00:52:49,040
uh review
1474
00:52:47,040 --> 00:52:50,720
like and share if you like what you've
1475
00:52:49,040 --> 00:52:53,200
heard today you can go and check out our
1476
00:52:50,720 --> 00:52:55,520
monster episode which i'll link in the
1477
00:52:53,200 --> 00:52:57,359
description which we covered a whole
1478
00:52:55,520 --> 00:52:58,720
different side different as i said at
1479
00:52:57,359 --> 00:53:00,400
the start of the show the other side of
1480
00:52:58,720 --> 00:53:01,599
the same coin so if you liked today's
1481
00:53:00,400 --> 00:53:04,960
content please go and check that one out
1482
00:53:01,599 --> 00:53:07,359
that was also very very good otherwise
1483
00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:08,960
thank you all for listening and good
1484
00:53:07,359 --> 00:53:10,559
night
1485
00:53:08,960 --> 00:53:11,520
and now it's time for the patreon shout
1486
00:53:10,559 --> 00:53:14,720
outs
1487
00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:17,599
thank you to robert hartley dm for viva
1488
00:53:14,720 --> 00:53:19,680
la dirt league and writer on the dnd the
1489
00:53:17,599 --> 00:53:21,280
logic web series
1490
00:53:19,680 --> 00:53:24,079
i would encourage everybody to check him
1491
00:53:21,280 --> 00:53:25,040
out at robert hartley gm on twitter and
1492
00:53:24,079 --> 00:53:27,280
twitch
1493
00:53:25,040 --> 00:53:29,760
thank you to optional rule a two-time
1494
00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:32,559
guest of the show and a very insightful
1495
00:53:29,760 --> 00:53:33,839
and knowledgeable source of information
1496
00:53:32,559 --> 00:53:36,839
please check them out at
1497
00:53:33,839 --> 00:53:36,839
www.optionall.com
1498
00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:42,559
huge huge huge thank you to a great
1499
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:45,040
friend of the show matthew perkins who's
1500
00:53:42,559 --> 00:53:47,359
out there making hilarious and
1501
00:53:45,040 --> 00:53:49,119
educational dungeons and dragons content
1502
00:53:47,359 --> 00:53:50,880
please go and check out his stuff at
1503
00:53:49,119 --> 00:53:53,280
matthewperkins.net where you can find
1504
00:53:50,880 --> 00:53:54,880
links to all of his socials and all of
1505
00:53:53,280 --> 00:53:56,559
his content including his own patreon
1506
00:53:54,880 --> 00:53:58,319
which i would very much encourage you to
1507
00:53:56,559 --> 00:54:01,200
check out
1508
00:53:58,319 --> 00:54:03,280
thank you to matt street at mpstreet88
1509
00:54:01,200 --> 00:54:04,800
on twitter for supporting the show if
1510
00:54:03,280 --> 00:54:07,400
you need support running your personal
1511
00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:09,599
or business schedule head to
1512
00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:11,359
virtualtimehustle.com or on instagram to
1513
00:54:09,599 --> 00:54:13,440
make that difference between should do
1514
00:54:11,359 --> 00:54:15,200
and done boss it better with support
1515
00:54:13,440 --> 00:54:17,520
from cat who will help you get back that
1516
00:54:15,200 --> 00:54:18,960
essential time you've been searching for
1517
00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:20,880
if you would like to support what we do
1518
00:54:18,960 --> 00:54:23,599
and get four shout outs a month head
1519
00:54:20,880 --> 00:54:25,119
over to patreon.com thinking critically
1520
00:54:23,599 --> 00:54:29,080
or you can just buy me a coffee at
1521
00:54:25,119 --> 00:54:36,100
kofi.com thinking critically
1522
00:54:29,080 --> 00:54:56,319
[Music]
Lucas Zellers
Monster journalist
Lucas is a writer, tabletop game designer, and podcaster working at the intersection of ecology and storytelling. He's a Platinum-best selling author on the DM's Guild, writer for Mage Hand Press, and host of the Making a Monster podcast. You can read about his work and creativity as an ecosystem at Scintilla.Studio.