Motion
This full house episode I'm joined by the cast of The Fourth Leg podcast: Joe, Hunter, & Kelci. And we talk all about motion, momentum, and movement in your TTRPGs. One way you can keep the game moving as both a GM and player, is to engage with those "B" and "C" plots, which often come in the form of backstories. That being said, don't be afraid from abstaining from action, as this can still result in character growth. Often it's considered a GMs worst nightmare, when the characters do nothing, but there are always consequences, which are great springboards for storylines and development. One more classic GM tool is, perhaps counterintuitively, just telling the players The Important Thing. It's easy as a GM to want to hold all the cards, but often this is overkill and just being transparent with the players can really get the ball rolling!
- 02:50 - Moving Player Characters
- 25:21 - Collaborative Storytelling
- 32:27 - Analysis Paralysis: A Charcuterie Solution
- 46:04 - Leveraging Other Disciplines
- 52:57 - The Power of the GM
Find The Fourth Leg on:
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- Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy81YzA3Yzk3OC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==
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References:
Patrons:
- 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 3 episode 17
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of thinking critically today's episode
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is motion
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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and today i'm joined by the cast of the
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fourth leg podcast thank you ever so
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much for joining us today guys can you
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tell us a little bit about yourselves
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i'm joe i'm kelsey
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and i'm hunter we are the hosts and i am
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the editor of the fourth leg we're a
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tabletop gaming show all about giving
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new gm's a like to stand on and the
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entire purpose of our show is to
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provide a comprehensive a to b segmented
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show about how to get started as a gm
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starting in simple topics like session
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zeros and coming up with king pain
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concepts and then finally eventually
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getting into more abstract stuff like
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what is real
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so give us a listen amazing thank you so
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much i'm i'm very much looking forward
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to this episode and you guys are gonna
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be
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exceptionally qualified for today's
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weird-ish
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topic based on what you just described
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uh today's topic on that note is
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motion so i'm going to open the floor
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and say what is that
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notion
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if your pardon the
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notion of the motion the last minute pun
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yeah that jumped into my head and for a
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minute i was like should i say that is
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that funny or is that lame and you know
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i took a gambit uh
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steer into the skin
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so what does that mean to you in the dnd
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framework
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if somebody else wants to go first
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because my brain immediately went to art
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because um my day job is being a comic
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artist so motion
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is a very different implication for me
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in that respect
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yeah so i think there are several
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different ways you can look at motion uh
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in a ttrpg
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mindset there's you know moving around
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the board in any kind of game that
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embraces any style of tactics but
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there's also you know moving the story
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or the plot forward
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which can make for some some interesting
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or
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difficult moments depending on the group
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that you have with you
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yeah one one thing
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that i thought was very very interesting
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in my
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research for today's
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topic and we will loop back around to
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kelsey because i am not very much not an
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artist so i'm very interested to see
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what you have to say on that topic there
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but um
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um so so the webster's dictionary
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defines motion uh as
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the process of moving or being moved
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which i think
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when i
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apply that to a ttrpg
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setting it immediately rings not alarm
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bells in my head but it is really
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triggering my my synapses from a dm's
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perspective in terms of like
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how to
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essentially put things in motion when
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you are inherently
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not in control of that motion as a dm so
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with that in mind what do you got what
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are your guys's take on that oh that is
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a good question hey
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if you don't mind me hopping in here
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first i
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really enjoy as a gm
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taking my players and forcing situations
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in their uh immediate vicinity right so
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we'll just take a true life stance on
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this real quick and we'll say
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if you're driving a car
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and you pull up and you
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legally stop at a light or a sign or
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you're going the speed limit
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and somebody else hits your car
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you did everything right and something
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still happened to you something still
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exerted itself onto you right
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so as a gm i think that it is well
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within our rights to
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tastefully uh impose certain things onto
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or around our players in order to
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push them towards a certain direction or
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push them towards the direction of the
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plot in this case
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so
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if your players walk into a new town
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and there's a person being harassed on
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the sidewalk there are a couple of
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different things that you can do about
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that either they are compelled to go
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help that person because this is
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happening in their vicinity or if they
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don't help that person then
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they could get a negative reputation
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among certain people in the town or and
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there's a lot of different directions
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you can go with that but no matter what
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you're
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just one marble kind of starting this
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whole thread of possible scenarios just
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by putting that one thing in their range
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of vision
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so i think as a as a gm when you're
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causing the party to move
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it needs to be a little bit more on that
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subtle end because you can't be a bull
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in a china shop about it otherwise it's
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not really a game anymore it's just
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you're you're forcing them to be
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characters in your story
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but you can definitely
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just kind of very gently push them in a
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certain direction and a lot of times
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players have this um
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especially in d d where the whole point
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is to be like this fantasy epic hero
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the players have this kind of
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preconceived notion of heroism about
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them so they're more likely to go and do
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the heroic thing which kind of helps you
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adjust what you're going to throw their
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way
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oh yeah absolutely
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that when you said uh doing something
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extreme like a bowl in a china shop my
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first reaction was um there was one gm
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who recommended hey do you need to get
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your plot moving steal something from
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the party and i'm like well that's a way
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to do it
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i'm not sure that that's how i would do
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it but it is certainly a way if you are
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stuck on how to get the party moving or
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going in a particular direction just
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have an npc
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steal something from the party and then
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the party has to try and find it that's
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not necessarily something that i like
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making my players do
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a lot of
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the motion in the campaign that i'm
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currently running is pretty dependent on
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the players but the players are pretty
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active agents
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like
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maybe they're not like super duper
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heroic okay maybe one of them is super
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duper hero like it's the tiefling bard
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is the one that's like i'm going to be
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friendly and i'm going to help everybody
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and i'm going to be friends with
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everyone and i'm like okay so you are
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going to be the active agent so i'm
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going to throw all kinds of stuff
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that
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might upset you
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but that's also just like the challenge
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as a dm is like knowing the
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personalities of your players and being
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like okay so this player is playing a
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character that's
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kind of quiet but also quietly driven in
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their quest to search for something so
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let's pepper in a few things like maybe
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they'll notice in a subtle way and then
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as soon as they notice it have them
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react to it and there's
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there's been times in other campaigns
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where
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i've had other quiet players
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who will just sit there and they'll let
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the loud characters do their loud thing
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and then i'll pepper in a little like
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sprinkle
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of their backstory somewhere and then
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that quiet player suddenly becomes very
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loud and they're just like i'll be right
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back and then they'd leave and i'm like
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oh this is interesting so that's emotion
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right there
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[Laughter]
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and
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if you don't mind me tagging back in
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before you come on joe
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sure
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i
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want to give it a little bit from the
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players perspective too because you know
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we we talk on our show all the time
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about gm's perspective and you know how
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to for lack of a better term manage your
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players into getting a result that is
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within the realm of what you want right
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oh yeah so
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as a player
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one of the ways that you can engage the
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rest of your party into motion
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is to
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kind of engage with your own backstory i
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guess is the best way to say it so you
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know things about yourself as a player
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that nobody else at the table is going
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to know
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so i played in a star wars game last
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night
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and one of the ways that i engaged with
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my own backstory with my own character
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was uh i'm a computer guy i'm a tech
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nerd you know i'm a mechanic
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and
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my
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comms got hacked
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right
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which was not a good thing but i was
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able to isolate it to just me so i was
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like okay this is damage control and
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when i got back to the party i figured
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out that one of them had stolen a droid
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from
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the enemy and i'm like there are so many
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things that they could have put in that
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droid that you did not know to check for
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and it caused some pretty mild conflict
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but it drove the story forward because
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it engaged everybody in that dialogue of
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what if there is something wrong here
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what if like there's there's a plant
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what if there's somebody who's turned
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their backs on us what if there's
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somebody who's betrayed us and just
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because i was like oh
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i was able to isolate it to mind but i
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brought it to the party that there was
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an issue
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with my communicator with this droid and
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00:09:35,519 --> 00:09:40,640
it was just a snowball effect of
262
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asking a question from the perspective
263
00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:44,560
of my own story
264
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and then engaging everybody else in that
265
00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:46,720
question
266
00:09:45,519 --> 00:09:48,640
yes
267
00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,160
i'm gonna put the hat on and play
268
00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,080
devil's advocate for a second i would
269
00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:54,800
even argue that
270
00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:56,640
personal development is still motion
271
00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:59,040
you may not be moving like the
272
00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,800
overarching plot forward but like
273
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there are plenty of shows where you know
274
00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:05,680
we get a
275
00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:07,680
10 to 15 minute b plot or c plot where
276
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you know a character grows and and
277
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learns a lesson or
278
00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,839
becomes something more i mean a lot of
279
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zuko's stuff in avatar which we've
280
00:10:13,839 --> 00:10:19,120
referenced several times is like b and c
281
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plot at times but he ends up becoming
282
00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,000
you know a more credible part of the
283
00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,440
main group
284
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after that important character
285
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development
286
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yeah thank you for mentioning avatar
287
00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,920
because
288
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it's amazing
289
00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:34,399
and since eco especially is fantastic so
290
00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:37,440
no i it's very interesting when you put
291
00:10:34,399 --> 00:10:39,279
you know use that comparison i've never
292
00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,800
thought about it in that way before but
293
00:10:39,279 --> 00:10:42,000
it is true with that as you said like
294
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the b and the c
295
00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,399
stories but then eventually
296
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like he's a fan favorite for every
297
00:10:46,399 --> 00:10:48,720
reason right
298
00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,480
yeah
299
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and also throwing that up and throwing
300
00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,480
this out here um my roommate and i have
301
00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,959
actually been watching the original
302
00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,800
cowboy bebop on netflix
303
00:10:56,959 --> 00:10:59,519
not the live-action remake the original
304
00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:02,240
one
305
00:10:59,519 --> 00:11:06,399
and that show is nothing but
306
00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:07,760
b plots and c plots and just characters
307
00:11:06,399 --> 00:11:08,560
doing their thing
308
00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,640
so
309
00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:13,839
if you want like a pretty good example
310
00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:16,720
of that sort of thing just it's only 26
311
00:11:13,839 --> 00:11:18,560
episodes long it's not that long
312
00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,079
and actually cowboy bebop is a great
313
00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:21,680
thing to bring up here because when
314
00:11:20,079 --> 00:11:23,200
we're talking about
315
00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:24,720
motion especially in a long-term
316
00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,720
campaign
317
00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,560
like dan brought up before we started
318
00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,519
recording that he's in a long-term dnd
319
00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:32,000
campaign
320
00:11:29,519 --> 00:11:34,160
i am as well that's been going on for
321
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:36,880
about a year and a half now
322
00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:38,079
and well congratulations oh thank you
323
00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,279
very much
324
00:11:38,079 --> 00:11:40,800
um
325
00:11:39,279 --> 00:11:42,800
one of the ways that i've kept that
326
00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:45,440
interesting is by
327
00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:47,920
engaging those b and c plots and making
328
00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:49,519
those the main threads of the story
329
00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:52,480
until
330
00:11:49,519 --> 00:11:53,519
the actual story has time to mature
331
00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:54,560
right
332
00:11:53,519 --> 00:11:57,600
so
333
00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:59,519
in cowboy be pop the main story is
334
00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,360
pretty much exclusively told through
335
00:11:59,519 --> 00:12:02,560
flashback until the last three or four
336
00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:04,000
episodes
337
00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:06,079
and it's such an interesting
338
00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:07,839
storytelling mechanic because you get to
339
00:12:06,079 --> 00:12:10,240
focus so much on the characters and
340
00:12:07,839 --> 00:12:12,959
their development and how they grow
341
00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:16,079
towards the inevitable climax
342
00:12:12,959 --> 00:12:18,160
without ever really touching on the main
343
00:12:16,079 --> 00:12:20,639
flow of the story
344
00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:22,560
as it stands and it has that time to
345
00:12:20,639 --> 00:12:24,399
mature and you ask all of these
346
00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:27,120
questions in the back of your mind until
347
00:12:24,399 --> 00:12:29,279
finally they're all answered in like a
348
00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:31,680
rush and it's so interesting it's one of
349
00:12:29,279 --> 00:12:34,160
the reasons cowboy bebop is one of if
350
00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:37,200
not the greatest anime ever made uh at
351
00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:39,839
least in its genre yes so
352
00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:42,480
don't be afraid as a storyteller or even
353
00:12:39,839 --> 00:12:44,959
as a player to engage with those b and c
354
00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:47,920
plots your main story does not need to
355
00:12:44,959 --> 00:12:50,880
be your main story for the entire run of
356
00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:54,079
your campaign you can engage with that
357
00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:57,519
when it's convenient or when it makes
358
00:12:54,079 --> 00:12:59,519
sense without losing momentum
359
00:12:57,519 --> 00:13:01,680
yep and sometimes you won't even know
360
00:12:59,519 --> 00:13:04,880
what your a plot is until you get all of
361
00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:07,200
your player characters together
362
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:10,000
and then you have your first session or
363
00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:12,160
your session zero and you actually
364
00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:14,480
bounce around ideas and then
365
00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:17,440
an a plot solidifies i've had that
366
00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,959
happen before too absolutely
367
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,880
yeah there's
368
00:13:18,959 --> 00:13:22,240
i i like this train of thought because
369
00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,920
there is often
370
00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:25,519
it's a double-edged sword now i'm saying
371
00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,200
it out loud because i wanted to talk
372
00:13:25,519 --> 00:13:29,760
about earlier on how
373
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:32,800
as i opened this questioning with you
374
00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:35,040
know as a gm one of your roles in a way
375
00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:37,200
is to make sure or to
376
00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:39,040
ensure there's some kind of forward
377
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,560
momentum
378
00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,920
but i also and
379
00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:43,279
the reason why that's a bit of a taboo
380
00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,959
subject is because it's like lack of
381
00:13:43,279 --> 00:13:46,320
agency and railroading and you go down
382
00:13:44,959 --> 00:13:48,560
that kind of
383
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,320
road of discussion but then on the same
384
00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:52,480
on the other side of the coin it's you
385
00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:54,480
have the players as well who are just as
386
00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,680
that's the ironic thing right
387
00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,720
in a way that
388
00:13:55,680 --> 00:14:01,440
their agency is in their own hands
389
00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:03,040
to pull on those those b and c plots oh
390
00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:05,279
yeah to put on the you know those
391
00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:06,720
backstory threads to bring them to the
392
00:14:05,279 --> 00:14:07,760
forefront and that's
393
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,680
you know any
394
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:12,240
you know a dm should be willing to
395
00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:13,839
accommodate that and making that the
396
00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,360
prime focus of that session or however
397
00:14:13,839 --> 00:14:17,519
many sessions it might be
398
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:20,399
absolutely and there's a very big
399
00:14:17,519 --> 00:14:23,199
difference between say
400
00:14:20,399 --> 00:14:25,360
writing a story for a
401
00:14:23,199 --> 00:14:26,160
tabletop rpg
402
00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:29,120
that
403
00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:31,360
engages players versus
404
00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:33,519
writing a story that you adapt into a
405
00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:35,920
novel or a comic or something because
406
00:14:33,519 --> 00:14:38,800
that was an adjustment
407
00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:40,720
even a video game like you uh
408
00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:43,360
you have a lot of stuff where and that's
409
00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:44,639
something you run into with with gm who
410
00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,639
have players complaining about lack of
411
00:14:44,639 --> 00:14:47,760
agency it's like oh well you know we're
412
00:14:46,639 --> 00:14:49,360
going to go over there we don't really
413
00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,720
want to engage with that oh well you
414
00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,000
can't go over there
415
00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,279
because
416
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,480
x y and z
417
00:14:53,279 --> 00:14:57,279
like i think
418
00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:59,120
with hunters like events like you you
419
00:14:57,279 --> 00:15:01,120
toss the event out the event is the only
420
00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:03,199
scripted thing and then whatever the
421
00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,760
players do or how they respond to it is
422
00:15:03,199 --> 00:15:07,839
totally up to them
423
00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,920
yeah the event is going to happen no
424
00:15:07,839 --> 00:15:12,000
matter what but the players are in full
425
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:14,240
and complete control over how they
426
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,399
engage in the moment and how they react
427
00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:19,199
afterward they don't necessarily have to
428
00:15:16,399 --> 00:15:21,680
follow up on that event in in any way
429
00:15:19,199 --> 00:15:23,120
but typically speaking again leaning on
430
00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,839
that heroic
431
00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:27,199
preconception of themselves that these
432
00:15:25,839 --> 00:15:28,959
characters have
433
00:15:27,199 --> 00:15:30,399
typically they're going to engage with
434
00:15:28,959 --> 00:15:32,959
one of these
435
00:15:30,399 --> 00:15:34,399
area altering events in a in a heroic
436
00:15:32,959 --> 00:15:35,920
way
437
00:15:34,399 --> 00:15:37,519
so there are certain things that you can
438
00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,759
predict but there are definitely things
439
00:15:37,519 --> 00:15:41,680
that are going to catch you out of left
440
00:15:39,759 --> 00:15:42,780
field because if there's like an
441
00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,000
invasion from
442
00:15:42,780 --> 00:15:44,959
[Music]
443
00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,360
i don't know
444
00:15:44,959 --> 00:15:50,000
let's just use a dnd classic and say an
445
00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:51,519
orcish tribe invades a small town that
446
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,120
you're in
447
00:15:51,519 --> 00:15:55,440
typically speaking
448
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,480
a d d party is going to stand up against
449
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,720
this
450
00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:00,560
these tribesmen and try to save people
451
00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,680
right or try to drive them out
452
00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:04,160
completely
453
00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:05,680
typically yes yes yeah
454
00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,519
every now and again you're going to get
455
00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:09,040
that party that's like
456
00:16:07,519 --> 00:16:11,360
i don't know man i've always thought
457
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:14,480
orcs were pretty cool and then be like
458
00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:16,079
hey let's help these boys out
459
00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,759
and then you'll have parties like mine
460
00:16:16,079 --> 00:16:19,440
where i played a half work druid who
461
00:16:17,759 --> 00:16:21,519
just came up to the orcs and was like
462
00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:24,000
hey my dudes how you doing what's going
463
00:16:21,519 --> 00:16:26,320
on why are you down here causing a fuss
464
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,320
man
465
00:16:27,759 --> 00:16:30,880
because that actually happened once in a
466
00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,880
session
467
00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:33,839
but that's i mean that's part of agency
468
00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,000
like that's
469
00:16:33,839 --> 00:16:38,079
that's an opportunity to move the story
470
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,920
forward it may not be in uh
471
00:16:38,079 --> 00:16:40,800
let's knock out all the orcs and you
472
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,199
know
473
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:46,320
kick him out of town but it is driving
474
00:16:43,199 --> 00:16:48,480
the story forward it is yeah absolutely
475
00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:50,480
the story can drive forward regardless
476
00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:52,240
of how it turns out like i mentioned
477
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,839
this in a previous episode of the fourth
478
00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:56,000
leg which you can totally listen to by
479
00:16:53,839 --> 00:16:58,079
the way hinting twink wink but
480
00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:00,560
um that yeah shameless plug out of the
481
00:16:58,079 --> 00:17:02,800
way but in an episode i had mentioned
482
00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:05,600
that there was a
483
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:07,120
segment where my player characters had
484
00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:10,079
gone into a world
485
00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:13,679
and a tiger came out of the woods and
486
00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:17,679
attacked them out of self-defense and
487
00:17:13,679 --> 00:17:19,839
i fully expected like a combat encounter
488
00:17:17,679 --> 00:17:20,720
and then the bard ruled really really
489
00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:22,640
high
490
00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:24,000
on her persuasion check and was like no
491
00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,240
no no we don't want to fight we don't
492
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,360
want to fight you we want to be friends
493
00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:29,760
and
494
00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:32,240
i being the dm i was like okay
495
00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:33,679
so i let's get into the tiger's head for
496
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:36,000
a second what would the tiger do next
497
00:17:33,679 --> 00:17:38,880
and then i was like and then the tiger
498
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,880
starts crying
499
00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:46,000
the situation changed from like a combat
500
00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:48,720
encounter to they befriended the tiger
501
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:51,520
and the tiger led the party to his
502
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:53,360
secret hideout and that can be emotion
503
00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,520
in its own way because it's like hey
504
00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:57,360
instead of having the players like do
505
00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:59,200
investigation checks to try to find this
506
00:17:57,360 --> 00:18:03,360
hideout maybe they just befriend the
507
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:06,160
tiger and persuade the tiger to lead him
508
00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:08,400
where it is that he goes
509
00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,679
so you mentioned in during that
510
00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,919
discussion there
511
00:18:09,679 --> 00:18:14,960
two kinds of parties
512
00:18:11,919 --> 00:18:16,799
uh regarding the invasion of this town
513
00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,640
uh the ones that are you know quote
514
00:18:16,799 --> 00:18:20,799
unquote typically heroic and you know
515
00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:23,200
rally to the defense of the town and you
516
00:18:20,799 --> 00:18:25,039
know welcome to cheers and praise and
517
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,280
the townsfolk and then you have the ones
518
00:18:25,039 --> 00:18:28,640
that are like no no let's let's see what
519
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,559
it is from the other side let's see if
520
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:32,720
we can end this
521
00:18:30,559 --> 00:18:33,760
in a compromise or whatever it may be
522
00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:36,799
now
523
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:38,480
or you might have a party party c in
524
00:18:36,799 --> 00:18:40,160
this hypothetical situation which
525
00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:43,039
happens to be very similar to mine in
526
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:45,360
some cases where
527
00:18:43,039 --> 00:18:47,600
they abstain and
528
00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:49,840
go well not my problem i don't it's not
529
00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:52,720
my town it's not my friends and
530
00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:54,640
basically have zero emotion in that
531
00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,559
given instance so
532
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,440
this is a this is an open question then
533
00:18:56,559 --> 00:18:59,360
for you
534
00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:01,679
half for the show and half for my own
535
00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:03,760
benefit
536
00:19:01,679 --> 00:19:06,320
on what you know how do you deal with
537
00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:08,720
that those situations when
538
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,799
the party or
539
00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,960
particularly charismatic player
540
00:19:10,799 --> 00:19:15,200
characters or indeed players
541
00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:17,760
have persuaded the motion of the party
542
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,880
to essentially stop for whatever reason
543
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,640
maybe
544
00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,039
nine times out of ten it'll be benign
545
00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:25,919
you know they're unaware that
546
00:19:23,039 --> 00:19:27,840
this is going to hamper storytelling but
547
00:19:25,919 --> 00:19:30,080
how do you how do you
548
00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:33,120
work with that situation
549
00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:35,360
i think uh and again i think i know that
550
00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:37,440
it's not uh it's not motion in the the
551
00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:38,720
direction of the conflict that you've
552
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,720
set up
553
00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:43,280
but uh again that's still the still
554
00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,960
valid motion away from something like
555
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:46,640
there are times where the party is going
556
00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,400
to see a conflict and be like oh no
557
00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:50,080
we're way out class or we don't want to
558
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,000
deal with xyz because it's going to
559
00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:54,080
cause us a bunch of problems like and
560
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,240
they run away like
561
00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:57,520
it sucks but it's part of the story i
562
00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:59,120
mean uh
563
00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,120
take uh
564
00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:02,640
last jedi i think
565
00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:04,559
where uh
566
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:06,559
they're going to to get this guy off
567
00:20:04,559 --> 00:20:08,400
this plane this gambler off this planet
568
00:20:06,559 --> 00:20:10,000
and finn's like yeah
569
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,679
i don't think i'm gonna come back like
570
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,840
i'm i'm good
571
00:20:11,679 --> 00:20:15,600
like he's uh he's that coward that
572
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:17,200
coward player who's like yeah i don't
573
00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:19,039
really know and that's that's still an
574
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:21,120
opportunity for that growth
575
00:20:19,039 --> 00:20:22,559
um now there may be some consequences
576
00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:24,240
within the game world because they
577
00:20:22,559 --> 00:20:26,640
didn't interfere
578
00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:28,080
uh but i mean at the end of the day
579
00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,280
again still character growth still
580
00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:32,320
motion
581
00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:35,280
yeah so there was actually a situation
582
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:38,159
in another campaign that i had run it
583
00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:40,960
didn't last super duper long because
584
00:20:38,159 --> 00:20:43,039
at one point we got a guest player in
585
00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:44,640
who proved to be a problem and it and
586
00:20:43,039 --> 00:20:46,320
the group just kind of fell apart after
587
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:49,039
that but before
588
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:51,200
that problem character came in
589
00:20:49,039 --> 00:20:54,000
the party that i had
590
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:55,760
i started up the campaign and i was
591
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:58,320
actually revisiting
592
00:20:55,760 --> 00:21:00,880
a campaign that i had run
593
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,320
two years prior because i wanted to
594
00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:04,080
polish up the world a little bit and
595
00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,159
possibly make it into a module and i was
596
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,919
like oh cool a new set of player
597
00:21:06,159 --> 00:21:09,200
characters let's go ahead and have them
598
00:21:07,919 --> 00:21:10,400
interact with this world and see what
599
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,760
happens next
600
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:15,600
and
601
00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:18,960
there were very obvious like plot
602
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:21,679
arrows pointing in specific directions
603
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:24,000
and the players were not jumping on any
604
00:21:21,679 --> 00:21:25,200
of the hooks and so i was like okay
605
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,080
time
606
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:30,799
to initiate plan b which was
607
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:32,080
tapping into one of the player
608
00:21:30,799 --> 00:21:34,640
characters
609
00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:37,360
background story hooks and being like ah
610
00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:40,480
okay so this player character
611
00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:43,679
has a kind of revenge boner going on and
612
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:45,440
they spot somebody who is part of the
613
00:21:43,679 --> 00:21:46,320
cavalcade of people who took down his
614
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:47,600
people
615
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:49,520
so
616
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:52,240
i'm gonna have this uh
617
00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:54,000
bad guy antagonist from this guy's
618
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,679
background just
619
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:58,080
going by
620
00:21:55,679 --> 00:22:00,960
just out the edge of his vision and then
621
00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:03,440
as soon as that guy saw that the plot
622
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:08,000
started happening
623
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:10,480
i like to imagine rpg plots as
624
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:13,360
just this big grassy hill
625
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:15,919
right and this is probably just a deeply
626
00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:19,039
locked memory for me from my childhood
627
00:22:15,919 --> 00:22:21,360
so bear with me for a minute okay but
628
00:22:19,039 --> 00:22:24,480
when you roll a rock down a hill
629
00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:25,600
it's inevitably going to stop somewhere
630
00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,760
right
631
00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:29,520
yeah that's not always going to be in a
632
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,280
straight line it's not always going to
633
00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,440
be where you expect sometimes there are
634
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,240
pebbles along the path sometimes there
635
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,400
are
636
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,000
tiny bumps sometimes they're just
637
00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,840
heavier clumps of grass that are going
638
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,840
to divert that rock that you're rolling
639
00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:44,000
down the hill to somewhere that you
640
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:46,880
didn't expect
641
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:48,720
but no matter what the rock is going to
642
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:52,880
keep going downhill
643
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:55,840
it's just the nature of iraq right yeah
644
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:57,990
so i say all that to say that
645
00:22:55,840 --> 00:23:00,880
that was a sentence that made sense
646
00:22:57,990 --> 00:23:04,159
[Laughter]
647
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:05,840
i say all that because your party is is
648
00:23:04,159 --> 00:23:07,200
the rock
649
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,559
sometimes they're gonna hit a pebble
650
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,480
sometimes they're going to hit a snag
651
00:23:08,559 --> 00:23:11,600
but they're always going to keep moving
652
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:14,720
forward
653
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,840
as long as there's still more hill
654
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:16,799
right
655
00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:19,280
so
656
00:23:16,799 --> 00:23:21,280
let's take the orcs attacking that
657
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:24,240
village for example
658
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,760
the party chooses to abstain from
659
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:28,159
engaging with the orcs they don't try
660
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,120
diplomacy they don't join them and they
661
00:23:28,159 --> 00:23:31,919
don't
662
00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:34,720
fight against them right which are
663
00:23:31,919 --> 00:23:37,440
the three main options right good
664
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:39,679
evil yeah the three immediate video game
665
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,440
options yeah exactly
666
00:23:39,679 --> 00:23:43,840
they choose to abstain and they just
667
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,039
stay in their their rooms in the inn
668
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:46,799
well there are a couple of things that
669
00:23:45,039 --> 00:23:48,080
you can do there maybe the orcs aren't
670
00:23:46,799 --> 00:23:50,640
looking to capture the town they're
671
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:52,960
looking to burn it to the ground now
672
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,240
right so you change your plan up really
673
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,320
quick and
674
00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,799
now there's a fire in the inn you have
675
00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:00,000
to do something or you will burn with it
676
00:23:58,799 --> 00:24:01,120
right
677
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,400
or
678
00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:04,480
they don't burn the end down they
679
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:07,200
capture the town and now
680
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:10,960
you can't leave unless you fight sneak
681
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:14,720
away or dialogue with these orcs
682
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:16,000
and it's a full town of this orc tribe
683
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,120
so it's going to be really tough to
684
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,440
sneak away
685
00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:22,159
what do you do how are you engaging you
686
00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:24,799
cannot exist the way that you have been
687
00:24:22,159 --> 00:24:25,840
there are consequences to neutrality
688
00:24:24,799 --> 00:24:28,960
in the real world and there are
689
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:30,320
consequences to neutrality in an rpg
690
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:32,720
game
691
00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,840
the rock rolls down the hill
692
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,799
so
693
00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:39,600
if i can uh sum it up at all it's as a
694
00:24:36,799 --> 00:24:41,760
gm don't feel bad for
695
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:44,000
doling out consequences to the player's
696
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:46,480
actions absolutely not
697
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,760
don't make them excessive either don't
698
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,760
make it like
699
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,520
oh you choose not to do anything okay
700
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,799
well roll up new characters because
701
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,360
there's no way you're gonna survive if
702
00:24:52,799 --> 00:24:56,159
you don't act or anything like that
703
00:24:55,360 --> 00:24:59,360
just
704
00:24:56,159 --> 00:25:01,840
change the scenario to encourage them to
705
00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:03,440
act because they don't have to run away
706
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,840
from a burning in
707
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,520
but it definitely is more positive if
708
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,679
they do
709
00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,279
yep it's a very good uh carrot on the
710
00:25:09,679 --> 00:25:14,320
end of the stick there is
711
00:25:11,279 --> 00:25:16,240
not being in a burning in it's a classic
712
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:18,640
motivational
713
00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:21,520
tactic there
714
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:24,240
i do my best
715
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,799
now thank you for bringing in that rock
716
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:28,480
metaphor because as part of my other
717
00:25:26,799 --> 00:25:30,720
research i was doing
718
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:33,840
that works really well because of
719
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:35,840
newton's first law of motion to sound
720
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:38,320
intelligent in their
721
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,080
ttr this is a podcast called thinking
722
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,520
critically indeed
723
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:44,720
it's about time i started to live up to
724
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,720
that name right that was
725
00:25:45,279 --> 00:25:48,799
i spent all that create that big the
726
00:25:47,279 --> 00:25:50,080
galaxy brain thinking right at the
727
00:25:48,799 --> 00:25:52,080
beginning of the show when i came up
728
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:54,159
with a name and then that was it
729
00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:57,039
i was
730
00:25:54,159 --> 00:25:58,559
i was spent um but no the first law
731
00:25:57,039 --> 00:25:59,919
states that an object in motion tends to
732
00:25:58,559 --> 00:26:01,840
stay in motion
733
00:25:59,919 --> 00:26:03,360
unless an external force act to plan it
734
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,880
but that works very well with that
735
00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:06,559
metaphor of that rock falling down the
736
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,760
hill like as you said like it's just
737
00:26:06,559 --> 00:26:09,760
gonna keep
738
00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,760
rolling because you already sat at the
739
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:14,400
table playing the game so
740
00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:16,159
i guess what i'm getting at is
741
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,720
sometimes there's a lot of
742
00:26:16,159 --> 00:26:21,760
pressure on gms and
743
00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:24,880
mainly self-imposed to be like this
744
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:27,600
bastion of creativity and this fountain
745
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:29,360
of agency and all these other
746
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:31,440
stupid terms that i'm making up when in
747
00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:34,000
reality like everything's there working
748
00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:36,320
already for you in a way like that there
749
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,919
are a lot of things that are already
750
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,799
happening and sometimes it's easy to get
751
00:26:37,919 --> 00:26:40,000
you know
752
00:26:38,799 --> 00:26:41,600
lost in the woods you know you can't see
753
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,039
the wood for the trees kind of thing
754
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:45,200
when yeah
755
00:26:43,039 --> 00:26:47,679
it can be quite simple a solution as
756
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:49,039
you've just said hunter in terms of like
757
00:26:47,679 --> 00:26:49,350
okay well now they're burning it's the
758
00:26:49,039 --> 00:26:50,880
ground
759
00:26:49,350 --> 00:26:52,480
[Laughter]
760
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:55,520
yeah
761
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:59,279
i i think this is a really good time to
762
00:26:55,520 --> 00:27:00,240
bring in a a staple of gm conversations
763
00:26:59,279 --> 00:27:02,159
which is
764
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,440
collaborative storytelling it's
765
00:27:02,159 --> 00:27:07,200
something that you're going to hear a
766
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:08,799
lot if you start discussing any tt rpg
767
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:11,520
but it's the idea that your players
768
00:27:08,799 --> 00:27:13,520
contribute to the story as well
769
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:16,159
so let's take a
770
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:18,240
i hate to bring up this show but uh
771
00:27:16,159 --> 00:27:21,240
let's take critical role for example
772
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,240
right
773
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:31,520
i have never heard of this critical role
774
00:27:28,559 --> 00:27:34,399
hunter what do you mean can you expect
775
00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,399
some little show
776
00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:38,320
then i don't know maybe they sell them
777
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,080
on amazon or something you can buy a
778
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,080
critical role somewhere
779
00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:43,600
um
780
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:46,720
but uh we
781
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:49,760
as gm's a lot of people got their start
782
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:52,159
in this hobby via watching matt mercer
783
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:54,799
work right yeah and i don't think that's
784
00:27:52,159 --> 00:27:56,480
a bad thing i'm one of them you know i
785
00:27:54,799 --> 00:27:58,799
started watching critical role very very
786
00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:01,760
early on in campaign one and it inspired
787
00:27:58,799 --> 00:28:03,520
me to play in my first dnd game and the
788
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:06,080
rock rolled down the hill and here i am
789
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:08,480
making a podcast about it right yeah
790
00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:10,880
that i mean same boat
791
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:14,240
critical role is not solely successful
792
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:17,840
because matt mercer is a good gm
793
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:20,159
matt mercer could in theory be the best
794
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:22,399
gm in the world but that is not what
795
00:28:20,159 --> 00:28:24,880
makes critical roles successful
796
00:28:22,399 --> 00:28:25,679
what makes critical role great
797
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:28,399
is
798
00:28:25,679 --> 00:28:31,039
the interplay between gm
799
00:28:28,399 --> 00:28:32,960
and players right
800
00:28:31,039 --> 00:28:35,919
matt mercer could probably make a
801
00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:38,320
successful podcast with a group of
802
00:28:35,919 --> 00:28:40,399
normies right
803
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:43,679
but the fact that he's got such
804
00:28:40,399 --> 00:28:45,840
interactive and dynamic players
805
00:28:43,679 --> 00:28:47,679
takes critical role to the heights that
806
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,919
it is today because matt mercer would
807
00:28:47,679 --> 00:28:52,080
not be nearly as successful as a gm if
808
00:28:49,919 --> 00:28:54,399
he didn't have a group of players that
809
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:57,279
both fit his style and played well off
810
00:28:54,399 --> 00:28:58,720
of one another yeah critical role is a
811
00:28:57,279 --> 00:29:01,120
great example of collaborative
812
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:03,039
storytelling because every single player
813
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:06,159
contributes to the world
814
00:29:03,039 --> 00:29:08,720
just as much as the gm does yeah and
815
00:29:06,159 --> 00:29:10,640
that's actually something that a
816
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:13,039
youtuber who goes by the name the
817
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,039
dungeon coach talks about
818
00:29:13,039 --> 00:29:16,799
i actually highly recommend the dungeon
819
00:29:15,039 --> 00:29:19,760
coach if you
820
00:29:16,799 --> 00:29:21,840
like me really like doing home brew
821
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,840
for dungeons and dragons 5th edition
822
00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:25,440
because that's almost exclusively what
823
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,840
he talks about he touches into other
824
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:30,000
systems as well but a lot of what he
825
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:32,320
talks about is hey i really don't like
826
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,840
this particular rule for d5e as it's
827
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,200
written how about we do a home brew to
828
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:37,440
patch it
829
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:40,559
and he actually talks about
830
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,919
the critical role player effect uh
831
00:29:40,559 --> 00:29:44,000
because people have talked to death
832
00:29:41,919 --> 00:29:45,760
about the matt mercer effect but there
833
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,600
is a critical role player effect
834
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:50,399
happening as well and it's a lot of what
835
00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:52,000
you've talked about and he talks about
836
00:29:50,399 --> 00:29:54,559
it more in depth in his video i highly
837
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:57,520
recommend that you just watch that so it
838
00:29:54,559 --> 00:29:59,039
can be small things um so
839
00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,480
like as a player to go back to the
840
00:29:59,039 --> 00:30:02,159
player perspective
841
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:04,320
i was playing in my star wars game we
842
00:30:02,159 --> 00:30:07,120
were doing a heist in a bar
843
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:09,200
i just made up three different drinks
844
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,880
alcoholic drinks so don't don't drink
845
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,410
any of these fake star wars drinks if
846
00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:15,039
you're under 21 in america
847
00:30:12,410 --> 00:30:17,360
[Laughter]
848
00:30:15,039 --> 00:30:19,039
but uh you know i just made up three
849
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,880
drinks that
850
00:30:19,039 --> 00:30:24,320
added just a little bit of flair and
851
00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:26,159
flavor to the world around us right
852
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:28,559
you can do little things like that be
853
00:30:26,159 --> 00:30:31,279
like oh uh we walk into this new town
854
00:30:28,559 --> 00:30:34,000
hey gm can there be a
855
00:30:31,279 --> 00:30:36,720
i don't know a tavern named the lovely
856
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:38,320
goose and it's all fashioned and goosed
857
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:39,919
down everything and it's really
858
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,120
expensive but the food tastes like
859
00:30:39,919 --> 00:30:43,360
garbage
860
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:44,960
right just this quirky little thing
861
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:47,120
where it looks really nice but it's
862
00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:49,279
functionally defunct right
863
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:51,360
and as a gm invite your players to do
864
00:30:49,279 --> 00:30:54,000
that if you're like i don't really know
865
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:55,600
how else to describe this city hey
866
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:58,399
players
867
00:30:55,600 --> 00:31:00,799
what do you think this city looks like
868
00:30:58,399 --> 00:31:02,640
yeah tell me one thing that you see tell
869
00:31:00,799 --> 00:31:04,880
me one thing that you smell tell me one
870
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,919
thing that like brushes up against your
871
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:07,519
leg
872
00:31:05,919 --> 00:31:09,279
exactly and to bring this back to the
873
00:31:07,519 --> 00:31:10,559
overarching topic so we don't tangent
874
00:31:09,279 --> 00:31:12,399
too much
875
00:31:10,559 --> 00:31:13,840
that's going to encourage the players to
876
00:31:12,399 --> 00:31:16,240
interact with the things that they've
877
00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,919
created in the town right so that's
878
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,519
going to keep them moving forward it
879
00:31:17,919 --> 00:31:22,960
gives you an easy place to put plot
880
00:31:19,519 --> 00:31:24,880
hooks or easy plot hooks to pull on uh
881
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:26,480
because players are more likely to
882
00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,480
engage with things that they've created
883
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:31,120
that's why backstory arcs are so
884
00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,120
effective
885
00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:35,519
i'm gonna have to
886
00:31:32,559 --> 00:31:38,240
leverage that if only for the reason of
887
00:31:35,519 --> 00:31:40,399
taking some of that creative weight off
888
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:43,600
of my shoulders i'm a lazy bastard so i
889
00:31:40,399 --> 00:31:43,600
encourage you to do that
890
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,960
i know well he
891
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:48,399
he won't strongly encourage you he'll
892
00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,159
just kind of sit there like yeah you do
893
00:31:48,399 --> 00:31:52,960
that man
894
00:31:50,159 --> 00:31:55,279
way to go yeah no honestly this is a big
895
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:57,760
chunk of why i
896
00:31:55,279 --> 00:31:59,519
highly encourage my players to like give
897
00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:02,240
me as detailed the backstory as they
898
00:31:59,519 --> 00:32:04,559
want because they give me elements that
899
00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:06,399
i can put into the world like oh my
900
00:32:04,559 --> 00:32:07,919
parents came from this town and this
901
00:32:06,399 --> 00:32:09,600
town is best known for this thing and
902
00:32:07,919 --> 00:32:11,039
i'm like great this is one less thing
903
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:12,320
for me to build
904
00:32:11,039 --> 00:32:14,640
from scratch
905
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:18,940
so like absolutely engage with the
906
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:22,249
players backstory to flesh out the world
907
00:32:18,940 --> 00:32:22,249
[Music]
908
00:32:24,810 --> 00:32:29,360
[Music]
909
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,600
okay so
910
00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,559
i mean we've talked an awful lot now
911
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:35,840
about
912
00:32:32,559 --> 00:32:37,919
in-game motion so keeping things moving
913
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:39,440
i think is the nice simple
914
00:32:37,919 --> 00:32:41,200
definition that we've used for the first
915
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:42,880
half an hour of this show
916
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:45,600
uh before we move on though i had one
917
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:47,279
more thought around um
918
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:49,120
when that is inhibited for whatever
919
00:32:47,279 --> 00:32:53,440
reason so we've talked about
920
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:56,000
the the abstinent party uh
921
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:58,080
yeah we've talked about who's you know
922
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,640
who's responsible for keeping things in
923
00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:02,960
motion the one final thing that i had on
924
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:05,120
this kind of broad topic around kind of
925
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:08,640
in universe motion was
926
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:09,679
analysis paralysis that classic
927
00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:11,919
that
928
00:33:09,679 --> 00:33:14,159
we've all had as human beings in our
929
00:33:11,919 --> 00:33:15,919
lives at one point or another something
930
00:33:14,159 --> 00:33:17,440
we could all relate to and i think when
931
00:33:15,919 --> 00:33:20,240
you get
932
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:21,840
however many players around a table
933
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,279
operating through a filter of their
934
00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,039
characters
935
00:33:23,279 --> 00:33:26,240
you know inherently operating on less
936
00:33:25,039 --> 00:33:29,440
knowledge than perhaps they should have
937
00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:31,519
at that time it is very very very easy
938
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:33,200
to fall into that trap doubly so when
939
00:33:31,519 --> 00:33:36,240
you have
940
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:37,679
players who are either hyper aware of
941
00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:39,120
the other players and like don't want to
942
00:33:37,679 --> 00:33:40,880
step on any toes and don't want to be
943
00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:43,200
seen as like
944
00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:46,480
commandeering the situation
945
00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:48,960
so it's just very easy to fall in to
946
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:50,960
that trap of like i'm the gm and look at
947
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:52,720
this smorgasbord i have laid out this
948
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,880
wonderful fantabulous world of all these
949
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:57,360
wonderful and wacky things you can do
950
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:59,440
have fun and the players go oh
951
00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,880
don't know what to do where i don't want
952
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:02,320
to do that because that's there but i
953
00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:03,679
can't go there because
954
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:06,000
this other character doesn't want to go
955
00:34:03,679 --> 00:34:07,600
there and it's it can very easily
956
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,359
devolve into
957
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:10,320
three hours of
958
00:34:09,359 --> 00:34:12,240
of like
959
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:13,760
zero motion other than
960
00:34:12,240 --> 00:34:14,639
so we should go
961
00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:15,919
right
962
00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:19,280
and
963
00:34:15,919 --> 00:34:21,679
yeah yeah so yeah what what uh you know
964
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,639
how do you mitigate that how do we stop
965
00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:24,320
that
966
00:34:22,639 --> 00:34:26,159
the best solution is to stop i guess
967
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:27,520
that point happening when it happens in
968
00:34:26,159 --> 00:34:29,359
a negative way of course there are
969
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:31,440
probably instances when it can be seen
970
00:34:29,359 --> 00:34:32,879
in a positive way but let's
971
00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,800
have a good faith argument here and
972
00:34:32,879 --> 00:34:37,520
assume that the analysis of paralysis is
973
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:38,879
a negative instance in this case how can
974
00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:41,040
we stop it from happening it's probably
975
00:34:38,879 --> 00:34:42,720
the best question to ask
976
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:43,919
i have a lot of thoughts on this okay
977
00:34:42,720 --> 00:34:45,760
okay good
978
00:34:43,919 --> 00:34:48,639
as somebody and somebody who is
979
00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:51,119
neurodivergent who also writes stories a
980
00:34:48,639 --> 00:34:53,200
lot and who is overwhelmed by analysis
981
00:34:51,119 --> 00:34:56,639
paralysis a lot of the time
982
00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:58,079
one of the easy ways to mitigate that
983
00:34:56,639 --> 00:34:59,920
is um
984
00:34:58,079 --> 00:35:01,359
and i'm just going to tangent a little
985
00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:02,800
bit and just talk about writer's block
986
00:35:01,359 --> 00:35:04,640
for a second because that's what
987
00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:06,960
writer's block is is just analysis
988
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:09,119
paralysis you have written yourself to a
989
00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:10,480
point where suddenly there's a lot of
990
00:35:09,119 --> 00:35:12,720
options in front of you and you don't
991
00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:15,520
know which one is the best one
992
00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:18,560
and honestly the best answer is that
993
00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:19,839
there is no best choice in a scenario
994
00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,320
like that you
995
00:35:19,839 --> 00:35:23,680
either pick an option and you follow
996
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:25,839
that road to
997
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:27,599
where it inevitably ends
998
00:35:25,839 --> 00:35:28,880
and at least when it comes to writing if
999
00:35:27,599 --> 00:35:32,079
you don't like where it ends you can
1000
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:33,280
just go back to that point where you had
1001
00:35:32,079 --> 00:35:35,680
experienced the writer's block in the
1002
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:37,440
first place and try again with a
1003
00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:38,800
different option because i've done that
1004
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,880
multiple times
1005
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:42,560
when it comes to
1006
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:45,760
gmming or
1007
00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:47,920
running a game and the players are like
1008
00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:52,079
oh god analysis paralysis what do i do
1009
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:54,640
next um it can be your role as the dm to
1010
00:35:52,079 --> 00:35:55,680
just narrow it down to like three
1011
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:56,640
options
1012
00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:58,400
and this is
1013
00:35:56,640 --> 00:36:00,960
this is something that's been brought up
1014
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:03,920
as a sales tactic too because i've done
1015
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:05,839
sales for years um because it can be
1016
00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:08,640
really easy to overwhelm the shopper
1017
00:36:05,839 --> 00:36:10,320
with options so you just narrow it down
1018
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:13,680
to three
1019
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:15,040
to start and yeah go from there and
1020
00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:17,440
whenever you're
1021
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:20,000
gming for a particular setting
1022
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:21,280
it may be helpful to just
1023
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,760
have like
1024
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:27,280
three kind of root
1025
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:28,160
choices to choose from and then each
1026
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:31,200
root
1027
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:33,599
choice can have sub choices after that
1028
00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:36,720
almost like uh almost like a spoken
1029
00:36:33,599 --> 00:36:39,599
wheel kind of a system where like you go
1030
00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:40,880
down one spoke and it leads into another
1031
00:36:39,599 --> 00:36:42,640
spoken at least to another one and
1032
00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,520
another one etc
1033
00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,240
but
1034
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:48,400
that's my thoughts on it
1035
00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:50,880
if anybody else wants to chip in
1036
00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:53,839
no i i definitely agree i think uh
1037
00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:56,880
generally when i am writing something uh
1038
00:36:53,839 --> 00:36:59,760
to to put in front of my players i
1039
00:36:56,880 --> 00:37:01,599
have one to two like likely options i
1040
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,640
mean as a gm you generally know your
1041
00:37:01,599 --> 00:37:04,480
players
1042
00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:06,000
uh to an extent
1043
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:07,520
and
1044
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:09,520
they're inevitably gonna surprise you at
1045
00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,800
some points but after you played with a
1046
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:11,760
with a group for a certain amount of
1047
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:14,240
time you're like okay well they're
1048
00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:16,160
likely to engage with this or that
1049
00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:18,640
uh and you can kind of narrow things
1050
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:20,560
down a little bit but yeah
1051
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:22,880
i mean there there's also a time and a
1052
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:24,800
place for you know like hey you're
1053
00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:27,359
in the middle of a crisis like quit
1054
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,320
knee-jerk response what is so and so do
1055
00:37:27,359 --> 00:37:31,200
you know
1056
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:34,000
yeah absolutely the the classic tactic
1057
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:35,359
there is imposing a time limit which is
1058
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,440
as with most gm
1059
00:37:35,359 --> 00:37:39,040
tool belt tricks it's
1060
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:41,359
obviously in in moderation don't do it
1061
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:42,800
for every single the barmaid comes over
1062
00:37:41,359 --> 00:37:44,720
and asks what are you buying you've got
1063
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:46,320
three seconds to decide is it is it beer
1064
00:37:44,720 --> 00:37:48,400
or is it red wine
1065
00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:50,880
that's a little excessive
1066
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:52,480
red wine or blue wine
1067
00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:54,240
honestly there could just be some
1068
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:56,000
moments where it can be in character for
1069
00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:57,920
somebody to just sit there and putts
1070
00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:00,640
around for 10 minutes being like oh do i
1071
00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:03,200
want to do this one oh wait a minute do
1072
00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:05,200
we want to do like a a party plate a
1073
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:07,359
party plate maybe let's do a party play
1074
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:09,119
how about we do a party plate like that
1075
00:38:07,359 --> 00:38:11,200
could be in character and that can be
1076
00:38:09,119 --> 00:38:12,000
motion in and of itself
1077
00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:14,640
yeah
1078
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:16,800
absolutely and that comes to kind of
1079
00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:17,760
player experience to a certain extent to
1080
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:20,160
know
1081
00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:21,520
where the line is in terms of well now
1082
00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:24,079
now i'm just
1083
00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:25,760
being obnoxious
1084
00:38:24,079 --> 00:38:27,200
rather than you know playing to my
1085
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:29,119
character's strengths but i've
1086
00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:31,119
definitely been
1087
00:38:29,119 --> 00:38:34,000
on both sides of that
1088
00:38:31,119 --> 00:38:35,760
issue of both the player and the dm
1089
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,280
where my players
1090
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:39,119
have you know discussed and discussed
1091
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:40,880
and it gets to a point where one or two
1092
00:38:39,119 --> 00:38:42,400
players will be like i just don't care
1093
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:43,839
anymore like
1094
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:47,599
we're not playing the game anymore we're
1095
00:38:43,839 --> 00:38:49,200
just in this weird meta verse of
1096
00:38:47,599 --> 00:38:51,839
not really playing and just kind of
1097
00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:53,520
overthinking everything and
1098
00:38:51,839 --> 00:38:55,359
that is why i ask the question because
1099
00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:57,040
when it gets to that point as soon as
1100
00:38:55,359 --> 00:38:58,160
the first player is annoyed then
1101
00:38:57,040 --> 00:38:59,440
everything
1102
00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:00,880
you know the house of cards falls down
1103
00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:03,040
very quickly because
1104
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,560
right which is fair enough like one
1105
00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:05,760
person's not really having fun well then
1106
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:06,960
absolutely the house of cards should
1107
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,119
fall over because you need to rectify
1108
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:10,640
that pretty pretty sharpish oh yes which
1109
00:39:09,119 --> 00:39:11,680
is ironic considering the source of the
1110
00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:14,640
problem is
1111
00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:16,640
things happening not sharpish
1112
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:18,400
yeah you can see that that one person
1113
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:21,119
tilt and then it just kind of sinks the
1114
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:22,640
whole ship yeah yeah so that's that's
1115
00:39:21,119 --> 00:39:25,680
why i asked the question to be like
1116
00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:26,720
let's let's think about that and um
1117
00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:28,720
it is
1118
00:39:26,720 --> 00:39:30,480
again i i'm unbeknownst to me when i ask
1119
00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:32,480
this question but i'm very happy
1120
00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:34,000
i've thought of this is that it is again
1121
00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:37,520
it falls into that
1122
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:39,599
that classic dm trap of like oh
1123
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:41,359
i shouldn't impose a time limit or i
1124
00:39:39,599 --> 00:39:43,040
shouldn't just you know
1125
00:39:41,359 --> 00:39:44,960
bring in some cheap
1126
00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:47,119
while you're deciding well the right
1127
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:48,880
hand path suffers a landslide and they
1128
00:39:47,119 --> 00:39:50,400
can't go down anymore
1129
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,960
because you know it
1130
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:55,760
it is very easy to be very heavy-handed
1131
00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:57,680
in those situations as a gm and just
1132
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:59,280
have those kind of contrived
1133
00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:00,560
outcomes and i think the nuance comes
1134
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:03,520
from
1135
00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:06,560
reducing the options in a way that is
1136
00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:09,599
fair and makes sense which is
1137
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:12,240
very hard to do in my opinion
1138
00:40:09,599 --> 00:40:14,000
yeah if you don't mind another bit of a
1139
00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:16,720
weird metaphor
1140
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:19,359
i'm bad at writing puzzles i'm
1141
00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:21,520
fully aware of that
1142
00:40:19,359 --> 00:40:22,800
so typically i just steal them online
1143
00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:24,880
but
1144
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:27,119
if i'm not doing that
1145
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:29,680
if i'm writing my own
1146
00:40:27,119 --> 00:40:30,960
mystery for the players to solve
1147
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:33,040
um
1148
00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:34,160
this is the weird metaphor part i like
1149
00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:36,160
to think of it like a meat and
1150
00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:37,359
charcuterie board okay
1151
00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:40,160
right
1152
00:40:37,359 --> 00:40:42,000
so i worked in a restaurant for years
1153
00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:44,560
and i learned a lot about like food
1154
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:46,400
presentation and the idea behind flavor
1155
00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:48,720
profiles right
1156
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:51,119
so the ideal way to
1157
00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:52,400
build out a a charcuterie board
1158
00:40:51,119 --> 00:40:54,720
especially if you're going to be having
1159
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:56,960
things like fruit and breads and sauces
1160
00:40:54,720 --> 00:40:59,359
and honeys and things like that
1161
00:40:56,960 --> 00:41:00,560
is to group the things that taste good
1162
00:40:59,359 --> 00:41:01,680
together
1163
00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:03,040
together
1164
00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:05,520
right
1165
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:06,640
so you're gonna put like brie
1166
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,720
with
1167
00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:11,119
fruit you're going to put stronger
1168
00:41:08,720 --> 00:41:13,920
cheeses like uh i don't know why you
1169
00:41:11,119 --> 00:41:17,359
would have a gorgonzola but a gorgonzola
1170
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:20,319
with like salted meats and more heavy
1171
00:41:17,359 --> 00:41:21,839
breads like um like a toasted baguette
1172
00:41:20,319 --> 00:41:24,240
or something
1173
00:41:21,839 --> 00:41:26,720
and the whole idea is that if you're
1174
00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:28,800
picking from the right side of the board
1175
00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:30,079
everything that goes well together is
1176
00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:32,480
going to be on the right side of the
1177
00:41:30,079 --> 00:41:35,440
board same goes with the left top bottom
1178
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:37,280
whatever quadrant that you're in right
1179
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:38,880
so if a player
1180
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:40,240
goes to this dinner party and they see
1181
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:41,760
this meet and charcuterie board and
1182
00:41:40,240 --> 00:41:42,800
they're overwhelmed by their amount of
1183
00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:45,359
options
1184
00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:46,240
one of the easiest ways that i've found
1185
00:41:45,359 --> 00:41:48,160
to
1186
00:41:46,240 --> 00:41:50,720
lighten the load of that analysis
1187
00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:51,599
paralysis is to simply go up and say
1188
00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:53,760
hey
1189
00:41:51,599 --> 00:41:55,040
those grapes go really really well with
1190
00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:57,520
swiss
1191
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:59,680
[Laughter]
1192
00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:02,319
metaphorically speaking yeah yeah
1193
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:04,480
metaphorically speaking just go to your
1194
00:42:02,319 --> 00:42:06,400
players and be like hey
1195
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:07,920
these two things seem to have some kind
1196
00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:09,520
of connection yeah
1197
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:10,720
and eventually you're going to get to a
1198
00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:12,480
point where
1199
00:42:10,720 --> 00:42:14,160
something clicks
1200
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:16,079
and they're able to just steamroll
1201
00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:18,720
through the rest of the the puzzle right
1202
00:42:16,079 --> 00:42:20,800
because puzzles are meant to be solved
1203
00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:22,640
alternatively if they're a really
1204
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:24,160
suspicious party that never trust
1205
00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:26,480
anything you say
1206
00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:30,000
then you can always be like hey
1207
00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:31,839
you should try blue cheese and honey or
1208
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:33,280
like some weird combination that you
1209
00:42:31,839 --> 00:42:35,359
know isn't gonna taste good because
1210
00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:36,800
they're going to reject that immediately
1211
00:42:35,359 --> 00:42:37,839
and hopefully that'll get the ball
1212
00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:39,520
rolling
1213
00:42:37,839 --> 00:42:42,800
so it's a little bit of knowing your
1214
00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:45,520
party and choosing between truthfulness
1215
00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:47,200
and deception to kind of spur them into
1216
00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:50,160
the right direction
1217
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:52,160
i'm a big proponent of hey gm's just
1218
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,920
tell your players what's up
1219
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:56,640
like communicate with them if you see
1220
00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:59,599
that they're a little lost yeah because
1221
00:42:56,640 --> 00:43:02,400
the game's no fun if it stagnates in my
1222
00:42:59,599 --> 00:43:03,920
opinion yeah so just
1223
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:05,599
it's not going to hurt anything just be
1224
00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:07,520
like hey
1225
00:43:05,599 --> 00:43:09,359
go cut the red wire
1226
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:10,960
you know yeah i don't think it's really
1227
00:43:09,359 --> 00:43:12,400
going to hurt anything in the grand
1228
00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:13,839
scheme
1229
00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:15,920
and then and then when you roll when do
1230
00:43:13,839 --> 00:43:17,599
you roll the cheese down the hill of my
1231
00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:19,520
uh
1232
00:43:17,599 --> 00:43:20,880
uh typically after you taste it and
1233
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:22,160
don't like it you're like i don't want
1234
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:23,760
that anymore and then the cheese always
1235
00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:26,160
gets the bottom got it right i'm ready
1236
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:28,880
to dm now exactly the cheese eventually
1237
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:28,880
reaches the bottom
1238
00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:33,280
all roads lead to the bottom of the hill
1239
00:43:30,720 --> 00:43:35,040
yeah yeah yeah exactly all roads lead to
1240
00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:37,599
the cheese
1241
00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:40,000
like not all who huda or cheddar or
1242
00:43:37,599 --> 00:43:41,440
something those lines yeah some some
1243
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:42,960
profound metaphor in there that we've
1244
00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:44,160
built together in some collaborative
1245
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:44,590
storytelling
1246
00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:46,560
um
1247
00:43:44,590 --> 00:43:49,040
[Laughter]
1248
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:50,800
i do think there is
1249
00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:51,599
i love that you've brought that up there
1250
00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:54,640
that
1251
00:43:51,599 --> 00:43:56,240
the dm withholding information and i
1252
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:57,440
feel qualified to talk about this
1253
00:43:56,240 --> 00:44:00,079
because it's something i've done several
1254
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:02,560
times myself for for wrong
1255
00:44:00,079 --> 00:44:04,720
me in that it's very easy to fulfill
1256
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:06,400
that kind of
1257
00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:08,880
machiavellian like
1258
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:11,040
i hold all the cards and you stupid
1259
00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:12,319
players don't know what you're doing and
1260
00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:15,359
it kind of
1261
00:44:12,319 --> 00:44:17,599
ticks that small box of being a gm
1262
00:44:15,359 --> 00:44:18,800
and so that combined with
1263
00:44:17,599 --> 00:44:20,400
how
1264
00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:22,480
intrinsically difficult it is to know
1265
00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:24,079
what the players know and
1266
00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:25,839
another level deeper to know what their
1267
00:44:24,079 --> 00:44:27,520
play characters know and disassociate
1268
00:44:25,839 --> 00:44:28,400
that from what you as the gm know which
1269
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:29,920
is
1270
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:32,160
quite literally everything
1271
00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:32,160
uh
1272
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:35,599
so that often leads to those situations
1273
00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:37,760
where like oh i don't need to tell them
1274
00:44:35,599 --> 00:44:39,599
to cut the red wire because it's obvious
1275
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:41,200
it's the red it's the red wire why
1276
00:44:39,599 --> 00:44:42,400
wouldn't they be cutting it and then
1277
00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:43,359
what you don't know is the dm is that
1278
00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:45,119
they've got
1279
00:44:43,359 --> 00:44:47,920
70 sessions of baggage that's taught
1280
00:44:45,119 --> 00:44:48,640
them don't cut you know red things or
1281
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:50,319
they
1282
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:52,240
too many enemies were read in the last
1283
00:44:50,319 --> 00:44:54,079
couple of sessions and now they've they
1284
00:44:52,240 --> 00:44:55,200
are suspicious about red things and that
1285
00:44:54,079 --> 00:44:57,200
just didn't
1286
00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:58,640
click for you until this one pertinent
1287
00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:00,240
moment when it all rests on cutting the
1288
00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:01,680
red wire and then you're just sitting
1289
00:45:00,240 --> 00:45:04,800
there as a gm going
1290
00:45:01,680 --> 00:45:06,079
ah [ __ ] yeah i didn't see that
1291
00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:07,839
yeah
1292
00:45:06,079 --> 00:45:09,839
yep and it's okay to admit that you're
1293
00:45:07,839 --> 00:45:10,640
wrong at points you know
1294
00:45:09,839 --> 00:45:13,040
so
1295
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:14,880
to beat a dead horse if your rock gets
1296
00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:16,640
stuck
1297
00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:18,720
rolling down the hill
1298
00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:21,040
it's okay to walk down the hill a little
1299
00:45:18,720 --> 00:45:23,119
bit and be like here you go buddy i'm
1300
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:24,480
sorry i didn't see that somebody parked
1301
00:45:23,119 --> 00:45:25,520
their car there
1302
00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,520
you know
1303
00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:28,880
it's okay to just kind of nudge it a
1304
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:31,440
little bit to get
1305
00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:34,000
the metaphorical rock rolling again you
1306
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:36,000
know yep i mean don't pick it up and
1307
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:37,920
carry it to the bottom of the hill but
1308
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:39,440
just a little nudge here and there to
1309
00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:41,920
get everything moving again i don't
1310
00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:44,640
think is a bad thing if you do mess up
1311
00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:48,079
as a gm just say hey that's on me
1312
00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:49,760
let's keep going yeah precisely and
1313
00:45:48,079 --> 00:45:50,960
you're now um
1314
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:52,800
i was gonna say you must have listened
1315
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:54,960
to the show before because most of the
1316
00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:57,920
show nowadays is me talking about the
1317
00:45:54,960 --> 00:46:01,440
mistakes i've made uh so
1318
00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:03,920
as a gm so yes
1319
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:05,119
we're certainly over that bridge
1320
00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:07,440
so
1321
00:46:05,119 --> 00:46:11,359
as we you alluded to earlier on kelsey
1322
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:14,960
regarding the comic art side of things
1323
00:46:11,359 --> 00:46:16,400
emotion uh in regards to that please
1324
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:19,520
educate me
1325
00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:21,359
oh boy okay so motion in comics can
1326
00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:22,720
apply to a lot of things it can imply it
1327
00:46:21,359 --> 00:46:24,640
can apply to
1328
00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:26,960
how does the reader's eye move around
1329
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:27,839
the page in order to read it it can also
1330
00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:30,880
mean
1331
00:46:27,839 --> 00:46:32,560
can the art imply
1332
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:35,119
movement on the page does a character
1333
00:46:32,560 --> 00:46:37,520
look like they are moving
1334
00:46:35,119 --> 00:46:39,599
like a fluidly stiffly
1335
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:41,680
how are you implying motion in the
1336
00:46:39,599 --> 00:46:43,839
character that you are illustrating how
1337
00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:45,680
are you implying motion in the dialogue
1338
00:46:43,839 --> 00:46:48,079
is there motion in the dialogue there's
1339
00:46:45,680 --> 00:46:49,040
a lot of different factors for
1340
00:46:48,079 --> 00:46:52,079
where
1341
00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:53,760
motion can apply in comics
1342
00:46:52,079 --> 00:46:56,319
um
1343
00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:58,079
the most recent page that i finished for
1344
00:46:56,319 --> 00:47:00,480
my own webcomic the legend of jamie
1345
00:46:58,079 --> 00:47:02,160
roberts i feel really proud of
1346
00:47:00,480 --> 00:47:04,880
because it is
1347
00:47:02,160 --> 00:47:07,440
in my opinion very fluid and a lot of my
1348
00:47:04,880 --> 00:47:09,520
readers have noticed hey the the motion
1349
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:11,280
in this page is actually really really
1350
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:12,160
nice because like
1351
00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:15,040
um
1352
00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:17,040
in in the particular page there's uh one
1353
00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:19,359
character asia tossing something to
1354
00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:22,480
another character daniel and daniel is
1355
00:47:19,359 --> 00:47:25,520
like fumbling with it and
1356
00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:27,520
the line work and the gesture can imply
1357
00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:31,040
the motion as well
1358
00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:33,599
so there's that and then there's also
1359
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:35,920
just the motion of the story
1360
00:47:33,599 --> 00:47:39,200
overall
1361
00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:41,520
and that can also be really hard to
1362
00:47:39,200 --> 00:47:43,440
achieve in comics because i'll tell you
1363
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:46,800
what it's really easy
1364
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:48,480
for comic stories to
1365
00:47:46,800 --> 00:47:50,000
get from point a
1366
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:52,480
to point b
1367
00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:54,720
and then they never get to point c
1368
00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:57,599
because point b
1369
00:47:54,720 --> 00:47:59,119
for some ungodly reason is where the
1370
00:47:57,599 --> 00:48:00,640
creative team is like let's just hang
1371
00:47:59,119 --> 00:48:04,640
out here for a little bit and it's like
1372
00:48:00,640 --> 00:48:07,200
can we please get to point c though
1373
00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:09,119
which which is that uh is that pitfall
1374
00:48:07,200 --> 00:48:10,640
there is directly applicable to what
1375
00:48:09,119 --> 00:48:13,440
we've just spent the last 15 minutes
1376
00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:15,520
discussing around absolutely
1377
00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:16,880
being stuck in that that middle ground
1378
00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:20,880
of like
1379
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:22,800
in in action or on
1380
00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:25,920
for whatever you want to call it yeah
1381
00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:28,160
yeah yeah a chunk of that can also just
1382
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:30,319
apply to it and really depends on the
1383
00:48:28,160 --> 00:48:32,079
comic market a lot of it is real really
1384
00:48:30,319 --> 00:48:33,200
dependent on like
1385
00:48:32,079 --> 00:48:34,960
sales
1386
00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:37,599
because if
1387
00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:38,960
if the sales of a book are really really
1388
00:48:37,599 --> 00:48:41,520
good you want to try to prolong the
1389
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:43,359
story for as long as you can so you just
1390
00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:45,200
keep the characters hanging out at point
1391
00:48:43,359 --> 00:48:47,599
b and you just don't have them get
1392
00:48:45,200 --> 00:48:49,200
anywhere near point c because point c is
1393
00:48:47,599 --> 00:48:51,359
the conclusion we don't want this to
1394
00:48:49,200 --> 00:48:53,839
conclude we want to keep selling books
1395
00:48:51,359 --> 00:48:55,359
and that can be kind of a problem
1396
00:48:53,839 --> 00:48:57,440
because you do want to reach a
1397
00:48:55,359 --> 00:49:01,680
conclusion at some point
1398
00:48:57,440 --> 00:49:02,880
yeah yeah goddamn capitalism
1399
00:49:01,680 --> 00:49:04,559
yeah
1400
00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:06,800
uh well and one thing you mentioned
1401
00:49:04,559 --> 00:49:09,200
kelsey is is talking about motion like
1402
00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:10,960
what where the the reader's eyes are on
1403
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:12,720
and i think that that part of that can
1404
00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:15,839
kind of tie back to
1405
00:49:12,720 --> 00:49:16,720
you know describing a scene as a as a gm
1406
00:49:15,839 --> 00:49:19,040
you're
1407
00:49:16,720 --> 00:49:20,640
painting a picture then okay what is
1408
00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:21,920
going to jump out at your players
1409
00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:23,839
immediately what are they going to run
1410
00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:25,839
over and interact with and did you
1411
00:49:23,839 --> 00:49:27,760
describe something meaningful or did you
1412
00:49:25,839 --> 00:49:30,480
just describe a bump on a log that they
1413
00:49:27,760 --> 00:49:32,160
are now suddenly fascinated with yeah
1414
00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:34,400
and also be
1415
00:49:32,160 --> 00:49:36,800
aware of the kinds of like backstory
1416
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:38,559
things that your characters
1417
00:49:36,800 --> 00:49:40,400
have hanging around in their backstory
1418
00:49:38,559 --> 00:49:43,119
whenever you're so that whenever you're
1419
00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:46,880
describing a scene and
1420
00:49:43,119 --> 00:49:48,800
let's let's say for example uh that you
1421
00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:51,440
have a player character who is looking
1422
00:49:48,800 --> 00:49:56,160
for a missing mentor figure and you're
1423
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:58,319
describing a scene and you bring up
1424
00:49:56,160 --> 00:50:00,720
that there is something in the bushes
1425
00:49:58,319 --> 00:50:03,119
that looks an awful lot like fabric that
1426
00:50:00,720 --> 00:50:04,559
player is suddenly going to be like oh
1427
00:50:03,119 --> 00:50:05,839
what's the pattern on the fabric over
1428
00:50:04,559 --> 00:50:07,520
there is it connected to my mentor
1429
00:50:05,839 --> 00:50:10,319
figure who am i i'm looking for were
1430
00:50:07,520 --> 00:50:12,240
they just in this area like what does it
1431
00:50:10,319 --> 00:50:16,319
look like and that will make them want
1432
00:50:12,240 --> 00:50:18,319
to go and investigate stuff like that
1433
00:50:16,319 --> 00:50:20,960
yeah i'm glad you mentioned that joe
1434
00:50:18,319 --> 00:50:23,440
again because that is a very classic
1435
00:50:20,960 --> 00:50:25,119
pitfall again for gm's to be like
1436
00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:28,160
do i point to the elephant in the room
1437
00:50:25,119 --> 00:50:30,000
or do i not point and let the players
1438
00:50:28,160 --> 00:50:31,440
then find it but then
1439
00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:32,880
you know which is the lesser of two
1440
00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:34,400
evils here because then otherwise are
1441
00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:35,920
they going to get fixated on that random
1442
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:38,559
pebble that i draw attention to for
1443
00:50:35,920 --> 00:50:40,000
flavor and waste right funnily enough
1444
00:50:38,559 --> 00:50:41,200
bring the game to
1445
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:42,740
a screeching halt because they're
1446
00:50:41,200 --> 00:50:45,760
invested in pebblegate
1447
00:50:42,740 --> 00:50:48,480
[Laughter]
1448
00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:51,359
or do i just be like nah like the
1449
00:50:48,480 --> 00:50:55,280
pebble's just a pebble guys um the big
1450
00:50:51,359 --> 00:50:56,880
flaming demon is maybe a bigger concern
1451
00:50:55,280 --> 00:50:59,359
yeah uh
1452
00:50:56,880 --> 00:51:01,200
this is uh i'm sorry i'm bringing up
1453
00:50:59,359 --> 00:51:03,680
critical role again this is why in
1454
00:51:01,200 --> 00:51:05,359
campaign two matt mercer really should
1455
00:51:03,680 --> 00:51:06,720
not have described
1456
00:51:05,359 --> 00:51:09,920
the chair
1457
00:51:06,720 --> 00:51:13,200
and as much depth as he did
1458
00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:15,680
because there was a scene where and
1459
00:51:13,200 --> 00:51:17,359
what you describe and how you describe
1460
00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:18,800
it will say a lot and he had described a
1461
00:51:17,359 --> 00:51:21,520
scene where everything was wrecked
1462
00:51:18,800 --> 00:51:24,880
except for one chair which was still
1463
00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:26,079
standing on all four legs undisturbed
1464
00:51:24,880 --> 00:51:27,839
and
1465
00:51:26,079 --> 00:51:30,559
a lesson to all
1466
00:51:27,839 --> 00:51:31,599
gm's and dms out there how you describe
1467
00:51:30,559 --> 00:51:33,920
a scene
1468
00:51:31,599 --> 00:51:37,200
and how you describe the objects in that
1469
00:51:33,920 --> 00:51:38,800
scene will do a lot to paint an
1470
00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:41,119
implication
1471
00:51:38,800 --> 00:51:42,720
of that scene and paint an implication
1472
00:51:41,119 --> 00:51:44,079
of the object that you are describing
1473
00:51:42,720 --> 00:51:45,599
because if everything is a mess but
1474
00:51:44,079 --> 00:51:47,599
there is one object that is really
1475
00:51:45,599 --> 00:51:48,960
pristine what does that say about the
1476
00:51:47,599 --> 00:51:50,880
object
1477
00:51:48,960 --> 00:51:53,119
yeah well this is actually a really
1478
00:51:50,880 --> 00:51:54,960
interesting thing that isn't all forms
1479
00:51:53,119 --> 00:51:56,800
of storytelling because
1480
00:51:54,960 --> 00:51:58,400
this is the difference between
1481
00:51:56,800 --> 00:51:59,359
what the gm knows and what the players
1482
00:51:58,400 --> 00:52:01,280
know
1483
00:51:59,359 --> 00:52:03,599
you have to remember the gm if you're
1484
00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:06,079
describing a scene that
1485
00:52:03,599 --> 00:52:08,400
how you describe it or how you show it
1486
00:52:06,079 --> 00:52:09,839
whether you have a battle map or like an
1487
00:52:08,400 --> 00:52:11,680
illustration
1488
00:52:09,839 --> 00:52:13,760
that's all that the players know about
1489
00:52:11,680 --> 00:52:15,599
the area that they're in
1490
00:52:13,760 --> 00:52:17,440
so if
1491
00:52:15,599 --> 00:52:19,119
let's say in
1492
00:52:17,440 --> 00:52:21,839
lord of the rings
1493
00:52:19,119 --> 00:52:22,800
they never mention mordor
1494
00:52:21,839 --> 00:52:24,400
ever
1495
00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:25,920
and then suddenly you're in mortar and
1496
00:52:24,400 --> 00:52:27,119
you're like whoa what the [ __ ]
1497
00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:28,640
what is this
1498
00:52:27,119 --> 00:52:29,920
you know like i don't know what this
1499
00:52:28,640 --> 00:52:31,040
place is
1500
00:52:29,920 --> 00:52:34,640
the
1501
00:52:31,040 --> 00:52:37,680
viewer of the film if they have zero
1502
00:52:34,640 --> 00:52:39,680
context or zero idea what mordor is are
1503
00:52:37,680 --> 00:52:41,119
going to be completely lost and they're
1504
00:52:39,680 --> 00:52:43,119
going to latch on to the first thing
1505
00:52:41,119 --> 00:52:44,720
that interests them
1506
00:52:43,119 --> 00:52:46,880
in that case which would probably be the
1507
00:52:44,720 --> 00:52:48,559
giant volcano or the army of orcs
1508
00:52:46,880 --> 00:52:50,960
depending on the person that
1509
00:52:48,559 --> 00:52:53,040
watches it but or the giant ass eyeball
1510
00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:56,240
that's staring down at them from on high
1511
00:52:53,040 --> 00:52:57,599
that's not important or that
1512
00:52:56,240 --> 00:53:00,319
probably not
1513
00:52:57,599 --> 00:53:03,359
but as a gm you know
1514
00:53:00,319 --> 00:53:05,040
you have all of the power to draw focus
1515
00:53:03,359 --> 00:53:07,839
to something
1516
00:53:05,040 --> 00:53:10,319
and this is where i think pace comes
1517
00:53:07,839 --> 00:53:12,079
into the conversation of motion
1518
00:53:10,319 --> 00:53:14,720
because
1519
00:53:12,079 --> 00:53:15,839
if you're moving slowly you're still
1520
00:53:14,720 --> 00:53:17,119
moving
1521
00:53:15,839 --> 00:53:20,480
right
1522
00:53:17,119 --> 00:53:23,440
so i like to take my descriptive moments
1523
00:53:20,480 --> 00:53:25,920
especially in a new area to slow down
1524
00:53:23,440 --> 00:53:29,920
the pace of the game and really
1525
00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:33,119
bring the important things to bear
1526
00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:35,040
my players in my dnd game just entered a
1527
00:53:33,119 --> 00:53:36,400
a ruined city
1528
00:53:35,040 --> 00:53:38,079
with like a bunch of skeletons
1529
00:53:36,400 --> 00:53:39,520
everywhere and tree overgrowth and
1530
00:53:38,079 --> 00:53:41,359
everything like that
1531
00:53:39,520 --> 00:53:42,880
and you know i go ahead and i describe
1532
00:53:41,359 --> 00:53:44,240
the city and all that but what i really
1533
00:53:42,880 --> 00:53:46,880
wanted to bring their attention to was
1534
00:53:44,240 --> 00:53:48,640
this giant hundred foot across hole that
1535
00:53:46,880 --> 00:53:49,680
sunk down deeper than any of them could
1536
00:53:48,640 --> 00:53:52,400
see
1537
00:53:49,680 --> 00:53:55,599
right in the middle of the town
1538
00:53:52,400 --> 00:53:58,000
pretty easy thing to bring attention to
1539
00:53:55,599 --> 00:54:00,240
but it's also a really easy thing to
1540
00:53:58,000 --> 00:54:02,640
just kind of gloss over because you just
1541
00:54:00,240 --> 00:54:04,720
assume that people will pay attention to
1542
00:54:02,640 --> 00:54:07,200
it right
1543
00:54:04,720 --> 00:54:09,440
so the way that i got around that was
1544
00:54:07,200 --> 00:54:10,559
let me take my time let me describe
1545
00:54:09,440 --> 00:54:12,559
everything
1546
00:54:10,559 --> 00:54:14,559
you know relatively quickly just tell
1547
00:54:12,559 --> 00:54:16,800
them what everything looks like and then
1548
00:54:14,559 --> 00:54:19,440
let me slow down
1549
00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:22,000
how quickly i'm talking when i'm
1550
00:54:19,440 --> 00:54:24,160
describing this massive hole
1551
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:26,640
these aqueducts going all throughout the
1552
00:54:24,160 --> 00:54:28,880
city or draining into it but it is not
1553
00:54:26,640 --> 00:54:30,800
full of water because the aqueducts
1554
00:54:28,880 --> 00:54:32,800
aren't full right now
1555
00:54:30,800 --> 00:54:35,760
this hole sinks down and down and down
1556
00:54:32,800 --> 00:54:38,640
you feel the call into the void that is
1557
00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:40,720
at the bottom of this sinkhole and that
1558
00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:42,480
immediately enraptured all of them and
1559
00:54:40,720 --> 00:54:45,040
of course like a good gm i ended the
1560
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:45,040
session there
1561
00:54:45,680 --> 00:54:49,680
perfect
1562
00:54:47,359 --> 00:54:51,119
but slowing down even just the pace at
1563
00:54:49,680 --> 00:54:54,240
which you speak
1564
00:54:51,119 --> 00:54:55,599
draws a lot of attention to people
1565
00:54:54,240 --> 00:54:57,440
because whether or not
1566
00:54:55,599 --> 00:55:00,559
we realize it
1567
00:54:57,440 --> 00:55:03,520
humans like to hyper fixate on on things
1568
00:55:00,559 --> 00:55:05,680
that are not normal in their mind
1569
00:55:03,520 --> 00:55:08,079
and if this is my normal speaking pace
1570
00:55:05,680 --> 00:55:11,040
just slowing down or speeding up is
1571
00:55:08,079 --> 00:55:12,799
going to tell a lot subconsciously to my
1572
00:55:11,040 --> 00:55:15,520
players
1573
00:55:12,799 --> 00:55:18,400
heck yeah yeah yeah i love that example
1574
00:55:15,520 --> 00:55:21,200
actually because if that exactly
1575
00:55:18,400 --> 00:55:24,160
identical situation was delivered by
1576
00:55:21,200 --> 00:55:26,160
a not so masterful gm
1577
00:55:24,160 --> 00:55:27,920
it could have easily been you know
1578
00:55:26,160 --> 00:55:29,040
construed by the players oh that's just
1579
00:55:27,920 --> 00:55:30,799
a well
1580
00:55:29,040 --> 00:55:32,240
and like there's a hole in the ground of
1581
00:55:30,799 --> 00:55:34,240
wars running into that's the well okay
1582
00:55:32,240 --> 00:55:36,559
what else do we see and then you're like
1583
00:55:34,240 --> 00:55:38,160
oh no
1584
00:55:36,559 --> 00:55:39,839
yeah no no no it's a really really
1585
00:55:38,160 --> 00:55:41,440
important well hold on
1586
00:55:39,839 --> 00:55:42,640
yeah don't leave yet yeah no come back
1587
00:55:41,440 --> 00:55:44,160
come back
1588
00:55:42,640 --> 00:55:46,880
pull them in by the stuff on there next
1589
00:55:44,160 --> 00:55:48,240
so no yeah yes yeah it's very it's very
1590
00:55:46,880 --> 00:55:51,200
important to know the kind of mood that
1591
00:55:48,240 --> 00:55:53,520
you want to set uh slowing down can be a
1592
00:55:51,200 --> 00:55:55,119
really good way to build a sense of
1593
00:55:53,520 --> 00:55:57,680
dread
1594
00:55:55,119 --> 00:56:00,240
so is lowering your voice just that
1595
00:55:57,680 --> 00:56:03,839
little bit or like dropping down to a
1596
00:56:00,240 --> 00:56:05,359
near whisper so tone of voice can also
1597
00:56:03,839 --> 00:56:08,319
affect motion
1598
00:56:05,359 --> 00:56:09,200
um it's it's true for comics it's true
1599
00:56:08,319 --> 00:56:12,079
for
1600
00:56:09,200 --> 00:56:13,680
gmming a session yeah yeah yeah and it's
1601
00:56:12,079 --> 00:56:15,359
a it's a classic
1602
00:56:13,680 --> 00:56:16,880
uh i learned many years ago in my
1603
00:56:15,359 --> 00:56:18,640
university days when delivering
1604
00:56:16,880 --> 00:56:21,760
presentations that
1605
00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:23,440
people tend to speak uh you know their
1606
00:56:21,760 --> 00:56:24,960
cadence increases
1607
00:56:23,440 --> 00:56:26,799
when you're standing in front of people
1608
00:56:24,960 --> 00:56:28,640
slightly nervous you
1609
00:56:26,799 --> 00:56:30,720
subconsciously rattle you want to rattle
1610
00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:32,880
through it so it's over quicker and and
1611
00:56:30,720 --> 00:56:35,119
a big skill you learn when practicing
1612
00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:36,640
giving presentations and whatnot as a
1613
00:56:35,119 --> 00:56:38,240
you know obviously learn the material so
1614
00:56:36,640 --> 00:56:40,640
you're a bit more confident but it's
1615
00:56:38,240 --> 00:56:42,000
it's b it's having that conscious effort
1616
00:56:40,640 --> 00:56:44,880
in your mind to
1617
00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:45,920
slow down you're the way you were
1618
00:56:44,880 --> 00:56:47,440
speaking to bring you back into your
1619
00:56:45,920 --> 00:56:49,040
normal kind of speed
1620
00:56:47,440 --> 00:56:50,960
because when you're rattling through it
1621
00:56:49,040 --> 00:56:53,119
fast you lose
1622
00:56:50,960 --> 00:56:54,720
you sound less confident you lose the
1623
00:56:53,119 --> 00:56:56,240
nuance you lose the detail because
1624
00:56:54,720 --> 00:56:57,760
you're just blasting through and sounds
1625
00:56:56,240 --> 00:56:59,359
like this anyway and this and
1626
00:56:57,760 --> 00:57:02,480
profitability is that anyway uh bye
1627
00:56:59,359 --> 00:57:04,319
thanks listening and no one's really
1628
00:57:02,480 --> 00:57:07,119
paid attention so you know
1629
00:57:04,319 --> 00:57:08,880
just from a human being point of view
1630
00:57:07,119 --> 00:57:10,480
there's rooms and reams of evidence in
1631
00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:11,920
in how that's important just from
1632
00:57:10,480 --> 00:57:13,760
standing up in front of you know 30 of
1633
00:57:11,920 --> 00:57:15,359
your classmates and telling them about
1634
00:57:13,760 --> 00:57:16,880
this piece of work you've done so
1635
00:57:15,359 --> 00:57:19,040
obviously you can apply
1636
00:57:16,880 --> 00:57:20,960
that very same thinking to just being a
1637
00:57:19,040 --> 00:57:22,480
dm and being like okay i'm not
1638
00:57:20,960 --> 00:57:24,480
particularly nervous right now although
1639
00:57:22,480 --> 00:57:25,520
some will be but yeah just slowing it
1640
00:57:24,480 --> 00:57:27,680
down
1641
00:57:25,520 --> 00:57:30,880
one more notch can have the the opposite
1642
00:57:27,680 --> 00:57:33,599
effect of speeding it up unsurprisingly
1643
00:57:30,880 --> 00:57:34,559
oh yeah yeah i did stage acting in high
1644
00:57:33,599 --> 00:57:36,960
school
1645
00:57:34,559 --> 00:57:39,680
and one of the ways that we rehearsed
1646
00:57:36,960 --> 00:57:42,000
was we would rehearse speaking as fast
1647
00:57:39,680 --> 00:57:45,359
as we possibly could and going through
1648
00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:48,559
the motions as fast as we possibly could
1649
00:57:45,359 --> 00:57:50,640
just to give ourselves uh kind of a
1650
00:57:48,559 --> 00:57:54,240
range at which
1651
00:57:50,640 --> 00:57:55,839
we could actually operate so if it was a
1652
00:57:54,240 --> 00:57:57,760
one-hour show
1653
00:57:55,839 --> 00:57:59,280
then we would try like we would set
1654
00:57:57,760 --> 00:58:01,119
ourselves a goal to get it done in 40
1655
00:57:59,280 --> 00:58:03,280
minutes speed running exactly we would
1656
00:58:01,119 --> 00:58:05,680
speed run the show and
1657
00:58:03,280 --> 00:58:08,160
when we did that it gave at least it
1658
00:58:05,680 --> 00:58:09,040
gave me a more conscious understanding
1659
00:58:08,160 --> 00:58:11,680
of
1660
00:58:09,040 --> 00:58:13,359
what pace am i actually performing at
1661
00:58:11,680 --> 00:58:15,280
and then when we got to the actual show
1662
00:58:13,359 --> 00:58:17,040
we would perform it you know three times
1663
00:58:15,280 --> 00:58:19,040
friday saturday sunday
1664
00:58:17,040 --> 00:58:20,720
and um when we would actually get in
1665
00:58:19,040 --> 00:58:22,319
there and perform the show
1666
00:58:20,720 --> 00:58:23,920
i would be able to carry that with me a
1667
00:58:22,319 --> 00:58:26,000
little bit more and of course we'd been
1668
00:58:23,920 --> 00:58:26,799
rehearsing for months so the confidence
1669
00:58:26,000 --> 00:58:29,119
was
1670
00:58:26,799 --> 00:58:30,079
uh was available to us
1671
00:58:29,119 --> 00:58:32,640
but
1672
00:58:30,079 --> 00:58:35,119
still having that idea of i can finish
1673
00:58:32,640 --> 00:58:36,720
this show in 40 minutes if i'm not
1674
00:58:35,119 --> 00:58:38,799
careful
1675
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:39,920
let me bring it in
1676
00:58:38,799 --> 00:58:41,760
you know
1677
00:58:39,920 --> 00:58:44,000
it can be really really helpful so if
1678
00:58:41,760 --> 00:58:46,000
you're going to practice as a gm that's
1679
00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:48,240
something that i would suggest is try to
1680
00:58:46,000 --> 00:58:50,319
speed run through all of the
1681
00:58:48,240 --> 00:58:52,319
uh descriptions that you're going to use
1682
00:58:50,319 --> 00:58:54,799
and that'll give you an idea of okay how
1683
00:58:52,319 --> 00:58:57,040
fast can i actually say this
1684
00:58:54,799 --> 00:59:00,880
if i'm not paying attention
1685
00:58:57,040 --> 00:59:03,119
um and conversely if i may um
1686
00:59:00,880 --> 00:59:05,440
because i've i did improv comedy for a
1687
00:59:03,119 --> 00:59:07,680
couple of years when i was in college uh
1688
00:59:05,440 --> 00:59:10,000
one of our warm-up exercises was
1689
00:59:07,680 --> 00:59:10,960
actually slow motion
1690
00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:13,160
movement
1691
00:59:10,960 --> 00:59:16,319
uh like going through things like
1692
00:59:13,160 --> 00:59:17,119
exceptionally slowly um whether you're
1693
00:59:16,319 --> 00:59:19,599
like
1694
00:59:17,119 --> 00:59:20,720
doing slow motion like
1695
00:59:19,599 --> 00:59:22,000
fighting
1696
00:59:20,720 --> 00:59:24,720
and
1697
00:59:22,000 --> 00:59:26,880
doing exaggerated reactions or doing
1698
00:59:24,720 --> 00:59:28,760
reactions that are totally unexpected
1699
00:59:26,880 --> 00:59:31,480
but like just going through things
1700
00:59:28,760 --> 00:59:34,640
deliberately slowly like
1701
00:59:31,480 --> 00:59:36,640
exceptionally so like whatever you think
1702
00:59:34,640 --> 00:59:38,880
sloth speed is
1703
00:59:36,640 --> 00:59:40,720
even slower than that that was our
1704
00:59:38,880 --> 00:59:44,079
warm-up exercise
1705
00:59:40,720 --> 00:59:48,480
for uh getting ourselves loose
1706
00:59:44,079 --> 00:59:49,599
and getting ourselves relaxed
1707
00:59:48,480 --> 00:59:52,880
well uh
1708
00:59:49,599 --> 00:59:55,200
thank you uh all for for sharing
1709
00:59:52,880 --> 00:59:57,200
your expertise and knowledge in
1710
00:59:55,200 --> 00:59:59,520
in these areas that on the face of it i
1711
00:59:57,200 --> 01:00:04,000
wouldn't have immediately applied to
1712
00:59:59,520 --> 01:00:06,480
uh dnd and hdrpgs and yet here we are uh
1713
01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:08,400
we're good for that
1714
01:00:06,480 --> 01:00:10,480
uh is is there anything about the topic
1715
01:00:08,400 --> 01:00:12,960
of motion that you wanted to discuss
1716
01:00:10,480 --> 01:00:15,200
that we might not have hit yet
1717
01:00:12,960 --> 01:00:16,880
uh the only other thing i you see a lot
1718
01:00:15,200 --> 01:00:18,960
of people like complaining about like
1719
01:00:16,880 --> 01:00:20,960
specific races because they have certain
1720
01:00:18,960 --> 01:00:23,040
types of motion whether that's like swim
1721
01:00:20,960 --> 01:00:24,799
speeds or fly speeds
1722
01:00:23,040 --> 01:00:26,720
i think just to briefly touch on that i
1723
01:00:24,799 --> 01:00:29,040
think the big thing with that is just
1724
01:00:26,720 --> 01:00:32,400
knowing what you're in for like
1725
01:00:29,040 --> 01:00:34,559
is a fly speed a little overpowered
1726
01:00:32,400 --> 01:00:36,319
maybe but if you're planning for it it's
1727
01:00:34,559 --> 01:00:38,160
not going to be that big of a deal it's
1728
01:00:36,319 --> 01:00:40,640
i think it boils down to knowing you're
1729
01:00:38,160 --> 01:00:43,680
knowing your party and knowing that team
1730
01:00:40,640 --> 01:00:45,760
at the end of the day yeah absolutely as
1731
01:00:43,680 --> 01:00:47,599
as much as it because usually i don't
1732
01:00:45,760 --> 01:00:49,760
pay too too much attention to stat
1733
01:00:47,599 --> 01:00:52,079
blocks even as a dm and yet paying
1734
01:00:49,760 --> 01:00:54,400
attention to stat blocks is
1735
01:00:52,079 --> 01:00:56,960
important and paying attention to your
1736
01:00:54,400 --> 01:01:00,000
player character's stat blocks are very
1737
01:00:56,960 --> 01:01:01,920
important like reading is fundamental
1738
01:01:00,000 --> 01:01:04,319
reading is fundamental also it would
1739
01:01:01,920 --> 01:01:07,200
really really suck to plan an encounter
1740
01:01:04,319 --> 01:01:09,440
with like for example a displacer beast
1741
01:01:07,200 --> 01:01:11,760
and suddenly your cleric is like i cast
1742
01:01:09,440 --> 01:01:13,280
banishment and it's like oh because the
1743
01:01:11,760 --> 01:01:15,760
displacer beast is not native to this
1744
01:01:13,280 --> 01:01:17,599
plane of existence that that shit's gone
1745
01:01:15,760 --> 01:01:19,760
yep okay
1746
01:01:17,599 --> 01:01:21,280
yep that that happened to me so that's
1747
01:01:19,760 --> 01:01:23,359
fine definitely not you're not bringing
1748
01:01:21,280 --> 01:01:25,440
up any bad memories there's a gymnast oh
1749
01:01:23,359 --> 01:01:26,640
no it totally happened to me too i feel
1750
01:01:25,440 --> 01:01:28,720
you dude
1751
01:01:26,640 --> 01:01:30,079
yeah i do two big flying
1752
01:01:28,720 --> 01:01:32,960
guys from
1753
01:01:30,079 --> 01:01:34,720
one of the layers of the abyss and
1754
01:01:32,960 --> 01:01:36,960
my sorcerer took a pump and just said
1755
01:01:34,720 --> 01:01:38,880
they look alien enough banishment and i
1756
01:01:36,960 --> 01:01:42,079
was like oh okay this is now trivial
1757
01:01:38,880 --> 01:01:43,280
combat yep and yeah it did go did try
1758
01:01:42,079 --> 01:01:45,119
and break the concentration but it
1759
01:01:43,280 --> 01:01:47,920
wasn't wasn't quick enough and uh yeah
1760
01:01:45,119 --> 01:01:50,319
that that was that so uh yeah yeah know
1761
01:01:47,920 --> 01:01:54,559
your players capabilities ah yeah and
1762
01:01:50,319 --> 01:01:56,160
the fly thing i love as a fear because
1763
01:01:54,559 --> 01:01:59,839
i have been there as well and it's a
1764
01:01:56,160 --> 01:02:01,599
genuine concern again indicative of
1765
01:01:59,839 --> 01:02:04,000
how the majority of games are played in
1766
01:02:01,599 --> 01:02:05,200
tier one and two when it makes the
1767
01:02:04,000 --> 01:02:08,160
biggest difference
1768
01:02:05,200 --> 01:02:10,079
because as soon as my warlock got fly
1769
01:02:08,160 --> 01:02:11,680
like he was like i'm not standing on the
1770
01:02:10,079 --> 01:02:13,359
ground you guys are chumps walking
1771
01:02:11,680 --> 01:02:15,680
around i'm flying like any given
1772
01:02:13,359 --> 01:02:17,280
opportunity i'm flying fighting enemies
1773
01:02:15,680 --> 01:02:18,160
i'm flying talking to a merchant i'm
1774
01:02:17,280 --> 01:02:19,119
flying
1775
01:02:18,160 --> 01:02:20,960
buying
1776
01:02:19,119 --> 01:02:22,559
shoes i'm flying which is weird because
1777
01:02:20,960 --> 01:02:25,359
shoes are for walking on the ground but
1778
01:02:22,559 --> 01:02:27,359
he'd still be flying and so when
1779
01:02:25,359 --> 01:02:29,760
when that band-aid was torn off i was
1780
01:02:27,359 --> 01:02:31,230
like oh okay it was no longer this big
1781
01:02:29,760 --> 01:02:32,880
scary thing that i had to worry about
1782
01:02:31,230 --> 01:02:34,720
[Laughter]
1783
01:02:32,880 --> 01:02:36,079
yeah i mean once you get to tier three
1784
01:02:34,720 --> 01:02:38,240
where like
1785
01:02:36,079 --> 01:02:41,039
people can move between dimensions and
1786
01:02:38,240 --> 01:02:42,960
[ __ ] like yeah it's it's a negligible i
1787
01:02:41,039 --> 01:02:44,319
mean even at tier two like several
1788
01:02:42,960 --> 01:02:45,760
classes are going to give you like i
1789
01:02:44,319 --> 01:02:48,240
want to say there uh there are some
1790
01:02:45,760 --> 01:02:50,079
rangers they give you like swim speeds
1791
01:02:48,240 --> 01:02:52,559
or climb speeds and stuff like that so
1792
01:02:50,079 --> 01:02:53,520
it's just it's negligible it is yeah
1793
01:02:52,559 --> 01:02:55,839
yeah
1794
01:02:53,520 --> 01:02:58,240
well awesome so
1795
01:02:55,839 --> 01:02:59,839
after after that is there anything that
1796
01:02:58,240 --> 01:03:01,680
you would like to
1797
01:02:59,839 --> 01:03:03,200
promote that you haven't already
1798
01:03:01,680 --> 01:03:05,680
sneakily promoted halfway through the
1799
01:03:03,200 --> 01:03:05,680
episode
1800
01:03:05,920 --> 01:03:10,960
you could have done this
1801
01:03:08,000 --> 01:03:12,640
oh gee i i have no idea what you're
1802
01:03:10,960 --> 01:03:14,480
talking about we need to point fingers
1803
01:03:12,640 --> 01:03:17,480
and we need to get to the bottom of who
1804
01:03:14,480 --> 01:03:17,480
did
1805
01:03:18,079 --> 01:03:23,359
um well yeah uh you know we're the
1806
01:03:21,200 --> 01:03:25,760
fourth leg as we talked about at the
1807
01:03:23,359 --> 01:03:28,240
start of the show top of the show
1808
01:03:25,760 --> 01:03:30,880
we are like i said at the top of the
1809
01:03:28,240 --> 01:03:32,000
show a tabletop gaming show that dives
1810
01:03:30,880 --> 01:03:34,880
into
1811
01:03:32,000 --> 01:03:37,680
a comprehensive guide on how to start
1812
01:03:34,880 --> 01:03:39,280
your career gm'ing and we're currently
1813
01:03:37,680 --> 01:03:41,200
coming to
1814
01:03:39,280 --> 01:03:42,559
a rapid close to season two i think
1815
01:03:41,200 --> 01:03:44,720
we've only got like two or three more
1816
01:03:42,559 --> 01:03:48,079
episodes to release
1817
01:03:44,720 --> 01:03:49,839
so get in on that uh we are currently
1818
01:03:48,079 --> 01:03:51,839
building through a
1819
01:03:49,839 --> 01:03:54,240
uh well three different campaign
1820
01:03:51,839 --> 01:03:56,960
settings that are originally created one
1821
01:03:54,240 --> 01:03:58,079
by each host and in different systems no
1822
01:03:56,960 --> 01:04:01,359
less
1823
01:03:58,079 --> 01:04:04,480
into different systems no less using d5e
1824
01:04:01,359 --> 01:04:06,559
the genesis system uh by fantasy flight
1825
01:04:04,480 --> 01:04:08,240
games and powered by the apocalypse
1826
01:04:06,559 --> 01:04:09,920
system set in a
1827
01:04:08,240 --> 01:04:11,520
cyberpunk wasteland
1828
01:04:09,920 --> 01:04:13,039
so those are coming along really nicely
1829
01:04:11,520 --> 01:04:14,559
and we do our best to incorporate the
1830
01:04:13,039 --> 01:04:17,599
things that we've talked about in prior
1831
01:04:14,559 --> 01:04:19,599
episodes directly into the next stages
1832
01:04:17,599 --> 01:04:22,000
of our campaign so we're coming up on
1833
01:04:19,599 --> 01:04:24,319
the fourth installment of that uh so
1834
01:04:22,000 --> 01:04:26,160
stay tuned heck yeah oh and you can find
1835
01:04:24,319 --> 01:04:28,000
us on spotify and a bunch of other
1836
01:04:26,160 --> 01:04:30,720
podcatchers and follow our twitter at
1837
01:04:28,000 --> 01:04:32,960
the fourth leg yes uh your podcast
1838
01:04:30,720 --> 01:04:34,480
platform of choice i'm sure
1839
01:04:32,960 --> 01:04:38,000
perhaps the very one that people are
1840
01:04:34,480 --> 01:04:38,000
listening to right now i would imagine
1841
01:04:39,200 --> 01:04:44,880
oh yeah well uh in that case all that's
1842
01:04:42,480 --> 01:04:47,680
left to say is very very heartfelt
1843
01:04:44,880 --> 01:04:49,520
thanks to the the three of you today joe
1844
01:04:47,680 --> 01:04:51,680
kelsey and hunter that was that was a
1845
01:04:49,520 --> 01:04:53,200
really really really really interesting
1846
01:04:51,680 --> 01:04:55,440
discussion
1847
01:04:53,200 --> 01:04:57,200
on something which is on the face of it
1848
01:04:55,440 --> 01:05:01,039
a bit um
1849
01:04:57,200 --> 01:05:03,280
esoteric extract yeah yeah
1850
01:05:01,039 --> 01:05:05,039
and they're just kind of like how
1851
01:05:03,280 --> 01:05:07,520
don't like but but how could this topic
1852
01:05:05,039 --> 01:05:10,720
ever be applied to ttrpgs and i'm very
1853
01:05:07,520 --> 01:05:14,640
happy to have answered that hypothetical
1854
01:05:10,720 --> 01:05:14,640
question from my invisible hater
1855
01:05:14,880 --> 01:05:19,839
yeah no we talked about rocks and hills
1856
01:05:17,440 --> 01:05:21,680
and meats and honey it's great and now
1857
01:05:19,839 --> 01:05:22,880
i'm hungry again despite having just had
1858
01:05:21,680 --> 01:05:25,599
dinner so cool
1859
01:05:22,880 --> 01:05:27,119
[Laughter]
1860
01:05:25,599 --> 01:05:28,720
thank you thank you i haven't eaten
1861
01:05:27,119 --> 01:05:30,400
dinner yet so maybe that's why i started
1862
01:05:28,720 --> 01:05:31,680
talking about food
1863
01:05:30,400 --> 01:05:32,720
all these food
1864
01:05:31,680 --> 01:05:34,839
food is
1865
01:05:32,720 --> 01:05:37,839
food is a great topic
1866
01:05:34,839 --> 01:05:39,920
regardless but i could also eat all the
1867
01:05:37,839 --> 01:05:40,720
time i'm not the kind of person well
1868
01:05:39,920 --> 01:05:41,920
yeah
1869
01:05:40,720 --> 01:05:43,440
you're providing additional value
1870
01:05:41,920 --> 01:05:45,359
because food isn't a topic that we've
1871
01:05:43,440 --> 01:05:48,160
covered yet so that's now on the list so
1872
01:05:45,359 --> 01:05:49,520
thank you very much
1873
01:05:48,160 --> 01:05:51,280
and we've talked about it a little bit
1874
01:05:49,520 --> 01:05:53,039
in this episode you're welcome
1875
01:05:51,280 --> 01:05:54,880
we'll see we'll see you all back uh next
1876
01:05:53,039 --> 01:05:56,400
season for food for food yeah season
1877
01:05:54,880 --> 01:05:57,920
four
1878
01:05:56,400 --> 01:05:59,520
the food lake i don't know something
1879
01:05:57,920 --> 01:06:01,920
there's there's a pun somewhere in there
1880
01:05:59,520 --> 01:06:06,319
buried in there
1881
01:06:01,920 --> 01:06:06,319
the fourth leg of chicken oh there we go
1882
01:06:07,119 --> 01:06:10,480
all right okay okay leg of land yeah so
1883
01:06:09,680 --> 01:06:11,839
there's something there's something
1884
01:06:10,480 --> 01:06:13,200
knocking around there we'll we'll
1885
01:06:11,839 --> 01:06:15,280
workshop it and come back in the next
1886
01:06:13,200 --> 01:06:17,119
season um but
1887
01:06:15,280 --> 01:06:19,920
with these terrible puns i can't think
1888
01:06:17,119 --> 01:06:21,039
of a better place to end the episode
1889
01:06:19,920 --> 01:06:22,640
[Music]
1890
01:06:21,039 --> 01:06:24,960
thank you all uh
1891
01:06:22,640 --> 01:06:26,880
for listening at home please do check
1892
01:06:24,960 --> 01:06:29,039
out the episode description for the
1893
01:06:26,880 --> 01:06:31,280
links to the fourth leg as well as all
1894
01:06:29,039 --> 01:06:32,960
of my socials and i'd very much
1895
01:06:31,280 --> 01:06:35,200
encourage you to reach out to any of us
1896
01:06:32,960 --> 01:06:36,720
to talk about rocks or food um
1897
01:06:35,200 --> 01:06:40,079
two primary topics
1898
01:06:36,720 --> 01:06:41,760
uh otherwise thank you all for listening
1899
01:06:40,079 --> 01:06:44,720
and good night
1900
01:06:41,760 --> 01:06:46,319
good night thank you take it easy guys
1901
01:06:44,720 --> 01:06:47,359
and now it's time for the patreon shout
1902
01:06:46,319 --> 01:06:49,599
outs
1903
01:06:47,359 --> 01:06:52,079
thank you to optional rule a two time
1904
01:06:49,599 --> 01:06:54,880
guest of the show and a very insightful
1905
01:06:52,079 --> 01:06:56,160
and knowledgeable source of information
1906
01:06:54,880 --> 01:06:59,160
please check them out at
1907
01:06:56,160 --> 01:06:59,160
www.optionalrule.com
1908
01:06:59,520 --> 01:07:04,880
huge huge huge thank you to a great
1909
01:07:02,319 --> 01:07:07,280
friend of the show matthew perkins who's
1910
01:07:04,880 --> 01:07:09,680
out there making hilarious and
1911
01:07:07,280 --> 01:07:11,440
educational dungeons and dragons content
1912
01:07:09,680 --> 01:07:13,200
please go and check out his stuff at
1913
01:07:11,440 --> 01:07:15,599
matthewperkins.net where you can find
1914
01:07:13,200 --> 01:07:17,200
links to all of his socials and all of
1915
01:07:15,599 --> 01:07:18,880
his content including his own patreon
1916
01:07:17,200 --> 01:07:20,640
which i would very much encourage you to
1917
01:07:18,880 --> 01:07:23,520
check out
1918
01:07:20,640 --> 01:07:25,440
thank you to matt street at mpstreet88
1919
01:07:23,520 --> 01:07:26,720
on twitter for supporting the show
1920
01:07:25,440 --> 01:07:29,720
if you need support running your
1921
01:07:26,720 --> 01:07:31,920
personal or business schedule head to
1922
01:07:29,720 --> 01:07:33,599
virtualtimehustle.com or on instagram to
1923
01:07:31,920 --> 01:07:35,760
make that difference between should do
1924
01:07:33,599 --> 01:07:37,520
and done boss it better with support
1925
01:07:35,760 --> 01:07:39,839
from cat who will help you get back that
1926
01:07:37,520 --> 01:07:41,280
essential time you've been searching for
1927
01:07:39,839 --> 01:07:43,200
if you would like to support what we do
1928
01:07:41,280 --> 01:07:45,920
and get four shout outs a month head
1929
01:07:43,200 --> 01:07:47,440
over to patreon.com thinking critically
1930
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or you can just buy me a coffee at
1931
01:07:47,440 --> 01:07:58,400
kofi.com thinking critically
1932
01:07:51,390 --> 01:08:18,640
[Music]

The Fourth Leg Podcast
Podcast
We are the Fourth Leg, a TTRPG show all about giving new GMs a leg to stand on! We focus on giving newcomers to this wonderful hobby a toolkit to get started with their worldbuilding and campaign writing!