TRPG General Chat

BESW

1:40 AM

Now that's how you do a movie poster. https://t.co/js6lYRVK46

Tweeted by FantonEsquire on October 5, 2016 at 8:53 PM

trogdor

ok, fair enough

I feel like, eventually, nothing will wow us enough anymore

if movies keep moving ever forward in this direction XD

Ben

Ooooookaaaaay.... So - I've started GMing. D&D 5e, all new players (3-5), self created storyline. I'm writing the second adventure now.

BESW

Mmm. Nightmares of Mine talks about the importance of not overusing sensational inputs because it numbs and exhausts us; we need quiet moments in order to recharge so we can appreciate more sensational moments.

@Ben Grats!

Ben

Paraphrased story: a beast (Owlbear) is attacking travellers, and needs to be taken out. Word is that an "Evil Wizard" is controlling the beast.

@BESW Ty

Plot twist: the Ranger (Level 2 NPC) that reported the attacks is controlling the Owlbear himself, and has drugged an unfortunate roaming wizard as a cover story. He drags parties out into the woods, and if the owlbear doesn't kill them, he finishes them off, then steals the loot.

BESW

Sounds like a good straightforward adventure! I find it's generally best to start with a very simple obvious problem-solution scenario, and then introduce complications that make the solution difficult or force the party to seek new solutions.

"We're off to kill an owlbear, and we're ready to fight a wizard if need be. Wait, there's a ranger. What."

Ben

1:51 AM

My qualm: I'm still not entirely confident in my knowledge of Difficulty, and the Owlbear on it's own is a difficulty 3 creature. My party are all only level 1, so I'm not confident they'll be able to survive, or if I should nerf it somehow (act erratically i.e. miss attacks? or reduce it's HP?)

BESW

25

A: How can I decrease the difficulty of a scene on the fly?

My party also prefers to see dice rolled in the open, so I've had to learn to creatively doctor encounters myself. Change the Numbers Instead of changing your rolls, change the numbers you're adding to the rolls or comparing the rolls to. If you feel you have to justify this, perhaps monster's ...

Shalvenay

hey there @Ben

@Ben behavior is the biggest nerf you can give a creature -- make it so it's a shy, defensive owlbear instead of an all-out bloody aggressive one

Ben

Hmmm... Ok, cool. I was thinking of doing something similar to the PCs depending on how they deal with the Wizard, i.e. attack, then flee before he dies, so it's a cliffhanger for future sessions - as well as not killing them off because he is deciding that they're "too much fun"

@Shalvenay hey, how's it going?

Shalvenay

@Ben alright here, as to how things are on your end?

Ben

@Shalvenay Ummm... "smoother" would be a good way to put it:)

Shalvenay

2:00 AM

@Ben cool. I take it you aren't quite as swamped?

Ben

@Shalvenay much less; though I've taken the opportunity to fill up some of my time with other games. I'm now playing Numenera, Dark Hersy, and running a D&D game.

It does get a little confusing haha

Shalvenay

@Ben xD. how is that all going? I'm in the Stackizen DW game these days and also looking to start up a D&D game once one of the players becomes available again.

Ben

Well enough haha, though I do sometimes get confused about things like damage. In Numenera, it's a d20 to hit, then damage - armour. In Dark Heresy, it's d100 to hit (though you have to roll under your skill, rather than adding it to the roll), then roll to damage - armour, and D&D is d20 to hit (must roll higher than armour), then just flat damage.

Shalvenay

@Ben heheh. may I ask what Numenera's about? I haven't heard much about it (while Dark Heresy isn't of interest to me as I have basically 0 interest in the 40k 'verse)

Ben

Numenera is pretty interesting actually. Basically, it's so far in the future that they're not entirely sure how long they've been on this planet, and don't even remember "humans" in our time. It's sci-fi, but there are no lazers or guns, it's all swords, and bows and arrows, and magic, but through the use of cybernetics, bio-electricity, implants, and nanites and such. It's a cool concept.

Miniman

2:11 AM

@Ben The DMG talks about this a bit, but the short answer is, the owlbear is capable of killing at least one level 1 character a turn, possibly (or probably, depending on your party) two. So you can put your party up against it if you choose, just don't expect any of them to survive.

Shalvenay

@Ben hrm. what made things like gunpowder and chemical explosives go away? (that sort of conceit doesn't make sense)

BESW

Conceits don't have to make sense, but there's plenty of justifications if you want them.

Ben

@Shalvenay Basically that's been lost to time, and the resources have basically just been run dry. You can still find "gunpowder weapons" but unless you have some really high (or really low ;) ) connections, the likelihood of coming into possession of any is incredibly unlikely

Shalvenay

@Ben ah, so they can't make explosives any longer because they don't have the right ingredients...*that* makes more sense

BESW

First and foremost, Numenera is operating on the "cyclical civilisation" theory which most "barbaric far future" settings draw on. Whether it makes sense in our universe or not, it takes place in a world where societies grow, crest, and fall over hundreds of years--and they take their knowledge with them.

Ben

2:15 AM

@Miniman Yeah, I was concerned about that. So I think I might need to start with "erratic behaviour" or "fighting dumb", and then either flee or die early, depending on the situation.

BESW

A fundamental principle of societal progress is tweaked in those settings.

Miniman

@Ben Alternatively, one random encounter on the way there would get them to level 2. Just sayin.

Ben

@Miniman [Lightbulb!] And I have just the reason for it!

Perfect!

Miniman

For a party of level 1s, an owlbear is basically unbeatable, unless they're all aarakockra. For a party of level 2s, it's a tougg challenge, but should be doable with good tactics.

@Ben The wizard?

Ben

@Miniman No, in the last game, they came across a cursed Druid temple - all the Druids were undead (I just made them a bunch of cultists, then called them "Druids"), but the Big Bad Guy was a Ghoul. They looted his body after they killed him, and one of the eyes was following them around the room... so they took it. Little do they know - that's the cause of the possession of the undead....

Random encounter: Skellies!

Shalvenay

2:20 AM

@Ben I almost want to pose the party a "There's a bridge up ahead. Unfortunately, there's an owlbear on it that thinks 'bridge' and 'bed' are synonyms, and is snoring way. Waking it up is going to leave you with a pissed off owlbear on your hands, so how are you going to either assassinate it in its sleep or move it without waking it up?"

(Or get around it without waking it up, for that matter)

Miniman

@Shalvenay I wouldn't ever describe their options like that. Just give them the situation and let them decide what to do.

Shalvenay

@Miniman yeah, I was describing the situation at more of an overview level to Ben, not as I'd describe it to the party

Miniman

Although they're likely to say "I play the Poke Flute! The owlbear attacks in a grumpy rage!"

BESW

@Shalvenay I think Mini may be implying that it can be self-defeating to define the party's options so rigorously even in your own head, because it limits your ability to respond when they do something unexpected.

Ben

Yeah - one thing I learned is that you can't account for the ingenuity (or stupidity) of the players. For all you know they may just decide to burn the whole bridge! You can prepare for the intended outcomes, but there's nothing stopping them doing something entirely different.

BESW

2:23 AM

You've got planned responses to what they do, and will be inclined to use one of those even if it doesn't really fit what they actually did.

Miniman

Yeah, exactly.

Shalvenay

I think the "sleeping owlbear roadblock" premise could be more interesting though -- gives the party more room to operate than just a random angry owlbear out of nowhere, no?

Ben

E.g. I set up one encounter - 2 Undead druids shambling about. They were in an open room, they'd dealt with 2 before, and did so with relative ease. However, they decided to lure them back down the corridor, and attempt to lock them in a room.

They dealt with the situation, and I hadn't even considered that possibilty

@Shalvenay It is an interesting situation. It will definitely make them stop and think, or at least regret their choices, depending on their actions. But you can't (or shouldn't) try and restrict them to a defined set of outcomes.

Shalvenay

@Ben yeah, that wasn't my intent

Ben

@BESW +1 by the way

@Shalvenay Not saying it is, as I'm sure BESW and Miniman will also concur. It was likely just the way you described the situation :)

Shalvenay

2:30 AM

@Ben yeah

btw @Ben -- you know the whole row about Trump calling the former Miss Universe "Miss Piggy" for her eating habits, right?

Ben

@Shalvenay Vaguely. I live in Australia so I'm not too involved in all that.

Shalvenay

@Ben that row actually made me think "someone who thinks like that would probably try to slap the same name on Jherala if they saw her eating...and boy, would that be a bad idea on their part :P"

Ben

...Jherala?

OH!

Your Paladin right?

Shalvenay

@Ben yes

Ben

Haha oh yeah. That's a temper you don't want to inspire haha

Shalvenay

2:35 AM

@Ben yeah -- it'd be like "Do you think I'm some sort of porker being fattened for the slaughter?" followed by "YOU try running from here to <insert point a few miles away> and back in armor, followed by spending an hour or two sparring with greatswords!"

Shalvenay

2:49 AM

hey @nitsua60

nitsua60

@BESW Which, of course, makes sense to anyone living through all but the last few hundred years of human experience =)

@Ben Always remember, very few things really want to fight to the death. (Really, only PCs, who've been well trained that the highest-probability way out of a deadly situation is to swing for the fences.)

@Shalvenay hiya

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 how're things going?

BESW

@nitsua60 I dunno. The level of information exchange between cultures prior to about 500 years ago is seriously underestimated by most people today. 1000AD Britain might have lost some of the specialised knowledge of the Romans, but the Islamic nations were busy preserving and improving it all the way from Spain to India.

nitsua60

@Shalvenay just got wrecked in AL. Rolled four crit fails in a row. Never seen that happen before.

Shalvenay

@nitsua60 yikes

@BESW yeah -- taking a global view opens up a lot more stuff

BESW

2:59 AM

The Renaissance "rediscovery" of Roman and Greek documents was really just "Oh hey, these guys came from Persia 'cause the Persians are suddenly being as mean to them as we were a few hundred years ago, and they brought books we'd forgotten about."

nitsua60

@BESW I guess I'm thinking of it more from the perspective: pick a place or people. They've seen civilization advance and recede, advance and recede... while much knowledge from Rome may have migrated well (and progressed) through the excellent contributions of Arabic scholars, to any given people it looks like a rise-and-fall.

Joel Harmon

@BESW they take their knowledge with them, but it's important that they also leave piles of junk lying around

nitsua60

I guess I'm just saying that historically, the question of "is my area better or worse off than a hundred years ago" is a total coin-toss, versus today when most would expect that to be a "better, of course!"

BESW

Aye, but the cyclic civilisation principle is a world-spanning perspective.

nitsua60

(but, in addition to not being a lawyer, I'm also not a historian)

BESW

3:02 AM

It takes a localised perspective and applies it as a global truth.

nitsua60

@BESW I guess that's a term of art whose context I missed =\

Magician

I don't know anything about Numenera, but I'd imagine each age in it ends due to some world-wide calamity.

nitsua60

Jul 28 at 3:34, by nitsua60

@Miniman "@BESW turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the third age by some, an Age yet to come, an age long past, @trogdor rose. trogdor was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings or endings to BESW. But he was a beginning."

BESW

@nitsua60 It's a concept that's gone by many names, and is evident in pop culture icons like Conan the Barbarian and--yes, that one.

nitsua60

I'm pretty sure that's the forward to Numenera, right?

Okay, gonna go write a quiz. Wish my students luck =)

Ben

3:06 AM

@BESW True story: Gunpowder discovered by the Chinese, then lost. The Romans then "re-discovered" the formula. Additionally, the Chinese also had a navy, which was used to grow the influence of the current dynasty, but when the emperor died, the bureaucracy convinced the new Emperor that it was pointless, so it was destroyed, and all records went with it.

BESW

Yup.

And both the Chinese and the Egyptians had commercial fleets trading with India.

(albeit both with similar ties to a particular ruler, and the subsequent rulers got rid of it as a political move.)

Ben

Which is all really interesting to know that while these things are huge, how easily it can be lost or forgotten over time. Which is what Numenera uses.

BESW

Speaking of which, @trogdor, I still want to continue our Magical Ancient Egypt campaign some time, but I'm not sure how.

trogdor

the summoning is complete

Shalvenay

@Ben yeah -- there's plenty of lost tech out there even in today's world

Ben

3:10 AM

@BESW Start over? "Everyone wakes up dead with no knowledge of how or why"

trogdor

@BESW we might want to do it with more people, which is a problem in itself

@Ben everyone is one person

BESW

@Ben The problem is more that it was a twosie with Troggy, before we figured out we don't twosie well.

Ben

@trogdor plot twist.

@BESW I'm going to use that.

BESW

@Ben Aye, though it's not strictly speaking usually a natural process. A lot of that information was lost deliberately for reasons of politics or zealotry.

@Ben Hm?

Ben

I have a friend that is (unintentionally) running a "twosie"

Shalvenay

3:12 AM

@Ben -- btw, do you have any suggestions for systems that you'd think would work well for me?

Ben

@Shalvenay Well anything could be suggested. What are you looking for?

BESW

(Remember, Pharaohs made a semi-regular custom of erasing their predecessors, especially during dynastic shifts, and the 19th century Western educational sphere has a lot to answer for in cherry-picking what information it considered useful.)

trogdor

@BESW anyway, I would indeed love to continue that, though I would really love to finish our Bubblegumshoe stuff, I feel like as soon as we have the people to do it, it would be great to continue that story too

BESW

@trogdor Yeah, BGS is definitely next on the list.

Shalvenay

@Ben something that works well with my tendencies -- things like codifying the supernatural and such

BESW

3:14 AM

@Ben See also "duet" and "duo" as alternatives to the prosaic "one-on-one."

trogdor

@BESW and that is great, I also do in fact still have interest for our Egypt campaign, perhaps we can get input from the rest of our group on the idea

BESW

@trogdor We actually left off at a great place to add more players.

trogdor

I don't know if we want to continue it where we left off, if we want to still use Fate, they might help us decide stuff like that

@BESW oh, ok that works for me

re-starting would work too, but I am not pushing for either thing XD

BESW

Well, we stopped just as Ajani was being voluntold as an assistant to the High Priestess of Bast at an international convention on the Pharoah's summer barge.

trogdor

yes indeed

this opens up the idea that people can be a PC coming from any place in the world at the time that would have sent any envoys to Egypt

BESW

3:18 AM

I suddenly have this vision of each PC being a high-up underling of a different faction (international, religious, etc), who get together to try and move the world in ways they think are beneficial, in spite of their masters.

trogdor

which is likely to be a lot of places to choose from

BESW

I've got notes on the envoys somewhere...

[goes digging, since his client cancelled and he suddenly has some free time]

Ben

@Shalvenay Again, you may need to be more specific. Any system could be altered to allow this sort of thing. The DMG even covers basic design rules for alien technology (p. 268)

BESW

@trogdor Would you be okay with my sharing a moderately-detailed account of the campaign so far, here on chat?

trogdor

I would be happy with that, honestly

Shalvenay

3:21 AM

@Ben ah. @BESW can probably explain what I'm after in a system better than I can at the moment

BESW

The Egypt Campaign: Setting, Issues, and the Story Thus Far.

@Ben Mmm. Shalv has trouble with leaky abstractions and anything which prioritises narrative pressures over what he considers realism. Systems which approximate physics are doomed to disappoint him because they necessarily can't withstand the level of scrutiny he's going to apply, and systems which rely on narrative conceits make no sense to him.

So he's looking for a system that leaves room for the players to apply their own understanding of reality and doesn't exert any pressure toward "story-like" conventions.

...but that's a negative description and we haven't yet figured out what he does want from a system.

nitsua60

@BESW btw my Theology department greatly appreciated your picture of the Virgin Mary punching the devil in the face. I believe a poster-sized print is in the works.

Shalvenay

@BESW that's the thing -- I'm not sure if there are systems optimized for the kinds of wild-yet-technically-intricate stories that flit through my brain

BESW

@nitsua60 Yey! I knew you were the person to best appreciate that.

Ben

You know what you don't want at least.

@Shalvenay I may have some suggestions, but I'll have to do a bit of homework. I'll get some suggestions and let you know. How's that sound?

Shalvenay

3:31 AM

@Ben sure thing

trogdor

@nitsua60 oh goodness XD

nitsua60

@trogdor yes. Goodness =)

trogdor

yes indeed

Ben

Aug 24 '15 at 23:01, by BESW

Pleased to announce that, having initially lost it to a rampaging pan-dimensional Time Eater, Thursday will happen as usual this week.

Tweeted by TlfTravelAlerts on August 24, 2015 at 4:21 PM

BESW

@nitsua60 There's a very fine line between hagiography and fanfiction, I've found.

trogdor

3:43 AM

@BESW I also feel it doesn't necessarily take a saint to punch the Devil in the face, but wtv

BESW

Perhaps not, but it definitely means more if a saint punches you.

trogdor

yeah, that is also true

I don't think it even means the same thing for all saints as it does for her though

some saints were given that title for more violent things

BESW

Yeah, of all the saints to punch one in the face, Mary's definitely in a category all to herself.

...oh, man, I'd forgotten about this NPC I had planned for the Egypt campaign.

trogdor

digging up notes?

BESW

yeah.

Ben

3:56 AM

Ah. Dang. Nearly forgot.

BESW

I actually made a surprisingly thorough record of my ideas for the campaign. I'm not usually that good at writing it all down.

> The Cretan/Minoan ambassador is loud and pompous, dominating conversations and always bringing the topic back to himself and his island. He glories in the trappings of wealth: he and his surroundings are colourful and shiny, with baubles and trinkets.
He is a large bearded man in his mid twenties, and built like a college footballer who has not played for years--muscle slowly giving way to fat. He wears an elaborate loincloth of blue and gold fabric, and a stole over his shoulders to indicate his rank, but nothing else except jewellery (rings, necklaces, and bracelets of bright-colored ge…

trogdor

@BESW says the guy who writes campaign notes, all of it just goes into my brain, which is a dubious place to try to cram everything

Ben

One of my PCs has created a bit of a backstory for himself. He's in search of a comrade, which is why he's with the party. I don't want to just let the trail go cold, just because I don't want him to follow it, but I also don't want him to focus on it.

Not sure how to handle it

BESW

Mm, that can be difficult.

I've generally handled it by tying the disappearance of the target with whatever plot thread the party's following, so following one is roughly the same as following the other--or at least, the plot thread is the best clue the party has to find the target too.

@Ash [wave] Would you please use your Glorious Powers of Mod to unfreeze my Spoil-Lair?

user15026

Done :)

BESW

4:01 AM

Much obliged.

If anyone's interested, the Spoil-Lair has links to my old notes on the Egypt Campaign, and an idea about how to adapt it to group play with irregular attendance.

trogdor

I am cursed with interest mixed with non-interest XD

BESW

I know, that's why I put it in the Spoil-Lair.

Ben

@BESW I was thinking that too. Perhaps the Ranger knows something...

Character flaw: Smells strongly of Aniseed (or similarly sweet/pleasant smell) and can be detected from up to 30 feet away, unless properly masked.

trogdor

4:24 AM

@BESW yeah I am aware, I just needed to say that I am interested, but not enough to spoil myself on it

BESW

5:28 AM

Clarification: it would be nice to get feedback on my ideas past and present re: the Egypt Campaign, esp. from folks with experience in political thriller type games. Suggestions for system, identified pitfalls, good stuff to read on the topic, etc.

I kinda feel like BGS is hinting at the sort of "complicated relationships" play I'm envisioning, but

Magician

THIS PUB SELLS A BEER CALLED DORIAN GRAY. IT DOES NOT SELL THIS BEER IN PITCHERS. I CANNOT GET A PITCHER OF DORIAN GRAY.

Tweeted by applebamos on October 5, 2016 at 6:02 PM

2

BESW

Episode VIII Spoilers https://t.co/qa1v8odTxu

Tweeted by J_Conrady on October 6, 2016 at 5:01 AM

user61230

@BESW It says spoilers for a reason!

BESW

An adorable reason.

Anaphory

8:11 AM

@Magician Had to google that. Augh.

Anaphory

8:23 AM

@BESW My only experience with anything similar to your Egypt campain was my Athens campaign, which was not political thriller at all.

BESW

Historical magic?

Anaphory

Even in the original sense of the word where the mages are the priests of Persia.

How much does your Egypt campaign have the PCs on roughly allied sides?

My Athens PCs were essentially all on the side of the Greek gods, who were in danger from new philosophical ideas and Persian influence.

BESW

BESW's Spoil-Lair

CAUTION: High chance of plot. Not for BESW's players.

trogdor

8:44 AM

@Anaphory none of it that has been played yet has any more than one side, but that might only be because there was only one PC at the time

I have no idea and would like to continue to have no idea what it will be like later

trogdor

10:05 AM

other than when I eventually learn it the appropriate way anyway

Frezak

What would you call "Inappropriate" learning?

BESW

Spoilers.

Frezak

Now, are you being coy, or...
:P

BESW

No, literally: he doesn't want to be spoiled on what's going to happen until it's discovered through play.

Frezak

That's probably more reasonable than invasive deep brain scans.

doppelgreener

10:33 AM

@trogdor @BESW Is this Egypt campaign the one-on-one featuring Bastet and so on?

trogdor

@doppelgreener yes

technically, we never met Bastet, but my character did become a priest of Bastet despite being a guy

and everyone but the Pharoh (including Ajani) was uncomfortable with the situation

doppelgreener

oh, right, it was the pharoah, Hatshepsut, right?

trogdor

but of course the Pharoh thought it was hilarious

@doppelgreener yes

doppelgreener

yesssss i remember this bit

i mixed up "priest of bastet" and "pharoah authority figure" and got "literally met bastet" somewhere in my memories

trogdor

I wouldn't mind dragging all you guys into that game and reviving it

XD

BESW

10:36 AM

7 hours ago, by BESW

The Egypt Campaign: Setting, Issues, and the Story Thus Far.

trogdor

as soon as our group is finished discorporating of course

doppelgreener

12:27 PM

"'I smash you to nothing!' said the ogre. 'That's physically impossible,' said Dean. The others agreed, and the ogre admitted he was wrong."

Tweeted by AwfulFantasy on February 12, 2015 at 11:26 PM

BESW

@doppelgreener Maybe he's just telling them what band he's listening to during the fight?

[imagines iPod ad with the white earbuds on an ogre silhouette]

doppelgreener

12:44 PM

@BESW [imagines the Cave Troll from LOTR smashing through the door with an ipod strapped to its arm and some very big earbuds]

Anaphory

doppelgreener

@Anaphory beautiful

Anaphory

It was among my first DuckDuckGo hits for ipod silhouette, so I could not resist.

Zachiel

7:37 PM

I'm tempted to tell you all the story as of late, but I don't want this to devolve into "you should really leave that game" again, do I?

Masakan

hello zach

@Zachiel

Zachiel

Hello

Masakan

can you just give me an opinion on something

if a character has an less then effective con score of 14

they should stay away from combat at all costs yes or no?

and by combat i mean in your face sword play

UrhoKarila

@Masakan What system?

Masakan

3.5 of course

Joshua Aslan Smith

7:47 PM

@Zachiel that 3.5 online mud based game?

Masakan

3.5 DnD

Zachiel

@JoshuaAslanSmith yes

@Masakan It depends - heavily - on his chance to evade attacks. After a certain level, range is no longer a defence against enemy spellcasters.

Masakan

so thigns like blur and blink help

Zachiel

At the beginning, blur helps (not that much, but against physical damage it's live having 125% hit points.

at later levels when people have true sight, blur or some improved form of it is better. And even better is a persistent favor of the martyr and a chambered wand of that thing that lets you take your turn as an immediate action and then stuns you.

Masakan

right i thought for her to work i would need some form of miss chance

....is there anyway to get some permanant form of it early on?

or should i spam it before every big fight

Zachiel

8:09 PM

wizard can get some persistent spells early (level 8) if going for incantatrix. Clerics have it easier at the beginning.

But they lack the better spells

Mundanes can bet cloak of distortion and that's it, I think, but I'm not really greaat at character building.

doppelgreener

10:18 PM

@Zachiel You seem confident that it's more of the same unhappy experience you've had prior that's prompted those discussions. Yes, you should leave that game, but several of us have already told you that plenty of times, and also told you it's not worth staying for the reasons compelling you to stay (like the sunk cost fallacy). You are nevertheless committed to staying, so at least for my part I am no longer interested in participating in those discussions. You won't hear that from me.

It does however sound like it'll be the kind of story to get other people to tell you that you should be leaving, the ones who haven't yet given up trying to tell you that. (And not the kind of story that will make us go "wow! that sounds like some great stuff.") I would suggest taking that to NAB, at the very least.

I find it dreadfully concerning you're still in a voluntary game where you don't want to share stories about it because you're very confident people will just tell you that you should leave that game based on those stories.

So, I would suggest finding some games that would give you more positive stories to bring here.

BESW

@doppelgreener I'm somewhat distressed by the implied concept of an "involuntary" game. Otherwise, yes, I think that when people already know the beats of the conversation before they're struck, it may be time for that topic to take up residence in the NAB.

doppelgreener

10:34 PM

@BESW Oh, it's nothing to be too distressed about, here, let me dust off the cover...

BESW

Ah, yes. The book was better.

(By the same guy who wrote Bad Day at Riverbend, even.)

doppelgreener

@BESW I never knew that.

BESW

He's also the author of the original Polar Express book.

doppelgreener

say whaaaaaaat

BESW

His specialty is short, surreal, picture books which exude a quiet sense that the world is both more fantastic and more dangerous than we can possible comprehend.

doppelgreener

10:36 PM

cosmic horror to polar express. neat

That makes sense.

BESW

Polar Express is a very sad book.

doppelgreener

Aw. D':

BESW

He's also written books about a meteor which drives a ship's crew mad, the gift of a witch's broom, a boy who learns how to make his sailboat fly...

(That last one is definitely inspired by Icarus.)

doppelgreener

@BESW well now I get the feeling he either flies it up into space and freaks out, or he flies it up toward the sun and it is later mistaken for a fiery meteor.

BESW

And most of them are illustrated like this: