* (1:43) Dan re-reads the D&D 2nd Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide. Wayne watches Secrets of Blackmoor. The inspiration D&D’s creators drew from Strategos.
* (6:38) The rather disjointed rules of early RPGs.
* (8:23) The heavy crunch of early RPGs that might be as much unearned reputation as reality.
* (13:02) Why an early RPG may have needed to describe concepts that would be misinterpreted as immutable rules.
* (16:06) Narrative examples of play.
* (19:17) Separating old games from OSR games. Conveyed interpretation and social tradition.
* (27:07) The shortcuts around setting building, and how rules may have gotten caught up in those.
* (3:39) A conversation about AI art. Some parameters we’re putting on this episode. AI art wins a fine arts competition.
* (8:08) An admittedly non-technical overview of how AI generally creates its work. Syntax versus semantics.
* (17:43) AI creations as a starting point instead of the final product. Why the lack of semantics may distinguish what inspires humans as opposed to AIs.
* (29:32) The positive impact of AI creativity, contrasted with the intellectual property and monetary concerns.
* (37:02) The human-seeded meta-thought used by AI, and the inevitability of its adoption across multiple industries.
* (47:26) After taking jobs, technology may also improve lives and push humanity forward. Automating simple tasks or “shifting them left”.
* (54:45) The financial incentive to use AI art versus the status incentive to use human art.
Hosts: Dan, Julia, Mary, Wayne
Some of the sample AI art Dan made while playing around with an app…
A man with two beards that’s holding a third beard (stupid beard hog), Jesus with hot dogs for fingers, and…OH NO! Its mini-Jesus off the ropes!
What’s that Lassie? Jesus is here? And he thinks our dogs are gnolls? And Gabriel is also a dog?
OK, so now we’ve got gnolls with underbites, some random people in the background, Jesus with John Wick levels of determination, and…what the hell is that thing in the lower-right!?
What the AI thought Gnarl should look like. I’m totally going to stat this out and use it in a fantasy game.
* (0:29) Brodeur’s post-Gen-Con review. (I know, we’re right on top of the latest news.) A shoutout to Imagining Games, Acheron Books, and RogueOperative.
* (8:02) Customizing modules for your players and characters.
* (11:48) Modules as a framework, not a full script.
* (18:26) Know the module well enough that you can deconstruct it into its components.
* (24:37) An imaginary scenario using a well-known story as a module, adjusted to an obviously unique character.
* (36:44) How the whole context of a pre-written scenario can be changed by just swapping proper nouns.
* (42:32) Separating story-writing from story-telling.
* (0:29) A listener, James, gets us talking about integrating player-character backstories into your game. It starts with the players giving you something to work with.
* (3:01) Sitting for too long on too much information, or mining the backstory abusively.
* (7:43) Finding the possible connections between backstories.
* (11:08) Let’s do it live! Dan sets up a D&D game with Wayne as his player. Building story by eliminating coincidences and undefined areas.
* (19:22) Wayne sets up a Skies of Glass game with Brodeur as his player. Remembering that NPCs have their own lives that still go on, even when the PC isn’t around.
* (30:02) What’s the “therefore” there for? Continuing thoughts that seemed otherwise complete.
* (31:42) Integrating character backgrounds into a story that’s already written. Even the most fleshed-out plot still has gaps that can be filled with player-made content.
* (37:59) Too little, too much, or no background at all.
* (42:35) Punting Mary’s insight, because it deserves its own episode.
* (44:32) Paying attention to backgrounds for what should be important in your game, because it’s important to that player.