* (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.
Apple Podcasts
Discord
Facebook
Google Play
Pandora
Patreon
RSS
SoundCloud
Spotify
Stitcher
Twitter
YouTube
