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NEXT WEEK, ON RECKLESS A-TALK

We talk with editor, sound designer, and audio drama creator Ester Ellis, Lead Editor for Dungeons and Daddies!

Ester talks setups and payoffs, making Big Plays, workflow, feedback, exploring yourself through art, and more.

So genuinely cool & fun.

[recklessattack]

NEW RECKLESS A-TALK: Sea Thomas, Producer and Performer at Transplanar RPG

OUT NOW

The energetic and insightful @seaplays of @transplanarrpg (and much more) stops by Reckless A-Talk!

This is one of my all-time favorite interviews, full stop.

A MUST-listen for fans/makers of APs, or who just want to be more thoughtful and joyous in their art.

Available wherever you listen to podcasts!

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what if tumblr again

[recklessattack]

I'm heading into the final hours of my first Kickstarter, The Wicked Forever King Hungers and it's been a blast. It's been far more successful than I imagined and I can't wait to finish it up and get it to backers.

The above art is an interpretation of the king by the supremely talented HodagRPG and was a stretch goal that was unlocked. In fact, it was one of the top stretchs goal that I never thought we'd get and it happened in something like 12 hours after launch!

If you'd like to check it out, it's a rules light game based on Lasers and Feelings featuring a group of doomed Heretics who oppose an all powerful Forever King.

With the stretch goals met it'll probably clock in at about 6 or 8 pages, so it's a bit of a stretch to call it a one page ttrpg. Still, the main rules are on about two pages. The rest is lots of great background lore, adventure hooks, and vibes.

Check it out here on Kickstarter!

[recklessattack]

Tiny Frog Wizards playtest draft 0.3 is up. This is a major revision, re-working how spell parameters operate, introducing the concept of uncontrolled spells (and providing buckets of random tables to inspire their effects!), and replacing Paths of Power and Power Dice with a more spellcasting-centric – and, hopefully, easier to use – alternative.

It isn't quite where I wanted version 0.3 to be, but I've conveniently just suffered a hand injury which will require me to take a break from any major writing for the next few days, which I've chosen to interpret as the universe telling me to stop tinkering with it and get it in front of some other sets of eyes already.

You can find the latest draft at the link above, and the changelog under the cut. As always, comments, criticisms, and bizarre rants are welcome!

Changelog – Playtest Version 0.3

Note: All page numbers refer to the PDF vesion.

Two new interior illustrations by @amphibianaday.

Updated Credits & Acknowledgements (p. 3) to reflect reader-contributed random table entries.

Added a first pass at a glossary (p. 7).

Added a step-by-step outline of Tiny Frog Creation (p. 10).

Reworked Paths of Power and Power Dice into Preparation Dice and Foci (p. 12).

Parameters which are not assigned a die when making a casting roll (p. 20) now receive a default value of zero rather than 1.

Reworked parameter descriptions (p. 21) to allow for zero values.

Added rules for uncontrolled spells (p. 22) (i.e., spells with a Control value of zero).

Added explicit discussion of Potency (p. 23).

Rules for partial parameters (p. 23) updated to clarify that using less than a parameter's full value does not reduce the spell's Potency; added discussion of parameters for uncontrolled spells (above).

Clarified that spells which have gone haywire due to disruption (p. 25) no longer count against the number of spells you're currently concentrating no.

Reworked examples of direct opposition (p. 26).

Moved Recovery (p. 36) from a subsection of Misfortune to its own separate section, and addressed Preparation Dice (above) as well as Misfortune slots.

Added preliminary discussion and examples of Non-Player Characters (p. 37).

Updated Playing Without a GM (p. 39) to offer suggestions on how to incorporate the Supplementary Tables appendix (below).

Added notes on how to handle uncontrolled spells (above) to all nine Arcana writeups (p. 42).

Updated Alteration (p. 44) to use language consistent with other Arcana when discussing mundane actions with effective Potency ratings.

Updated Animation (p. 45) and Domination (p. 47) with discussion of open-ended commands like “obey me”.

Reworked discussion of what qualifies as a “phenomenon” in sidebar following Evocation (p. 48).

Clarified that Imprecations (p. 49) may not compel ongoing actions and slightly reworked how durations for spells of this Arcanum work.

Tightened up wording of Simulation (p. 50).

Updated optional rules for cantrips (p. 52) to reflect changes to how unrolled parameters work.

Additional examples of cooperative magic (p. 53).

Initial version of Supplementary Tables appendix (p. 58).

[recklessattack]

After a "misunderstanding" involving a an actual counter-ambush to a nonexistant attack, Ravenmount Juniper is ready to talk.

Secrets revealed, theories shared, destruction remembered and foretold.

But I'm sure it's nothing a good bounce can't fix.

E65: Lightly Cursed

(MY GOD so many places to consume, who would believe it? YouTube Spotify Apple Podchaser

Not me, I tell you. Not me.)

[recklessattack]

We approach the city of Deepwood, positioned amid the branches of an impossibly large tree.

The guards aren't letting anyone in - nothing a lil Kascorin charm can't fix!

Will that charm hold out when the party realizes they're being lied to?

E64: An Elevated Position

Gods can you believe (YouTube) all the wonderful (Apple) places to enjoy (Podchaser) our show (Spotify)??

[recklessattack]

NEW EPISODE!

This week on Reckless A-Talk, we are joined by @aWillMscream of not-for-profit TTRPG studio @livefromtheapoc !

Will is honestly just the best. Funny, thoughtful, present - so much great stuff on DIY gaming, playing different TTRPGs and more.

Listen ASAP!

Wow so many (Apple) places (YouTube) you can consume (Podchaser) this episode (Spotify)!

[recklessattack]

NEW EPISODE

The party parses a passed on proclamation pertaining to the present situation in AGMAR while they remain preoccupied outside the city.

That is, until a pair of someones swoop in to check on how things are going.

E63: The Out-and-About Ravenmount Scout

WOW so MANY places to LISTEN to the SHOW

[recklessattack]

THIS WEEK

Our adventurers find themselves surrounded by giant undead "saint" the HOLY PROMETHIAN and his retinue.

Luckily, they have a peerless hero at hand - Checkers, the grung druid!

...really

(Ft: A fireside chat and dire message!)

in E62: WHOOMP! This just in...

Links below!

[recklessattack]

Animorphs rambling incoming:

i don’t think people who haven’t read Animorphs understand that Animorphs is the quintessential “childhood trauma in a sff setting” narrative. but people need to understand. because at its core, past the simplified synopsis (six kids gain the power to turn into animals so they can fight the aliens that are infiltrating Earth by sneaking into people’s brains!), Animorphs is a war story. it’s not a story about a war that just so happens to star children–it’s about child soldiers. Applegate and her co-authors made a choice to refuse to dress it up as “kid superheroes save the day!” because they wanted that message to sink in.

it’s hard to really convey this fact about the series with any number of words because you really need to read it yourself, you need to experience the crumbling of naivete and slow erosion of morality and steady piling up of casualties over ~1.4 million words. but… between the moments of levity, goofiness, and genuine fun (which the series is full of! they’re welcome breaks from the many grimmer scenes) the message of the cost of war, the way it destroys children, is always present. it’s sobering.

even outside the war context, it’s all the little things: symptoms of PTSD like rachel’s increasing aggression / jake’s listlessness and depression / everyone’s hypervigilance and self loathing; the hopeless of knowing as a child that no one is coming to save us; that moment in #19 where marco is desperately trying to lift the team’s spirits by Using Humor To Cope but every joke falls flat; the repeated scenes of different animorphs mourning the people they used to be and the world they can never return to; i could go on and on–it’s all of these things that are emblematic of childhood trauma in general. try as i might, i can’t think of any other series that does what Animorphs does with extended narratives of trauma, period. that’s why i’m nuts about these books. that’s why i think everyone needs to read them.

thanks for attending this impromptu TED talk.

[recklessattack]

TODAY - ON RECKLESS ATTACK

Having witnessed a miracle, the party asks a few clarifying questions of a now-slightly-less grumpy/lumpy dryad.

They have earned passage across her grove - I'm sure nothing else will happen on their journey.

E59: Lore & Peace (of the Grove)

Links in comments!

[recklessattack]

NEW RECKLESS A-TALK

We are joined by S. Kaiya J., game designer extraordinaire and player of Lillisen on RAW actual play Curse of Strahd: Twice Bitten.

This episode is filled with goodies for TTRPGs and life - thoughtful discussion on characters, writing, and reflective gameplay design.

Links in comments!

[recklessattack]

Today - ON RECKLESS ATTACK

The guilders agree to undertake a primal ritual to close a breach in reality.

All it takes? A sacrifice.

NBD.

They take the day to prepare and cause some frognanigans - and see something miraculous and upending.

E59: Hashtag: Life Groves

Links in comments!

[recklessattack]

NEXT WEEK, ON RECKLESS A-TALK

We are joined by S. Kaiya J. (mirror_lock on Twitter and Itch), game designer extraordinaire and player of Lillisen in Curse of Strahd: Twice Bitten!

An incredible conversation about curiosity, complex characters and emotions, what the world does to you, solo TTRPGs, the process VS the product.

You're going to love it.

[recklessattack]

TODAY - ON RECKLESS ATTACK

The party encounters another (grassier, meaner) dryad called The Field That Resides Here.

The party agrees to help the prickly poaceae in exchange for safe passage, but they may get more than they bargained for in...

E58: A Plea for Help

Links in comments!

[recklessattack]

OUT NOW

Today on Reckless A-Talk, we nerd out with @ZachBurrell10 and @femmesloth of audio drama @Warlockdnd!

Sure we talk about effective description for audio, capturing genre, selfless collaboration, etc.

But also we talk a LOT about anime so - good ep.

Listen now!

Links in comments.