Since I’m not on Episode 51 of The Gauntlet Podcast, I can talk about how much I love it.

40 thoughts on “Since I’m not on Episode 51 of The Gauntlet Podcast, I can talk about how much I love it.”

1. I was listening to this one today.  Was actually planning to make fun of you by praising how good they did (without you), but you seem to have ruined that for me.

   Yeah, good episode, and very good flow between conversations.  As a fellow podcaster, I know how tricky that can be.

2. I was listening to this one today.  Was actually planning to make fun of you by praising how good they did (without you), but you seem to have ruined that for me.

   Yeah, good episode, and very good flow between conversations.  As a fellow podcaster, I know how tricky that can be.

3. Larry Spiel Thanks!

   Yeah, I had been somewhat unhappy with the show lately. I felt like we were straying a bit from what I used to enjoy about it, which was the emphasis on play. I like this more relaxed, conversational approach.

4. Larry Spiel Thanks!

   Yeah, I had been somewhat unhappy with the show lately. I felt like we were straying a bit from what I used to enjoy about it, which was the emphasis on play. I like this more relaxed, conversational approach.

5. Rituals and Routines

6. Rituals and Routines

7. In school debates I was taught to raise a hand or one finger when I want to say something after the current speaker has finished, and two fingers if I have a comment or question about what they’re saying right now and I want to interrupt before they change topics.

   We even took the procedure with us outside the classroom and used it in group conversations. We didn’t consciously decide to do it, but since everyone knew what it meant it came naturally.

   While gaming, a hand or one finger could mean “can I act next or suggest something after this?” and two fingers could mean “can I comment before we resolve this?”. I would probably use one and two fingers for consistency and a hand could be used as a symbol for something else.

   I haven’t actually tried this at the table yet, but I could introduce it to my local group tonight and test it for myself.

8. In school debates I was taught to raise a hand or one finger when I want to say something after the current speaker has finished, and two fingers if I have a comment or question about what they’re saying right now and I want to interrupt before they change topics.

   We even took the procedure with us outside the classroom and used it in group conversations. We didn’t consciously decide to do it, but since everyone knew what it meant it came naturally.

   While gaming, a hand or one finger could mean “can I act next or suggest something after this?” and two fingers could mean “can I comment before we resolve this?”. I would probably use one and two fingers for consistency and a hand could be used as a symbol for something else.

   I haven’t actually tried this at the table yet, but I could introduce it to my local group tonight and test it for myself.

9. Just a few things:

   1: The Vale I find a little too subdued. I, as a GM, rarely look at the player’s name tents beyond the first few minutes of play, as I generally have the character names down by that point. Because of this I have completely over looked the vale several times. I think it would work far better online where the amount of visual stimulus is far less and all within view. For in person play I would like to suggest the Pancho’s Mexican Cantina and Buffet service flag. For those of you that live out side of Texas and or have even the slightest sense of taste, Poncho’s is a Mexican restaurant that provides the greasiest cheese covered slop you are likely to find, and they will provide an endless supply to any patron as long as they have the strength to raise their tiny flag. I think this tiny flag would be both effective and highly humorous.

   2: Luchdors are a real thing in our world and they have always fought the forces of darkness both in and out of the ring. The only difference is that there is magic and everyone who has been introduced to it can use it. Papa Gallo looked into the future and found that the one way to make the most money and garner the fame he so wanted was by being a Luchdor.

   3: I agree with Steve Mains, hell boy is often stopped by his team, Mulder is always listening to Scully and then getting in her way, the brothers from supernatural are brothers and constantly interfere with each other, and Buffy interfered with the slaying of Angel when he had lost his soul and was evil thus causing the death of some one’s, I think Giles, true love throwing the whole group in to chaos. Many games including Monster of the Week fall way short when it comes to conflict resolution. Team work may be at the heart of many games but if the story is any good there is going to be interpersonal conflict. If I wanted to smash things with a hammer all night while people I like watch and help I will go back to my 5th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I need something more than that now and you should too. Unless you are going to an arcade then by the gods may your hammer fall upon the heathen mole heads with a sensual hatred.

   4: I again agree with Steve Mains and Kristen D that magic being a move that everyone can do makes most every other basic move useless. In that session magic was used to bypass the investigation move several times. I think that Big Ritualistic Magic should be open to everyone and quick magic the play thing of witches and wizards.

10. Just a few things:

    1: The Vale I find a little too subdued. I, as a GM, rarely look at the player’s name tents beyond the first few minutes of play, as I generally have the character names down by that point. Because of this I have completely over looked the vale several times. I think it would work far better online where the amount of visual stimulus is far less and all within view. For in person play I would like to suggest the Pancho’s Mexican Cantina and Buffet service flag. For those of you that live out side of Texas and or have even the slightest sense of taste, Poncho’s is a Mexican restaurant that provides the greasiest cheese covered slop you are likely to find, and they will provide an endless supply to any patron as long as they have the strength to raise their tiny flag. I think this tiny flag would be both effective and highly humorous.

    2: Luchdors are a real thing in our world and they have always fought the forces of darkness both in and out of the ring. The only difference is that there is magic and everyone who has been introduced to it can use it. Papa Gallo looked into the future and found that the one way to make the most money and garner the fame he so wanted was by being a Luchdor.

    3: I agree with Steve Mains, hell boy is often stopped by his team, Mulder is always listening to Scully and then getting in her way, the brothers from supernatural are brothers and constantly interfere with each other, and Buffy interfered with the slaying of Angel when he had lost his soul and was evil thus causing the death of some one’s, I think Giles, true love throwing the whole group in to chaos. Many games including Monster of the Week fall way short when it comes to conflict resolution. Team work may be at the heart of many games but if the story is any good there is going to be interpersonal conflict. If I wanted to smash things with a hammer all night while people I like watch and help I will go back to my 5th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I need something more than that now and you should too. Unless you are going to an arcade then by the gods may your hammer fall upon the heathen mole heads with a sensual hatred.

    4: I again agree with Steve Mains and Kristen D that magic being a move that everyone can do makes most every other basic move useless. In that session magic was used to bypass the investigation move several times. I think that Big Ritualistic Magic should be open to everyone and quick magic the play thing of witches and wizards.

11. I’m on board with all of Gregory Davis-Owen’s points, in large part because many of them are my points.

    But I was a little disappointed that when he started talking about “The Vale” it wasn’t an excuse for me to talk about Westeros.

    Yeah, Kristen D used the veil technique in our Monster of the Week game, and eeeeeeverybody missed it.  Oh well.  I like Tor Droplets’s suggestion, though.

12. I’m on board with all of Gregory Davis-Owen’s points, in large part because many of them are my points.

    But I was a little disappointed that when he started talking about “The Vale” it wasn’t an excuse for me to talk about Westeros.

    Yeah, Kristen D used the veil technique in our Monster of the Week game, and eeeeeeverybody missed it.  Oh well.  I like Tor Droplets’s suggestion, though.

13. If it makes you feel better, Richard Rogers, I feel the same about pretty much everything else running on Gauntlet Hangouts: ‘Man, I wanna play that but…I need to sleep/work.’ 🙁

14. If it makes you feel better, Richard Rogers, I feel the same about pretty much everything else running on Gauntlet Hangouts: ‘Man, I wanna play that but…I need to sleep/work.’ 🙁

15. Amen from down under Robert Ruthven​.

16. Amen from down under Robert Ruthven​.

17. I like the way Richard Rogers says they’d approach the tone being broken in a game.  It’s hard, but like he said someone has to be the leader.

    Scott Owen I wish we had a flag but sadly the sign disappeared into the depths of Daniel Fowler’s truck.  Tor Droplets Can you add the hand sign stuff to the document?

18. I like the way Richard Rogers says they’d approach the tone being broken in a game.  It’s hard, but like he said someone has to be the leader.

    Scott Owen I wish we had a flag but sadly the sign disappeared into the depths of Daniel Fowler’s truck.  Tor Droplets Can you add the hand sign stuff to the document?

19. I’m also very sad at all the bard hate ;_;

20. I’m also very sad at all the bard hate ;_;

21. Ferrell Riley I’ve added the hand signals as a suggestion.

22. Ferrell Riley I’ve added the hand signals as a suggestion.

23. I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea that Steve Mains brought up about characters advancing at random rates in Dungeon World and Monster of the Week because XP is assigned on a miss. I actually have some data on this (in the form of dozens of character sheets and Meetup RSVPs), and I have been analyzing it since the episode went up. Monster of the Week is difficult, because the Google sheet we’re using doesn’t have “levels” or advancement marks on them. My memory, though, is that the advancement is a little swingy, and mostly affected by whether your Cool stat is high or low. If it’s low, you’re significantly more likely to get XP than the other characters. Dungeon World, though, seems to smooth out over multiple sessions.

    Here are my Dungeon World results, split up by recent adventures. Also, I’m only looking at the adventures that had two or more new characters:

    Saturday Morning Cartoons

    Of the four principal characters involved in those sessions, each ended on Level 5, except for one character, who ended on Level 4. The Level 4 character was featured in 2 fewer sessions than the other characters.

    The Dark Shard of Nemrath

    Three characters participated in all sessions. Those three characters each made it to Level 3.

    The Castle of the Dreaming Doors

    Three characters participated in all sessions. Each of those characters made it to Level 3.

    The Vault of the Purple Mane

    Five new characters were involved in an equal number of sessions. Each of those characters made it to Level 2, and were each within a few XP of hitting Level 3. One character, who was featured in one less session, hit Level 2, but just barely.

    The Sorrow

    This was the only adventure with a slight discrepancy. Every new character who was featured in two or more sessions hit Level 4. Three of those new characters were featured in one fewer session than a fourth new character. The only thing I can attribute it to is the fact that the fourth character was involved in a session that didn’t have much fighting in it, and so the dice hit the table less. There is also a chance that character was slightly less involved in the action than the others (more reactive than proactive). Still, it’s a slightly weird outcome.

    Seclusium

    Two new characters both made it to Level 2 (in fact, they ended with the exact same number of XP).

    Obviously, this isn’t a perfect measure of anything, but it matches well with my DW experience, which is that advancement is, overall, pretty smooth, despite the occasional spiky session.

24. I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea that Steve Mains brought up about characters advancing at random rates in Dungeon World and Monster of the Week because XP is assigned on a miss. I actually have some data on this (in the form of dozens of character sheets and Meetup RSVPs), and I have been analyzing it since the episode went up. Monster of the Week is difficult, because the Google sheet we’re using doesn’t have “levels” or advancement marks on them. My memory, though, is that the advancement is a little swingy, and mostly affected by whether your Cool stat is high or low. If it’s low, you’re significantly more likely to get XP than the other characters. Dungeon World, though, seems to smooth out over multiple sessions.

    Here are my Dungeon World results, split up by recent adventures. Also, I’m only looking at the adventures that had two or more new characters:

    Saturday Morning Cartoons

    Of the four principal characters involved in those sessions, each ended on Level 5, except for one character, who ended on Level 4. The Level 4 character was featured in 2 fewer sessions than the other characters.

    The Dark Shard of Nemrath

    Three characters participated in all sessions. Those three characters each made it to Level 3.

    The Castle of the Dreaming Doors

    Three characters participated in all sessions. Each of those characters made it to Level 3.

    The Vault of the Purple Mane

    Five new characters were involved in an equal number of sessions. Each of those characters made it to Level 2, and were each within a few XP of hitting Level 3. One character, who was featured in one less session, hit Level 2, but just barely.

    The Sorrow

    This was the only adventure with a slight discrepancy. Every new character who was featured in two or more sessions hit Level 4. Three of those new characters were featured in one fewer session than a fourth new character. The only thing I can attribute it to is the fact that the fourth character was involved in a session that didn’t have much fighting in it, and so the dice hit the table less. There is also a chance that character was slightly less involved in the action than the others (more reactive than proactive). Still, it’s a slightly weird outcome.

    Seclusium

    Two new characters both made it to Level 2 (in fact, they ended with the exact same number of XP).

    Obviously, this isn’t a perfect measure of anything, but it matches well with my DW experience, which is that advancement is, overall, pretty smooth, despite the occasional spiky session.

25. Interesting analysis!  

    I’d also note that one of the big issues with DW is that its dungeon crawly, and one of the big things about being the GM is making sure every character has a chance to be a spotlight character (thus forcing more rolls) and part of the “swingy” feel is the fact that some characters might be better outside of combat, and thus their actions happen in the “downswing” of events and thus are less memorable.

    I also feel as though “end of session” helps to balance everyone up, as you can usually count on a few XP, especially if you’ve been playing to your drive/alignment.

26. Interesting analysis!  

    I’d also note that one of the big issues with DW is that its dungeon crawly, and one of the big things about being the GM is making sure every character has a chance to be a spotlight character (thus forcing more rolls) and part of the “swingy” feel is the fact that some characters might be better outside of combat, and thus their actions happen in the “downswing” of events and thus are less memorable.

    I also feel as though “end of session” helps to balance everyone up, as you can usually count on a few XP, especially if you’ve been playing to your drive/alignment.

27. Goodbye “Giving me Life” segment. You’ll be missed.

28. Goodbye “Giving me Life” segment. You’ll be missed.

29. River Williamson It was hard making the decision to cut GML, but we had a couple of dilemmas: 1) they aren’t nearly as good anymore without Daniel Lewis and 2) we were having a hard time coming up with new things to talk about each week. It might make a comeback in the future, but for now, it’s one weekly stressor off the menu. 

30. River Williamson It was hard making the decision to cut GML, but we had a couple of dilemmas: 1) they aren’t nearly as good anymore without Daniel Lewis and 2) we were having a hard time coming up with new things to talk about each week. It might make a comeback in the future, but for now, it’s one weekly stressor off the menu. 

31. That’s understandable.  Some of the segments were pretty rocky.

32. That’s understandable.  Some of the segments were pretty rocky.

33. River Williamson Before the gang recorded this episode, we challenged each other to come up with a format that focused on our strengths, and that was shorter in length. We succeeded on the first count (our strengths being the number of games we play and our Community), but not quite the second (this episode was still about ten minutes too long, in my opinion). 

34. River Williamson Before the gang recorded this episode, we challenged each other to come up with a format that focused on our strengths, and that was shorter in length. We succeeded on the first count (our strengths being the number of games we play and our Community), but not quite the second (this episode was still about ten minutes too long, in my opinion). 

35. Jason Cordova I really appreciate your DW advancement stats!  You put some actual work into this; that’s awesome.  That goes a long way toward allaying my fears.  And my opinion has also recently been tempered somewhat by steven watkins pointing out how helpful something like XP on a miss is to somebody with terrible, terrible dice rolling luck.  I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it in action over and over again.

    As such, I’m upgrading my rating.

    XP on a miss:  The Worst Meh.

36. Jason Cordova I really appreciate your DW advancement stats!  You put some actual work into this; that’s awesome.  That goes a long way toward allaying my fears.  And my opinion has also recently been tempered somewhat by steven watkins pointing out how helpful something like XP on a miss is to somebody with terrible, terrible dice rolling luck.  I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it in action over and over again.

    As such, I’m upgrading my rating.

    XP on a miss:  The Worst Meh.

37. Another minor bonus to XP on a miss is that it limits the utility of cheating, especially online.  You want to roll box cars on everything?  ok but everyone else is level 5 and i can still use their failures to hit you…

    I would encourage players to justify how they are advancing.  is this something you learned over the last couple sessions?  a trick you always had but just revealed now? or did something happen off screen that changed you?  

    The DW advancements are generally minor improvements on what the character is already doing. also, players will often pick moves because they fix weaknesses the character was suffering from in the last episode.  

    every once in a while you get a non magic character that multi-classes a “cast a spell” or “change shape” move.  feel free to ask them how this came about?  maybe this “awakening” will have other effects in the world.  

    the animal companion and cleric cast a spell moves are always fun and as easy to explain as adopting an animal or a faith.  both of which could add interesting sub plots.

38. Another minor bonus to XP on a miss is that it limits the utility of cheating, especially online.  You want to roll box cars on everything?  ok but everyone else is level 5 and i can still use their failures to hit you…

    I would encourage players to justify how they are advancing.  is this something you learned over the last couple sessions?  a trick you always had but just revealed now? or did something happen off screen that changed you?  

    The DW advancements are generally minor improvements on what the character is already doing. also, players will often pick moves because they fix weaknesses the character was suffering from in the last episode.  

    every once in a while you get a non magic character that multi-classes a “cast a spell” or “change shape” move.  feel free to ask them how this came about?  maybe this “awakening” will have other effects in the world.  

    the animal companion and cleric cast a spell moves are always fun and as easy to explain as adopting an animal or a faith.  both of which could add interesting sub plots.

39. Deleted (commented on wrong episode!)

40. Deleted (commented on wrong episode!)

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