Episode 40 of the Golden Geek-nominated podcast Discern Realities is here! In this one we are joined by the runners up of our compendium class contest, Fraser Simons and Scott Selvidge, and the winner, Michael G. Barford! In addition to discussing their entries, we have some really great conversations about Alignment, taking ownership of a weird setting, and an upcoming project Scott is working on.
Enjoy!
Cc: Slade Stolar
Big props to Michael G. Barford. I love the idea of permanently destroying bits of the playbook
Big props to Michael G. Barford. I love the idea of permanently destroying bits of the playbook
Where can we find the Monster Hunter CC?
Where can we find the Monster Hunter CC?
Very nice to get an honourable mention, even if it was for being… just… “weird”.
Very nice to get an honourable mention, even if it was for being… just… “weird”.
Slade Stolar I really liked it! When I say “weird,” I mean it in the most complimentary way.
Slade Stolar I really liked it! When I say “weird,” I mean it in the most complimentary way.
I took it as such! It’s a compliment around our house.
I took it as such! It’s a compliment around our house.
Gregory Daily I’m going to defer to Scott Selvidge on that, since I know he is making that CC part of a collection he intends to sell.
Gregory Daily I’m going to defer to Scott Selvidge on that, since I know he is making that CC part of a collection he intends to sell.
I linked it once before, so I guess there is no harm in doing so again. Consider it a free sample of things to come I guess lol
drive.google.com – Monster Hunter CC.pdf – Google Drive
I linked it once before, so I guess there is no harm in doing so again. Consider it a free sample of things to come I guess lol
drive.google.com – Monster Hunter CC.pdf – Google Drive
Love the Revenant. Re alignment: I heard that Adam Koebel suggested at some point that a theoretical 2nd ed would have something more akin to Burning Wheel beliefs (I couldn’t locate the source, though). I’ll likely introduce them in my games at some point.
Jason Cordova: It’s also worth noting that alignment is far less integrated into D&D now than it used to be. It’s still in the 5e rules, but spells and other systems no longer reference it. It’s essentially become just as vestigial as it is in DW; you can easily just chop it out. It’s almost like people are no longer satisfied by a simplistic black and white morality system…
Love the Revenant. Re alignment: I heard that Adam Koebel suggested at some point that a theoretical 2nd ed would have something more akin to Burning Wheel beliefs (I couldn’t locate the source, though). I’ll likely introduce them in my games at some point.
Jason Cordova: It’s also worth noting that alignment is far less integrated into D&D now than it used to be. It’s still in the 5e rules, but spells and other systems no longer reference it. It’s essentially become just as vestigial as it is in DW; you can easily just chop it out. It’s almost like people are no longer satisfied by a simplistic black and white morality system…
Congratulation to all the runner ups and the winner! Great episode. I missed not having the comic strip AP at the end though. I totally understand why you did not include it no worries. This was a special show. Alignment…. will have to look into that.
Congratulation to all the runner ups and the winner! Great episode. I missed not having the comic strip AP at the end though. I totally understand why you did not include it no worries. This was a special show. Alignment…. will have to look into that.
About alignment, I think it still holds some use in Dungeon World. An example of a good bit of roleplay from keeping alignment in mind came out of a game I played recently.
My character is good, not lawfully so, but good in the general sense. Another player, whose character and mine are old friends, is chaotic I believe. He is also secretly a dread pirate captain, going by the title The Crimson Corsair, who opposes the current Emperor. We had a situation happen where one of his crew betrayed him, so he tied him to the mast and was going to have his first mate (another player) torture him. My character opted to just execute the man and be done with it, but the captain wanted him to suffer and also wasn’t going to back down in front of his crew (showing weakness to pirates is bad). So, instead of just letting it happen, and to avoid making him look like a weak captain, my character sucker punched his and beheaded the prisoner before he could be tortured. Our characters’ friendship took a heavy hit, but it was a damn entertaining session.
I feel like this use of alignment, not just for XP grinding, is still a great thing that shouldn’t be tossed out. I like drives also, but I feel like it’s easier for new people to associate the alignments with how their character would act.
About alignment, I think it still holds some use in Dungeon World. An example of a good bit of roleplay from keeping alignment in mind came out of a game I played recently.
My character is good, not lawfully so, but good in the general sense. Another player, whose character and mine are old friends, is chaotic I believe. He is also secretly a dread pirate captain, going by the title The Crimson Corsair, who opposes the current Emperor. We had a situation happen where one of his crew betrayed him, so he tied him to the mast and was going to have his first mate (another player) torture him. My character opted to just execute the man and be done with it, but the captain wanted him to suffer and also wasn’t going to back down in front of his crew (showing weakness to pirates is bad). So, instead of just letting it happen, and to avoid making him look like a weak captain, my character sucker punched his and beheaded the prisoner before he could be tortured. Our characters’ friendship took a heavy hit, but it was a damn entertaining session.
I feel like this use of alignment, not just for XP grinding, is still a great thing that shouldn’t be tossed out. I like drives also, but I feel like it’s easier for new people to associate the alignments with how their character would act.
I have two big problems with Alignment. 1) the terms are not clear at all. What exactly is Chaotic? I’ve been working on my own character playbooks, and I’ve taken to adopting more descriptive adjectives like altruistic, independent, and selfish. 2) there is no move or mechanic for switching alignments. I feel like alignments should be treated as starting places, not set characteristics a la race or class. One of my players seems to be undergoing a shift in alignment, and I think that’s awesome, but I would also appreciate some mechanics for that to make that conversation easier.
Beyond that, I do think alignment is underrated. I think it’s a good way to signal to the GM how players want to play their characters (which works similarly to flags), and I think it’s a good support for players who are fairly new to roleplaying. I think it’s a good way to challenge players to pick a type of character and stick to it. When the Lawful Paladin in my group started talking about breaking a prisoner free, I was able to challenge that idea by pointing to his alignment. I didn’t say no, but I did point out that he had to frame this in ways that make sense with his character, and that was a good challenge to have.
BTW, has anyone transcribed the Revenant CC? Also, would anyone be up for putting our submitted CC’s into a big folder or something? I would love to see what other people submitted.
I have two big problems with Alignment. 1) the terms are not clear at all. What exactly is Chaotic? I’ve been working on my own character playbooks, and I’ve taken to adopting more descriptive adjectives like altruistic, independent, and selfish. 2) there is no move or mechanic for switching alignments. I feel like alignments should be treated as starting places, not set characteristics a la race or class. One of my players seems to be undergoing a shift in alignment, and I think that’s awesome, but I would also appreciate some mechanics for that to make that conversation easier.
Beyond that, I do think alignment is underrated. I think it’s a good way to signal to the GM how players want to play their characters (which works similarly to flags), and I think it’s a good support for players who are fairly new to roleplaying. I think it’s a good way to challenge players to pick a type of character and stick to it. When the Lawful Paladin in my group started talking about breaking a prisoner free, I was able to challenge that idea by pointing to his alignment. I didn’t say no, but I did point out that he had to frame this in ways that make sense with his character, and that was a good challenge to have.
BTW, has anyone transcribed the Revenant CC? Also, would anyone be up for putting our submitted CC’s into a big folder or something? I would love to see what other people submitted.
Devin White Real quick: the Revenant CC is on the website (linked in the post).
Devin White Real quick: the Revenant CC is on the website (linked in the post).
Jason Cordova Found it, thanks!
Jason Cordova Found it, thanks!