Flail Forward

We talk about how RPGs have affected and inform world views.

https://linktr.ee/FlailForward Kavoir and Mark were busy tonight, and even Sabrina wasn't around. This leaves Rob and Catreece to their own devices for three hours straight. Rob didn't even realize there was a topic we wandered so far off from it. So the question isn't "Is anyone surprised?" because you all knew this was going to happen. The question is "Why did you think leaving us alone was a good idea in the first place?" - asking the real questions that really matter.

Tonight on Flail Foward, we discuss the tools GMs have to work with, what kinds of things to include and design for in your game to make sure that the GM has the tools they need to portray the game experience they want and their players crave. We explicitly do not make any mention of tools of torture, such as whips or chains, because this is only the night show, not the late night show, so you'll have to find your game mistress bondage gear elsewhere, sorry!

Something About How Games Do Stuff by Flail Forward

Tonight we talk about agency, and how much is too much of a good thing. You know, when you flick a bad guy's nose and they explode leaving a crater half the size of a small country, and you're like "oh yeaaah, maybe I shouldn't have done that. " Yeah, that does sometimes make for interesting stories, though often the ones you don't mean to, so maybe we should cut off our characters before they hit the blow up the world button. But WHERE!? Where do we pull back? Where do we draw that line? Is it a chalk outline? Do we need to bring you in for questioning? These and other potentially but probably not important questions this episode on Flail Forward!

https://linktr.ee/FlailForward We talk about Recovery! What better way to recover from being nearly beaten to death than with an ice cold lemonade and a lawn chair built from the bones of your enemies? Except you probably don't have either of those. It's fine though, we talk about other ways to recover, from combat, from stress, from other things and how it relates to RPG design, the themes of your game, and other such things! BTW, the fact that we have lemonade and you don't probably counts as emotional stress, so check your game rules to see how you recover from this.

Tonight Kavoir and Catreece talk about... metaphysics in games, also flogging yourself with a fish, you naughty, naughty whatever you are. But the important part is how the fish as a concept interacts with the game rules and the setting, which is that using a red herring only inflicts illusory damage, as you will soon find out. This is the most you'll hear Kavoir talk, so buckle up. https://linktr.ee/FlailForward

This is Bonus Banter episode because there's not really a design topic. Kavoir interrogates Rob about Ashes of the Magi. Rob gets to try to nail down his thoughts a bit better. Our audience jumped in with good questions. Good time was had by all.

We talk about the limits of the audience in design? How far can you push them? Why would you want to? Are there any limits at all? Who knows. Not us, that's for sure. As always, find all the show notes and links to content on our discord server: https://discord.gg/MAUshMJ And the rest of our stuff: https://linktr.ee/FlailForward

Today we speak of things. Dark things. Insidious things. Things that should never be spoken, never be heard. But you will hear them, whatever they are, at least if you listen to this episode. What are these things? I dunno, we didn't reaaaally have a proper topic and I have a memory that envies goldfish, so I forget, but there was probably something interesting in there. It's a Rob and Cat episode because of availability was limited. Two people who love the sounds of their own voices. Let's see what happens. https://linktr.ee/FlailForward

Help me to help you - because that's this week's topic! How do our games guide and train players to be more capable of having fun at the game, how to better interact with their friends around the table, how to hide a body under the floorboards and seal it properly so no one notices the smell, and other useful information that everyone should really know. You know, best practices and how to pick friends who will help you hide a body, that kind of stuff! https://linktr.ee/FlailForward

Come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth! And when you're done with that, you can come to our show afterward where we look at logical design patterns, what they are, how they can be put to use, how they can be subverted, and other fun things to do with them that there are currently no treaties which have been ratified against the use thereof! https://linktr.ee/FlailForward

Tonight on Flail Forward, we TURN EVIL! Well, alright, some of us already were, but it's fine, don't worry about it. The rest of us talk about the concept of evil in RPGs, from "evil races" to "good vs evil" to what evil even means as a concept, or how it affects games by existing or not. Now all you need to do is listen to the episode and don't mind any of those subtle mind control waves we've mixed into the background white noise, because we're Totally Not Evil™️ so obviously wouldn't do that. Find us on the internet: Catreece - tinyurl.com/SAORSA Johnathon - https://www.mongreltabletopgames.com/ Mark - twitter.com/praxisarcanum Rob - ashesofthemagi.com twitter.com/ashesofthemagi Kavoir - Advances past the rest of us in the first 5 minutes.

This evening we have an epic battle over what information a game designer is to provide to GMs and players about the setting, in an all-out brawl TO THE DEATH! ...Verbally! Or something. Also, Shadowrun comes up a bit because of how good it is at prompting its setting. But yeah, what information, ways to present it to the players, and some of the ways we do it, all on this episode of Flail Forward! Find us on the internet: Catreece - tinyurl.com/SAORSA Mark - twitter.com/praxisarcanum Rob - twitter.com/ashesofthemagi Kavoir - Sets up settings to set settings.

The gang talks about creatively lifting technology from other media sources and implementing it in TTRPGs.

We talk about different types of conflict in RPGs, not just combat. Catreece - tinyurl.com/SAORSA Mark - twitter.com/praxisarcanum Rob - ashesofthemagi.com twitter.com/ashesofthemagi Kavoir - Manifests conflict in games in order to study the results.

The gang invites two audience members, Sabrina and Cam to join the after show, and we talk about variants and side bars, etc.

The gang talks about framing in table top games. Find us on the internet: Catreece - tinyurl.com/SAORSA Mark - twitter.com/praxisarcanum Rob - ashesofthemagi.com twitter.com/ashesofthemagi Kavoir - Warms his tiny mechanical hands by the light of rad-glow.

We tackle the topic of Death in RPGs Find us on the internet: Catreece - tinyurl.com/SAORSA Mark - twitter.com/praxisarcanum Rob - ashesofthemagi.com twitter.com/ashesofthemagi Kavoir - Warms his tiny mechanical hands by the light of rad-glow. Monty - That place where things are.

We discuss burnout!