Spok3n: A Tunnel Goons Talkback

[00:00:08] Speaker A: Welcome back, my tunnel goons, to the talkback for the land of Rune. Here we delve deeply into the minds of referees, players and PCs in kind. From runesport to escort, one chosen prepares as another redefines to whom and what he cares. The third leads the way, her compass in hand. A trio choosing to defend their land. This story has proven to be quite poetic. And although this prose is not quite as prophetic, it opens the floor to our poets of old, to their curious minds, to their tales not told. So let's dissect this book that we've all had our nose in and thus start the talk back of our old tale chosen. [00:00:51] Speaker B: Oh my gosh. That's so cute. [00:00:53] Speaker A: Hi guys. [00:00:54] Speaker C: Welcome to. [00:00:56] Speaker A: Welcome to our little talk back. We are so excited to be here and doing a little talk back for a Tunnel Goons adventure. It's been super, super fun to do this story and it's all from Meg's brain and then also the amazing guests and stuff like that. So Meg's here. Say hi, Meg. [00:01:15] Speaker B: Hi. [00:01:18] Speaker D: Whoa. [00:01:18] Speaker B: Anything else? [00:01:19] Speaker C: That's crazy. [00:01:20] Speaker A: Say hi, Lucas. [00:01:20] Speaker D: Hey, what's up everyone? [00:01:24] Speaker A: And Morgan is here. Say hi, Morgan. [00:01:25] Speaker C: Hi, Morgan. I'm the only one who followed the directions. [00:01:28] Speaker A: Whoa. That is. This is now a point based talkback and Morgan is winning. [00:01:36] Speaker C: Jay's been here the whole time. [00:01:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm Jay. I played on the thing. It was fun. Before we start fully diving in, just a reminder that Tunnel goons is a D6 rules light system. It's a TTRPG made by Nate Dream that utilizes three Core, Brute, Skulker and erudite. It is a pay what you want on Itch IO and we always recommend giving it a purchase and a play if your heart desires. This is a talk a back for our six episodes of this miniseries. So needless to say, there will be spoilers. So don't listen to this first. If you're listening to this first. I don't know why, maybe you work backwards, but I would recommend not because that is pointless in this moment. [00:02:28] Speaker D: We call it like the six sided die for all six of our episodes. [00:02:36] Speaker A: What would the talk back be? [00:02:38] Speaker D: What the six sided last? [00:02:40] Speaker B: Oh, if you're listening back, you're not a tunnel goon. You're a new lenit. You have to type it out. [00:02:47] Speaker D: That's pretty good. [00:02:48] Speaker A: So true. So true. We're gonna start off with just a really super easy peasy question. Hopefully an easy peasy question talking about the game, which is. Hence the spoiler thing right away. What was everybody's Favorite moment in the game. Like, what's like a big standout moment for you, either in character, it could be out of character, it could be story wise, or for our referee, Meg, it can be like a tide turning point or a silly little thing. [00:03:18] Speaker B: I can go first as the ref if that's chill. I super loved the part when I think it happens in the second episode and the characters just have some quiet time away from each other, but also kind of with each other to kind of like process everything that has happened. And I just thought you guys made some really good choices. And I just super enjoyed being able to, like, I just really enjoyed getting to hear how everyone's character was kind of feeling in those moments and to see how they turned toward, like, different things to bring themselves comfort and how, like, I just thought you guys did such a good job of fleshing out your characters that all of the responses seemed so, like, realistic and possible. And I just thought that was super, super cool. I liked that a lot, so that would be my answer. [00:04:10] Speaker A: Tee hee hee. [00:04:13] Speaker D: Up to you, Morgan. You want to go next or I can go. [00:04:15] Speaker B: You. [00:04:16] Speaker C: You started talking, so it sounds like you want to go next. [00:04:18] Speaker D: Okay. I just don't want to take anyone's honestly. So my favorite was Meg reaching out to me. No, but kind of. It was the premise of the thing and Meg being like, don't tell anyone. This is your secret part of like the chosen prophecy. And as like a fellow dm, I was like, hmm, suspicious. And it immediate immediately reminded me of that, like, thing that circulates often on Reddit where you tell all your players that they are not the doppelganger, and then everyone's trying to figure out who is the doppelganger in like a D and D party. And this very much being like, you are the chosen one. Don't tell anyone. Everyone else has different ones. And maybe I was a little suspicious because I was joining a little late to the. The campaign. I was, you can't possibly make me the chosen one. Like, I. I just. But I thought that was such a fun idea to tell everyone. And I think it also is cool because it shows you just trust the players to not spoil that ahead of time and really lean into it. So, yeah, that was definitely the premise, I guess, of the one shot was awesome. [00:05:32] Speaker C: I don't. I have a few, like, different, like, moments that I guess can't say that they're my favorite because you can't have three favorite children. [00:05:44] Speaker D: Not true. It's all of us. Not all three of Us are the favorite chosen. [00:05:49] Speaker C: Oh, God, there are three of us. That wasn't pointed. I was just saying a number because I'm one of three children. [00:05:56] Speaker A: Rule of three, so. [00:05:58] Speaker C: Exactly. But I really loved, like, the moment in the finale where, like, everything's kind of coming together and you're, like, piecing, like, all of, like, the lores, like, coming together in, like, a solid picture, and you're like, oh, this is what's going on. And the. I guess, yeah, the fight. The whole fight with Gill is, like, very good and, like, cinematic. But especially, like, at the end, whenever we realize, oh, she's crying. She needs help. Let's turn this around. And having that moment was really, really good. I love that she was such an interesting character. And I was texting Meg about her. [00:06:38] Speaker B: I loved getting the thoughts. It made me so happy. [00:06:42] Speaker C: I'll share my thoughts about her with y'all later. But that. And then also whenever there were all the drawings on the walls and then we lit up bud. And then there were, like, more things that you could see, and I was like, oh, let's see if there's anything else anywhere else. And seeing that there were, like, the entire story was, like, laid out in, like, the funny room that moves up and up and up and up the elevator. But I thought that was really cool. That was such a nice little touch. And I don't know if it was supposed to be there or if it was supposed to be somewhere else that we just missed and we didn't ask about it or we made it up on the spot, but I loved it. [00:07:30] Speaker B: All will be revealed in time. It's time. [00:07:33] Speaker C: That's why we're here. [00:07:34] Speaker B: Oh, it's time right now. It's time I had so in my mind, it's like a Schrodinger's cat kind of situation, where all the information that you need is available in, like, three different places. [00:07:49] Speaker C: Oh. [00:07:50] Speaker B: And it's just a matter of, like, if you miss the first one, then I have this other place that it will be as well. And if you miss that one, you know, because nothing's worse than, like, to speak in D and D terms. Like, you miss out on a lore dump because you are, like, bad at rolling history. Like, that just feels bad, and it makes me sad. And whenever I'm, like, running stuff, I'm like, I want to tell you all this cool stuff. And so I don't want to, like, not let you guys find that stuff out. So there are a couple of opportunities to learn more about it. And I think like the timing of how it played out, I think worked out really well, I think, to have it kind of revealed in the final act of the story, as it were. I think that. I think it just. I just think it worked nicely. So good pacing, you guys. [00:08:37] Speaker C: Good job, team. [00:08:38] Speaker A: Team hands. [00:08:39] Speaker B: I want to hear Jay's answer for this. [00:08:41] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, absolutely. [00:08:42] Speaker B: As the boss, like, is moving the director here right now. [00:08:46] Speaker A: I'll get there. Yeah. I think there's a lot of stuff that I really enjoyed and I think that something that this particular one, not that other ones haven't, but something that this particular group was really good at was word picturing their way through things. And so with like the lore drops being these pictures on walls and having this like visual juxtaposition of ant being this like pop of purple amongst like tan sand and tessely being this like very like, I would say kind of the more like, like, like proud and like up, tall, straight, like, like, I don't want to say eclectic, but like, I feel like you just accumulate things. And I feel like Tesley's a lot more of like a little trinket person than I think anyone realizes. You know, just sort of like a collector of thought and item. And I think that there's a lot of really strong imagery with like, how different people, different walks, different stories are able to sort of like come together and be this higher cause of sorts. Yeah, I just think that the imagery and stuff was really good. And also we all got to be chosen, but we chose to be chosen. [00:10:00] Speaker C: We chose it. [00:10:01] Speaker A: Which is pretty sick. [00:10:02] Speaker B: It's so deep, man. [00:10:04] Speaker A: So deep. And I know that. And I know that, like kind of off air when we weren't like when we were still on call but we weren't recording. You know, there were some people who were like. And you know, Lucas kind of briefly mentioned it of like, I wonder if we were all the chosen. But I'm. I also would love to know what sort of led people to like feeling that and like, how did you think that it was going to play out? Like, with that assumption in mind, like, how does that play into what you thought was gonna happen? Because personally, I'll speak for myself personally, sorry to do back to back answers. I didn't think that. I thought it was weird that Meg gave it to me because I was like, why not have one of our guests be the chosen? But then I was like, well, maybe, maybe, you know, Meg knows these people better than I do, so maybe Meg just wants me to do it because maybe they wouldn't feel comfortable with it. So I was like, okay, cool. I just sort of took it and ran. I trust Meg implicitly. [00:10:58] Speaker D: So, Meg, write that down. Write that down. Meg. [00:11:02] Speaker C: J. Trust me. How do you spell implicitly? Actually, you work with. I am spell. [00:11:12] Speaker B: I look at them. I don't read all of them. [00:11:16] Speaker C: You don't download them into your brain. I had no suspicions. I accepted my fate. I think, yeah, I might have had a little bit of, like, Tesla in my brain before she was ever born. That might have been the first spark of her, like, yeah, I am the chosen one. Actually, that makes so much sense. I play an Avatar Legends game on Wednesdays, and we recorded these on Thursdays. And I was like, oh, my God. Back to back. Chosen Ones, let's go. That makes so much sense for me. [00:11:53] Speaker B: It's just who you are. You're just so. Protagonist. Cody. [00:11:57] Speaker C: Yes. The main character, honestly. But the only thing that was in my brain about that was, like, okay, if I'm the chosen one, what are other, like, tropes and roles that can. The other people can be? And the first one that came to my mind was, like, the traitor. And so that's what I was worried about. Who's the traitor? But. [00:12:19] Speaker A: Oh. [00:12:19] Speaker B: Oh, my God, Think of that. [00:12:22] Speaker C: Yeah, it was a no line, because we're not choosing. Yeah. I was a little suspicious about you guys at the beginning because I was like, wanna use the traitor? And it's not me. So whenever. [00:12:35] Speaker B: It's like, a manga. [00:12:36] Speaker C: Exactly. Whenever the Skybridger was like, this is for the Chosen, and the boys were like, that's me. I was like, that's suspicious. That's weird. Maybe they're just suspicious saying that they are. Because someone has to. Because I'm like, I was told not to say. And so I'm gonna follow that. [00:13:02] Speaker D: I find that kind of interesting because that's, like, you're saying you. Tesley came from the idea of, like, yeah, all right, I am. And that's. And, like, maybe you didn't even realize that until, like, creating the character. That's how I approached Ant, where I was like, he got. I was like, he got the Chosen. And was like, I'll deal with that some rainy day in the future. Exactly. What happened? Literally being so suspicious of being like, I'm the chosen. Okay, someone got their message wrong here. That's crazy. I was just sandboarding, and this rock was real, real weird over here. So we'll deal with that later. So I think that's. That's kind of funny. And then I Mean, Jay, you kind of had a more similar thing to what Morgan did, where you were like, yes. And we all kind of created our stuff separately, as far as I'm aware. Other than Jay, you put your pic crew first, your image. Of course I do. [00:14:00] Speaker A: I'm a pit crew, girly. [00:14:02] Speaker B: Gotta have a pit crew. [00:14:03] Speaker A: If I. If I don't have a pit crew, then I'm literally getting a commission done. Unfortunately, that's the life I live in. [00:14:10] Speaker D: They don't exist without a pit crew. [00:14:13] Speaker A: Exactly. Exactly. But when I forgot if it was Lucas or Morgan, her husband, they're like, can you send the picco so we can all make matching ones? [00:14:22] Speaker C: I was like, of course. [00:14:23] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah. [00:14:26] Speaker A: And I guess along that same, like, you know, we're sort of talking about this idea of, like, these, like, three chosen people who literally are chosen, but also at the end, sort of aren't. And then they sort of are like, no, we are. And I think that that's a really interesting concept, and I would love to hear from you, Meg, about, like, because you've been sitting. You said you've been sitting on this miniature, like, game for a while, and I would love to know, like, what inspired you to do it and, like, how did it evolve from conception? Like. Like, what was sort of the idea going into this. [00:14:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I personally always love in the Spider Verse movie. You know, like, anyone can wear the mask. Like, I love storylines where it's like, you don't have to be special to, like, change the world. Like, I don't know. It just makes me, like, misty every time. I'm like, oh, my gosh, everyone can make a difference. Like, I just think it's so good. So, I mean, that was, like, one of the big, like, driving kind of forces behind it. I also think that, like, prophecy as a, like, trope. I love it. And it cracks me up because, like, I don't know if any of you guys are, like, mega Shakespeare heads, but one of my favorite Shakespeare plays is Macbeth. And there's the witch prophecy that, like, oh, Macbeth can only be, like. I don't remember the exact phrasing, but no man of woman born, like, whatever, can kill Macbeth. And the, like, loophole plot twist is that Macduff, the guy who kills Macbeth, wasn't born from a woman. He was from his mother's womb, untimely ripped. So because he's a C section baby, he can kill Macbeth, which I think is just so funny. And I think that, like, just prophecies crack me up in general, but I think that trying to implement it into a, like, tabletop game would be really, really hard because you don't want to take away player agency. You don't want to railroad the story in a direction that's unfun just because it fits with the prophecy and stuff. So I think that, like, for the kind of prophecy chosen one thing, I was like, what is the most, like, basic anyone can be a hero kind of thing that can apply to anyone who wants it to apply to them or is told that it applies to them. I think the idea of having multiple chosen ones is also, like, really interesting to me. Just from a storytelling perspective. We all know the hero's journey and we all know the, like, you know, like, oh, there's a hero, there's a mentor and whatever. But I think that in tabletop games, especially where it is such a multifaceted storytelling genre, where there's like the DM input or the referee input, there's the players, there's the way the story's interacting with them, the way the players are interacting with each other that, like, really melds and shapes the characters in a different way, where it's not just the hero and everyone kind of embodies every role at a different point in time. And so it's just kind of this amalgamation of, like, picking and choosing, like, oh, this could be fun to tie into this story here. Could be fun to pull in these. And it just kind of turned into what it was. And I really am pleased with how it turned out. So yay. Thanks for joining me on it. I think this is such a perfect group for it too. I appreciate your, like, trust in the process and everything and your willingness to go along with it. So I just thought it was fun. [00:17:47] Speaker A: It was very reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings Witch King prophecy where it's like, not by the hand of man or like, like a man won't kill him or something like that. And then Eowyn's like, hey, bad bitch. And, like, slays him. [00:18:04] Speaker B: I am no man. [00:18:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I am no man. Yeah, exactly. I guess in that regard and sort of looking at that, I am personally excited to hear because we sort of heard a little bit from Morgan about this idea of like, Tesley being like, yeah, I'm the chosen, and Ant being like, oh, no, I'm not the chosen. And so I would love to hear from your two's brains what your character creation process was like and what are maybe some, like, if you have any, like, established, like, truths about your character that you want to sprinkle in there that didn't get to come out in game or like, I don't know, things that you think of right now on the spot. [00:18:44] Speaker D: What would you want to go first? [00:18:45] Speaker C: I'm pulling up the very lengthy document that he sent to Meg upon character creation. Hang on. I got method after. [00:18:54] Speaker B: I wish that I could put more. [00:18:56] Speaker D: In for Ant very much was like, I'm a sucker for like the Reluctant Hero. Or like I was telling Meg, I was like, I know you said you want this to be like a fun, light hearted game, but like, what if they really don't like want to be the chosen and they're really dramatic and like emo about it. And then I was like, I got real back. All right, we're going, we're going for fun. And so I think really basic character creation is I saw Jay's character and I saw kind of the three traits and saw that Finn was more like brute, more strength. And so I was like, okay, well, I guess I'll go with like sneaky. And then I came across the desert urchin, which is one of the, like backgrounds that you have that gives you that to start. And then really from there I was just kind of like, what would a desert urchin be? And that's where I was kind of like, well, he lost his family. And I was like, all right, that's too dramatic. Can't, can't do that. We can't get into all of that in six, six episodes. So kind of coming up with that idea. And. And from there I think I really pulled in, like, I want more of like the Sokka vibe from Avatar the Last Airbender. Like, I wanted goofy, but also still kind of smart and has that like intelligence there. And then surfer bro, I saw an image when I was looking up more sand related stuff of sand, like boarding in the desert. And I was like, that's so cool. We're definitely including that. And so I asked Meg if I could have a sandboard and she was like, absolutely. And then the weather priest, I think was the profession I chose and that was one I came up with. It was originally, I think like a botany. Was it originally? [00:20:50] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, the botany. [00:20:51] Speaker D: Which is hilarious thinking now what aunt turned out to do with bud and everything. [00:20:57] Speaker B: Oh my gosh. [00:21:00] Speaker D: But I changed it to weather priest because I was like, yeah, he'd be, you know, desert. You'd be very concerned about the storms. And from there I knew we had a shorter game. So I kind of just mostly delved into concept art and just picking vibes that would give Ant. And funny enough, I made Ant's hair purple because I was like, what two colors look good together? It's like purple and yellow go great together. And also, what is more anime chosen than having your hair be an unnatural color? And I literally. That was my choice. I was like, I love the color purple and I think that's hilarious to just be like, nothing's just, you're the kid with purple hair. You got something that you're gonna have to do in the future because of it. So. And now we can see the really in depth process that Morgan went through that wasn't just I like purple and sandboarding. [00:21:54] Speaker A: I know. [00:21:56] Speaker C: Okay. Are you throwing it over to me? Yeah, throwing the Frisbee disk over to me. So I also, I think I was like the last one to. I think that y'all had already like had your character sheets like uploaded, but while I was still working on mine because I work a lot and I. So I rolled for them and I rolled. I knew that I wanted somebody who was like little bit like bookie, a little like those kind of vibes. And that was also like the childhood one that I was like kind of vibing with the most. I was like, maybe that's where she got her prophecy from. And so I rolled for like the. I think it's like the background. But I was like, I can't do the library one. Whichever one that was. I can't remember whichever one Finn has because that's too much like one track. That's one look. And also Finn has it. So I rolled and I got the caravan and I was like, oh, I love that. Actually I can totally piece these together. And I had a lot of fun doing that, researching like caravan culture. And I made a Google Doc. It was just supposed to be like a little list of questions to ask Meg because they were going to help me out with audio stuff and then a little bit of character creation vibes. And instead it turned into a multi bulleted thing about beliefs, concepts, ideas with a lot of concept art questions for world building, other concepts. There's a lot. And I really liked getting into that and digging into like the mindset of like the character and like questioning like everything, like what's up with this world? Like every single little detail about it. If like her caravan's whole thing is like, they believe that all knowledge should be free and like available to everyone, unless of course it's like protected knowledge, like very like cultural HIPAA and PII. [00:24:18] Speaker D: Is not the caravans do not dii it's fine. [00:24:24] Speaker C: And I was like, if somebody who's been raised with this belief is told not to tell somebody that they're the chosen one, then how. How do those like, come into play? Like, how do both wolves exist inside of a person? So I started questioning that. Came up with some stuff. Somehow got the concept for like the tree library situation, started delving into that. But yeah, it was. It was a lot. And that was pretty much like the character creation process for Tesli was dissecting every question that I had about the world about character building. And I guess it also kind of doubled as like a character study in a couple different ways. Method acting. She was very fun. [00:25:23] Speaker A: Vibes. [00:25:24] Speaker B: I love her so much. [00:25:25] Speaker A: She's so great. [00:25:27] Speaker C: Share the dog. [00:25:30] Speaker A: Yeah, I think for Finn, it. So here's the thing is I got my character sheet done pretty early because I like to see where the numbers land and then build around that. I think that that's most fun for me. So I rolled. My background is apparently a gear lark. I don't know what that is. So I kind of just tossed that to the side. I was like, I don't know what a gear lark is. It's gonna hit the wall, I guess. And then I. Very similar to Lucas's like, sort of wanting to go for sokka vibes. I feel like I was very much. I thought it'd be really fun to come in with this guy who's like absolutely all in on it. He's like, yes, I'm the chosen. I've been the like kind of. And it was kind of giving like, for me, like quarterback type vibes. But I was like, I don't want to come in and play like a 14 year old. That's not like, I don't. I don't want to do that. So I was like, so I'll just make it really young. Like 18. Cool. Like just graduated. Sort of doesn't know what he's doing with his life. Right. And then I actually was pulling a lot of the character traits from Jason Grace from Heroes of Olympus. Just sort of this like not like not fully a leader but. But like feeling like they're of like a higher role almost, but still like genuinely really cool and not stupid. But also not the sharpest tool in the shed. And it's just sort of like. Like the meat kind of. Whenever I go into one shots like this, I'll be completely real. I improv almost everything of the backstory. Like my. [00:27:03] Speaker C: Really? [00:27:03] Speaker D: You mean the north. The mountains in the north. Wasn't straight. [00:27:09] Speaker A: Tesli said mountains to the north. I was like, you know what, this could be funny here. [00:27:14] Speaker C: I looked at the map. [00:27:16] Speaker A: There you go. But yeah, I didn't know that my disc golf Frisbee was going to be named Silver Lining until I hit someone with it and I said it was Silver Lining. Like I didn't like, I think I had like a very loose like yeah, his parents always knew of the prophecy but like blah blah blah. And people were asking about it and I was like, oh, word vomit. Whatever. I said this is happening and this is what it is. That was sort of my process. I just like going in and like I think you guys probably picked up on it. I just like going in and making things canon and being fun with it. Yeah, like that's, that's how I like to take on light hearted games. And if it's something more serious or something more like, like dark undertone, then I'll put a little bit more thought into it. But I just naturally ebb towards the silly goofy teehee haha side. So I just sort of go in with it and I'm like whatever I come up with is what I come up with. And that's, that's sort of, that's sort of what I do and I enjoy it. [00:28:12] Speaker B: I think you do it very well. [00:28:14] Speaker A: Thank you. And speaking of improv, AKA storyline, look at that transition. Meg, was there anything that was like in game that either you had already thought up or you had to change about like either the lore or the world or anything like that that you had to sort of like I guess adjust or change or we didn't get to that. You could give us some little brain worms for. [00:28:40] Speaker B: That is a super good question. I have like I love session prepping. It's one of my favorite things. Like I love sitting down and prepping for a session. And I know that sounds like maybe sarcastic because I know a lot of people don't. [00:28:56] Speaker D: I am. [00:28:57] Speaker B: Don't always. [00:28:58] Speaker D: I will. I spend hours of is my hobby. It's not dd, it's preparing for DD is the actual hobby. DD is a byproduct of it. [00:29:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:08] Speaker B: It's like a nice bonus. Yeah. I just think it's so fun and for this game especially this one is really interesting because I feel like the first section and the last section I kind of split it up into three arcs and that was like the three different days that we recorded. So the first arc, the first two episodes, second, the second two thirds, like last chunk, you know, just Because I was like, I want it to have, like, a nice pace. I want it to have nice structure. I want it to not just feel like it's six episodes because we need to be six episodes. Like, I wanted to feel like it was progressing. And so, like, at the beginning, like, the first chunk of stuff came so easily. And last, like, I knew where I wanted to end up, but so much of the middle stuff, like, I was coming up like, nothing. And I'm like, I know that, like, stuff needs to happen and I know that, like, I need to further the story. But, like, it was really fun and interesting watching, like, after the first two sessions, I kind of was able to pick up like, okay, this is kind of what these characters are interested in exploring a little more. This is kind of where their strengths are and here's where I want to try and play into it and stuff. I think a lot of the kind of pictograph and story, prior story was stuff that I had in my brain and I almost wish I had typed it out to have it be like, a little more articulated. But it was one of those things where I was like, they'll figure it out somehow. I'll give them that information somehow, you know. So, like, a lot of it I thought, I think the first chunk of like being stuck in the cave, not the first chunk, but. Well, I guess the first chunk of the third episode, a lot of that was kind of like, you get advice from like the forums and whatever of like, setting up puzzles for your players. And sometimes the advice is don't plan a solution and just see what they do and let that be the solution. And so that's kind of how like, getting out of the cave was. And like, one way or another, they will figure a way out of this cave and I can give him a couple of like, potential starts, some ideas. But. And so that was like, kind of fun to just kind of like, here's a. I'm gonna put you guys in a situation and see what you do about it. And so that was really fun to just kind of not plan intentionally, I guess, as far as things that, like, I had to change. I think because it was a fairly bare bones structure, I didn't really have a whole lot established, I guess, beyond, like, this is how I assume things work out. So I feel like I didn't really have to do too much like rolling with the punches, which is probably a good thing. I don't think I would feel very confident about that. So. [00:32:04] Speaker A: Yeah, that's so fair. Yeah. I mean, obviously like session prep. I don't want to speak for every gm, but session prep can be. I feel like it has like, a lot of, like, really, really cool stuff and like, the stuff that we, like, enjoy. And then there's sort of the stuff that it's like, I don't really want to do that. And I. And I feel like it could. It really comes through when people, like, appreciate and love and take time to like, do the stories that they do and make the stories that they make. And we are going to talk about more like indie TTRPGs later. But while we're on the little D and D thing, what if you guys could build your characters like, in D and D? What would their D and D like? Class makeup? Let's say. Let's say like a level 8 character. And Meg I would love to hear about. Okay. The Gremlin in me wants to know about Pothos, but I feel like the better option is like the Sky Reader or like the Stormling Lady. So if you would rather pick one of those, that's totally fine. And we could pretend that I asked that. But yeah, I just want to know what everyone's little makeups would be. [00:33:24] Speaker C: I have one. [00:33:26] Speaker B: I gotta do some Googling already. [00:33:28] Speaker A: Please go. [00:33:29] Speaker D: I'm frantically Googling D and D classes. Like, I don't play D and D all the time. [00:33:34] Speaker B: What is Dungeons and Dragons? [00:33:36] Speaker C: You're on the other side of the screen. But no, I think Tessily would be a Valor Bard. I was thinking, like, she gives me like half elf vibes or like elf or something. I'm like, no, that's too like, long lived. Not half elves, but like, elves are too, like, long lived for like, why would a long lived race be collecting all of this worldly data and like, information and stuff when they can just be there for it? So I think she'd stay human. I think like a Valor Bard, telling the stories of people past and everything like that. But then I think that after the finale I have a whole storyline in my head. I think after the finale, she takes a level in Cleric and becomes a cleric of Gale in the knowledge domain. [00:34:23] Speaker A: Aw. [00:34:25] Speaker B: Yeah, that's gonna make me cry a little bit. I love Gale. [00:34:33] Speaker A: I love Gale. I feel like Finn is pretty easy, like a battle master fighter. Honestly, I feel like that's his deal. But I do think that after all of this stuff is said and done, I would not put it past him to dip a little bit into Wizard. Going into Blade singing just a teeny bit. He has that little bump in erudite. He's not stupid, you know, he just like. He's just. He's just like, why use my brain when I can use my gains, you know? [00:35:07] Speaker D: I will say I laughed every time. Finn and Ant had to interact with each other, our two brain cells, because we both had stuff and Erudite, our two brain cells went out the window every single time. Every. We made each other dumber. Somehow. We put our one and one together and got zero. [00:35:27] Speaker A: It's the bros in the locker room vibe where, like, everything out the window. [00:35:31] Speaker D: It was so. Because I was like, we both can't sound like this. We have a plus one to Erudite. Like, what are we doing? [00:35:39] Speaker A: It's fine. It's fine. [00:35:44] Speaker D: But yeah, kind of. If I was looking, I did it. I found D and D classes, I think Tempest Cleric, I think mostly rogue. Pretty self explanatory there, but then quite a bit in maybe Tempest Cleric. Although I was debating Druid just because we had a real plant moment going on for a lot of the session. So I feel with like eight levels, I think it might be a really weird rogue Druid Cleric vibe going on there. A lot of things. Amazing. [00:36:19] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. [00:36:23] Speaker B: I feel like I'll go through like, the. The NPCs that you threw my way, Jay. I think that Gale would most likely be a Storm Sorcerer. I just think that checks out. Like, it's not anything that was learned or like anything that was sought after. It's just kind of what she became. And that's kind of like the sorcerer thing. Is that like in the canon or whatever? Like, you don't have a choice. It's just who you are. It's your lineage and yada yada, yada. So I feel like that checks out for Gale. I feel like the Sky Reader would probably be a Stars Druid just because in the brief Google that I did, they get some of those divination spells. But I don't think she's actually good enough at her job to be a divination wizard. [00:37:12] Speaker D: She's like, hey, I'm seeing three. Okay, that's what the stars say. [00:37:17] Speaker B: I'll look at that. Whatever. Yeah, I don't think Pathos is anything. I think he would be flat zeros across the board. No, but he has a bear trap that has. [00:37:32] Speaker D: Ooh, he could be a hunter. [00:37:33] Speaker B: He has a bear trap. [00:37:34] Speaker D: Or a ranger. [00:37:35] Speaker B: Now, Gloom Stalker. [00:37:37] Speaker A: He could be a ranger. [00:37:39] Speaker B: Just one level. A stat block that is one attack called Bear Trap. And it's not even that he's Figured out how to set up the bear trap. He just kind of throws it at you and hits your foot and you say, ouchie. [00:37:51] Speaker A: You have a D and D build. Set up the trap. Oh, yes. [00:37:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Grass type. [00:37:58] Speaker A: Pothos. Pothos. [00:38:00] Speaker D: Pothos. [00:38:01] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. [00:38:08] Speaker C: So with the Sky Reader, she was like, which one of you is the chosen? There can't be three, can there? I don't know. But then she was, like. She had sent invitations to all three of us. So we were just, like, candidates. [00:38:27] Speaker D: She was covering her bases. [00:38:29] Speaker C: Yeah. And she was, like, getting reply. I know exactly. She knew exactly, like, which one of us heard which parts of the prophecy. So I'm like, was she playing? Did she know or did she want us to choose from the start? [00:38:48] Speaker B: Ooh. In my mind, I think the prophecy that was, like, written. I think she genuinely believed that there was, like, one for it. But I think that, like, it was part of her doing to distribute the lines of the thing in search of, like. Well, if these lines apply to somebody, then that's gotta be, like, you know. You know, trying to, like, broaden the search. Not just broadcast this whole, like, hey, there's this prophecy thing. In the hopes that, like, you know, these people would find it and stumble upon it themselves. In my mind, I think she did think that it would be one person and you'd figure out who it actually was along the way. But like I said, I don't think she's actually that good at her job of reading the sky. I think that, like, in the kind of crux of this story, you know, when we kind of learn about Gale and we learn about the other figure with her, who is the Sky Reader in the drawings on the walls, they're sisters. And when faced with all the terrible and bad things, whereas one was stuck watching and seeing, the sky reader turned and looked away from it and sought, like, you know, a solution elsewhere, not thinking that the solution could come from her. And so I think that, like, that's kind of like the reason is searching for a deeper meaning in these bad things that happen. That's kind of like her thing is, like, well, it's gotta be for, like, a reason. We could have seen it coming, but we didn't. So I'll try and be more vigorous ahead of time. Finding answers in stuff that's not really there. Like, searching between the lines for something that's not there is kind of like her. Her thing. Like, was there ever actually even a prophecy to begin with? I don't know. It could have been anyone, maybe. But Also, you guys took that up and really accepted that call to action and that made you guys the chosen ones. You know, it's like this big mystery question mark. [00:40:47] Speaker C: Interesting. That's also not me accusing you of plot holing at all. That was me. [00:40:53] Speaker B: I know. [00:40:53] Speaker C: Like, wait a minute. What's up with that? Yeah, yeah, there's something. Well, thank you. [00:40:59] Speaker B: Thanks, ref. [00:41:00] Speaker A: Thanks, ref. We here at Spills and Whistles love a good indie TTRPG promo. And so I was wondering if anybody has any other indie TTRPGs that you have heard of that you. That you want to play or that you have played and you want to plug anything that we think people should look into or anything like that? [00:41:25] Speaker D: I haven't played it, but if someone wants me to run it. Yeah, let me know. [00:41:31] Speaker C: I'm letting you know. [00:41:32] Speaker D: It is called Wink Wink. Yeah, Wink Wink. It's called Orbital Blues. It's. It calls itself Lo Fi Space Cowboy. I don't know, have you. You two just looked excited. So either you know about it or have you played it? [00:41:46] Speaker B: I've just like heard the vibes. [00:41:49] Speaker D: Yeah. So I mean, it's got like Space Cowboy, like Cowboy, bebop, Firefly kind of vibes. It's another D6 system. So you have the very similar things with like, I think grit, strength and savvy. And it's. It seems kind of similar to Tunnel Goons where you're really there to tell a story. There's a bit more with the checks. They do the checks a little different, but I just would love to do a. A real fun like Space Cowboy, Us against the Stars vibe. I love all things like space and stuff. So that's the one that I saw. Also the COVID for it is gorgeous and so I have the PDF, but I probably am gonna buy like the hardcover. And since I've last looked at it, they've also added like expansions to it and a few pre made adventures as well. So you don't have to come up with it on your own if you don't want to. You could, you could buy those and get right into it. They also have a free PDF adventure that kind of outlines the basics if people want to jump right in and try it. So yeah, that's. That's my little plug. [00:43:01] Speaker B: That sounds so fun. [00:43:03] Speaker A: What a. Play it. [00:43:06] Speaker B: I feel like so many of the games that I know that I love, I have already made people play with me on the podcast before. But this is your sign. If you haven't gone and listened to our Ten Candles miniseries, I'm not plugging it because I'm running it. I'm plugging it just because I think it's like a super cool game where everyone dies and you have a countdown going the whole time. And I think that's just really cool. I love the, like solo and two player games. There are a lot of really, really cool ones out there. And one of my favorites is called Tether. The concept is that you and one other person are separated by 30 years. Like someone is 30 years in the past or someone is 30 years in the future or whatever. And you were tied together by this journal that can sort of transcend space and time and you're able to send each other messages and you're trying to solve a mystery because there is this beast that slumbers for 30 years at a time before it comes and causes mayhem. And so you're trying to work together to defeat this creature, knowing that the person in the past likely failed because it's back in the present time or whatever. It's really cool. I did it with my partner for a while, which was a really cool thing to do because we were distanced for a really long time. So that was really cool to like do async. And all you need for it is like a deck of cards and just a way of like sending letters back and forth. So that's super cool. This is a really silly one, but my friend Quinten who guested on the Mole Hunt game has a game called dump your gamer boyfriend before he dumps you or something like that, which is so fun. And it's a solo game that also just uses a deck of cards. And as you pull cards throughout the week, you play over the span of a week, as you pull a card, you have to incorporate a challenge into your outfit for the week. And if you're able to successfully do it, you get a point. And if you get the right number of points at the end of the week, then you dump him before he dumps you and embarrasses you. So it's like, it's very silly, it's very light hearted and it's like a fun little like, oh, here I'm thinking about this game while I'm dressing myself up, you know, and like, I just think it's cute. Those would be my couple. [00:45:16] Speaker A: That's so good. I. There's. There's two that I have. There's. Okay, there's a myriad of ones that I could plug here, ones that we've done on the podcast, ones that we haven't like Meg and I have played Shiver before. Shiver's amazing. [00:45:29] Speaker C: Super awesome. [00:45:31] Speaker A: We've done, you know, obviously like Pearls and Princesses and Epilean were really big ones on my list. Both of them, it was really fun. But two that I have been wanting to play. One of them is kind of more like big boy tactical book and the other one's really sad. I came across. Let's do the sad one first. Why not? I came across this one page, TTRPG on Blue Sky. Actually it says at the bottom it's a rah Rah. It's storytime game ttrpg. So if that's not it, then whatever. But it's called Tell Them How It Ended. And it's a two player game that consists of three scenes that basically deals with themes in which you have to sort of like decide on these themes for each scene that goes through a breakup. So like the first scene would have a certain number of themes and they dwindle down as it goes down and each scene like represents something different on it. So that's a fun little heartbreaking one. If you want to be sad and cry, you can do that. Or I have this massive book that I'm showing my my friends that you all can't see at the thing. But this is called Unbound and it's by Grant Howitt and Chris Taylor. And it's essentially a rules, light setting list, role playing game with a lot of like, basically cinematic decisions and all of that stuff. Very like tactical and engaging and empowering in which the players and their characters make choices that go along with their character and then the GM will answer questions that they pose in that moment based off of that ability to like help flesh out the world. Basically. It's. It's a really cool like sort of like I'm very big on collaborative storytelling and it's a major collaborative storytelling TTRPG and it seems fun. That would be a good one to check out if you want to do that. [00:47:22] Speaker B: If you have questions about any of these games, also ask about them in our Discord. We can send links to all of these. [00:47:28] Speaker A: Oh my gosh, please. [00:47:29] Speaker B: Because we just info dumped about a ton. So yes, we will provide links. I know you play the, the Avatar Legends. [00:47:36] Speaker C: Oh, I do play. [00:47:37] Speaker B: I mean that's not like indie, but. Yeah, that sounds so cool. [00:47:40] Speaker A: It is very fun. [00:47:41] Speaker C: Yeah, duh. [00:47:42] Speaker B: I love games. I love playing pretend games. [00:47:45] Speaker D: There was, there was one more that's I was gonna mention. I don't know if it's gonna be the right one coming off of this game that we're playing. Like, if people are wanting something similar to tunnel Goons, it's very different. But it reminded me from when Jay said cooperative. It's called Iron Sworn. It's a powered by apocalypse game, but you can play it solo. You could play it with a DM or you could play it cooperative where everyone is the exact same at the table. You re. You actually, like, refer to each other for your opinion on how the scene should unfold for your character. It is very gritty. It takes place in like, basically a Scandinavia, Iceland fantasy world. And you're just trying to survive and kind of fight these desperate battles and reveal secrets about the land. It's really cool. It. The. The book is massive, though. It's like 200 pages of not just like. Well, it's like the world lore and the how to play the game, which you could always put into your own system. I've looked at it for travel rules. It has some really interesting ways to make travel deadly. Morgan and Meg, you didn't hear anything about that. Interesting. [00:49:08] Speaker C: Good thing we're not going anywhere. [00:49:10] Speaker A: Yeah, deadly travel. Interesting. [00:49:16] Speaker B: I will also link that in the chat. Sorry, I'm gonna plug two more really fast. [00:49:21] Speaker A: Yeah, plug two more. [00:49:21] Speaker B: God Killer by Connie Cheng. I have wanted to play forever. Connie's an incredible GM for transplant rpg. I haven't listened to a whole lot of it yet just because I haven't had the time. But everything that I've listened to, I feel like I learned so much about GMing so highly would recommend. And then one of my friends dare made one called when the Sun Dies. And it's another sad game, I think. I like sad games a lot. But basically the world is ending and you have a certain number of scenes to, like, resolve things with the people that you love and to reconcile that, like, you are all about to die, but you're together and so you have one last chance to, like, make good memories before it's all gone. And I think that, like, I cried so hard when I played it. So. [00:50:07] Speaker C: Did we want to do a tarot card reading for our characters? [00:50:10] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh, Morgan, do you want to do it or do you want some more? [00:50:14] Speaker C: She's got a new deck, so, yeah. [00:50:17] Speaker B: Let'S do a card pull for each of the characters. [00:50:19] Speaker C: This is like their epilogue pool or something. [00:50:22] Speaker D: Yeah, sure. I'll go first. [00:50:24] Speaker C: Alrighty. This is the six of swords reversed. [00:50:28] Speaker B: The six of swords reversed. Keywords are as follows. Personal transition and unfinished business. Oh, you're not done being chosen. [00:50:41] Speaker D: Boy, we got unfinished business. [00:50:47] Speaker C: Swimming lessons. [00:50:49] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:50:50] Speaker B: Yeah. It can indicate, you know, you need to make a change or transition in your life, but you may be reluctant to do so. And it's really funny because the like, traditional card art is a guy like in a gondola, like going through the water, which I think is really funny. It can suggest you're resisting change or transitions, you are moving on from the past, but there are things that are making it difficult to do. So that's not a very happy epilogue sounding. That makes me sad. So maybe we'll have to revisit ruin. [00:51:23] Speaker A: The thing about like the sword suit specifically is that it's like, it very much represents like a double edged sword of like give and take. And that line between evil and good. And the sword suit's one of my favorites. I like it a lot. I like dichotomy and power and conflict. So I don't know this much about any of the other suits, but I like this one a lot. [00:51:40] Speaker B: That. [00:51:42] Speaker A: So. So I think that it's very much like a. Very much like a. Like giving out what you're putting in. And I think that that's very poignant of like ant sort of refusing this chosen status until the very end of just sort of like getting out of it what he was putting into it. [00:51:57] Speaker D: So I love it. [00:51:59] Speaker A: That's my brain. [00:52:00] Speaker B: I love it. [00:52:01] Speaker C: The fin. Fortitude. [00:52:06] Speaker A: Fortitude. [00:52:07] Speaker B: Fortitude. [00:52:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:52:08] Speaker B: It has a different name. It's got a different name. Oh, strength makes sense. [00:52:14] Speaker A: Hey, yo. [00:52:15] Speaker B: It's all that brute strength, courage, persuasion, influence, and compassion. I mean, the strength card is pretty cut and dry. It's about inner strength and outer strength. You are fueled by kind of that like inner compass and that motivation to like, move forward. You do not rule by trying to control others. You quietly influence and persuade can urge you to tame your animal instincts, gut reactions and raw emotions and turn them into more constructive outputs. [00:52:48] Speaker A: What. Which I think is interesting. You think threatening the person of being like, if you come close to us, I'm gonna kill you is like, that's not normal. That's okay. [00:53:00] Speaker B: But it says that you have great confidence. [00:53:03] Speaker A: I do. [00:53:03] Speaker B: That you believe in yourself a lot and can overcome any fears, challenges or doubts. [00:53:08] Speaker C: So I think that the. [00:53:11] Speaker B: I think you're in good shape. The. [00:53:13] Speaker C: The one that's the definition that's in here. Or not definition, the interpretation that's in here is very interesting for like this campaign specifically and like finale vibes. It says fortitude is the representative of courage. And there is no courage without Fear. This card indicates that you have found a healthy measure of patience for yourself. This is a reminder to acknowledge your shortcomings and all the anxieties that accompany them, and then work your way forward. The lotus flower represents the way that strength is cultivated. Out of the mud and through the water, a beautiful flower rises. [00:53:46] Speaker B: Alright, Morgan, take us home with Tesley the magician. All right. The magician is all about resourcefulness and inspired action and manifestation, which I feel like is very Tesla coded. Upright. You said upright. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It is all about, like, moving forward and using the tools and resources you have to make your vision come true. You have to establish a clear vision of what you will create and why before you act. When you're clear about your what and your why, it will encourage you to take inspired action. Focus on the things. The one thing. Not the things, just one thing that will move you toward your goal. Be methodical and commit to it. Which sounds so tastly. [00:54:35] Speaker C: It does. I think it's perfect. [00:54:38] Speaker B: That's so good. I love that. [00:54:41] Speaker C: It was very fun playing as her and being able to dig into. Into, like, the, like, analytical part of my brain and, like, take everything apart in character and find, like, creative solutions to things. Like using a cake stand as a weapon. [00:54:56] Speaker B: Yeah, Who'd have thought? [00:54:59] Speaker A: Who would have thought? [00:55:00] Speaker B: All right, let's do quick draw for Gail. Just because I'm nosy. [00:55:04] Speaker A: Gale. [00:55:04] Speaker C: Justice. [00:55:05] Speaker A: Oh. [00:55:08] Speaker B: Dang. I don't even need to look up justice. Justice. I pulled this one so often. Justice is all about, obviously justice, but also suggests that justice may not always be as black and white as we think it can be. The way that it is enacted sometimes isn't the way you expect it to be, but it is a card of. It's all about, like, the. The truth and fairness and stuff. And so, like, just the, like, the way that things work out, it will inevitably be fair and will be just. I suppose that's. [00:55:43] Speaker C: That's so perfect. [00:55:44] Speaker B: Kind of a clutch card, I think. [00:55:47] Speaker A: I love that. [00:55:49] Speaker B: I love these dudes. This was so fun. [00:55:51] Speaker A: This was so fun. I loved it. I love you guys and you listeners at home. We love you and thank you for coming on this journey with us. It was really fun to have Lucas and Morgan on and for Meg to ref. I know that Lucas and Morgan have a bunch of stuff that they do, so if you guys want to plug that really quickly, please feel free to. [00:56:13] Speaker D: Yeah, I guess it's my turn now. Back to me. So, yeah. [00:56:18] Speaker A: Potato. [00:56:19] Speaker D: Yeah. Party ofGremlins on YouTube. Have a homebrew World over there. Both Meg and Morgan are players in it. There may be some other guests from this podcast coming soon to be determined. So yeah, that's where you can find us. We got 25 episodes up as of recording this. Probably more by the time this goes out. So quite a lengthy list if you want to have something to to watch. But if you want something to listen to, you got to listen to Spells and whistles. [00:56:54] Speaker A: Oh. [00:56:56] Speaker B: Wowee. Yeah, that's also my thing for people to find. [00:57:05] Speaker C: You can follow me on Instagram. I am Margo C M O R G H O S T Y It's not a jingle, at least this time, but it rhymed. It did. [00:57:17] Speaker B: Nice. [00:57:18] Speaker C: And that's. That's it. [00:57:19] Speaker A: Amazing. Thank you both for being here. Thank you Meg for reffing and we will catch you guys on the flip side of it all. Back with, I believe, a shifting Gears of spells and Whistles main campaign and then we are going to jump back in to arc four in the thick of it. So keep listening. We love you all, we adore you all and we'll see you later. By.