The Adventure Zone - The The Adventure Zone Zone: MaxFunDrive 2023

Episode Date: March 30, 2023

It’s MaxFunDrive! To celebrate, let’s dive into our first edition of The The Adventure Zone Zone: Steeplechase. We’re answering your most pressing questions about world building, character building, how to spell Shlabethany, and more. Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/jointaz

Hey everybody. Welcome to the the Adventure Zone Zone, Max Fund Drive edition, 2023. Man, that was a lot of subtitles. But we're here, basically, we're focusing on Siebel Chase this time around. We're very excited. We haven't done a T-Taz for Siebel Chase yet. And as I mentioned, it is the Max Fund Drive. If you haven't already, you can go to maximum fun.org slash join to support the Adventure Zone and all the other Max Fun shows there.

Help us keep the metaphorical lights on. You don't really need lights to make a podcast, but you know what I mean. Justin, are you ready for lots of questions? Yeah. Okay. First, let's start right here. In the past, you've said that you did not want to GM and mentioned anxiety as a reason what inspired you to overcome that anxiety to GM's steeplechase. And now that you're in it, do you think the anxiety motivates you or hinders you?

That's from Thai. They also said personally, I think you're doing an amazing job. I don't know why you would leave that off. I was ending with that. I was going to say, and Ty says that they think you're doing an amazing job. I think that my anxieties about it were not like anxiety, like capital A. It's more just like I hadn't done it before, so I didn't really know what I was doing. And I think that it seems very, very hard and is very, very hard in the sense that it requires a lot of work.

I finally decided to do it because, like, honestly, I just needed a new challenge. I needed something new, like, creatively to do, to try to push myself. And I realized that, like, if I, deciding to do blades kind of open it up for me, because I realized, like, if we did a completely different system, I could, I could, that was a little bit more streamlined. That's been, like, the biggest sort of holdup. is being able to do all that stuff. And honestly, once I started thinking about heists and Disney,

the, it kind of like, I don't know, it just all sort of started to congeal. And that's been the weird. Were you a heist kind of fan before? Because I know you're a Disney fan, but was heist like a big thing for you before that? No. I mean, I always like a heist, but who doesn't like a heist, right?

Everybody likes a heist. Well, the victims, Justin. The victims don't like it. Except sometimes you can kind of, until like, oh, you know. You rascals. Ew, scamps. I was unprepared for how much of it would just sort of come when it felt like it.

That's kind of annoying. You know, normally we have the pressure of having these microphones in front of us and you have to start talking and doing jokes. I was unprepared for how much of the DM world building type stuff would be like, I don't know, I'm in the shower and oh, there it is. Okay, great, thanks. Okay, I'll go write that down or something. One of my favorite things that happens during the course.

of steeplechase is at some point in almost every episode, either Griffin or Travis will follow a Justin complaint with, yeah, bud. Yeah, man. It's genuinely brought us closer together, knowing that you're familiar with the plight now. Let's see, this is from Nelson, and you'll never believe this. My question is for Justin, what, if any, amusement parks apart from Disneyland or Disney World, did you draw inspiration from for the setting? And how did that influence the specific layers,

as well as the larger dintonic family plot? So Disney looms large. I think other big influences, theme park-wise, are just the ones that we spend a lot of time at. Camden Park is like a local amusement park in like the Huntington area that has like a lot of old, classic rides like a very sort of nostalgic sort of park if you saw the mbim bam tv show it's where we filmed a lot of the intro sequences and kings island was a big one for

us growing up and that's just like a theme park ass theme park like it's it's you know in the grand tradition of any of the cedar fair parks and places like that so those are two big ones but honestly like my fixation with like immersive theater is probably looms larger than those other parks, like the idea of things like Sleep No More and the burnt city and drowning man, other punch junk stuff, as well as like more, like ARGs, you know, things like that. Any sort of like immersive alternate reality experience like that, I've always been sort of into those sorts of things. So that's another big, big influence. How do you see that? What's the influence there? Can you give some examples?

It's the idea that you would be, like Disney does, doesn't do what we pretend that Dentonic does, which is create these like immersive experiences. And I'm very interested in the idea of like your survivors is a good example, right? I think about this a lot. It can you have, and I think that it is applicable to this, even though that's more of a reality TV show. Can you have morality within Survivor? Like, is, can you be in a game where it's a completely immersive game and it's set up to be this thing of betrayal? Can you make an immoral choice, I mean, outside the obvious, an immoral choice that's like within the bounds of the game? Like, can you, is there a morality to that if you're just trying to get to the top? And I think about that a lot with like immersive theater, like, is what am I bringing of myself to this?

this, what, you know, how does this change? How does the idea of like losing my identity in this world change who I am and how I conduct myself? And I think that's a really interesting question that I've thought a lot about with steeple chase. And that's kind of an increase, a boosting of the whole appeal of live theater is the fact that you make a connection. And if the people on the stage do their job and behind the scenes do their job, you are, brought into the story. And it's one of the things that makes live theater unique

as an art form and it just connects with you. This one's from Freddie. You stated in the past that you were unwilling to GM a long-form game on the podcast. I was overjoyed when I heard you had changed your mind and we're going to run a whole campaign. Has it lived up to your expectations,

running the game, I mean, whether good, bad, or neutral? have you gained a new perspective in general? And then a follow-up question for anybody. How do you like GMing compared to being a player? I will say, I think, and this is probably applicable to something in your life, listener. I think that I was, in my original fear about it, I was trying to, like, sort of eat the whale all at once.

like I was trying to eat the whole airplane rather than just like taking it off piece by piece and you know caving off a bit of the wheel and then eating it that way. The normal way to eat an airplane. Yeah, a normal way to eat an airplane. And I was trying to eat the airplane all at once and I was thinking like, how do I open up my mouth

and just consume an airplane? It's like the answer is you don't. You just sort of start slowly chipping away at it. And I think that that is, I have had moments of a lot different self-doubt, but it's like specific like, I don't really know what to do with this or I don't really know what I'm doing with this or because it is like a collaborative

thing and it's something that is ongoing I actually like have had to get comfortable with the idea that like not knowing what I'm doing with this is maybe more useful than then being wedded to something that I'm trying to achieve my style is much more like and this is only this could only be sort of earned through the amount of time that we've done this together my style is much more like I'm putting out several different things that I think are interesting and cool and seeing

where they sort of take it and I really enjoy that back and forth. It is disconcerting sometimes to not be able to prepare more weirdly. And that's part of what I liked about Blades what drew me to this is like I couldn't sit there and write down a 40-page story doc

when like we're kind of making it all up together and I have to be reactive to what you're doing. It's great. too because that's that is a thing that we always struggle with I feel like and yet is when the show is at its best is when we're playing that way and it's why i think blades is such a great fit is like all the stuff about like not planning a heist before you actually do it like all of those things are kind of perfect for the way we want to do the the show um as far as like which we prefer i think i like being a player better um just because i like uh the ability to kind of be more reactive to things that interest me specifically, like that I, and I know, man, listen, that really sums up Travis McRoy as a person, doesn't it? But like, when something happens and I'm like, oh, I'm hooked on that, I want to find out about that. And that can be, like, that can be difficult to completely jarring if you're the DM, who's like, I want to

follow this thing because it's interesting to me. That said, I've played some not on the, um, not on the air, I've DM some stuff since graduation. And it's a skill that I feel like I'm developing more at. And like doing dust too as part of that and stuff. So the more I practice at it, the more I enjoy doing it. Because I get more into the, God, this is so, I'm so sorry, the more jazz feeling of it. Oh, boy. And when I, I know, listen, I know. But that like following the riff and being in the moment of like what, everybody's like hooked into and everything. It's just, man, it's so much more draining, I think, to be the GM than to be the player,

obviously. And so I don't think it's something that I could do regularly if I'm not like fully hyper-fixated on it and fixed on it in the moment at all, you know? How about you, diddo? Do you like which, you have a preference? It's hard to say it's, it's, uh, being a player is more. more fun from a, like, from a traditional, uh, definition of the word fun. Uh, but I also, I don't know that anything really scratches the, like, creative satisfaction of,

of, like, GMing and feeling like it's coming together. How do you spell Shle Bethany? It's from Pat. And when is she getting, Pat says when, when is she getting her own movie? But I mean, like, serial, uh, or, story or clothing line. I think Shalbethany could be a multi-level integration. S-H-L-A-B-E-T-H-A-N-Y.

Jupiter is on our team. He's like our executive office assistant who makes everything. And it's also sort of my co-d-M, my scribe for all the stupid shit that I say. And Jupiter will often kind of be like, how do you spell, I don't know, Schlebetheny or Paul Pantry's perfect porridge or whatever goofy stuff I'm saying at that moment. So it's, it's, you know, you talk and then you don't really think about like, oh, somebody's got to write that down. But yeah, that's Schlebethany. I mean, Schlebethany is around.

Yeah. A lot of people apparently have asked who everybody's favorite Siebel Chase NPC is, and I think Schlebethany is a very powerful frontrunner. So I'm going to just say, besides Schlebethany, who is everyone's favorite NPC. God, I have to go with Deep Dark. Deep Dark's pretty good. Deep Dark kills me. I mean, Deep Dark is weird because Deep Dark is one of those that, like, that just started happening.

Do you guys ever have that? We're like, he just started, like, it sounds stupid, like, I don't know, but it probably sounds dumb, but, like, that just started happening. And I was actually just not second guessing it, because it's like, this is weird. I wonder why this guy is here. I joke about that a lot, but it's pretty true to my creative process. I just started talking and that guy started doing his thing. It's like, oh, man, that's weird. Okay, fine. There's this thing happening.

I don't know if you're doing it intentionally, and I'm even worried that saying something will ruin it. But, like, in, it reminds me of in Parks and Rec, there's this thing where every time they would have, like, a townsperson stand up at, like, a meeting or something. They, like, all had, like, the same last name randomly, right? And there's something about that from a writer's or section. that's so funny to me that they were just like, yeah, it doesn't make it another one of this guy. And so you just calling like MPCs that you think are gonna have like two lines,

just calling him Justin, that's good. He's so funny to me of just like, don't worry about it. I'm a Scott Bullflex stand until I die. I love that that just has a sexy button. Yeah, that's true. It's a sexy guy to come out.

That's like a, that's not like a D&D spell that I, have heard of before. This is great, too, because I think about it every time to add Jesus, Scott Volflex in a moment where Scott Bullflex has got to be thinking like, I was promised I was going to be integrated into some kind of arcade experience, but it seems like this old creep just brings me out to seduce people all the time. When do I get to be in my game?

Well, here's the beauty of using Scott Bowflex. All I do is push the button, call on Scott Bowflex, and then Justin has to take over again. Yeah, that's true. Here's one from Sierra for Dad. Dad, Clint, do you have a notebook again like you did for Zooks? Oh, yeah, yeah. Matter of fact, I am about 35 pages in on this notebook.

That's impressive. And just flipping through it, just pollen broth, and let's see, the fighting bedbugs, so much in here Delphi Reynolds no idea yeah can I ask you a question dad do you ever worry and I mean this sincerely do you because I would worry about this

that by like taking like by writing stuff down and focusing on writing stuff down that you're like miss either missing something or that you're not internalizing it you know because like that that would be my worries that I'd be so focused on writing stuff down that I'm like catching, you know, one thing and missing two. No, I really don't because my, now this sounds like a gag, but it's really not.

My journalism background was always taking notes while listening to a press conference or a conversation or discussion along with things like, you know, reading memos upside down on a mayor's desk, you know, the, you know, stuff, you know, Fletch, kind of, yeah, yeah, Fletch stuff. but no, and I usually jot something down in shorthand and then go back in and fill it in later with more degree. But it's come in so handy, came in so handy with Zooks so many times. And there have been quite a few times in this game where, you know, it's come in handy, like remembering Scott's parents' names and stuff like that.

That was hysterical. I was feeling like such hot shit when we started the dating show arc. And then the very first thing that was asked of me, I completely fucking failed. How about the one from Abby? When you're recording, what are you looking at? Is it full theater of the mind? Do you have a visual reference as to where your characters are in the space? How does that affect the way you play your character specifically in terms of battle-heist scenarios as opposed to plot-moving role-play heavy parts?

I think one of the things I've really had to get used to is, unlike D&D, Blades in the Dark, is not combat-centric. No. And when we do combat, it's a lot more solution-based than, you know, beating up. It's kind of like, I kind of compare you. Yeah, I was going to say. I beat people out of left and right, my dude. I look at it like Dark Souls.

You know, you face a face-based. boss and it's not necessarily how faster, how strong you are, how your spells are. There is a way to beat this boss. Yeah. And figuring that out. And maybe this is just because I'm not playing, you know, a brawler or playing a tank in this game. Yeah, it's interesting because I think for me, I, so I, I think benefit a little bit both from just the way I picture things in general, but also I listen to a lot of audiobooks. Like, I can't really sit down and read

anymore. So, like, I listen to audiobooks. So I've gotten pretty good at, like, picturing the scenes in my mind just, like, naturally. So as we're describing, like, the Gutter City laundry chase, right? Like, I don't need to, like, draw out positions of the car. Like, I can picture it. And then for me, as far as like figuring out the next thing to do, it's usually a matter of like that thing clicked of an idea. I don't need to think anymore if there's different options. It's the same way I pick what to eat at a restaurant. As soon as I see something that looks good, I stop looking at the menu because I don't want to like start to confit and be like, well, I could do this or this or this. It's like, nope, that's the thing you chose to do. And that's

what we're going to do. And so I'm usually like just kind of picturing it in my head. I think it would be hard to, we've started filming my brother, my brother me to put video clips and stuff. I don't think I could do that. No. With Adventure Zone because of how much I'm just like staring into the middle distance, like picturing what to do.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we also use Roll 20, which like we don't use it necessarily for a heavily like visual purpose, but I do like having our multiple sheets in front of me. And also I have the Blaze in the Dark reference site up because we are still kind of figuring that one out. But it's hard. I try not to get tunnel vision on that stuff because I will just fully start ignoring what is being said, which is not good. Darby asks, been loving getting to hear you all explore the different genres with each level.

Is there a particular genre you'd most like to try to explore either in Siebel Chase or a future mini-campaign? There's a, is there like a future sci-fi layer? There is, I think, right? What did I call it? Infinite item. Is that what it's called? Something like that, yeah.

I just don't have my dock up right now. It's infinitum or... Oh, the sidereal age. That's what it's called. That's good. The Siberial age? The sidereal age. The sidereal age, got it.

That's a cool ass name, man. Just you should have a cool ass names, man. Yeah, you're really good at that. You're really good at not being embarrassed by saying, like, fantastic. Made up bullshit. Yeah, and no matter how goofy or dumb it sounds, I'll just say it.

Yeah, you're very confident in that. I can't do that. Yeah, Griffin, I was actually thinking of a say, I would love to do like a, not even like, but like, hyper, like pure Oh no see I was gonna say more like

You know the original Star Trek Like space opera Like space Yeah but like space rangers Kind of like very swashbuckling Space heroes I think that that would be Absolutely wild

Well we've talked a lot Every time we start talking about What are we going to do in the next season And what are we going to play We've talked a lot about doing kind of a swashbuckling, you know, space opera kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

I think it's just like that idea has, like, all of us like that idea, and none of us have had that, like, core that everything pulls around and gives you like, oh, yeah, it all just solidified right there. All right, I'll start working on that. Thanks, Matt. You would be the one to do it. Justin, is there, like, well, I don't know how much you want to give away. I was going to ask if there's, like, a genre coming up,

but you're like, I can't wait to do this one, but if you don't want to give it away, you don't have to. Yeah, I mean, if somebody wants to give it away to me, I would love that. No, it's really, I can't think that far. I mean, it depends. I don't know how you guys are going to do

what you're trying to do right now. So it seems a little, uh, uh, I have to be, and that's not even like a, a question of not having enough time or whatever. Like, I can't,

I have some like, very general ideas for layers that would be fun. But like, it really is just kind of all dependent on whatever you guys do next. It's very, it's very reactive. I think that that, frankly,

is one of like, my biggest kind of learning takeaways, both from Blades of the North and watching you run it, is I think one of the things that I've gotten caught up in in the past of, like, DMing something of like, if I'm going to set up a challenge for the players, I also should be responsible for like knowing the way to solve it.

So because they like, but then with blades, it's more just like, it's not about that. It's like if they find a way that works for them to solve it, you just have to say yes to it. Right. Right. So it's not like I figured out the answer to my own puzzle. And so you have to figure out what that answer is. It's much more of just like here is a mountain to climb. And as long as you're moving towards the top, you're doing it right.

I try to put myself in the mind of a play. I used to play a lot. I mean, I used to only play so, like, I know that I never, I don't think on it there's any episode where I said like, I don't know. This is too hard. I quit. I don't know. This is impossible. So, I don't know.

It'll figure something out. It'll probably be better than whatever I come up with in a vacuum. Both David and Stephen asked questions about Crystal with a K. One, I mean, David. Wanted to know if, was it always an idea for her to have a mini subplot? And Stephen really wanted to know how Autumn C.B. Hicks became involved in the podcast. And the development of her character. Well, you see, back in high school, I started riding the bus with this girl named Autumn.

And she and I became friends. And then Justin asked her to be on the podcast. And that's basically, I think. We have kind of a shared, our families, both have like a shared interest in Disney stuff. We've gone to Disney before and have had different Disney type discussions. And they're very into watching these sorts of like Disney fan videos from like vloggers, people who cover Disney for a living. And there's a, there's one named AJ who does a cycle Disney food blog.

and Autumn just did like this killer AJ impression one time that I thought was so funny and then it's like wait a minute like it's funny but it's like not the kind of like wide reaching not everybody's going to be like oh god that's AJ from Disney food blog

but that is the sort of thing where I was like well wait a minute shit that could be a fun way to do like catch people back up and it's sort of become more than that Crystal with the K kind of like creates

like themes, sometimes to like foreshadow stuff that's coming up. I think like I've just never been very interested in like recaps. So it kind of feels like, uh, I try to kind of basically remind you what's going on, but like by and large, you know, we'll, we'll pick it back up. So Crystal with a K is, that's kind of, uh, and it's also like, I don't exactly know what's going on with Crystal of the K obviously. So it's, it's just one of those that is just another thing that I have there in case it becomes useful, basically. Oh, and Autumn does a great job, by the way. If you don't listen to Autumn's intros,

she always makes the text, like, so much funnier than I wrote it. Also, if you want more Autumn, Autumn has a great YouTube channel that you should go subscribe to, where she posts lots of fun lifestyle stuff and stuff about doing VO and everything. I'm the best. And speaking of reminding you what's going on, I want to remind you it's the Max Fun Drive.

And it's your chance to support. Really nice, dude. Really nice. Thanks, bud. Thank you guys. It's your chance to support shows like this and the creators like us and the network that we are a part of maximum fun.org slash join.

Does somebody want to tell them about the reward levels and entry levels of support? Sure will. Daddy. Yeah, $5. You get the bonus. content over 500 hours of it. $10, you get the bonus content. And one of 37 reusable stickers by artists Olivia Fields. These are gorgeous, high quality, and low commitment stickers, because

they can be unstuck. Think about that. Also, you get your own letterpress max fund membership card. $20 gets you all that plus the MaxFun Culinary Kit or Rocket Hat. The culinary kit has the MaxFund Family cookbook designed by Tom Deja featuring recipes from your favorite MaxFund shows and a jar of bespoke maximum flavor spice blend. And if you're not into the culinary stuff, you can offer the eco-friendly cap with an adjustable back and the MaxFund Drive rocket logo embroidered on it. Wow. Now for 35, you get all that in an apron.

Designed by Sabrina. Wow. It's a very nice apron. and for 50, all of the above, and a custom metal membership card. Hell yes. And if you go all the way for a hundred bucks... He's gone too far.

He's gone too far. All of the above, an HQ and immortalization of Max Fun HQ and if you go for 200, all of the above... No, no, no, no. This is gone, you've got too far. Oh, gosh. It's okay, Dad, come back.

Come back, guys. Help me! You're okay, now just come on back. He's seen the voice. He's seen the voice. He's fun, treasure box. Okay. Okay, great, cool.

Maximum fun. arc slash join, help us keep making this show. Let's see. Okay, so Rowan wants to know if we were employed to work at Siebel Chase, which layer would we want to work in? Seems like ephemera is the place to be. See, I like Gutter City. I like the idea of Gutter City.

That's probably been my favorite genre of layer we've done so far, because I'm like way into noir and detective and that kind of stuff. And so, like, I love that. I'm way into detective. I'm always saying stuff like that, for sure. That I'm way into detective stuff, I believe is what I said. I believe there was another noun there. I like noir and detective.

Those are my two big ones. Okay. I, um, the one I've been most wanting to go to, we haven't even touched. And that's backseat blast. You get to be my age and nostalgia is a very strong motivating. thing. What? Backseat blast is in used to Ben. Yeah, we know that, right. But I'm zoning, I'm zooming in on that. It's where you sit in the backseat, the oversized backseat of your parents' car, and it's raining, and you listen to your disc man. And I just really flash back to, you know,

long trips in the back of a station wagon with a stack of comic books and a car sick bag. Because when I read comic books. How did you never took us? What? And just threw you in the back of a station wagon? You never took us on any car trips when we were growing up. Why is that? Well, I have a picture of the three of you crying and screaming in the backseat of a car in a car car car. You can Photoshop anything.

I don't want to hear it. AI. Anything's possible. But I'd love to go to backseat blast and just sit there. Feel small. I'd love to get blasted in the backseat. I'm too old for Kid Adelphia. so I don't actually know which layer I'd pick.

Probably ephemera. It seems pretty fun. Justin, what player's choices have surprised you the most so far? Also, if possible, please rate them on a 1 to 5 for Bethany Scale 5 being the most surprising. And that's from whom? That's from Justin. That's from Justin. Probably not ours.

Dad's sort of wanton disregard for his own personal safety physically, speaking. speaking is a constant thrill. I am constantly sort of the extent to which Griffin will go to avoid any sort of physical confrontation is always fun. Because a lot of times Griffin will be the one that wanders into a situation. And I'll be thinking like, wow, you're going to have to talk you right through this. I legitimately don't know how you're going to convince a brick wall to like separate or whatever it is. So that's,

that's, uh, that's, uh, that's always fun. Um, I was surprised by how I didn't, the stuff with, um,

Hank, Emrick becoming sort of like, more, uh, a cognizant of hard light as a possible, like, entity is, is something that I like,

didn't expect. Um, in fact, I had kind of, of actively not wanted to wander into that sort of like Westworld iRobot territory but like the more we messed around with it the more it just felt like we kind of have to like we we that question is just like hanging out in the open air and it's an interesting one I think with everything going on in the world um so yeah uh but but it's but they're always so full of surprises these boys

i'm glad i've been a nice predictable boy for you just and you're welcome no well i mean you just got these big muscles. Yeah. And my character does too. Yeah. That's funny. It was funny. Anderson asked because Anderson's family had worked at a small amusement park in Ohio.

Is there any chance we will get to meet employees of Steve Will Chase that are not like customer-facing entertainers? Because Anderson can assure you that maintenance guys probably know about the buttercream because they know everything. Well, there's Justin. And there's Doug Mancetti. And then there's Justin, too. Wait, now, how do we know? I, how do we know Doug Manzetti's not? I mean, he's entertaining.

He's filming. He's there. Right? If you are participating in, uh, this is where it gets weird, right? If you're in Passions Cove, you're watching Doug perform. Wow, that's something else. I can't think of my man, Doug, like that. I know, right?

You don't even know the real Doug Manzetti. Um, Who's a real dogman's Eddie Justin? Tell me now. It's me. I'm doing the most stuff. Holy shit. Surprise.

It is you, I mean, it's hard because, okay, for starters, they know about the buttercream. The buttercream is not a secret. Like, the Antonin knows about the buttercream. They just don't, they just kind of leave it be for the most part because it works out for them.

It's not like a secret to them. Secondly, it's hard because if you are like we are usually bringing them into like having a guest experience within one of the layers and you just simply would not like it's all so um uh built built into the like you wouldn't see maintenance people like that that that is part of the the thing is like they would not be incorporated they probably would be incorporated in some like in world ways but like As far as someone who is clearly not a part of the layer, then I don't think that you would necessarily encounter them as much. But there are people that I think would fit that description that are around. It just hasn't been somebody running too much. Abby asked, and we talked about this a little bit,

but Abby asks if, as we're changing game systems and campaigns and stuff, along with genres and settings and combinations, if there are any game systems or anything like that that you've been looking at? I would say, like, I have just started, like, the idea occurred to me looking into, like, kids on bikes, and that kind of, like, you know, kids getting together going on an 80s-style adventure kind of thing is very interesting to me, potentially pursuing that and doing a game around that kind of thing might be fun.

I honestly, I don't, I don't keep up with it very good. I don't keep up with games very good. So I don't know. I wish I had something cool to say here. I've looked at lots of game systems, but I haven't thought about DMing since I finished season one of ETHC. So. So from Tom, how does this system like Blades of the Dark compare with previous systems

when it comes to creating and then role-playing a character? For example, Balance had character classes background that influenced the character choices for Magnus and Merlin Taco, whereas the steeple choice characters seem less tied to a particular style of play. I would agree with that immensely. Like, so much of Magnus came out of the prompts, like, when we first built the characters for, like, the, what was going to be, like, that one episode bonus kind of thing. And it had the, like, and what's your characters like core belief and what's their biggest flaw? And that kind of stuff. And that's great for a certain type of playing.

Yeah. What I love about Blaz of the Dark is this idea of having these huge empty gaps that you fill in while playing. It also extends, I feel like, to character development. Like, I don't, there's a lot. I don't know about Montrose. Like a lot, a lot, a lot. And it's been fun kind of just having that stuff appear while we've been in the middle of just like a scene. And I think that that is one of the, obviously you can do that with any game system. But I feel like, Like with Blades in the Dark, it's just really easy to do that. Oh, I was just to say, I think that that also is, like, part of it, where if you think about, like, heist movies, like, think about Ocean's 11, right? The only things you know about those characters is, like, the stuff they're good at on the team. And, like, the people they get along well with on the team. Like, you usually only learn, you don't know, like, are they married?

Like, do they have kids? That doesn't matter. Don't worry about that. We're just worried about like what they're doing right now and how they work with everybody else. And I think Blades in the Dark lens itself, I think that there is some predetermination, if nothing else, just because of the way that you operate. I mean, you've got your skills. You've got, you know, what you're able to do.

You, you know, maybe you're stronger in insight, prowess, and resolve or one of those. And I think that if you're, if you're trying to play it, well, and I don't mean, I think we're all playing it better than when we first started. But I think when you're playing it correctly, it does lend itself to that because Emrick is not going to turn around and, you know, fight with him. He's not going to win an arm wrestling contest. And, you know, he's not very good at swaying people. And I think that has you play to your strength and also kind of refine that.

Yeah, it's much less likely for you to do really, really good at something you're not skilled in in this game than in like a D&D to be, for example. Yeah, because I mean, the less dice you have, like the less it's not like a number scale. You know what I mean? It's because also what's interesting is the in D&D, the DM can decide how difficult a thing is. Like, well, that's a 12. That's a DC. Right. Right.

H-CDC, whatever. Whereas this is like, man, if you roll the four, the DM gets to decide, or the GM gets to decide, like what a mixed success looks like, but it is a mixed success. And so it's very interesting because I think it is less of like, you know what, I'm going to try something bold and wild,

but not my skill set is not what that's for, which I think is really interesting. Yeah. Justin, Carly wants to know how challenging was it to adapt the game to an original setting. For anyone who doesn't know, Blades in the Dark is supposed to be set.

Now I'm trying to remember, what's the name of the actual place? Dustfall. And it's supposed to be tied to like Duskfall and like when you talk about factions, there are predetermined factions in Dust Quall and all that. Justin, where the concessions you had to make in the vision of Siebel Chase to fit the game?

Or did the mechanics serve as more of a guide? Like what was the Yeah, lots of all thoughts. I mean, Dustfall is a really cool world that's very well detailed. But, like, I knew that I was going to have to keep so much in my head already that I had to, like, jettison all of it. Because I couldn't keep track of, like, somebody else's thing that they had already made up. And it didn't just click with what I was doing. So there's a lot of really cool stuff within duskfall.

That it would have been nice to be able to use, but it's also sort of, like, weird to just sort of lift that from from our buddy John Arbor wholesale. This is our podcast now, John. But I... You're allowed to use that story, John, if you want. Yeah, you can use that story, John. Right. There's some stuff, you know, specifically there's some supernatural elements to

Duskfall, the presence of ghosts and like the way the electrical grid works and stuff like that that is inbuilt to the game system that I've had to sort of graft. I think we've talked about this before, but like, graft those ideas onto technology, onto hardlight. Yeah, hard light's a good example of it, because we had to kind of take, you know, make that up from whole cloth. Control a ghost in the rules document and then replace. And sense a ghost, trap a ghost, you know, all that kind of stuff we've kind of had to

adapt. The first character I was looking at doing before I came up with Montrose was a whisper, which is the class of dad that Emmerich is. but I was worried about trying to kind of like do that constant replacement in my head while I was playing the character and got turned off of it. But I'm glad that did because it's like a really cool sort of tool to work with. Yeah, it's interesting because like Carly also wanted to know about like building the characters. And especially playing like a cutter where the idea of like,

I'm going to sneak up behind this guy and like cut his throat or like, you know, throw them off a bridge or something. Like, I'm not going to do that in this. Because, like, these people, they're just working at the park most of the time. And it's not like, you know, I'm not going to like Shiv Shrewk

to get his keycard or something. You know what I mean? Like, that's, it's a different thing. So thinking about it. You can fucking try. You can fucking try. I, Shrew would destroy you. I never would. I never would. I know you would. I have fear. Yeah. But it's also like a bit of like

then building. a character who's very physically imposing and uses strength to solve problems, but not necessarily violence, like more strength-based than violence-based of like submission rather than, you know, killing. I think made for, I think it's more fun than if I was just playing a solid murderous brood. Well, you made that, you made that conscious choice to change him and make him, it was like a Wonder Man choice of, you know, he's not, I know Beef's not a pacifist, but, you know, it's, it's much more creative what you've, you've tried to do. Yeah, just trying to do, I mean, and I think one of my favorite moments we've had so far is when, like, we all kind of simultaneously suffered trauma during Gutter City.

And I think those traumas, and I think that this is the way it's supposed to work within the game, were very informative to, like, how we were playing the characters. They were the first major signposts, I think, for where we should take literally all of our characters. Yeah. And it just really informed beefs feel of like, I don't want to like, I don't know how much more I can deal with this like violence and threat and like seeing people get hurt and that kind of thing of like, okay, cool, that's there, man. That's that's in his brain and he's trying to find solutions and everything. and so like having a brute basically that doesn't really want to get hurt or see somebody get hurt. Yeah, it's made it more interesting. The stress, the trauma, all those things have, you got to applaud this game.

That really has shaped all of our characters. You know, you can't just take a potion and you're healed or cast a spell and you're healed. You've got to make conscious choices about what you're going to do. And I love that. And I think it is informed all three of our characters. Yeah, it was a great. Especially me. Yeah, the stress and indulge vice man is so cool.

Yeah, I feel like I was really struggling to figure out what kind of character mantras like I wanted him to be until he got that reckless trauma. And now it's like, oh, okay, now I have permission to make the most fun, arguably worst choice, just any time I'm presented with the option to do so, which is a great, a great, a great gift. Justin, Nelson wants to know how much do you feel percentage-wise or however else you want to phrase it?

Do you think that you've had to make up on the spot because of curveballs that people have thrown at you? It felt like that one scene with Hank came completely out of left field. Who's Hank? Hank is the other

creator of Scott Boltflex. That was completely out of left field. That was fucking serious. I really thought that's where. That was completely out of left field. I had no idea. Oh. But I just like, I had no choice, right?

Like, I started doing it. Like, I fucking, I'll be straight with you for the first minute of that. I had no idea who Hank Hart was. I could not remember any of that. And I was like madly trying to talk to you while I was looking through our reference documents. And I was like, uh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, okay, maybe if.

Sure. Yeah. But it's, but it's also like, I tell you what's nice about this, guys, though, that works well for me is as good as anything else I had, which is to say nothing. I mean, it works just as well as me coming up with something on the spot, is dad coming up with something on the spot. And I don't have a bunch of stuff ahead. It's not like I've planned 18 steps ahead of this to where him being this person is going to fuck up anything. It's really like, oh, that seems really interesting.

Let's see. I mean, let's see what happens. Cool. I've really enjoyed kind of drinking from that cup a little bit. when we first showed up in ephemera, and I was like, what if, what if Montrose just knew a lot of stuff about a femur because he was like a big ephemera geek?

But then that's been fun, because now it's like the S&L sketch that Bill Hader and Kristen Wigg did, where they sang the song at the same time, just like looking at each other. Oh, no, no, no. No, it was. Fred Armist.

Fred Armist. Yeah. Kath and Kim, I think. It's been fun because it's like, And Justin, I think, has been a good steward of it because on one hand, I recognize, like, you can't just make it so that, like, there are no surprises. I can't be surprised by anything here because I've done it all. But it's been, it's been, I also like Disney shit. And so it's been fun to kind of get to flex some of that as well.

Speaking of Jupiter, when I knew we were doing ephemera, I went to him and I said, listen, I need help coming up with fantasy garbage. and it can't be good and it can't be really mean anything. I need like the Lipsum or a version of lore. And Jupiter's like, you know what? I have my degree in this. And I had no idea. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, no problem.

And he cranked out this like fucking lore document for ephemera that is unhinged. All the stuff about the Viscounts. The Viscounts of the seven, all that stuff is like Jupiter turned that out in like a few hours and like dumped it on my desk he's like here's a but yes for garbage boss

here's a bunch of garbage that's like that's why it's so that's why that stuff is so wild is because I purposefully like didn't want it to be interesting enough to try to pursue but I wanted it to be implying that there's like a lot of it and there is there's a lot of

there's a lot of it you know I think it was in Griffin said I'm into Disney shit too. Justin, I'm going to request now just if there could be a layer at some point that is like a tune town-esque

feel. I would fucking love. I was just watching a documentary about like, or whatever, a video about the Mickey's like tune town rise and fall at Disney World

and now it's, I believe, the circus. But like that was one of my favorite parts of like Disney World when I was a kid. And I was thinking about that of like,

oh, fuck there's got to be think about having a like strong man brute in tune town where there's like squash and squash and stretch and shit i would love that uh any other goodness i tell you a goodn it's the max fun network it's a good podcasting network full of a lot of great podcasts like ours this one you're listening to here um if you have noticed we used to do these during max fun because this show was uh would only come out every other week but now to your generous support, it comes out weekly because we are able to do that because you all have been so kind to us. And your contributions to the network and to our show specifically really

help us to make all of the stuff that we make. And it's really the reason that we're still doing all this stuff. So it's a direct one to one. If you like what we make, if you could go to maximum fund.org forward slash join and help us make it with your financial support, it really is a huge help. And listen, it's not just us. At this point, we've been doing this for over a decade. Justin's mentioned Jupiter. There's also Sarah and Amanda.

And if you like merch designs, that's McKay. We've got our editor, Rachel. We've got Tom helping us doing more video stuff now, doing the virtual live shows. We've got Danielle. We've got Alice. Shannon? Shannon. Like, there's a team of people that help us.

make good stuff and tell you about it and get it in front of your ears and eyeballs. And we wouldn't be able to pay those people. We wouldn't be able to work with them if it wasn't for the support that you've given us over the years. It's been given us the option to not only grow this as our jobs, but grow it. So we're doing more and more stuff that we're able to bring you more stuff and all of that. We wouldn't be able to do without the support that you give us every. year in Max Fund Drive. It means so much to us and so much to the team. Thank you. Thank you so much

for that support. We talked about the bonus content that's available when you do make that commitment. What is it this year? What is it this year for Taz? For Taz, it's Charlie Verse 2, cartoon, cartoonier and cartoonist. Which is a real treat. We appreciate all the nice things you've said about Steeble Chase so far, but I think Charlie has some sort of once-in-a-lifetime gift. And if you want to support that, then I think, you know, this is this is the way to do it. Yeah. And if you if you liked everything everywhere all at once, the Charlieverse is like that. Light years beyond that. Yeah. Whoa. Okay. Not not overselling it at all. And if you're interested in the making of it, we did, Justin and Charlie did a making of the Charlieverse

audio as an extra piece of bonus content. You can hear the making of the Charlieverse. The powers in your hands. Justin, is there anything else you want to say about Seagelchap before we wrap up? Basically, any feedback anywhere in terms of like... Do you want me to look it up? I'll read it to you.

We're going to look up for you back and tell it to Justin while he wraps up here. I'd super rather you didn't. But, you know, if you're enjoying it and you want to tell other people like, hey, this is good. You can listen to it. That's cool. I would really appreciate it.

Because I feel really proud of it. And I think it says a lot about the whole thing feels like a little bit of me that I'm like encapsulating in this arc, which is cool. The sense that I'm able to put a little bit of myself into this thing and crystallize this person that I am right now. And the fact that people are into it is very, it's very nice. I'm assuming they're into it just based on these questions because it'd be weird to ask questions like this if you don't care. Right. Got it. Hey.

One last question from me as we wrap up. Did you always have plans for the creaky man? Or was that a joke that became a real boy? Can't talk about that. Oh, why? Because can't talk about that. Man. Next.

I have very few things that I know. I have so little that I know anymore, Mac. I can't. I know. Oh, trust me. I'm there, bud. I'm there. Okay.

Okay. Thanks for listening, though. And thanks for donating maximum fun.org for it's join as the URL. And thanks for all the questions, too. Yeah, yeah, it's very cool of you. Thank you so much. We'll be back at this exact same, like, time slot,

because that's how podcasts work. Yeah. With a new episode of the Adventure Zone Steeplechase next time. And as Griffin says at the end of every episode of the event. Oh, I thought you were going to quote. No, you go ahead and say, you can say it this time. Justin is my hero Maximumfund.org

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