Category Archives: Tabletop

10 things I want you to know

Things I want you to know about today:

  1. My friend Mikey Neumann’s show Movies With Mikey is being considered for an Emmy. If you are eligible to vote, I hope you’ll vote for him.
  2. There’s a new Tabletop! It’s Mysterium.
  3. I did a new Radio Free Burrito, and I’m quite happy with this one.
  4. I backed this white noise machine on Kickstarter about a year ago, and I’ve had it for about a month. It is the best white noise machine I have ever owned in my life, and I’ve owned a lot of them. If you have trouble sleeping or wake up easily during the night, check out Snooz. (NOTE: This is not an endorsement and I didn’t get anything for mentioning this. I just wanted you to know about it because it’s awesome.)
  5. I traded in my Nexus 6P for a Pixel and holy balls, it’s an incredible smartphone. I think I’m going to trade in my iPad for a Pixel tablet.
  6. I bought about 50 Choose Your Own Adventure books from eBay. Starting with the next Storytime With Wil, we’re going to have a whole bunch of new stories to explore together!
  7. I’m working with my business team to make some Facebook changes, including changing my personal page to a fan page, so we can do more business … uh … stuff. It’s weird. But one of the things we’ll be doing is sharing stories and posts from other sources (I guess this is a thing people do on Facebook now? I’ve been doing it on Tumblr for years, so I guess it’s the same?) and I’m very interested to know what sorts of sites and topics you’re interested in, if you read my dumb Facebook page.
  8. I’m coming to Washington, DC, for Awesome Con this weekend.
  9. My friend Ashly Burch refused to cross a picket line to perform the voice of Chloe — a beloved character she created — for the prequel to Life is Strange. Gamers are, sadly and predictably, being shitty to her about it. I remind everyone that Square Enix could easily bring Ashly back, by signing an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA, and respecting the contributions Ashly has made to the game. I stand with her, and I wrote about why I do several months ago.
  10. John Doe, from the seminal punk band, X, wrote a memoir about punk in the 80s, called Under the Big Black Sun. In addition to his own memories, he asked other people who were there, like Jane Wiedlin, Henry Rollins, and Jack Grisham. The book is an incredible read, on part with Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, or The Kid Stays In The Picture. But the audio version is sensational, because the essayists who contributed to the book read their own work. If you’re a fan of the music and the musicians, I can’t oversell how great it is to own both audio and print versions, because the photos in the print version are magnificent.

Okay, that’s ten things for you to know. Anything you want me to know?

 

Event Zero | FATE | Tabletop

Our most recent episode of Tabletop is a narrative RPG, powered by FATE, which is one of my very favorite systems for storytelling in gaming. In fact, if you’re a writer or storyteller, it has some tools and design philosophies in it that are extremely useful, whether you play RPGs or not.

Tabletop fans will likely be as excited as I am to have John Rogers (FIASCO, Season One) back, and some lady who I think was on Buffy once or whatever. We also have Ryan Macklin, who is not just one of the Fate designers, but is one of the most amazing GMs I’ve ever had the privilege to play with.

We had no idea what we were going to play when we came together, and that was be design. One of the strengths and joys of FATE is how easy it makes it for the players and the GM to build a satisfying and narratively complex experience by asking questions, collaborating to find the answers, and working together within a simple set of guidelines to define the world and their characters. Every time I’ve played FATE, I’ve had as much fun during the design phase of the adventure as I did when we were actually playing in it.

We ended up building a world that takes place after Event Zero, which is when all the rules of reality fell apart for reasons that were never completely explained or understood. Horrible monsters tore into our universe, psychic powers became real, and now there is unrest everywhere. We then designed characters who are in a Supernatural Containment Unit. They go where they are needed, to keep things under control, handle people who see things they shouldn’t see, and confront Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.

I am delighted by the way this episode came together. The art is wonderful and the storytelling is just delicious. I hope you like this as much as I do, and I hope it inspires you to play more games!

Tabletop Season 4: Star Realms

Do you like deck building games? How about games that can fit in your pocket? HOW ABOUT BOTH OF THOSE THINGS AT THE SAME TIME?!

Yes, of course you do, because you’re not a real person, but in fact a representation I invented so I can address this post to someone who has said YES three times since it started.

So, imaginary person (and perhaps real people who are also listening at the moment), you’re going to love this week’s Tabletop. It’s Star Realms, and I play against delightful human and Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour player Melissa DeTora.

 

Did you know that I wrote and narrated a supernatural horror story? I DID, and it’s only five bucks!

 

Tabletop S04E07: Harbour

Harbour packs a lot of game into a very small box, and we had a whole lot of fun when we played it this season.

This episode also includes what I think is my very favorite quote ever uttered in the history of the show, courtesy of Nika Harper: “I am a nihilistic wolf shepherd with an anchor and nothing to lose”.