Brandon: "I want to make a story about a big man pushing a sphere around a world and it leaves lifegiving substance behind. But it would be very destructive to people and buildings caught beneath the sphere. BUT that would be way too unbelievable." Brandon: *Writes a story about a big spirit man pushing a storm around a world, leaving lifegiving substance behind, with the storm being very destructive to people and buildings caught beneath it.*
@@terabyter9000 the Stormlight Archive series is set on a world with High Storms that are very destructive, but also leave important life giving substance in their path. There's a being called the Stormfather involved in moving those high storms across the planet.
Hey Brandon. I wanted to say thank you for this podcast. I’m also an insomniac and when I can’t sleep I need to listen to conversation podcasts to relax my brain and help me fall asleep. Don’t take this the wrong way, but these episodes are perfect for helping me drift off without getting anxious. So thank you for that.
SAME. I do exactly that. I especially love Coode Street, Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy and Eating the Fantastic. I agree, these are perfect for relaxation. It feels like I’m there in the room hanging out with them.
I wish RUclips had a sleep timer and bookmark like Audible has. I can go to sleep with a book, wake up and return to around the time I put my phone down.
Well as long as we are talking about Sith morality for half a second, I think it's important to point out that "from [their] point of view, the Jedi are evil." -Anakin Skywalker at his most angsty.
Instead of a Giant, it should be a very tiny person. Reference: Katamari Damacy. A tiny man rolling stars and planets together off of things that stick to his sphere from the larger planet he is on.
I like the idea of bugs. My 'yes,and' was that it's a giant ball of alien insects and vermin, and it used to roll all over the entire world chaotically and ruining everyone's lives, until the people of the world found out how to 'carrot on a stick' it, and then the ball started to roll in a predictable pattern as long as they keep the carrot-caravan(carro-van) on the same highway then people can try to build their civilization away from the path. Obvious story ideas: Someone is trying to disrupt it, etc. And it still sheds creatures and bugs and stuff along the way since it's a loose consciousness, not a hivemind.
What if he's rolling it around a gas giant, and there is no atmosphere on the smaller planet... so they have to constantly move to keep close enough to the gas giant to breathe.
That Earl's character story was really nice. Letting a player build a character that might be overpowered, but allowing them to do it to make them feel safe/happy, instead of being a "rules lawyer" afraid of breaking stuff, is great. And I loved how they made use of his character's abilities as a scout, and instead of thinking he's overpowered, the PARTY is what benefited (not just Earl), and that was used as a narrative tool.
33:43 As a child, the very first RPG video game I played was Interplay's Lord of the Rings, and it did a fantastic job of doing the same thing. While part of this was because I was too young to understand that level up mechanics existed in the game, it really gave off this impression of you being a rag tag group trying to survive against superior monsters. Some of those monsters, you just could never defeat in straight up combat no matter what you did. You had to learn prayers by completing quests elsewhere and then you would be rescued from certain fights by invoking those prayers. It had so much detail in terms of what was available to do and say in the world, it was an incredibly immersive experience. But it wasn't open world, it was just large scale in terms of the 90s kind of games. I've never played anything else quite like it. Unfortunately, like most Interplay games, and many 90s era games, it was unstable and could randomly crash without warning, so you had to be very methodical about periodically saving. I also had to save scum quite a bit because RNG played a huge role in the fights. It would probably be less of an issue if I went back as an adult, but as a child I didn't understand the nuance of the mechanics. I remember the Balrog being my biggest obstacle. I couldn't figure out how to properly trigger the sequence where Gandalf defends the party, so I just face tanked his massive attack and ran away with as many survivors as I could manage. I eventually settled on Frodo dying, and some of the bigger combat members of the group, but Gandalf made it out. Eventually, I discovered how to get Gandalf to properly use his staff, but at that point I preferred having Gandalf around to spell sling.
the handprints would be incredibly valuable geography, depending on how smooth each sphere is. the handprints could be a place to shelter if get caught behind the rotation.
20:48 Funny story about TMNT RPG. I started playing RPGs with d&d in the 80's and the only time my mom was concerned was seeing the gun pictures in the TMNT book I borrowed. Satanic panic? No. Gang influences? That was more of a reality for me growing up.
This episode made me really want to recommend Burning Wheel to Dan, and honestly I feel like Brandon would probably be able to enjoy it since it does have some weird systems to mess with. It's a narrative focused d6 dice pool system where the plot is driven by the goals of your characters and you only improve your character through using your skills and by roleplaying well. Instead of classes you define your character by the stations they've held in life. My character isn't a fighter, he's a farm boy turned soldier turned slave turned jester who enjoys making deals with the devil on the side. Extra bonus for the entire ruleset being only 2 books. It's got a lot of crunchy rules system, but most of that comes from optional side systems, like the full combat and debate mechanics, and the like 10 completely distinct magic systems. I'd also recommend Mouse guard, which from what I hear is burning wheel lite but you're all basically mouse paladins, find the box set if you can.
Is Burning Wheel purely Fantasy or is it not genre exclusive? It sounds really fun. Also, mouseguard sounds fun. From that brief description I imagine something between Redwall and the Mouse Couriers from Septimus Heap.
@@wylanvallotton4462 it's Tolkien esque medieval fantasy with no inherent setting but a semi-implied one. There are setting books for older editions of BW, I believe both a Japan themed one and a dune-style sci-fi setting. And there's a lot of tips for homebrewing your own stuff, but it seems like a bunch of work and the BW homebrew community is unfortunately small. And I believe mouseguard is based on a comic series of the same name.
@@wylanvallotton4462 The implied setting is fantasy. They also put out a Dune homage supplement, a gun-slinging post-apoc supplement, and a medieval Japan supplement. There's also a Sci-Fi spin-off game called Burning Empires that uses very nearly the same system. So... The skeleton of the system can accommodate different types of flesh, I reckon. Mouse Guard is based on the (children's?) comic book of the same name by David Petersen.
I have a strange obsession in Dnd with kidnapping orcs or goblins and trying to convince them to join us. It started an entire campaign around Goblins Anonymous, a group of reformed goblins that worked to fight evil and proselytize other goblins.
I like how you talked about D&D campaign where you learned your identity&class during the game. I was immediately reminded of your lvl-0 kickstarter adventure "First Step" where you supposedly build your character through the choices made during the game.
Regarding the worldbuilding, in the I.Banks Culture series was a planet satellite which was artificially lowered so that the orbit was almost touching the main planet. So it looked like it is rolling over. It had a functional sense as well.
I just read that not too long ago. It was a moon lowered so close to the atmosphere-less parent planet that it was actually _below ground level_, orbiting it through a huge canyon at ludicrous speeds. That was crazy.
I'm with brandom on the Gming thing. I was working tech support and found that the part of my brain I used to make and run dnd games was exhausted when I came home.
Love hearing you guys talk about the TMNT RPG! :) My friends and I played the crap out of that (and most of the other Palladium books). Great memories!
The rolling planet idea is actually kindof done in an episode of the Little Prince animation series. The planet is a spinning dice and the inhabitants are constantly pushing their home to not fall in the void.
I love how giddy Brandon gets when he recites his most cockamaimie ideas. "I've always wanted to write about a world that's suspended in the spittle of a giant cosmic lobster that has been caught in the net of a giant cosmic fisherman."
Brandon is like "This is horrible" but now I'm thinking of all the possibilities and how the god Drargrith tried to steal the world from the other gods, and broke the golden path the world was set into amongst the stars in the process, and when he was discovered he was shackled to the world to push it for all time to make up for this. Because the golden path was set by the pantheon, and he is just a single god, he is only ever able to push it around the larger sphere it once orbited gracefully. The larger planet is made of clouds that are toxic to humans but also carry energy that causes life to grow rapidly. The god of animals blessed his children with larger lungs, air bladders, and ways to filter out the gases in order to live, and the goddess of plants made sure her children could survive the sudden change in pressure and environment. Dwarves and wurm-tenders are the only ways to travel safely between locations via water or deep earth respectively, and settlements are built either in caves or in specially blesses areas where the air is kept pure by divine mandate. Edit: Holy crap Secret Book #4.... Brandon is such a badass.
I think Brandon was watching Invader Zim when he came up with this one. When Zim steals the moon and tries to squish all the humans on earth by rolling it around the surface.
When giant don't work, change it to a micro perspective. My favorite war craft theory is that the airships and giant armor are plausible because the humans are actually 6 inches tall
37:52. I'm the same type of player. I started playing recently (start of covid) with 5e, and my first character was minmaxed. But all my subsequent characters have been me trying to come up with some kind of quirky mechanical style that is powerful but also kind of offbeat. Maybe this isn't considered very original but my favorite character so far has been a Changeling Shadow Sorcerer that uses Subtle Spell Metamagic to get spells off in conversations. He also uses stuff like gaseous form and invisibility, so he can sneak into anywhere, and look like anything at will etc. He's got ok damage due to a 2 level dip into warlock (eldritch blast), but he's designed as the ultimate infiltrator. I only ran him for a oneshot only (turned into two sessions) , but it was super satisfying. We started by doing a mission for an evil king, and then switched sides and helped the kings enemies take the kings castle. But we were all roleplaying as characters with very mercenary attitudes. So after sneaking in and opening the gate, instead of helping with the fight, I snuck into the kings vault and looted it. My warlock dip was into Genie, so I was able to encumber myself with everything in the vault and hide in my ring, right before messaging my party. When the rest of the party got into the vault with the kings enemies, the kings enemies were super annoyed and assumed the king had moved his treasure. But my party picked up the ring and we walked out with an insane amount of loot. We're going to run a follow up oneshot later and our GM is rolling for a ton of rare items because of what we did. Seriously the most fun I've ever had with a character.
I played every D&D edition from 2e to 5e. 4e was my favourite. I liked how easy it was to build a decent character. You couldn't accidentally create one who was really weak or totally overpowered. I also liked how everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses, so everyone got a chance to shine instead of the same overpowered characters always hogging the spotlight
I liked 4e too but no one else in my gaming group did, when they switched I stopped playing. Following a bunch of nitpicky rules about bonuses and crap is what computer games are for IMO.
I think the 4e rules would make an absolutely stellar tactical rpg video game, in the style of Shining Force or Final Fantasy Tactics. It was way too minis-focused for my theater-of-the-mind brain to rally get into, but it’s an excellent system in a very specific niche.
Brandon, your crazy story idea is basically the game Katamari Damacy. Where a little guy rolled up things into a ball until it got bigger and bigger. Starts with paperclips, grows to people, then buildings, then continents and finally galaxies.
This is such a nerdy podcast episode and I’m here for it. Makes me miss role playing a little too. Imagine getting to play with Brandon as a teen or college student, the DM skill…😮
This was a surreal episode for me. I played a singular one-shot of Follow (Ben Robbins) where we were playing failed/weak meanie weanies (like goblins and a vampire who is stuck as a bat). Our mission? Turn off the light switch on the other side of a giant living room. With how it played out, we could totally use "Big House" as canon to our story. Love it!
What if the opposing "gravities" of the two planets affect how you live during each cycle? People closest to the poles have the greatest consistency of their gravity, whereas as you live closer the cycles become more volatile; when you go down and approach the other planet, the two opposite gravities make things feel lighter, and in some cases even float (or, in dangerous cases, drift to the larger planet), whereas at the top end of the cycle the gravity is almost doubled, making everything feel much heavier. Could add an interesting dynamic 🤔
In a recent game I played a character who was kinda like a ghost, without actually being a ghost. It took something extra for me to interact physically, and I could pass through walls. I kept myself hidden from the other players, with one exception. One of the characters was of some interest to my Charater, and so I would occasionally show myself to him when we were alone or the others were asleep and talk. The thing is he was crazy. He saw and heard things that were not real all the time, wo he assumed I was one of those things. Another player occasionally heard me or magically sensed me, but never had proof for the group and his character was blind. So I would follow the group around, using magic to help in various situations, and anytime they noticed the things I did to help them it was always attributed to the super lucky leprechaun of the party. So to recap, I was basically a ghost who always hid in the ground or the walls, and the one person I showed myself to was crazy and thought I wasn't real. He had illusion powers and so on the occasion that someone else caught a glimpse they thought it was him accidentally casting an illusion of one of his hallucinations. The blind player had begun to suspect something, but never had evidence, and my contributions were thought to be bits of random chance thanks to the super lucky leprechaun. That was fun.
The giant made me think of a dung beetle, and now I’m picturing a huge beetle rolling a moon-sized object around the… equator, would it be? Or perhaps a meridian? It sounds a bit like the celestial clock in my WIP. Also like the perpetual-free-fall one, which I also appreciate.
The Giant Who Pushes the World He dies or falls unconcious or perhaps dissapears, breaking the tenuous balance of orbit and sending the smaller world into the larger planet
I would like to suggest City of Mist to Dan and Brandon. It's a noir/superhero sort of system. You're character is a rift that has some sort of story (mythos) trying to re-enact itself through your character. A lot of fun can come from having characters drastically different to the mythos (i.e. a billy the kid mythos that is actually a 6 year old in kindergarten still). Based around having 4 theme books with "tags" in them that represent your abilities. Each roll is 2d6+the number of applicable tags and you have a set of moves(so things you roll for) meant to evoke a noir mystery vibe. I've found it's really flexible and lets you get some really unexpected builds going.
Podcast promised Sith talk, get D&D talk instead. But at least now I know which one to point to when people ask about Brandon and D&D in the live stream. :-D
I started this podcast in the background and was wondering why Brandon is talking to Adam Scott. Also, the rolling world should mainly be a story about movement. Eternal nomads, never building, everything is mobile, and progress is ingrained in the psyche and religion.
In my second ever DnD experience, I was a Raptoran bard with a bag of holding and I could fly. I got the DM to get me a giant jingle bell. I would fly above my foes, open the bag, drop the bell, and use my summon instrument cantrip to redrop repeatedly. In DnD dropping things barely scratches foes but it sure felt good.
I would love to read Brandon's solution for the literal gravity of the situation. How do people not just get pulled to the bigger planet each rotation?
Hmm... maybe they have moving cities, and have to stay perpendicular to the gravitational pull at all times. Anyone who doesn't live there has sticky shoes and very good core strength.
Density! The smaller planet could be similar in terms of mass if it were far more dense than the larger planet and then gravity only gets wonky very close to the area where they touch. (Disclaimer, I failed Physics).
Honestly I think that sometimes it's fun to have a setting that is so high fantasy that that kind of thought process doesn't even work. Like Discworld.
The massive ball could be on an ocean planet with precious resources on the bottom. Intense storms redistribute materials across this sea kinda like in Stormlight that way the resources the ball picks up are constantly changing.
an interesting dnd character I want to try is a sentient cursed sword. You are an sentient weapon artifact with only int, wis, and cha, but you can attempt to take over someone who attuned to you to use their stats. needs some work, but the idea is you are constantly on the lookout for a dumber stronger hulk to possess without letting the rest of the party figure out whats up if possible.
Funnily enough the episode where the phrase "timey whimy stuff" first appears is actually one of the episodes where the time travel makes the most sense.
Brandon, I think you would really like the FFG Genesys RPG system. It is narrative driven but still crunchy enough to make weird characters and do interesting things within the rule set. The game itself naturally lends to a more role-playing style of game and storytelling, but there are still things like combat if you want them. you can also get a fantasy supplement for it to make it feel more classic D&D if you want. You might also really like burning wheel, though it is a lot crunchier and less forgiving with its combat.
So what I'm hearing from the dragon/troll story is that MeLaan walking through booby traps and the acid not working was a campaign-tested plot device. 😂
It’s so cool seeing Rifts mentioned! Rifts was my introduction to RPGs back in 2016. I’m still in that campaign, but it’s transitioned to a DnD 5e system because rifts was an inherently broken, terrible system lol.
That two spheres thing seems like a good idea though.. In a way it reminds me of White Sand. But it poses interesting questions, such as why don't they just migrate to the bigger sphere? Why is that being pushing it? etc..
The title had me hoping for a John Carter discussion. However... for Brandon's benefit: Technically, "D&D 1.0" as B called it isn't original D&D, which was the successor of Chainmail. When AD&D came out, original D&D became known as Basic D&D, expanded by Expert, Master, etc, rules. 1st edition (what he called 1.0) is the first Advanced D&D. Then came officially labeled 2nd edition (2e) AD&D. When WOTC bought them out and converted it to the D20 system, it became 3rd edition, etc.
Dan I don’t know if you saw the Avatar Legends RPG kickstarter by Magpie games using the powered by the apocalypse. I would recommend taking a look at there quick start guid and the full game when it comes out.
First off, the world building is just awesome. Wacky world ideas like that are always fascinating. Secondly. Gosh, roleplaying. I'm one of those people who love it, and miss it, because I don't really have an opportunity to play. I am a very story-centric player, combat is not really my thing and I like to double down on the roleplaying aspect. (That said, if anyone knows of a good story driven system that can be played with just two people?) My fiance is very much the 'here's an interesting archtype, here some crazy fun things you can do with it' and loves to run with the concept. He's also a decent world builder and I wish we could get a party we would actually enjoy playing with. His brother on the other hand is very much a min-maxer who sets out to break the game with any character he creates (the whole 'coolest character on the block' sort of mentality), and as a DM is very railroady and doesn't really understand roleplaying. . .and well, I've just chosen not to play with him unless my fiance chooses to DM.
I've never listened to one of these fully. Seeing how much Brandon knows of "nerd things" I have even more faith in him that he will be the one to end The Cosmere in a way fans will love and unlike Game of Thrones no one will be left disappointed. Would love to be able to play some Fortnite with these guys lol
If they have to live on the poles, the two sides basically only catch glimpses of each other, if that. Maybe the story is that the being pushing the world stops and the two sides finally engage. Maybe even move to the larger sphere to find out why the giant stopped.
Per The "terrible" world spin idea: I love the concept that access to the harvet belt is regulated by time of day (i.e. distance from the other planet), and we are following the urchins scraping by who are forced to run in and mine what they can in the very final seconds before the planets make contact again. Then of course one of 'em gets tragically sucked to the other side and _plot_ happens.
My uncle introduced me to RIFTS when I was in middleschool. I ran a couple campaigns in Highschool and they were a Blast! I'm 25 now and only have half the collection. *But if you want to make weird wacky niche characters who abuse the mechanics, I highly recommend checking out Pathfinder 2e lol
I did try PF2e, but it was way too limiting for me. Pathfinder 1e is still the king when it comes to wacky, janky characters that shouldn't work but somehow do. :P
@@ninjabreadman1993r Coming from 5e, PF2e is already VASTLY better when it comes to Character Customization. And I've heard about 1st being crazy with the amount of detail you could put into it.
If the giant pushed the moon at a speed that keeps that moon in a Goldilocks zone where the systems star neither rises further or sets, it could be claimed the temperature extremes are unsurvivable.
In One Piece, theres a Gigantic Elephant that have roamed the ocean for almost a thousand years, and a civilization of furrys started there. A Giant pushing a planet inside another planet doesnt seem so weird to me xD
A fun dnd character I want to try is a DID bard, one persona is a lawfull good paldin, and the other is a chaotic evil warlock. very morning, flip a coin to figure out who you are that day. then use the bard list to emulate which ever you re that day, including casting the illusion of fireball etc
My hole life wanted to play any real rpg (DND, TNT,etc) but where I m from specially a small town it didn't even exist. And listening to this makes me one to play even more
Harlan Ellison used to do a writing exercise like this. He actually published at least one story resulting from it. A fellow SF writter, Robert Sheckley, would pitch him a horrible title for a story and he would have to write something based on that. The story I See a Man Sitting on a Chair, and the Chair Is Biting His Leg resulted from this exercise.
I would like to let you know I am taking that idea for the weird fantasy world with the giant and the boulder and 100% going to run a D&D campaign in it. Tweak some things about it and give it Greek mythology fantasy themes and BOOM, crazy whacky fun d&d setting ready for players to muck it all up!
Brandon: "I want to make a story about a big man pushing a sphere around a world and it leaves lifegiving substance behind. But it would be very destructive to people and buildings caught beneath the sphere. BUT that would be way too unbelievable."
Brandon: *Writes a story about a big spirit man pushing a storm around a world, leaving lifegiving substance behind, with the storm being very destructive to people and buildings caught beneath it.*
Wouldn't be surprised if this came from the sphere pushing man idea.
@@rimurutempest4945 I mean, there literally ARE spheres here too.. because the storm charges the spheres, lol.
Which book are you referring too? Just curious.
@@terabyter9000 the Stormlight Archive series is set on a world with High Storms that are very destructive, but also leave important life giving substance in their path. There's a being called the Stormfather involved in moving those high storms across the planet.
And don't forget Ildithia (Atlanta) from the Reckoners series.
Hey Brandon. I wanted to say thank you for this podcast. I’m also an insomniac and when I can’t sleep I need to listen to conversation podcasts to relax my brain and help me fall asleep. Don’t take this the wrong way, but these episodes are perfect for helping me drift off without getting anxious. So thank you for that.
SAME. I do exactly that. I especially love Coode Street, Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy and Eating the Fantastic.
I agree, these are perfect for relaxation. It feels like I’m there in the room hanging out with them.
I read this comment as I was pressing play for the exact same reason
Another unsleeper...
I like to listen in the evenings instead of watching the t.v. It helps me to relax and unwind 👍🏻
Quite relaxing, watching this at 23:23 with a smile on my face 🙂
I wish RUclips had a sleep timer and bookmark like Audible has. I can go to sleep with a book, wake up and return to around the time I put my phone down.
Well as long as we are talking about Sith morality for half a second, I think it's important to point out that "from [their] point of view, the Jedi are evil."
-Anakin Skywalker at his most angsty.
You know what else is moral, upright, & good? The fact that you used the Oxford comma in the title of this video! I knew you were a good writer!
"Dan and Brandon Break the Game" is a pitch-perfect podcast title.
It would be interesting to see Brandon play the Mistborn RPG, particularly in the Alloy of Law era.
Instead of a Giant, it should be a very tiny person. Reference: Katamari Damacy. A tiny man rolling stars and planets together off of things that stick to his sphere from the larger planet he is on.
I like the idea of bugs. My 'yes,and' was that it's a giant ball of alien insects and vermin, and it used to roll all over the entire world chaotically and ruining everyone's lives, until the people of the world found out how to 'carrot on a stick' it, and then the ball started to roll in a predictable pattern as long as they keep the carrot-caravan(carro-van) on the same highway then people can try to build their civilization away from the path. Obvious story ideas: Someone is trying to disrupt it, etc.
And it still sheds creatures and bugs and stuff along the way since it's a loose consciousness, not a hivemind.
Was just about to bring up katamari
My first thought was katamari
What if he's rolling it around a gas giant, and there is no atmosphere on the smaller planet... so they have to constantly move to keep close enough to the gas giant to breathe.
The dung beetle that took things way too far
That Earl's character story was really nice. Letting a player build a character that might be overpowered, but allowing them to do it to make them feel safe/happy, instead of being a "rules lawyer" afraid of breaking stuff, is great. And I loved how they made use of his character's abilities as a scout, and instead of thinking he's overpowered, the PARTY is what benefited (not just Earl), and that was used as a narrative tool.
33:43 As a child, the very first RPG video game I played was Interplay's Lord of the Rings, and it did a fantastic job of doing the same thing. While part of this was because I was too young to understand that level up mechanics existed in the game, it really gave off this impression of you being a rag tag group trying to survive against superior monsters. Some of those monsters, you just could never defeat in straight up combat no matter what you did.
You had to learn prayers by completing quests elsewhere and then you would be rescued from certain fights by invoking those prayers. It had so much detail in terms of what was available to do and say in the world, it was an incredibly immersive experience. But it wasn't open world, it was just large scale in terms of the 90s kind of games. I've never played anything else quite like it.
Unfortunately, like most Interplay games, and many 90s era games, it was unstable and could randomly crash without warning, so you had to be very methodical about periodically saving. I also had to save scum quite a bit because RNG played a huge role in the fights. It would probably be less of an issue if I went back as an adult, but as a child I didn't understand the nuance of the mechanics.
I remember the Balrog being my biggest obstacle. I couldn't figure out how to properly trigger the sequence where Gandalf defends the party, so I just face tanked his massive attack and ran away with as many survivors as I could manage. I eventually settled on Frodo dying, and some of the bigger combat members of the group, but Gandalf made it out. Eventually, I discovered how to get Gandalf to properly use his staff, but at that point I preferred having Gandalf around to spell sling.
the handprints would be incredibly valuable geography, depending on how smooth each sphere is. the handprints could be a place to shelter if get caught behind the rotation.
20:48 Funny story about TMNT RPG. I started playing RPGs with d&d in the 80's and the only time my mom was concerned was seeing the gun pictures in the TMNT book I borrowed. Satanic panic? No. Gang influences? That was more of a reality for me growing up.
This episode made me really want to recommend Burning Wheel to Dan, and honestly I feel like Brandon would probably be able to enjoy it since it does have some weird systems to mess with. It's a narrative focused d6 dice pool system where the plot is driven by the goals of your characters and you only improve your character through using your skills and by roleplaying well. Instead of classes you define your character by the stations they've held in life. My character isn't a fighter, he's a farm boy turned soldier turned slave turned jester who enjoys making deals with the devil on the side. Extra bonus for the entire ruleset being only 2 books. It's got a lot of crunchy rules system, but most of that comes from optional side systems, like the full combat and debate mechanics, and the like 10 completely distinct magic systems. I'd also recommend Mouse guard, which from what I hear is burning wheel lite but you're all basically mouse paladins, find the box set if you can.
Is Burning Wheel purely Fantasy or is it not genre exclusive? It sounds really fun.
Also, mouseguard sounds fun. From that brief description I imagine something between Redwall and the Mouse Couriers from Septimus Heap.
Brandon would probably create a jack of all trades and fork every skill into every other.
Extra Rotam Nulla Salus.
@@wylanvallotton4462 it's Tolkien esque medieval fantasy with no inherent setting but a semi-implied one. There are setting books for older editions of BW, I believe both a Japan themed one and a dune-style sci-fi setting. And there's a lot of tips for homebrewing your own stuff, but it seems like a bunch of work and the BW homebrew community is unfortunately small. And I believe mouseguard is based on a comic series of the same name.
@@wylanvallotton4462 The implied setting is fantasy. They also put out a Dune homage supplement, a gun-slinging post-apoc supplement, and a medieval Japan supplement. There's also a Sci-Fi spin-off game called Burning Empires that uses very nearly the same system. So... The skeleton of the system can accommodate different types of flesh, I reckon.
Mouse Guard is based on the (children's?) comic book of the same name by David Petersen.
This idea of a giant pushing a planet on a other planet sounds really cool. Would read if this was a book.
And then at the end we find out that the bigger planet was a giant peach and the small one was dung... being pushed around by a dung beetle. XD
Sounds like something you might find in Spelljammer.
In fact, I'm stealing it for my spelljammer game.
I am imagining a titanic dung beatle.
I know right?!?
And the bigger planet is pushed by an even bigger giant, and it’s an infinite cycle
Bless Dan, always thinking of ways to get Brandon back to the table
I have a strange obsession in Dnd with kidnapping orcs or goblins and trying to convince them to join us. It started an entire campaign around Goblins Anonymous, a group of reformed goblins that worked to fight evil and proselytize other goblins.
I like how you talked about D&D campaign where you learned your identity&class during the game. I was immediately reminded of your lvl-0 kickstarter adventure "First Step" where you supposedly build your character through the choices made during the game.
Regarding the worldbuilding, in the I.Banks Culture series was a planet satellite which was artificially lowered so that the orbit was almost touching the main planet. So it looked like it is rolling over. It had a functional sense as well.
which novel is this in?!
@@vladimirkvasnick The Hydrogen Sonata
I just read that not too long ago. It was a moon lowered so close to the atmosphere-less parent planet that it was actually _below ground level_, orbiting it through a huge canyon at ludicrous speeds. That was crazy.
I'm with brandom on the Gming thing. I was working tech support and found that the part of my brain I used to make and run dnd games was exhausted when I came home.
Love hearing you guys talk about the TMNT RPG! :) My friends and I played the crap out of that (and most of the other Palladium books). Great memories!
The rolling planet idea is actually kindof done in an episode of the Little Prince animation series. The planet is a spinning dice and the inhabitants are constantly pushing their home to not fall in the void.
43:40 Episode title finally mentioned. 😅
I love how giddy Brandon gets when he recites his most cockamaimie ideas. "I've always wanted to write about a world that's suspended in the spittle of a giant cosmic lobster that has been caught in the net of a giant cosmic fisherman."
28:58 isnt it what happend in "Bands of mourning" in the tample with Melaan...
Brandon, I madly appreciate the shirt. My generation might be one of the last to love that perfect show :(
Rifts was one of my favorite table top games ever! The system was a little wild, but it was so fun!
Brandon is like "This is horrible" but now I'm thinking of all the possibilities and how the god Drargrith tried to steal the world from the other gods, and broke the golden path the world was set into amongst the stars in the process, and when he was discovered he was shackled to the world to push it for all time to make up for this. Because the golden path was set by the pantheon, and he is just a single god, he is only ever able to push it around the larger sphere it once orbited gracefully. The larger planet is made of clouds that are toxic to humans but also carry energy that causes life to grow rapidly. The god of animals blessed his children with larger lungs, air bladders, and ways to filter out the gases in order to live, and the goddess of plants made sure her children could survive the sudden change in pressure and environment.
Dwarves and wurm-tenders are the only ways to travel safely between locations via water or deep earth respectively, and settlements are built either in caves or in specially blesses areas where the air is kept pure by divine mandate.
Edit: Holy crap Secret Book #4.... Brandon is such a badass.
For real
Episode 42...this is historic! We all need to gather around "Deep Thought Sanderson" in anticipation for the Answer!
I think Brandon was watching Invader Zim when he came up with this one. When Zim steals the moon and tries to squish all the humans on earth by rolling it around the surface.
Oh nevermind, I forgot one of his favorite games is Katamari Damacy lol
When giant don't work, change it to a micro perspective. My favorite war craft theory is that the airships and giant armor are plausible because the humans are actually 6 inches tall
37:52. I'm the same type of player. I started playing recently (start of covid) with 5e, and my first character was minmaxed. But all my subsequent characters have been me trying to come up with some kind of quirky mechanical style that is powerful but also kind of offbeat.
Maybe this isn't considered very original but my favorite character so far has been a Changeling Shadow Sorcerer that uses Subtle Spell Metamagic to get spells off in conversations. He also uses stuff like gaseous form and invisibility, so he can sneak into anywhere, and look like anything at will etc. He's got ok damage due to a 2 level dip into warlock (eldritch blast), but he's designed as the ultimate infiltrator. I only ran him for a oneshot only (turned into two sessions) , but it was super satisfying. We started by doing a mission for an evil king, and then switched sides and helped the kings enemies take the kings castle. But we were all roleplaying as characters with very mercenary attitudes. So after sneaking in and opening the gate, instead of helping with the fight, I snuck into the kings vault and looted it. My warlock dip was into Genie, so I was able to encumber myself with everything in the vault and hide in my ring, right before messaging my party. When the rest of the party got into the vault with the kings enemies, the kings enemies were super annoyed and assumed the king had moved his treasure. But my party picked up the ring and we walked out with an insane amount of loot. We're going to run a follow up oneshot later and our GM is rolling for a ton of rare items because of what we did. Seriously the most fun I've ever had with a character.
That first world is very “Discworld-Esque” in concept lol
I played every D&D edition from 2e to 5e. 4e was my favourite.
I liked how easy it was to build a decent character. You couldn't accidentally create one who was really weak or totally overpowered.
I also liked how everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses, so everyone got a chance to shine instead of the same overpowered characters always hogging the spotlight
I liked 4e too but no one else in my gaming group did, when they switched I stopped playing. Following a bunch of nitpicky rules about bonuses and crap is what computer games are for IMO.
Same I really liked it. The combat led to everyone having their shining moments and let the narrative do it's thing.
I think the 4e rules would make an absolutely stellar tactical rpg video game, in the style of Shining Force or Final Fantasy Tactics. It was way too minis-focused for my theater-of-the-mind brain to rally get into, but it’s an excellent system in a very specific niche.
Brandon, your crazy story idea is basically the game Katamari Damacy. Where a little guy rolled up things into a ball until it got bigger and bigger. Starts with paperclips, grows to people, then buildings, then continents and finally galaxies.
This is such a nerdy podcast episode and I’m here for it. Makes me miss role playing a little too. Imagine getting to play with Brandon as a teen or college student, the DM skill…😮
This was a surreal episode for me. I played a singular one-shot of Follow (Ben Robbins) where we were playing failed/weak meanie weanies (like goblins and a vampire who is stuck as a bat). Our mission? Turn off the light switch on the other side of a giant living room. With how it played out, we could totally use "Big House" as canon to our story. Love it!
What if the opposing "gravities" of the two planets affect how you live during each cycle? People closest to the poles have the greatest consistency of their gravity, whereas as you live closer the cycles become more volatile; when you go down and approach the other planet, the two opposite gravities make things feel lighter, and in some cases even float (or, in dangerous cases, drift to the larger planet), whereas at the top end of the cycle the gravity is almost doubled, making everything feel much heavier.
Could add an interesting dynamic 🤔
Brandon has the seeds of Sunlit man here.
I'm placing bets that he still makes the giant idea into a story. Who wants in?
In a recent game I played a character who was kinda like a ghost, without actually being a ghost. It took something extra for me to interact physically, and I could pass through walls. I kept myself hidden from the other players, with one exception. One of the characters was of some interest to my Charater, and so I would occasionally show myself to him when we were alone or the others were asleep and talk. The thing is he was crazy. He saw and heard things that were not real all the time, wo he assumed I was one of those things. Another player occasionally heard me or magically sensed me, but never had proof for the group and his character was blind. So I would follow the group around, using magic to help in various situations, and anytime they noticed the things I did to help them it was always attributed to the super lucky leprechaun of the party.
So to recap, I was basically a ghost who always hid in the ground or the walls, and the one person I showed myself to was crazy and thought I wasn't real. He had illusion powers and so on the occasion that someone else caught a glimpse they thought it was him accidentally casting an illusion of one of his hallucinations. The blind player had begun to suspect something, but never had evidence, and my contributions were thought to be bits of random chance thanks to the super lucky leprechaun.
That was fun.
The giant made me think of a dung beetle, and now I’m picturing a huge beetle rolling a moon-sized object around the… equator, would it be? Or perhaps a meridian?
It sounds a bit like the celestial clock in my WIP. Also like the perpetual-free-fall one, which I also appreciate.
After The Bomb and TMNT were some of my first serious RPG experiences. Loved the ATB books so much, and often wish I still had them.
The Giant Who Pushes the World
He dies or falls unconcious or perhaps dissapears, breaking the tenuous balance of orbit and sending the smaller world into the larger planet
I would like to suggest City of Mist to Dan and Brandon. It's a noir/superhero sort of system. You're character is a rift that has some sort of story (mythos) trying to re-enact itself through your character. A lot of fun can come from having characters drastically different to the mythos (i.e. a billy the kid mythos that is actually a 6 year old in kindergarten still).
Based around having 4 theme books with "tags" in them that represent your abilities. Each roll is 2d6+the number of applicable tags and you have a set of moves(so things you roll for) meant to evoke a noir mystery vibe. I've found it's really flexible and lets you get some really unexpected builds going.
Podcast promised Sith talk, get D&D talk instead. But at least now I know which one to point to when people ask about Brandon and D&D in the live stream. :-D
Tomorrow we are going to find out the giant story is Secret Project 4.
I know what Brandon means. My desire to play rpgs wanes significantly whenever I get involved in a theatre play. They both drain the same resource.
I had a bunch of the Palladium systems games. Many many nights spent playing with friends.
I can totally see how their Jedi Duo would be so fun to play and so obnoxious to play with.
I know he said he doesnt any more. But it would be really cool to have a brandon and dan with others do a weekly/monthly hour long dnd session
Smoking a joint and listening to these podcasts is great
I started this podcast in the background and was wondering why Brandon is talking to Adam Scott. Also, the rolling world should mainly be a story about movement. Eternal nomads, never building, everything is mobile, and progress is ingrained in the psyche and religion.
Bandon's world building idea-- reminding anyone ELSE of Secret Project that is cosmere adjacent???
Would most def be interested in the book they were talking about in the beginning. It sounds like it would be perfectly weird and wonderful.
If Metal Gear Rising was out at that time Brandon would’ve figured out how a ninja fits in a world of giant mechs haha
Palladium game systems rock! I've even gone to an open house in Michigan and played with the makers and it was great!
In my second ever DnD experience, I was a Raptoran bard with a bag of holding and I could fly. I got the DM to get me a giant jingle bell. I would fly above my foes, open the bag, drop the bell, and use my summon instrument cantrip to redrop repeatedly. In DnD dropping things barely scratches foes but it sure felt good.
Friendly reminder to ask Dan about his cake-eating practices
Cake?
I would love to read Brandon's solution for the literal gravity of the situation.
How do people not just get pulled to the bigger planet each rotation?
Hmm... maybe they have moving cities, and have to stay perpendicular to the gravitational pull at all times.
Anyone who doesn't live there has sticky shoes and very good core strength.
Density! The smaller planet could be similar in terms of mass if it were far more dense than the larger planet and then gravity only gets wonky very close to the area where they touch. (Disclaimer, I failed Physics).
Honestly I think that sometimes it's fun to have a setting that is so high fantasy that that kind of thought process doesn't even work. Like Discworld.
The massive ball could be on an ocean planet with precious resources on the bottom. Intense storms redistribute materials across this sea kinda like in Stormlight that way the resources the ball picks up are constantly changing.
an interesting dnd character I want to try is a sentient cursed sword. You are an sentient weapon artifact with only int, wis, and cha, but you can attempt to take over someone who attuned to you to use their stats.
needs some work, but the idea is you are constantly on the lookout for a dumber stronger hulk to possess without letting the rest of the party figure out whats up if possible.
OHHHH, so THAT'S why Brandon likes Dark Souls so much! It's all about exploiting the rules to make OP builds
I'm 100% on board with that world building idea
Brandon. You should write for Doctor Who.
Steven Moffat explained everything in 1 sentence on the show... "it's timey whimy stuff"
Funnily enough the episode where the phrase "timey whimy stuff" first appears is actually one of the episodes where the time travel makes the most sense.
Brandon, I think you would really like the FFG Genesys RPG system. It is narrative driven but still crunchy enough to make weird characters and do interesting things within the rule set. The game itself naturally lends to a more role-playing style of game and storytelling, but there are still things like combat if you want them. you can also get a fantasy supplement for it to make it feel more classic D&D if you want. You might also really like burning wheel, though it is a lot crunchier and less forgiving with its combat.
Giant Sphere rolling on another gianter sphere sounds like a classic JRPG plot
It’s only a classic JRPG plot if the giant sphere is the smaller sphere’s father 😂
So what I'm hearing from the dragon/troll story is that MeLaan walking through booby traps and the acid not working was a campaign-tested plot device. 😂
That bad story idea was the basis For his SECRET PROJECT #4
My thoughts exactly!!!!
It’s so cool seeing Rifts mentioned! Rifts was my introduction to RPGs back in 2016. I’m still in that campaign, but it’s transitioned to a DnD 5e system because rifts was an inherently broken, terrible system lol.
this is the one with the prototype for Sunlit Man
ever since brandon mentioned he almost wrote the titantic bad story idea, i am suspicious of all other proposed "bad" story ideas
That two spheres thing seems like a good idea though.. In a way it reminds me of White Sand. But it poses interesting questions, such as why don't they just migrate to the bigger sphere? Why is that being pushing it? etc..
The title had me hoping for a John Carter discussion. However... for Brandon's benefit:
Technically, "D&D 1.0" as B called it isn't original D&D, which was the successor of Chainmail. When AD&D came out, original D&D became known as Basic D&D, expanded by Expert, Master, etc, rules. 1st edition (what he called 1.0) is the first Advanced D&D. Then came officially labeled 2nd edition (2e) AD&D. When WOTC bought them out and converted it to the D20 system, it became 3rd edition, etc.
LOL more morally provocative episode titles please!
I'm for that if it dealt with the topic to any extent.
I could see Brandon loving being a time manipulating chronomancer in legacy of mana strands of destiny a 5d supplement coming out soon
They have been playing and hashing it out on six sides of gaming
That sounds awesome
Dan I don’t know if you saw the Avatar Legends RPG kickstarter by Magpie games using the powered by the apocalypse. I would recommend taking a look at there quick start guid and the full game when it comes out.
I backed it, and I’ve got the pdf burning a hole in my “to be read” pile.
The casual signing kills me... haha
First off, the world building is just awesome. Wacky world ideas like that are always fascinating.
Secondly. Gosh, roleplaying. I'm one of those people who love it, and miss it, because I don't really have an opportunity to play. I am a very story-centric player, combat is not really my thing and I like to double down on the roleplaying aspect. (That said, if anyone knows of a good story driven system that can be played with just two people?)
My fiance is very much the 'here's an interesting archtype, here some crazy fun things you can do with it' and loves to run with the concept. He's also a decent world builder and I wish we could get a party we would actually enjoy playing with.
His brother on the other hand is very much a min-maxer who sets out to break the game with any character he creates (the whole 'coolest character on the block' sort of mentality), and as a DM is very railroady and doesn't really understand roleplaying. . .and well, I've just chosen not to play with him unless my fiance chooses to DM.
I like Brandon's style of building a role-playing character the "Johnny"/quirky way.
Marble-Rolling World is an amazing idea!
I've never listened to one of these fully. Seeing how much Brandon knows of "nerd things" I have even more faith in him that he will be the one to end The Cosmere in a way fans will love and unlike Game of Thrones no one will be left disappointed. Would love to be able to play some Fortnite with these guys lol
If they have to live on the poles, the two sides basically only catch glimpses of each other, if that. Maybe the story is that the being pushing the world stops and the two sides finally engage. Maybe even move to the larger sphere to find out why the giant stopped.
Per The "terrible" world spin idea: I love the concept that access to the harvet belt is regulated by time of day (i.e. distance from the other planet), and we are following the urchins scraping by who are forced to run in and mine what they can in the very final seconds before the planets make contact again.
Then of course one of 'em gets tragically sucked to the other side and _plot_ happens.
The ending is the best. 😎
My uncle introduced me to RIFTS when I was in middleschool. I ran a couple campaigns in Highschool and they were a Blast! I'm 25 now and only have half the collection.
*But if you want to make weird wacky niche characters who abuse the mechanics, I highly recommend checking out Pathfinder 2e lol
I did try PF2e, but it was way too limiting for me. Pathfinder 1e is still the king when it comes to wacky, janky characters that shouldn't work but somehow do. :P
@@ninjabreadman1993r Coming from 5e, PF2e is already VASTLY better when it comes to Character Customization.
And I've heard about 1st being crazy with the amount of detail you could put into it.
@@skullsquad900 Oh yeah, 1e is VASTLY more complicated than 2e, which is why most new players go to 2e. 1e is D&D3.5 on crack. xD
I wonder what Brandon Sanderson would write in the Warhammer 40 k I'm new to that as well but it would be pretty cool
If the giant pushed the moon at a speed that keeps that moon in a Goldilocks zone where the systems star neither rises further or sets, it could be claimed the temperature extremes are unsurvivable.
WRITE THAT STAR WARS STORY
We need that concept as a whole novel, like, yesterday XD
Its kind of funny how his bad story idea is just a scuffed versikn of the planet Canticle from Sunlit Man
Ahhh yes the old days of Palladium RPG’s and their random character generation tables.
In One Piece, theres a Gigantic Elephant that have roamed the ocean for almost a thousand years, and a civilization of furrys started there. A Giant pushing a planet inside another planet doesnt seem so weird to me xD
1:30 is Katamari Demaci
I'm curious what the magic system that was taken out of Apocalypse Guard was.. or may we even potentially see it re-appear in another story later?
A fun dnd character I want to try is a DID bard, one persona is a lawfull good paldin, and the other is a chaotic evil warlock. very morning, flip a coin to figure out who you are that day. then use the bard list to emulate which ever you re that day, including casting the illusion of fireball etc
OMG WE NEED A MATT MERCER/SANDERSON INTERVIEW 😩😩😩😩
My hole life wanted to play any real rpg (DND, TNT,etc) but where I m from specially a small town it didn't even exist. And listening to this makes me one to play even more
Harlan Ellison used to do a writing exercise like this. He actually published at least one story resulting from it. A fellow SF writter, Robert Sheckley, would pitch him a horrible title for a story and he would have to write something based on that. The story I See a Man Sitting on a Chair, and the Chair Is Biting His Leg resulted from this exercise.
Whatever the statue(?) Behind Dan is keeps making me think my screen has a bad smudge and I keep going to clean it, then going "oh, right..."
I would like to let you know I am taking that idea for the weird fantasy world with the giant and the boulder and 100% going to run a D&D campaign in it. Tweak some things about it and give it Greek mythology fantasy themes and BOOM, crazy whacky fun d&d setting ready for players to muck it all up!
I'm curious what you guys think of Numenera...I love the concept of loss/unknown technologies and magics...
37:05 Sooooo... Androl was Brandon's Wheel of Time character, I guess? :'D