Ask Me Anything: Verrain

- Have you ever tried to play a Pokemon-themed TTRPG? There is a fan-made system called Pokerole, for example, and probably a number of other ones.
- Do you like cooperative board games? Any recommendations? :D Also, do you prefer plastic, wooden or metal board pieces?
- Which PbtA game is your favorite?
- The most amazing Doctor Who episode in your opinion?
- When you think of character for a game, where do you look for inspiration if needed?
- First thing you think of when I say "D&D joke"? XD

I've played in a couple online but they tended to be freeform and always fizzled out before they got good. I've read PTA and PTU, the ones that tried to give Pokemon the D&D treatment but those never felt quite right for the concept. I think I would enjoy a game of Primetime Adventures emulating the anime more than a crunchy battle simulator honestly.
Cooperative games are preferred in our household. My wife prefers working with me than battling head to head. Favorites include Arkham Horror 3rd ed, Eldritch Horror, Mansions of Madness, DC Deckbuilder Rebirth, Flash Point, and Pandemic. I have no preference as to material for game pieces so long as they stay where they are placed.
This is largely theoretical as I have done far more reading of the games than playing, but I think my Favorite is Masks. It really looks to emulate that subgenre of comic book better than any system I've ever seen.
Stop making me choose between my children! I love them all. However, since you asked, the one I rewatch the most is Girl in the Fireplace. It plays with the time travel aspect brilliantly, the enemies have creepy style, the mystery is tantalizing and is not explained until the very last moment, and it includes a character that really, really should have been a companion.
If the GM has pitched the game right, I should already have the inspiration I need to make a character. If it is D&D, I tend to choose based on game options I haven't had a chance to try yet. Occasionally, I will see a character in TV, books, or movies and already have the game stats in my head. If it is a wide setting I have knowledge of, like Doctor Who, I like to find the things that were used as a one-shot than I think deserved a returning role and make a character around that.
The Dreaded Gazebo! (Second place goes to the Head of Vecna.)

What to movies/pop culture get wrong about your job/career?
Best char chase in a movie?
What is your favorite subgenre of Rock & Roll?

Where does your username come from?

What's your favorite letter of any alphabet (doesn't have to be a letter that's used in English)?

Many movies make it clear that they have never been inside a high-containment biological facility or even seen some good pictures of one. Actors tend not to move with the precision and care real scientists use. And generally speaking, they always focus on the worst case doom scenarios which don't happen precisely because we do our jobs correctly. Contagion got things right though. It was actually shown during downtime for a training course I went to.
I am going to have to go with The Blues Brothers car chase through the mall though the one at the end of the movie is a close second.
I'm not even sure I could name a subgenre of Rock & Roll. I am a comedy music fan first and foremost. I become aware of modern artists when Weird Al, Twisted Translations or Post Modern Jukebox puts out a version of something and then I go listen to the original. I've always had eclectic tastes and I couldn't say if the songs I like fit into any specific box more than another.

My user name is a character in the Wars of Light and Shadow series by Janny Wurtz. The character has been a wizard's apprentice for a few centuries but the wizard's assure him he'll be a great wizard one day. As a graduate student several years into his Ph.D. program at the time, I could relate. I used the name for my character in my first Amber play by email game and since most of my first online friends knew me as Verrain it became a general handle I use.

As for the letter thing, I'll go with pi largely for all the places in mathematics its used and because a Doctor Who episode has caused me to memorize it up to 9 decimal places.

Have you heard of the Arrogant Worms, by chance? Might I suggest, New Car Smell or I Pulled My Groin to start?

They are new to me. Thanks for the suggestion.

Who's your favorite Companion for the Doctor?

Which third of Tennessee do you call home these days? I'm a long-time resident and I find the three parts of Tennessee (East, Middle and West) radically different in a lot of ways.

Nyssa is the one I still have a crush on. Aristocratic biochemist that can kick ass when she needs to. Sarah Jane Smith is my favorite over all companion for the easy chemistry she had with any Doctor she interacted with. In New Who, I think Donna Noble is my favorite. She was a breath of fresh air after all the love interest companions and a better mouth on legs than Tegan ever was.
Middle TN and having visited both ends of the state I would have to agree.

Donna was hands-down exactly the Companion the series needed. DW needed a good break from the "romantic interest" Companions and Donna was perfect for that. Sassy & didn't take crap from anyone, ESPECIALLY the Doctor. I really believe the series would've floundered without her. Still a bit irked at how they had her exit the show 😬

I've only really heard Weird Al, Jonathan Colton and Flight of the Choncords. So any other recommendations you have would be welcome.

The Great Luke Ski is a great one for nerd culture parody songs. The Axis of Awesome is fun. There is a Youtuber named Daniel Thrasher that does comedy skits around him playing around on the synthesizer. I'd check out his Accidently Writing Songs That Already Exist videos. Bo Burnham kind of straddles the line. He works so much music into his performances though his comedy is on the darker side. Bill Bailey is a British comedian that also does a lot with music.

If I remember correctly, Bill Bailey had a skit about the Doctor Who theme sounding like Belgian jazz if it was played differently.

Found the link.

Enjoy