Ask Me Anything: Zagrave

Lifelong Rockies fan?

What are some of your favorite things to cook?

Nope, moved out here in 2006. Originally from Maryland so when I take the time to watch baseball (which isn't often at all) it's usually the Orioles. My dad is a big baseball guy so I try to at least keep a passing knowledge of what's going on for our bi-annual phone conversations. We have a pretty decent minor league team down here in the Springs, used to be the the Sky Sox now they are the Vibes (which is a terrible name). I've been known to catch a game or two of theirs though it's been a while. I believe they're a farm team for Milwaukee but that's probably outdated or inaccurate information and I can't be bothered to google it.
We subscribe to HelloFresh and I'm usually home about an hour before my partner gets home so I take on the dinner cooking. Some of my favorites are bibimbap, stuffed peppers, and shrimp tacos. This past weekend I tried my hand at a chicken tikka masala that we're consuming for lunches this week and I must say it's quite delicious. My partner says it's better than the takeout we frequent. I might give that another whirl in a few weeks.

My curiosity got the better of me. The Vibes used to be a farm league for Milwaukee but are now a farm team for the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League. The more you know.

First of all, we require dog photos!

Then, important question: For Vaesen, the Scandinavian or British setting?

And, have there been any audiobook narrators that really impressed you or that you think really added to the story with their voices? What were some examples of those?

Doggo is Ember. She's a 4 year old rescue. Her DNA test is still out at the lab for an official verdict but she is likely lab and we think Rhodesian ridgeback.


Cats
Lazlo


and Nandor


Vaesen I've only played in the Scandinavian setting and I hadn't quite gotten the bug when the kickstarter for the British setting was up. Even still I nearly picked it up but sadly I said no and now I kick myself. I'll likely pick them both up in print someday soon.

Audiobook narrators. I enjoyed George Guidall's reading of the Song of Ice and Fire series. I also enjoyed his narration on Snow Falling on Cedars. I've listened to several books narrated by Wil Wheaton, he's pretty good. Steven Pacey's narration of the First Law Trilogy was good and James Marsters' narration of the Dresden Files books have permanently etched those voices into my subconscious so that even when I read them I hear his narration. A podcaster I follow Jeff Cannata did a book called Traveling in Space, I haven't listened to that but if it's anything like his DMing narration on the Dungeon Run I'm certain it would be good. Nigel Planar has done some Discworld books that I quite enjoyed.

Our dogs are also rescues but we found out the big one is part Rhodesian Ridgeback after we too did the DNA test. He is a little too devoted a guard dog though so I'm thinking more of his genes belong to the RR than the English Bulldog and German Shorthaired Pointer genetics that the test revealed.

On another note 🎶 what are your go to music genres and some of your favorite bands?

Yeah, she got her hackles up a bit and had a pretty pronounced ridge which is why we're thinking RR, but we'll see.

+10 comedy points for the pun.

Go to music genres. Everybody says it but I truly enjoy a wide host of music. My go to is sorta folk rock. Top bands that play in that genre are White Buffalo, Frank Turner, Frightened Rabbit, The Mountain Goats. Beyond that I can get down with most anything. Additional top bands for me include mxmtoon, Kishi Bashi, Phoebe Bridgers, Badflower, Julien Baker, Chvrches, Manchester Orchestra, Reel Big Fish, Get Up Kids, Death Cab for Cutie, Rammstein, Our Lady Peace, blink 182 and Alien Ant Farm. My Liked Songs playlist on Spotify has 3,143 songs and I'm always on the hunt for more. This year I'm trying to spend more time with full albums, especially when I find a new artist, instead of just listening to a single track. I try to get out to a concert every month or so, though my old man knees and the midnight drive home from Denver usually keep my exuberance in check.

Cute dog and cats! And a gentle reminder, do not reward or recognize puns on this site… you’ll only encourage them and make it much, much worse.

How has starting with TOON shaped you as a gamer?

What do you miss about GURPS?

What do you not miss about GURPS?

When are we going to play live? Are you going to Tacticon?

What is your favorite class to play in dnd 5e?

I'm here for all the puns, in spite of your gentle reminder.

Starting with TOON was interesting because I grew up on Looney Toons so I was quickly able to see what it was trying to emulate. I didn't have the experience of years of dungeons and dragons and I had tried to "break in" to the hobby but found it very off putting and exclusive, like I didn't know so I didn't belong. That's why I'm always interested in introducing new people to RPGs and trying to give them a good experience. I found people who did that and were interested in TOON and then GURPS. Also the shticks in TOON are broadly defined so I was getting a lesson in using narrative chops to make a vaguely worded ability apply to a variety of situations. Additionally I learned quickly how un-fun straight failure is, especially when you come up with something clever so I began forming the nascent ideas of failing forward though it would be several years before I stumbled upon the exact wording that made it click.

What I miss about GURPS, two things. One, back in the day there was a Wizards of the Coast store at the Arundel Mills mall near where I grew up. In the back corner of said store was a whole shelf of RPG books including a large assortment of GURPS books. I remember stopping in there every time I went to that mall and just looking at the titles and envisioning the games I would play with each book. Two, three d6 as a core die mechanic is *chef's kiss*.

What I don't miss about GURPS. Although I got my start with GURPS I didn't play much of it and almost all of my playing was through play-by-post. It's a system I definitely want to revisit to experience it now with all of the wisdom and knowledge I've collected over the years. I don't miss hand-calculating all of the stats to build a character using point buy. I'm assuming it's much easier now with digital tools.

When are we going to play live? Are you going to Tacticon? You're welcome at the casa anytime you make it down. I could probably scrounge up some interested parties. I'm on the fence about Tacticon which means I probably won't go at this late stage of the decision making process. Originally I thought I'd conserve my gaming convention pennies for a trip out to GameHole Con this year but I'm doubtful I'll make that trek either. I'll definitely be planning on Genghis and probably Tacticon and GameHole next year.
I don't spend too much time on the player side of the screen. #ForeverDM but it's by design because I tend to get bored with just one character to focus my attention on. The last 5e game I played (Tomb of Annihilation) I played a Kenku Fighter with the Samurai archetype. That was pretty fun. I tend to pick the "whatever the party needs" after everyone's picked there's or roll randomly and challenge myself to make it interesting. Fighter is probably my go-to, followed closely by Monk, I like martial better than spell-casters for sure.

If you’ll collect all those puns and take them elsewhere I’ll be eternally grateful!

Cool stuff about TOON being at the root of some of your gaming preferences now. And that’s cool about GURPS in the 90s — I had the same experience, and it was always cool visiting different game stores to see if they had old or rare / hard to find stuff, like Middle Ages. As much as I’m done with heavy point-buy systems myself, I still hold a candle for GURPS and especially for a long-desired Time Travel game. Might have to consider that opus after Arcadia finishes.

Did you really hand-calculate GURPS characters? I built Quattro Pro spreadsheets for that. And I had no clue your PbP DNA went back that far! Where / how were you playing? Was that in the 90s?

I likely won’t make it to Tacticon either. Maybe for 1-2 games. Regardless, yeah, we should play live at some point. I have another really good gaming pal in the Springs as well, and a whole bunch in Denver… we’d have no trouble filling a table, I’m sure.

What is the first game you’re going to run on GP?

I'm sure I would have utilized spreadsheets had I kept up with GURPS and played in it more regularly. As it was I can only distinctly remember one GURPS game I played to completion and that was via PbP.

I used to be fairly active in the PlaybyWeb.com site back in 99-04 as well as rpol.net but I didn't like it as much. Until PlaybyWeb's recent site revamp you could still find some of the old genre backgrounds I created for that site back in my youth. Also at that time I was running an e-wrestling federation which surprisingly really honed my writing in character chops.

First game to run on GP, hard to say. I participated in a really great horror game / writing type thing back in my rpol.net days that I've been interested in recreating at some point, trouble is I don't remember all the particulars of how it worked and I doubt I could dredge it up from anywhere.

Technically I'm already running my first GP game, but it's a duet game with a friend of mine of The Quiet Year. My first one, for prime time, will probably be one of the five pitches I just made to my regular group that they don't wind up going with so Blades in the Dark, Hard Wired Island, Hearts of Wulin, Index Card RPG Ghost Mountain or Fate: Straw Boss. I'm equally excited about all five options.

What games do you think have translated to play-by-post the best? Have you tried Savage Rifts? What do you have on heavy rotation for music?

Great questions

The best play-by-post games I feel are ones where everyone is equally invested in making things happen. I think very crunchy systems with a lot of back and forth steps can run slower and be harder to keep momentum going. Shoutout to Harrigan's Arcadia game, I've been lurking and following along. Everyone playing seems super invested in making cool stories and Harrigan is on the ball keeping things moving. That would be a game I would hold up as an exemplar of the best the hobby.

I have tried Savage Rifts. I ran a short game of it with my local in person group and played in a short game of it with a group of randos online. I found it enjoyable. One of the things I struggled with in my home game was keeping the power level balanced. The crazy with a thunder hammer was obliterating everything I threw at him. It was fun though. My best Rifts experience was a pay-to-play game that was run at my FLGS. There were three GMs and on average 12 - 16 players. Typically a game session started with a full group debriefing then a split into two or three squads with specific goals each run by a separate GM and then finish with a culmination of all squads with all three GMs running the table. I had a lot of fun with that game.

Heavy rotation. I'm a Spotify listener so usually I just throw it on shuffle and let it ride but I'll also queue up songs that I want to hear. Recently I've been queueing up a lot of mxmtoon, Manchester Orchestra and Glass Animals. Also randomly got the urge to listen to the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory songs, except not Cheer up Charlie because that song is trash and I distinctly remember my sister and I would always fast forward our VHS copy through that scene every time we watched the movie. I've also been in a Japanese hip-hop mood lately, not sure where it came from. I've been listening to takayan, seems good, probably dig into it a bit more and find some other artists that I like. A friend recommended the new Murder By Death album. I've given it a listen, and will probably give it a few more. Another friend is continuously pushing King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, I feel I owe them more of my ear time as well.

That must be @Harrigan the King Gizzard pusher man. Addmitedly they are a great band deserved of many listens.

Never even heard of PlaybyWeb.com — neat. What are the most common systems over there?

And I forgot you were running The Quiet Year here — how is it going?

(And thanks for the kind words about Arcadia. It’s all about having invested and active players who also happen to be good writers!)

No @Harrigan hasn't recommended any music to me I don't think. Not actively. Maybe in passing.
Back in the day it had a good amount of 3.5 games and a section titled "Adult" that I didn't frequent. As with most PbP sites most games I signed up to play fizzled out, but it was a good introduction to the hobby.

Quiet Year is stalled. Friend stopped posting and I'm too passive to nudge them.

Well deserved words of praise for Arcadia.

Not me with King Gizzard, though I do love them.

I mean COME ON — this set blows my mind whenever I (frequently) listen to it. I don’t adore all their stuff, but they are a hugely impressive band. Technical chops out the Ying Yang.

(Roger, I haven’t made music recommendations on that Discord we both belong to because the music channel is so lousy with awful metal… 😏 )