Ask Me Anything: Dunko

Here's my stock question. What are your musical tastes?

Do you do any boating or kayaking in the great lakes region?

Any fun legends about mysterious creatures/sightings you care to share? Bonus points if you witnessed one!

Show us your cryptids!

Have you ever seen the aurora borealis from where you live?
What is your preferred coffee brew method?
How many and what type(s) of guitar(s) do you have?
Have you ever played Microscope RPG?
What was the best 50-100$ purchase you've made in the last year?

I'll listen to anything really, but my fave artists of all time are probably, Bowie, Nick Cave, Dylan (who I've seen in concert over 16 times), Tyler the Creator, Patti Smith. I listen to big names on repeat but I'm really into indie and underground stuff--so I'm always on the hunt. It's nice to see how Wet Leg has blown up recently: Wet Leg, Chaise Longue on youtube.

My grandpa had a small motor boat when I was a kid so we'd fish a lot--but I know longer really go on the lake! I like looking at it though.

We have a unique one in the Melon Heads: Wiki Page for Melon Heads. We also have the Lake Erie Monster and the Grassman (our bigfoot).

I actually love reading about cryptids--have we talked about this??? lol

I've never seen one though, although I've seen a ghost and I don't believe in them.

I think bigfoot is my fave and I spent a long time really, truly hoping they were real. I know longer think they are but I sure love to read about them.

(1) I've never seen the aurora borealis from where I live, but I've seen meteor shower over the lake before.

(2) My preferred coffee brew method is Chemex. I tend to not drink coffee as strong as you'd get it at a coffee shop. I do like a 1:20 or 1:18 ratio of coffee to water, and Chemex filters give this nice tea-like quality in the mouthfeel.

(3) I have a Fender Telecaster (it's just like a player model I think), an Ibanez parlor guitar I picked up for some reason, a low end Epiphone acoustic, a Martin D15m, a Martin D28 and a Martin D35 custom with an adirondack soundboard and non-standard bracing.

(4) I was in a group once that used Microscope to world build before playing a very short lived campaign. I loved Microscope!

(5) That's a tough one. I think 3 snake plants. I've kept them alive and they make my office feel nice.

You know you cannot tease us like this without telling the story, right?!?
Very illegal, in all fifty states.

What's the best book you've read in the last five years?

What's the book you'd recommend to others?

Oh you know, just your classic staying over night in a Tennessee farmhouse and waking up to figure in your room that turns and dissappears when you speak to it.

I really just think my head was messing with me but it was creepy lol.
That's a tough one... probably the final book in Robin Hobbs excellent Farseer series. And I always recommend any of her books.

I just finished The Last Werewolf and liked it a lot.

Wet Leg is awesome! Thanks for the pointer!

Awesome, never heard of these... creepy stories!
you say it as if it happened to you every other day 😂 - thanks for sharing!

How does it feel to be the newest member of the Monster Hunters Club?

Wet Leg. Great band, thanks for sharing but what an awful name. 😁
Early Bowie is some of my favorite music. Saw the Glass Spider tour in Giants Stadium with my parents a long time ago. His death was a huge loss to music. Indie and Underground are definitely fertile ground for exploration. Some fantastic bands exist that don't get enough attention.

Amazing! I love hunting monsters.
One of my faves! I've watched tour dates on YouTube; it's in my top 3 Bowie eras. I was lucky to have seen him when I was in high school in the 2000s and it's still one of the best shows I've ever been to.

What is your favorite pop culture easter egg?

That's tough! Maybe a tie between Glenn Close in Hook or the Baldurs Gate ones in Mass Effect 3 😁

You mentioned you use Savage Worlds in two of your in-person games. How many in-person games do you play with regularly? Are you long time friends, or met fairly recently? Also, what are you playing now and how's it going?

I play 3 in person games. Two are bi-weekly, so the day is the same but the game alternates, and one is monthly.

1. One of the bi-weekly games is SWADE, and we are currently doing Deadlands. This one has 5(ish) players but only 3 are there every session. This games been ongoing since 2019 and includes old work friends, new work friends, and my childhood next-door neighbor. The group is built on the bones of a group I've been playing with weekly since like 2013. We did a year of Cortex in there too, and various small campaigns and one shots from other systems.

This game is amazing. We focus on episodic play, where the ongoing story is really just the character interactions and history with each other. I have a couple fronts that mostly operate in the background until the posse stumbles upon their machinations periodically. We recently did a big time jump where we decided something big happened off screen--that led to their falling out with the Twilight Legion and a big disaster--but we're not defining what it is. And then I'll prompt them individually, at times, to fill in some of those gaps during scenes and oh wow the twists and turns they've come up with!

2. The other bi-weekly game is currently Urban Shadows (we're doing the, idk, playtest(?) of 2e). This game is one old work friend and a few of their work friends. All the players are newer and have recently left 5e so it's been fun watching everyone grep how to play with natural language then referring to the playbooks rather than "I'm searching" *shake, shake, roll*. The tone is super light which is fun too.

3. The monthly game is SWADE and we're using the Interface 0 3.0 setting. It includes my brother, and TWO of my childhood neighbors, and my older brother my be joining us soon. This is the re-introduction to ttrpg for two of the players. They haven't been involved in ttrpg since we were all in middle school. And it's been great seeing their passion rekindled. I also like the ruleset of the setting!

Yeah all the games are going great right now, but maybe it's mostly the people! I cringe as I type this, but I really think TTRPG is, like, an artistic outlet. But not as an acting or writing outlet--I'm actually not interested in either of those so much as they feel less collaborative. For me it's more like playing in a band! I love the fact that each person at the table brings their own interpretation and sound to the scene. It's very likely no two people will picture a description or scene exactly the same way, which is so cool to me. Oh you thought this was a hard rock scene, well they're over here bringing some disco drumming and it's totally changing up the sound! When everyone is feeding a scene, as a group, and just piling on cool ideas, it feels a lot like when you're playing music with others and everyone is in sync. Such a rush.

What do you like most about PbP?

This is my first PbP community, so IDK if this is unique to the folk here or if it's a PbP thing but I really like that everyone is down to try so many different systems! So great to see a community of people who like to experiment and try to make things work.

I've also liked that I can take it on the go and just engage with ttrpg at anytime and anywhere.

I don't know that I'm very good at it--I've been feeling like my general style maybe isn't quite the play-by-post style that folks prefer--but I've been having a lot of fun and I hope those I've engaged with have had some good times!

Acker, at least, is pretty cool. I like the way you write her.

Danill, also, is an interesting fellow.

I also have no complaints about Brady

Can confirm that Acker is a great character!

Why do you have a scottish flag as your profile pic? Any family ties?

You seem to prefer rules-light rule-sets. What are your thoughts on rules-light vs. rules-heavy systems?

My dad and grandparents are from Scotland--well, he was born in Toronto, but lived in Neilston as a kid. I guess it's been a fond part of my life even though I'm fully American. Its just one of my earliest profile pics, online, and I still default to it sometimes. I either use it or a pic of my local prehistoric fish:Rules-light vs. Rules-heavy, my thoughts generally are "whatever you like to use!" There are a lot of fun things about cracking that big book open and making your way through all these cool, well thought out ideas the devs came up with. There was a time in my life in which I loved rules-heavy.

These days I really like systems that get out of the way, or encourage simple resolution. I like when a gaming session is quick and punchy. I think that can include rules-heavy systems, but I've more often found it in rules-light ones!

I feel a "So I Married an Axe Murderer" reference is in order here...

What draws you to the Dunkleosteus? You say fossils of it were found locally in your area? Do you like other marine-based prehistoric animals, too, or just the one home town buddy?

Yeah, to my understanding Dunkleosteus has only been found in a few places on earth including local shale, so I've been looking at his fossil and likeness my whole life. I like all sorts of prehistoric animals--more than dinosaurs even--but yes, none compare to Dunkleosteus for me!

Wait a second, is that where your name comes from as well?

Completely agree. Nothing more awesome than a group that is in sync at the table.

Thanks for sharing! I'm always interested in hearing about people's games. Sounds like you have some great groups going.

Yes it is.