Ask Me Anything: Dr_B

What's your doctorate in? But for real, what's the origin of your handle?!
Thoughts on what this could be? I just discovered Elemental and am feeling it could be a contender.

Do you have a fave jazz pianist?

1. What's the story on your avatar?
2. What's your favorite generic system so far and why?

What aspect of TV Animation do you handle as a career?

it comes from a character of a pulp pastiche story I once wrote. It had zeppelins, dashing heroes, and time travel! The villain of the piece was a hypnotist called Doctor Belarski, in homage to one of the great pulp cover painters of the 1930s:

(grouping two related questions together)

I'll start by saying that I have only tried a handful, and read a few more, such systems: so I am by no means an expert (for example, I had never heard of Elemental - but will check it out immediately!)

Excluding the more fully narrative systems like PbtA and FATE (a bit too loose for my taste), the systems that work best for PbP seem to be the ones where the action resolution mechanics are not reliant on back-and forth rolling, like for example: (1) attack roll, (2) parry or dodge, (3) damage roll (4) armor activation...
In that respect, Savage Worlds works well. The target numbers are simple, and in combat Parry and Toughness of the opponent (if known) allow to solve virtually in one roll. Of course Opposed rolls still rely on a little back-and-forth, inevitably.
I test-ran Cypher System, and that is pretty agile too, if a little repetitive with only the 3 stats. It takes a while to grasp the 'GM never rolls' concept, but if the players understand the mechanics it can flow very well, with the right group.

The search continues!

Many! Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones, Bill Evans, Red Garland...

it is a detail of the cover of the first RPG I ever bought (and ever played!), Call of Cthulhu (1st edition)in fact, the whole story is that at the time my French was better than my English, so I bought the French edition by Jeux Descartes!

A bit of everything, depending on the project. I started as a pencil-and-paper animator, then did a lot of storyboarding, character layout, design...
At present I am series director, overseeing everything from the writing room, through storyboarding, design and animation, and all the way to postproduction and broadcast.

I realise I am VERY lucky, my job is a ton of fun... 🙏🙏🙏

Which side of London do you live in?

I'm North, near Barnet. Don't tell me you're local?! 🤞🤞🤞

As a player/GM how do you best handle mystery in your Cthulhu games?
What are your thoughts about games like Brindlewood Bay or Gumshoe that handle clues in creative ways?

I understand the premise on which the clue system in Gumshoe / Trail of Cthulhu is built, although I have never seen it in action. One of those books you own but somehow stays on the shelf...

However, in my CoC or other investigation games, I don't think I ever struggled with the players missing clues because of failed rolls/unsuitable skills. This might be because I am used to expanding and adding to the scenarios, and adjusting the narrative to follow where the players are going.

I try to find imaginative ways for them to learn a snippet of useful information, even if I have to transplant it from where it was originally meant to be found in the scenario. So, if the players fail to find the hidden robes of the cultist, maybe they can find them elsewhere, or hear the nosy neighbour gossip about the man who owns the robes "liking to dress like a woman sometimes..."

I feel these on the fly adjustments are part of the job of the GM (and also fun to implement), so I guess I never felt the need of a system that specifically tackles the clue collecting.
(I hope I didn't misunderstand your question, and that the clue system was indeed what you asked me to comment on!)

I am however very interested in the one-to-one version of Gumshoe, Cthulhu Confidential. One day...

I’m west near Heathrow. I have in-laws near Edgeware in the North

I'm in Central London quite a bit for work/socially, if you fancy a drink some day!

Sure, I don’t get up to Central London so much anymore, full time dad and all, but sounds good.

We connected over Warhammer, but not my other game, which we have in common, COC. Are you a forever keeper, or do you play? And have you ever played all the way through Masks of Nyarlathotep?

Other than running it occasionally, I do play in CoC games too. Although... Masks, via PbP ?!?!? 😱
A very ambitious project! I don't think I would have the stamina, to be honest... it would last 3, 4 real time years?

I find that shorter, episodic scenarios are more suitable for PbP. It is tough enough seeing one of those to the end, without losing players (or GM!)...

I can make anything work :)

Do you ever incorporate animation into your games, such as drawing character art or animating memorable moments/scenes?