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?

No, never had the occasion - or the time! As you know, animation of any kind is a painstakingly slow affair, a frame-by-frame quest for the illusion of life!

One of the things I really love about RPGs is that I can 'zone out' and dive fully into shared fantasy situations, so I guess unconsciously I might even be avoiding letting my job into it! 😅

Let me know when you next run a one-off CoC adventure!

Do you prefer to be GM or player in a game?

What is your favorite Point-and-click adventure game? And what is a good one you're played recently (if any)?

Ha! great question. I think I love both aspects, for different reasons.

GMing a game appeals to the storyteller in me, and challenges me to adapt and mold the story to the players' actions and needs. You start with a more or less well delineated plan (a published scenario, or a chain of events imagined by you), and the characters will deviate from it, add to it, do the unexpected. Reacting creatively to all this is a great writing exercise, and I am convinced that, in the Play-by-post format, with its natural pauses and slower pace, we can get some great stories using the extra thinking time between posts.

As a player, the joy is in the discovery of a story, in the unveiling of a mystery. Focusing on (usually) one character only, you can delve deeper into their personality, calibrating their dialogues to things they would actually say, in form and substance. You can work out some fun details of their likes and dislikes, give them little quirks... And there is also of course the interaction with other players, the group dynamics that are generated in the game.

We share an awesome hobby, what's not to like? 😂

"Sam and Max hit the Road" always had a special place in my heart. Perhaps because it fused great art and animation with fun jazzy music and a cryptid-rich plot with plenty of zany humour.One I played recently... I am discovering "Thimbleweed Park", and it is great fun so far! You can see it comes from the same heritage, and is intentionally retro in look. I am enjoying the idea of switching characters to accomplish different goals.

Ultima was never made into a tabletop RPG. To me, that feels like a lost opportunity. If you could reboot one of those old PC games as a tabletop equivalent, which one would you choose, and why?

Interesting... I think that classic-Ultima as an RPG would result in yet another quite generic fantasy RPG... (you might have noticed I am not a big fan of Fantasy: no mention of D&D/AD&D, Pathfinder, etc. in my gaming interests)

However (and this links to my interest in generic rulesets to run different genres) the Ultima game engine was used to power at least two interesting games in the 1990s, under the label 'Worlds of Ultima':I never completed these, but I can see how they would make more interesting reboots as tabletop RPG games than 'vanilla Ultima', at least for me...

It looks like the folks at Origin were thinking about a core ruleset (or engine), with multiple settings, like GURPS etc were doing in RPGs...

Another computer-based RPG that would make a great tabletop game is Arcanum, an isometric RPG with a steampunk fantasy theme.

I would like to run or play the classic TOON RPG some day, though, if that counts!

I played a lot of Toon back in the day :)

Woo-hoo, love the shout out for Arcanum, an underrated gem!

If you haven't played Broken Sword 1 and 2, recommend those as well (point and click).

Well, let me know if you get the itch to run it again!

I played the first game. I was scarred for life by a VERY ANNOYING goat, I must have been stuck at that point for weeks :D

I used to play pathfinder with a lovely bunch of ppl in North Finchley (while i lived for about 4 years in High Wycombe).

ha! Next door, I might ask you their details one day...

Did you invent this? LOL

🤣 I wish! (now I want to know what it tastes like)

It's a Dr Pepper clone, it's close but it's not as cherry flavored. I drink the diet version all the time.

I actually prefer the HEB brand Cola more than Coke, it's just better

I have to try these!

Come to Texas next holiday. Austin is a quirky city most people like. If I was able I'd give you a room but I'm in a horrible apartment for the moment and don't have enough space to even invite people over for a meal.