Total Pebble Knockdown
By Total Pebble Knockdown
Total Pebble KnockdownOct 04, 2021
118. The Superintendent of Family Values
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Comedy is all over games, but some games rely on it far more than others. After playing Helldivers 2, Alex and Nathan decided to compare the humor seen in that game to some others, such as Borderlands and Breathedge. What is the difference between them and what works better?
The Helldivers 2 we were NOT going to discuss at this time - Helldivers 2 on Steam now requires a PSN account to play - Polygon
Hardcore and Ironman modes rely on an all or nothing way of playing games and frankly, the hosts of the show don't usually try them. Why do we have such an aversion to letting go of our progress in games? Also, why can't Nathan pull the trigger on Ending E of Nier?
The Fallout TV show has garnered lots of positive feedback. Some of that came from Tim Cain, lead programmer of the original Fallout. One thing that Cain said during his review was particularly interesting regarding the criticism that it changed the lore of the Fallout universe. And so, let's discuss the idea of unreliable narrators.
Tim Cain reviews Fallout TV - Fallout TV Show Review (youtube.com)
A study on false memories - Gary Wade 2005 False Memory.pdf (hanover.edu)
Fallout 76 changing things - Fallout Lore That Gets Ruined By Fallout 76 (screenrant.com)
117. Game-ception
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Candyland may not be a very feature-rich game, but perhaps it could be used as a mechanic for another game... for reasons. We look at a post suggesting this and ask the question about what these mechanics could be if we really wanted to whip out this board game from the back of the closet. Candyland as a mechanic? - https://twitter.com/riseupcomus/status/1783156398752203009 How hard should you play with the mechanics of a game so you can do a very simple thing? How lost in the weeds can we get when playing with a system? Well, Nathan ran across a Reddit question from many years ago that takes minutia to a new level while making a D&D monster. Weird Question - https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/5qf5kw/weird_question_i_need_less_hp/ Games can often prove frustrating for the sheer reason that they are difficult, but also suffer from a lack of saving. This was mentioned by The Librarian in relation to Rain World, but Nathan also has an example from his own experience last year: 9 Years of Shadows. The Librarian clip - https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxiOtqSi8wrm2s8hzUSfCS6jxQnv2hsiOQ
116. Hit F to Pay Devs
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Fallout got a TV show and Nathan thinks it did a really good job at representing the series, even for people who have no previous experience with the series. Let's talk about how the characters help introduce many of the big themes about Fallout. Also, how can you adapt one medium into another, especially when you move from an interactive to non-interactive one? Demos can really help sell a game to skeptical players, but they need to succeed at a handful of things. What are those things? We are going to discuss what we look for in demos for them to work. KlaytonCalix gave us an odd article where the former president of Blizzard suggested tipping for great games. Nothing could possibly go wrong with this idea. There is absolutely no way to exploit this monetization. And so, let's discuss how game companies will absolutely make this work perfectly. https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/former-blizzard-president-suggests-you-should-be-able-to-leave-a-dollar10-or-dollar20-tip-for-the-devs-because-some-games-are-that-special/
115. Two Left Feet in the Moshpit
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Metroidvanias are coming back and Nathan recently found a few interesting mechanics that should be more utilized in examples of the genre. Why? Because Nathan needs his Metroids and Vanias!
Alex got to play Ripout during a free weekend and frankly did not know how to feel about it. He spent 6 hours trying to figure out if he liked it or not. His conclusion? Listen to find out! Also, Nathan was bad at playing Metal: Hellsinger.
Larian has shelved any future DLC for Baldur's Gate 3 and... that's probably okay. When should a game have DLC, when is it predatory and should it be expected? That is something we will discuss on this episode.
Larian Started Work on Baldur's Gate 3 DLC, Then Canceled It: 'The Studio Was Elated' - IGN
Neil Newbon 'Isn't Done' With Astarion Despite Larian Moving on From Baldur's Gate 3 - IGN
114. Godfather with Vampires
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: After hearing about the horror that is the false hydra, Nathan started thinking about rectifying player knowledge versus character knowledge. If you know how to combat a monster that is imperceivable by normal means as a player, should your character prepare to fight it accordingly?
Dungeon Dad explains the False Hydra - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PydSva7lHdk
What is happening with Embracer Group? First they buy up a bunch of game companies, then they lose 40% of their stock value, now they are selling off or shuttering the same game studios they bought. Now, they are selling off big parts of Gearbox to Take-Two.
Embracer divests from Gearbox - https://twitter.com/kerrblimey/status/1773192559122170214?t=R9xitbhW6BC2YntnP3gDoQ&s=19
Embracer Group Stock Drops 40% After $2 Billion Mystery Deal Self-Destructs - https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/05/24/embracer-group-stock-drops-40-after-2-billion-mystery-deal-self-destructs/?sh=105d0853c540
Embracer Group's Partner Who Walked From $2 Billion Deal Finally Revealed - https://www.ign.com/articles/embracer-groups-partner-who-walked-from-2-billion-deal-finally-revealed
Saints Row And Red Faction Studio Shut Down After 30 Years - https://kotaku.com/embracer-shuts-down-saints-row-studio-volition-after-30-1850792734 Embracer Group Is Considering Selling Borderlands Dev Gearbox - https://kotaku.com/gearbox-software-borderlands-sale-embracer-group-1850824882
Did the Monopoly man have a monocle? What color was C-3PO? Did Sinbad play a genie in the 90s? Question everything about your memory as we dive into the Mandela Effect, a collective misremembering of information. Then, we discuss how this attention to detail and altering of information could be utilized in your games as a fun layer of character design or world building.
A list of prime Mandela Effect examples - https://www.entitymag.com/mandela-effect-examples/
Before you comment about Fruit of the Loom - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fruit-of-the-loom-cornucopia/
NOTE: This video is for entertainment purposes only. Yes, we know it's not actually called "The Mandala Effect", that's the joke.
113. The MacGyver Skill
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Nine years ago we released the 1st episode of Delve, a podcast about game mechanics. On this episode we revisit some of our early topics from the show. What are some of the RPG skills that don't get represented in games? Can you build small machines or mediate a discussion between others? We talk about the skills that are often not listed in the player's handbook. We just keep going back to hit points. It's a problem and we understand that. Today we try to figure out why so many games will revert back to this system and how it is represented on the screen. Perhaps it should be hidden behind the screen? Perhaps this is also about user interface... The Design Delve video Alex won't shut up about - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHdY7956gwg In D&D there are two ways we determine Armor Class. One is by the armor you are wearing and the other is by your dexterity score. Although these are functionally different, they are mechanically the same in the game. Can we make them less similar? Maybe we can play off the different ways we derive this stat and how it affects our character.
112. Let's Play Rageball!
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
To celebrate March Madness and our very good understanding of sports ball, we are talking about sports IN games. Namely, how could we create competitions in a role-playing game. And what D&D classes would be best suited for our fantasy Olympics.
Sometimes, even a straight-forward board game can have mechanics that derail the action and discourage new players. Nathan discusses a few he encountered when playing Catan, Carcassone and Ticket to Ride. We also discuss some D&D mechanics we hand-waved away in the past.
A new Reddit question came across Nathan's feed with a typical problem in RPG groups. What happens when you have a player leave and their character is still around? Should the GM take on the PC role? We have some personal experience with this, so let's discuss it in more detail.
The question in question - https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/1bau05w/player_is_leaving_group_now_i_need_to_takeover/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
111. Completely Off the Mark
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Should we worry about RPG campaigns that are focused on storytelling? An article shared with one of our long-time friends of the show discussed an experience where plot dominated the agency of the players. We discuss the legitimacy of this concern and also talk about how we disagree with the conclusion. Realm Builder Guy - https://www.realmbuilderguy.com/2023/10/why-storyline-plot-driven-campaigns-are.html Hey folks, let's go battle a church! No, I mean let's literally fight a church. This was one question from Reddit we had to discuss. What if there's a church that wants to eat your party? And should we try to keep them from getting eaten by the church? What fun would that be. Fighting a Church - https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/1b7flyr/how_could_i_make_my_party_fight_a_church/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/1b7flyr/how_could_i_make_my_party_fight_a_church/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Fake games have been an ongoing discussion on Steam for many years. In fact, a spate of fake games (poorly made shovelware) was discussed back in 2017 when we got the Steam Explorers program. But now, the problem is games disguising themselves as more popular ones to trick people into buying them. This is our PSA to gamers on why buyers should be aware. Helldivers 2 imposters - https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/several-steam-games-changed-names-to-helldivers-2-and-palworld-to-scam-players/ Two indie games in a trenchcoat - https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/two-indie-steam-games-were-disguised-as-helldivers-2-to-scam-players/ Steam Explorers - https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/4/15172908/valve-steam-explorers-system-direct-fake-games
110. Wonka’s Chonka Dungeon of Change
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: After seeing the end of joy that was Willy's Chocolate Experience in Glasgow, Scotland, Nathan felt inspired to make his own version of a trainwreck with "Super Awesome Dungeon". While it may not have oompa loompa at home or AI image promotion, it may have three goblins in a trenchcoat. The Chocolate Experience that wasn't - https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/27/glasgow-willy-wonka-experience-slammed-as-farce-as-tickets-refunded?CMP=twt_b-gdnnews Delivery of nightmares - https://www.themarysue.com/what-happened-at-the-glasgow-willy-wonka-experience-explained/ House of Illuminati - https://houseofilluminati.com/ If your players don't like haggling, why do they keep trying to do it. Nathan loses his mind over a Reddit post where a GM tries to figure out why players be like that and we work out ways to mitigate this very odd problem. The lovely post that brought us this gem - https://x.com/gwinglemove/status/1755272258921140572?s=20 What would happen if you found an ancient artifact in the pyramids? What if it was a Yu-Gi-Oh card? In all seriousness, a very fun thread on this leads us to discuss lost gaming media, specifically dead games. What are the games we remember playing that are nowhere to be found now? A thread worth remembering - https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1763169557521318337.html?utm_campaign=topunroll#google_vignette
109. Starry Llama Night
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: What if you went to the Van Gogh Museum and came away with a painting of Pikachu? Crazy, right? Anyway, that was an actual possibility in 2023 and is possibly going to happen again. So, let us discuss Pikachu in Grey Felt Hat and brand integration with museums. Pokemon x Van Gogh - https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about/collaborate/van-gogh-museum-brand-licenses/collaboration-license-partners/van-gogh-museum-x-pokemon Pikachu makes a comeback - https://www.forbesindia.com/article/lifes/is-amsterdams-van-gogh-museum-ready-for-a-new-round-of-pokemon-mania/90971/1 Museums & Brands - https://www.forbesindia.com/article/lifes/museums-and-brands-is-it-a-marriage-made-in-heaven/88419/1 Video games can be high cuisine, but they can also be junk food. However, on this episode we are defending the junk food games, those which may not leave you feeling deeply satisfied but instead leaves you feeling like you successfully killed a few hours with little brain power required. Coincidentally, we talk a bunch about Ship Graveyard Simulator 2. After diving back into survival crafting games with Palworld, Nathan experienced an old problem worth mentioning: the obscene amount of workbenches. Why do we need such specific workbenches? Why do we have to keep crafting new, better versions of the existing ones? Is there a better way?
108. Steam Next Fest
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
It’s Steam Next Fest 2024 and KlaytonClaix rejoins us to tell us some fun games he played as the plethora of demos fell upon us. He takes a second look at Folklands, gets his tactics on in Sword of Convallaria, does some resource collecting in Isometria, builds a better skeleton in Necrosmith 2 and makes a sweet gun in NIMRODS.
Alex also played demos during Next Fest and had some titles worth discussing. We find out what Voxlands actually is, automate with Omega Crafter and OddSparks, and scratch our head at Artifact Seeker (subtitle not legible).
Nathan takes you down a rabbit hole of demos he played as we run down a lightning round of 8 titles he played. Then we get into the 3 titles worth explaining in detail: NeverGrave, Pacific Drive and Lonely Space.
107. 16 Times the Artifacts
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Bethesda had a Developer Direct showcasing 5 games coming out in 2024. We will discuss these as well as talk about how they relate to the leak from September on their roadmap of content and what this means.
Microsoft documents leak new Bethesda games, including an Oblivion remaster
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a very good game, but Nathan had a nagging problem 10 hours in that needed to be addressed with the one mod he had to use. So, let’s talk about party composition, number of players and removing party limits.
Should NPCs be gullible? Like, gullible enough to allow your adventuring party to walk into a stronghold. A hot take from November suggests that they should and we are going to discuss it’s merits.
106. A Very Palworld Special
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
KlaytonCalix joins us for a special Palworld episode as we have each played it for more than 50 hours. There must be something great about this game to hold our attention this long. What did we love about this game and what itches did it scratch for us as gamers.
If you take the good, you take the bad. Those are the facts of life. Palworld is not without issues. Some of them are technical, but others are by design. Others still are trappings of the genre. What bothered us about the game and what aspects did not work for us. Also, what are some things we’d like to add to Palworld.
And so we get to the ugly. While Palworld may not be an ugly game, the discussion around it certainly feels that way. Let’s discuss the letter from Nintendo, similarities to existing IPs, accusations of AI usage and threats given to the developers. Like, WTF!?
The Hoeg Law video Klayton mentioned - Palworld vs Pokemon | Can This Be Legal? (VL775)
105. Armored Souls
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
We have reached 500 videos on YouTube! Well, 506 or so, but we’re late to the party. It sure feels like we should do something to celebrate, so let’s look at a mathematically constructed list of the 500 greatest games of all time. What were the best of all time? More importantly, what were the least best of all time?
A very official list of the best games - The Mathematically Derived 500 Best Video Games of All Time - an IGN Playlist by RuFiOoo - IGN
Alex has been playing Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon and getting his giant mech on. This is despite his tepid relationship to other FromSoftware games. And so, we should probably explain why AC6 is not really like a souls game.
There are two kinds of souls-like players and Nathan is not the one you know about. Elden Ring explained this to him better than any other title. Why do some players that don’t really “git gud” still want to play these games?
104. The Troll in the Room
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
It’s that time of year again when we do Save, Bury, Reboot. What games do we keep, which do we throw away and which ones need a makeover? Better listen to find out.
The Steam Awards happened and we smell some shenanigans. Trolls apparently got into the mix and voted for some unlikely choices for nominees in these game categories. So, let’s talk about Labor of Love and Most Innovative Game.
Although it was a fantastic year to play games, it was a dismal year for those who make them. Recently, Hasbro laid off 1,100 employees, many of them from Wizards of the Coast who make Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. And yet, the CEO… well, he made out just fine this year. Let us discuss the juxtaposition between how well a company does and how well the staff does.
Hasbro Layoffs Affect Wizards Of The Coast (forbes.com)
Baldur’s Gate 3 support at Wizards of the Coast devastated by layoffs - Polygon
Wizards Of The Coast Employees Have Been Hit Hard By Hasbro Layoffs (kotaku.com.au)
Hasbro Reports Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results | Hasbro, Inc.
103. Resolutionary
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Some games deserve a second chance. Nathan talks about some of the games he plans on giving this chance in 2024 and what he hopes to get out of the experience.
We are not a news program. However, we are hoping to revisit old news stories that fell by the wayside. What ever happened with the OpenGL or Unity stories? What happened to the bad games that got apology jpegs? Probably subjects worth exploring.
It’s the beginning of the year and so we should do an update about what we are doing with TPK stuff, like Discord, Patreon, YouTube, our website and our merchandise. Housekeeping time!
102. The Moist Bandicoots
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Nothing gets Nathan in the holiday spirit like Die Hard. On this episode, we become John McClane and create a quest to stop an assault on a wizard’s tower. Is it part of a campaign or a one shot? How does our party get there? How do they stop the fantasy terrorists? Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? All that and more on this festive episode.
When Frank Capra made It’s a Wonderful Life, he could only imagine that one day we would use the premise to create an end-of-campaign scenario for a TTRPG. Truly this would be his crowning achievement. What would the world look like if your PCs were never in it? How about OUR PCs? Should we be afraid to find out? Also, a spicy Nathan explains why he didn’t actually like the movie.
Home Alone is the best Christmas movie of all time according to ‘90s kids. Since Kevin McCallister is the OG murder hobo, we can easily take his home defense strategy and apply it to… magical bandicoots? How would we defend an abandoned town from a furry swarm of destruction? And can we remember where the family went in the 1st and 2nd movie?
101. Goal-a-mid
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Sometimes you need an expert to teach you the basics. So, we looked at Will Wright’s Masterclass on writing game mechanics to see if his 5 tips are worth taking into consideration. Then, we try to parse numbers 3 and 4 to make it make sense.
The Masterclass article - Will Wright’s 5 Tips for Writing Game Mechanics
So, what is the difference between linear and emergent gameplay? Can a chatbot give us half-way decent examples of games that use them? Do we have better suggestions? Can the two play nice together?
Design Doc about Final Fantasy 10 & 13 - FFX VS FFXIII - Two Linear Games, Two Outcomes ~ Design Doc - YouTube
How many short-term goals go into a long-term goal? What are those? We look at how games and designers use short-term goals and build upon them for larger things. We also try to make an unnecessary number of levels for goals, which probably was just us over-thinking it.
100. Un-hundred
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
There are many gaming mysteries, from glitchy pokemon to unattainable chests to questions about who kicked off a nuclear war. However, we have avoided discussing these things on the show. And now we explain the reason why.
We were once told we were bad at reviewing games. This is particularly weird since we do not review games. So, let’s discuss what we are apparently very bad at doing.
Drama alert? Not here. While we talk about industry news that might affect gaming or gamers, we’ve avoided discussing drama inside the community. This is intentional. We will now explain why.
99. Draft Ladybug
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
The Game Awards announced nominees for 2023. Now, we here at TPK care so deeply for award shows that we almost forgot it was even happening. However, eagle-eyed viewers asked us about it, so we are going to look through some of the categories and see if we even know what these games are. What will win?
You can vote for yourself here - The Game Awards | Streaming Live December 7, 2023
Every time a game asks you to build your own base, a variety of problems arise. How many resources do I need to collect? How does the game account for structural stability? How much time do I have to spend making it? What does the base let you do that you couldn’t do otherwise? We’ll figure that out, kind of, in this episode.
Base building mechanics are coming to D&D. In recent playtest material for One D&D, Wizards of the Coast announced the concept of “Bastions” which would let your character have a base of operations that could be expanded, protected and used to make items. Build a theater, get some bears to defend it, hire a bartender to make you a giant. Let’s talk about the way this would be implemented and whether this seems functional for a real game.
If you want to check out this One D&D playtest material, you can find it on D&D Beyond here - Bastions and Cantrips - Unearthed Arcana - Sources - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)
98. Very Small Snowman
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Big things are happening at The Escapist. Or I should say, big things used to happen at The Escapist before the staff left. We are talking about what happened with Nick Calandro and all the staff that followed him out the door. We also discuss what the future holds for Escapist ex-pats, most notably Yahtzee Croshaw from Zero Punctuation.
The Second Wind intro - An Introduction to Second Wind with Nick and Yahtzee - YouTube)
Blizzcon happened and Alex was very excited to discuss the future of World of Warcraft, while Nathan respectfully sat in pensive ennui. But Blizzard has big, long-term plans for their seminal MMORPG and we discuss what that will look like for the next decade or two.
An overview of Blizzcon for those who are interested - BlizzCon 2023: Everything Announced and Revealed - IGN
Nathan got a pleasant surprise this week in the form of an unexpected game called Wartales. The medieval turn-based combat game keeps presenting new discoveries in both the game world and mechanics. On this episode we discuss what makes this game so engaging and why Nathan is ultimately going to go play it again as soon as he’s done editting.
97. Tuna Fish Ice Cream
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Midnight Acres promises a unique combination of farming sim and tower defense game that seemed like a good idea when Nathan originally picked it up. Oh, how innocent we were… Perhaps there are genres that were never meant to go together and we are going to talk about it on this episode.
The act of playing tabletop games can be represented in video games, both through games that emulate the systems themselves and the ones who theme adventures around them. In this episode we take a look at Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and how it tries to represent tabletop gaming. We also discuss the different benefits and limitations of tabletop systems on pen and paper versus video games.
A very old, odd article came across Nathan’s desk recently. Forbes discussed mentally strong people and the 13 things they avoid. This seemingly has nothing to do with gaming. However another outlet modified this to be about 13 things that mentally strong GMs avoid. Is it really such a great idea to try equating advice for executives to the landscape of gaming? We’ll compare a couple of these points and see how they did.
Forbes talking about being mentally strong - Mentally Strong People: The 13 Things They Avoid (forbes.com)
Roleplaying Tips discussing mentally strong GMs - Mentally Strong GMs And 13 Things They Avoid - Roleplaying Tips
96. Trolled Right Out of the Game
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
So, you’re adventure party is outnumbered and outgunned. Now they have to choose to fight or surrender. Can you explain the statistically small odds of them succeeding? Can you save them from near-certain death? We look at a Reddit question to offer some unsolicited advise.
The Reddit post for those who wish to see the discourse - Potential TPK for level Level 13 party : DMAcademy (reddit.com)
Breathedge is what happens when you try doing survival crafting games in space. The results are mixed. Alex and Nathan discuss their experience playing the game and why they stopped.
Micro-gravity is a popular thing to add in games set in space. However, the frustration of these sections warrants additional discussion. What requirements do you need to have to make games less floaty and disorienting?
95. My Name is Doug, I’m Here to Murder You
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
- Steam Next Fest hit us with tons of game demos and trials to play, but not many piqued our interest. However, we have four titles to discuss today, as well as our overall impressions of the offerings we saw.
- Have you ever gotten the urge to tattoo Van Gogh’s Starry Night on your forehead, but were too afraid to do it because all your co-workers are Klimpt stans? Well, that’s what video games are for. But Alex has a question as to why there are so many games that focus specifically on facial tattoos, the rationale for it and why there seems to be less emphasis on other body customization now.
- Welcome to Monster House, a retirement home for movie monsters that are ready to give up the whole murdering people in their sleep racket. However, a murder is afoot and now they have become the main suspects. The twist: You are playing the monsters.
If you want more games from Steam Next Fest, check out Klaytoncalix’s YouTube channel, with so many demo overviews I can’t even count them all - Klaytoncalix - YouTubeOn this quest-storming session, we ask what monsters we would play and how this story might pan out before the mob of torch and pitchfork folks descend upon us.
94. Ask Your Doctor if Viral Lycanthropy is for You
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Have you ever tried a game that you thought you’d hate, only to heartily enjoy it? Well, Dadam asked this question of us a couple months back and Nathan had a couple games that fit that bill. Which ones? Are they the ones you’re thinking about right now? Probably not, but watch to find out.
Redfall hit a low of 3 concurrent players in October. Before the recent update, there had been a 4 month period of having no fixes for the poor state it was in at launch. The “Bite Back” DLC is still on sale though. Should companies eventually give up on games that don’t work? Is it worth salvaging a bad game at launch? What if you can’t imagine what a good version of the game even is? Let’s talk about that vampire game… again.
‘Redfall,’ With 3 Concurrent Steam Players, Is Still Selling Its DLC Pack (forbes.com)
Returning To ‘Redfall’ After Its Big New Update, Is It Worth It? (forbes.com)
The Thing is considered one of John Carpenter’s best films. The story of a research team in Antarctica encountering an alien organism that takes on the appearance of it’s victims, the feeling of paranoia and questions about the unknown cemented it as a great horror story. But could we take the formula and make a tabletop quest out of it? What skills, characters and solutions could you use to make this a spook-tastic role-playing experience?
93. Gooseface
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Palia is an interesting MMO that takes place in a world similar to Stardew Valley. Can a cozy game work as a multi-player online experience? Does it make sense to apply the trapping of such an online experience to a cozy game? Well, do we have stuff to say about that.
If you want to check out Palia yourself, it is free to sign up at - Palia – Welcome Home
Seasons change and so do we, but should they go through changes in your game? We often overlook the way time marches forward when playing an RPG, but there could be good reasons to implement mechanics around them. Let’s discuss the aesthetic and more detailed ways you can use seasons in your games. Also, could we use seasonal mechanics for board games?
Do you feel that chill in the air? Well, close your windows. Also, it’s spooky season. Time to think up some scary adventure hooks to terrify your party. First up, we visit the classic campfire ghost story and see how the old story of a killer with a hook hand in the woods might be utilized for your tabletop adventure.
92. The Whole Family Tree in One Convenient Place
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Epic has laid off nearly 900 members of it’s staff, 16% of it’s entire workforce. We’re going to talk about that and also do a little math on how much Tim Sweeney makes. Fun times.
Epic Games is reportedly laying off around 900 employees | Eurogamer.net
There’s an island full of kings and tyrants. Will you free them? Nathan ran across an interesting mission in Starfield called Operation Starseed and imagined a little adventure hook based on it. Let’s see if we can’t flesh it out a bit.
Okay, so what is a Bag of Holding Arrow and should it exist? We’re looking at the mechanical possibilities of doing something very funny with a pocket dimension.
91. Selling You the Cake without the Icing
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
What is happening with Embracer Group? First they buy up a bunch of game companies, then they lose 40% of their stock value, now they are selling off or shuttering the same game studios they bought. Let’s go over a timeline of unfortunate events and a cautionary tale of what large corporate investments could entail.
Embracer Group Stock Drops 40% After $2 Billion Mystery Deal Self-Destructs (forbes.com)
Embracer Group's Partner Who Walked From $2 Billion Deal Finally Revealed - IGN
Saints Row And Red Faction Studio Shut Down After 30 Years (kotaku.com)
Embracer Group Is Considering Selling Borderlands Dev Gearbox (kotaku.com)
Crystal Dynamics on X: "https://t.co/FMYu1MeVgn" / X (twitter.com)
Bethesda recently saw their roadmap of game releases for several years leaked recently. What were they planning on releasing? How far behind schedule are they? Which projects are likely to still happen?
Leaked Bethesda Road Map Shows Oblivion Remaster, Dishonored 3 (kotaku.com)
Cyberpunk 2077 just got a big update that is being touted as “Cyberpunk 2.0” which apparently makes the game feel complete for the first time since it released in 2020. What does it mean to say a game is “complete”? Are there games that simply will never get that label? Why do we have to wait years to see it happen?
90. It’s time crimes, guys!
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
We got a request to react to a video about creating a World of Warcraft expansion using AI, so that’s what we’re doing. Echoes of Azeroth is not actually an expansion to WoW, but how close to a real one does it get?
Nathan has been playing a little indie game by the name Starfield. The latest in Bethesda’s line of epic RPGs, it shares many similarities with previous games from BGS, but there are some interesting differences. What are the best and worst things Starfield does? And why should we stop comparing it to space games?
When talking about D&D 3E, we briefly touched on Prestige Classes and many people said that we didn’t do a good job explaining it. So, let’s attempt to do a better job by looking at an article on the subject and discuss the differences between prestige and subclasses.
What, How, and Why are Prestige Classes in D&D? (d20collective.com)
89. I Could Buy Waterfront Property
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
What if I told you there was a multi-player horror game that you could pick up for the low low price of a million dollars? Great deal, right!? Developer Bloody Bear tried the strangest marketing strategy for their game Spooky Men and now we have to talk about it.
Well, it took months, but after all the procrastination, Nathan finished the Mass Effect trilogy. What was his take away? Is it as good as he remembered? Are the criticisms of it’s 3rd act warranted?
NeverKnowsBest Mass Effect video - Mass Effect Trilogy - Review and Analysis - YouTube
Players expect causality in games, but it can be tricky making their choices feel like they have weight to the story. This is especially important in terms of tabletop RPGs, where player characters have more options and agency. What are some things to remember so players feel their choices have meaning and affect the story you are telling?
88. Mindflayers and Githyanki
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
It’s time to talk about Baldur’s Gate 3. Alex has been playing Larian’s new CRPG and has some thoughts on what the game does right in addressing central problems that have plagued the genre. So, we will be discussing pacing, combat and inventory management.
Recently, a Polygon article suggested that we should accept save-scumming as the best way to play RPGs after playing Baldur’s Gate 3. Josh Sawyer had an interesting response to it. Now, we’ll discuss save scumming in the current landscape of gaming and perhaps admit to cases where we have done it ourselves.
Baldur’s Gate 3 players are save scumming, which I always do in RPGs - Polygon
On the last episode, Nathan mentioned how much he likes Metroidvania titles, although he has a very mixed opinion on Souls-Likes games. However, there are some big similarities between the two. So, maybe we should discuss the reason they are different and why that matters.
87. Ghost Cooking Mama
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Dadam inquired into games that we should have liked but really did not. We discuss some of the games that work for us IN THEORY but do not IN PRACTICE. Get ready to hear about some Souls-likes, Metroidvanias and Cozy Games.
Alex is very excited to discuss the first support spec for World of Warcraft and how it has affected the game. So much so that he brought charts. Does this fundamentally change the 20-year-old game and will it open the door to other support types in the future?
When we looked over One D&D classes last week, we started questioning what Weapon Mastery was. After looking further into the UnEarthed Arcana documentation, Nathan found information on this brand new mechanic for One D&D and how it can add additional functionality to your regular weapons. Let’s see how it potentially affects our old favorites like the Rapier, Spear and Longbow.
86. Too Many Words, Make Book Longer
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
There has been more UnEarthed Arcana from Wizards of the Coast looking at updates to the One D&D character classes. We picked three we liked and get to discuss them on this episode as Wizards will be looking for feedback later in August.
The UnEarthed Arcana for One D&D - Unearthed Arcana Playtest - Unearthed Arcana - Sources - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)
We were a little unsure about the changes One D&D was proposing for Druids, mostly around how Wild Shape had changed. Luckily, playtesters had the same concerns and huge changes have been made. We’ll go over those changes and also the subclasses where we find out why Circle of the Moon is still so good.
Nathan really likes Bards. The new playtest material makes some important changes to Bardic Inspiration and also a welcome change to Cutting Words that makes him happy. Also, we get the College of Dance which is kind of ridiculously good.
Alex has played a Ranger once or twice and frankly, the class had some problems in D&D 5E. One D&D has the possibility of fixing that and we look at some of the new changes that have been made. We also see the new subclasses, including the Beast Master which gives us… oh, look, the Beast stat blocks have returned!
85. The Quest We Made Along The Way
84. Not a Youngin Anymore
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Nathan went back to play the Mass Effect Trilogy thanks to the recent Legendary Edition release. However, now facing the ending of ME3, he has gotten a sudden reluctance to finish the last leg of his journey. Why is that happening? What prevents us from finishing a game even when we really like it?
You wander into town and your party goes directly to the tavern or the shops or the castle… or maybe to the notice board? We rarely use the good old-fashioned idea of a town bulletin board, but there are many cool uses to expand the world-building, storyline and questlines by using them. What can we learn by going to check out random posts at the town hall?
Nathan has been attempting to do real world gardening for several years and has realized there are many missing mechanics from your typical farming game. Why don’t they tell you about over-watering? Why do I never need to pull out a PH or light meter? Are they suggesting all plants like the same kind of soil?
83. All Improv, Let’s Go!
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Photorealism is coming to games near you with the advancements in engine technology. But, perhaps it’s a good time to ask if realistic graphics are what we really want in our gaming experience. We talk about where we are going and what genres will benefit the most of photorealism. Also, which ones would be foolish to adopt it?
The weather affects our day-to-day life, but why doesn’t it factor into our typical roleplaying game? We discuss some of the ways we can use weather as a storytelling device and game mechanic to make the world feel more alive.
What if the GM loses control of their game world? Let’s discuss some ways we can create “chaos mechanics” to seriously randomize what happens in a game. We get into random encounters from 3.5E, how randomness was implemented in Adventure Zone and how the original framework of D&D lent itself to this type of randomness.
82. Harvest Souls
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Imagine coming back from your epic adventure to find that you were a legend that existed 1,000 years ago. Now what do you do? Are your parents still there? Does anyone recognize you? What was the last quest you went on? We explore another adventure hook as Nathan leads Alex down a time trippy rabbit hole.
What if you took Stardew Valley and smashed it together with Dark Souls? Think about it. Now you don’t have to, because we spent time working out the pitch for such a game. What will be our farming/dying ratio? Let’s find out.
Perhaps it’s time to sunset the idea of the tragic backstory. It’s been a common trope among RPG characters for decades now, but it’s getting very boring. We discuss some of our characters and how their backstories were interesting without being tragic. Avoid heading down Crime Alley with us!
81. Dead Cheddar Society
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
- We now move away from limes you can plug into a computer and try looking at tabletop hacks that might be useful. How good are they? Can we come up with some better alternatives? Which ones have Alex already done?
- What if your party wanders into a town and no one is there? No people, no monsters, no animals. Just a recently abandoned town. Alex ponders this adventure hook to see what Nathan would do in this situation. Also, what would Nathan do to make it more disturbing.
- After finding a list of 100 questions to ask your character, we choose five to ask of one of our PCs. This time, we ask questions of Max Jaguar, Nathan’s aging rock star gnome bard.
12 Awesome Life Hacks Every Tabletop Gamer Needs to Know | by Guyblin | TABLETOP TRIBE | Medium100 Warm Up Roleplaying Questions For Players - Dndspeak
80. Swanzilla
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Life hacks are everywhere these days. But have you ever heard of gaming hacks? Well, Nathan ran across a video from 5 Minute Crafts claiming to give us “13 Gaming Hacks You Should Know” and has tasked Alex with rating them from “Must Have” to “Kill it with Fire”.
Sometimes we have adventure hooks that needed more time in the oven. On this episode, we look at an old Reddit post asking to flesh out some of these to see if we can bake them all over again.
A while back we discussed character tropes and touched briefly on the idea of the Mary Sue, a character that effortlessly and skillfully manages any situation while remaining flawless and beloved by all. This is often seen as a bad thing, but Nathan makes the case that we should stop being so hard on this archetype and maybe look at the possibilities of building characters like them.
79. The Floor is Cube
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
The Xbox Showcase was surprisingly good and made some big announcements. What Nathan really wanted to discuss, though, was the amount of new IPs presented from established developers. So, let’s talk about those, including the one that made him VERY excited.
Space is very vast and so goes the games based in space that try to emulate that. However, Alex sees this as a big problem because space is also very boring. How do we address the massive scope of space as applied to video games?
There are some iconic monsters in D&D. But what if we took 2 of them and smashed them together? Well, we are going to imagine that very thing as we do the monster mash with fantasy creatures.
78. I got a group of orcs who are willing to move in tomorrow
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Cyan recently released their new VR game, Firmament, and it was met with less than stellar reviews compared to their previous efforts. It has now come out that they used AI-assistance to develop the game. How far did that assistance go? Did voice actors get credit for their work? What role should AI even play in art moving forward? Also, did you see this stupid expanded Abbey Road album cover!?
The Kotaku article on Firmament - Myst Creator's New Game Sadly Has Loads Of AI-Generated Stuff (kotaku.com)
Alex has an idea, so buckle up. Let us discuss an adventure hook where your party is confronted… with themselves!!!
Someone on Reddit asked about the price of buying a bar in D&D and we thought it was a great opportunity to discuss economics. What is the disparity between the wealth of adventurers and the rest of the game world? What should your characters spend their incredible wealth on? And yes, we even look at what a bar in D&D should cost.
77. Bear-barian
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
So… Five Nights at Freddy’s is getting a major motion picture. This is happening and you can’t stop it. The question remains: Who is this made for and will it make children cry?
Nathan and Alex saw the Tetris movie, which we quickly have to clarify is NOT a documentary but a docu-drama. Sorry Alex was misled on that point. What did we think about it?
Also, Nathan saw Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and wanted to talk about why it works. It has many themes that players of D&D might be used to from playing the game and we talk about that in more detail.
RPGs have a cinematic quality that many people may not understand if they only saw the D&D movie with no former understanding of tabletop gaming. So, using the D&D movie as a template, can we explain how a game of D&D would go to achieve the same basic heist?
76. World of Barrelsmithing
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Unreal Engine 5.2 has now released and we are starting to wonder how blurry the line between reality and fiction is going to be. While impressive tech spurs the imagination, we’re taking a moment to ask how the outside observer could even tell the difference between a photograph and in-game engine footage. Will the advanced tools change how studios make games? Also, how are tools such as AI art and ChatGPT going to change gaming as they get implemented more to automate people out of the process?
Unrecord - Official Early Gameplay Trailer - YouTube
MetaHuman - Real-Time Facial Model Animation Demo | State of Unreal 2023 - YouTube
Alex has experienced a dilemma in World of Warcraft: The new content arrives, but there is far more to do in the last content that was released. However, the game is now pushing him to start the new stuff before he’s even completed the current story missions. How could we fix this so people looking to follow the story and power gamers could both get what they want out of the experience?
What is in a name? Well, that’s the question we are asking today as we consider how your character’s name can affect the way the world perceives them. Perhaps you should be careful to not call your PC “Punchy McPunchface”? Who are we to judge?
75. The Blizzarding World of Dairy Potter
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
They found the spoon! And it’s all thanks to Pokemon Go! No, you don’t get more context for that yet.
Redfall is the latest title from Arkane and really marks a troubling downturn in quality from a great studio. Nathan played, or at least attempted to play, the open-world vampire game and it was… unfortunate.
What if the players in your game were really bad at taking notes to the point that it could derail the entire mission? Should you tell them they made a mistake? Should you let them make the mistake? Should you just give up? Well, probably not the last one, but the other questions are worth exploring.
74. A Lycanthropic Warlock
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
What would you do if you won a free lifetime of GamePass? Well, someone did and turned it down because of taxes. If you live outside the U.S. this might confuse you. Welcome to our world.
A Gamer Declines a Lifetime Xbox Game Pass Due to Taxes (80.lv)
I Won Game Pass Ultimate for Life and Declined the Prize (AKA: Taxes are a Bitch)
We recently talked about D&D 3E and, frankly, people had a lot to say about it. Among other things, several people wanted to explain how we were wrong about barbarians. So, I guess we’ll try to expand and clarify the history of this classic D&D class. Also, what is this stat block Gary Gygax made for Conan?
We don't talk about D&D 3E, no, no, no | Total Pebble Knockdown
Delta's D&D Hotspot: Gygax on Conan (deltasdnd.blogspot.com)
When we play games, do we actually have free will? Moreover, how much free will do we really want? We’ll discuss the nature of free will in regards to gaming without having an existential crisis, we think.
Train Sim World 2020, But Without All The Annoying Train Parts | Attempting to Play - YouTube
73. It's All About Dinosaur Family
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Ark is asking players to pay for the next-gen upgrade while taking the previous servers offline. This is totally a good and customer-friendly business model that will absolutely go over well with the fans. Do I have to explain that was sarcasm?
https://kotaku.com/ark-2-survival-evolved-2-delay-ps5-upgrade-servers-1850293672
https://kotaku.com/game-pass-ark-ii-survival-evolved-ps-plus-ps5-xbox-sony-1849642722
Monster Energy tried to file a trademark claim against Pokemon and Monster Hunter for using the word “Monster” because it could confuse their customers. No, I am not making that up.
Sometimes we return to the things we remember in a simpler time. For Nathan, that has currently become Fallout Shelter, the mobile tie-in game for Fallout 4 released back in 2015. And after playing it for a bit, he remembers why he stopped playing it in 2016.
72. Blue Beams R Us
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Last week, Klaus Teuber, the legendary game designer who created Catan, passed away. So, we are talking a bit about Catan, specifically the differences between the board game and the dice game that came later. How did the mechanics change in the process and what had to get sacrificed to make the switch? Nathan finally gets to talk about this modern classic board game.
What are realistic expectations that new players should have going into TTRPGs? During our live show our crew started talking about the influence of livestreams and liveplays on roleplaying games. Is it unrealistic to expect an epic roleplay experience out of the gate? And is there really a problem with NOT doing an epic campaign?
So, you have a PC that can fly. This can cause some issues with creative problem solving if you can just fly over the terrain. What can you do to make flying characters included in your party without overshadowing the abilities of everyone else? Let’s soar over that topic as we go Delving Deeper.
71. Celestial Butt
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
E3 2023 has been cancelled. But not for the reasons it had been cancelled the last few years and that might bode really badly for future conventions. Has the digital age completely changed how video game companies release information to the public?
Stay awhile and listen. We played in the Diablo 4 open beta and had some thoughts on what we saw. Did Alex see anything change since his time in the closed beta? Did Nathan get to raise an army of the dead? And more importantly, what did he do in the game? Time to fight some digital demons.
The Paladin is a classic D&D class and it’s no surprise that it returns in One D&D. Test material was recently released from Wizards of the Coast showing off what the paladin will potentially look like. Let’s go through our holy warrior level by level to see if they are any less boring than they were before.
70. I’m Going to be a Tiny Elephant
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
Do you actually need a dedicated healer in your party? Can other D&D classes fill the role outside of the cleric, druid, paladin, etc. that might fill that role? Also, is it even a good idea to have a dedicated healer or is that counter-productive? That is what we are discussing on this week’s Crit Think.
Many people are committed to playing D&D 3.5E and many will stan for 5E, but did you know there were other versions of Dungeons & Dragons? Yes, there were. One that rarely gets discussed is 3E because of it’s relatively short lifespan before 3.5 dropped. But what did 3E do and what was changed in 3.5E that made it so much better? On this Delving Deeper, Nathan talks about what he found out about 3E, the stuff it added, the stuff it brought back and ultimately the stuff that got changed afterward.
Dungeons & Dragons Retrospective Episode Four: D&D 3rd Edition - YouTube
What are the major differences between D&D 3.0 and D&D 3.5? - Role-playing Games Stack Exchange
More One D&D test material has been released by Wizards of the Coast. This time it’s about the Druid and Paladin. On this Mechanically Speaking, we go into the Druid. How does this test material change Wild Shape? Is the Circle of the Moon still cool? Can we be a tiny elephant?
69. Drive-By Scooting
On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:
In a follow-up to our discussion on the PS6, we talk about the main reason for the Sony document that got revealed. Intriguingly enough, it has little to do with the PS6 and far more to do with Call of Duty’s future on Sony consoles. What if GamePass gets Activision/Blizzard titles? What happens if they become exclusive to Microsoft? We will look at some of the heavily-redacted documentation to see what Sony is actually talking about.
After picking up the PDF of Kids on Bikes, Nathan noticed an interesting piece about collaborative world-building early into the RPG. So, let’s talk about how it implements this collective ideation and how we would build a town using this fraemwork.
Should you tell your players about the bad guy’s weakness? Also, should the biggest bad guy have a weakness in the first place? Should your players be given another way to fight that opponent? Is there a conveniently placed lever for a trap door? All this and more on a Crit Think.