sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Post by sbloyd on Nov 19, 2013 5:13:53 GMT -8
I've been going through the backlog again (waiting for Skin Game), and it's been interesting hearing the development of the hosts (Kimi going from new player to GM, for example). And one thing that struck me early on was Stu talking about thinking playing love scenes with another dude was something he'd never do... but he sure seemed hell bent on it in the L5R game.
And so, when thinking about the fact that you've been running this show for so long now, I wondered how you, Stu, and the other hosts feel that the show has changed your gaming.
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maxinstuff
Supporter
Posts: 1,939
Preferred Game Systems: DCC RPG, Shadowrun 5e, Savage Worlds, GURPS 4e, HERO 6e, Mongoose Traveller
Favorite Species of Monkey: Proboscis
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Post by maxinstuff on Nov 19, 2013 20:27:15 GMT -8
Well after the HJ brainwashing I am now a GM. Hadn't even played before listening to the podcast. Found it while looking for game reviews etc. for my first purchase Also, my taint will never be the same.
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tomes
Supporter
Hello madness
Posts: 1,438
Currently Running: Dungeon World, hippie games, Fallout Shelter RPG hack
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Post by tomes on Nov 19, 2013 23:05:19 GMT -8
Likewise... HJ GM-ified me. I mean, I was trying to go back that route after the great drought of '92-'10, but HJ put me over the edge... and they also turned me into an indie game loving hippie. Peace and love.
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Post by Luckstrider on Nov 20, 2013 4:11:11 GMT -8
I was already a GM when I started to listen to HJ, but I was in a rough place. GMing was never something I enjoyed but I was doing it to keep my group together. We were in a rough patch and I was the only person who stepped to the plate.
When I started I was running the game as a combative GM. I was trying to kill the party (though I never succeeded). Because of that I truly struggled running my game.
Then there was the light douchetastic (well I can't fully pin it on just HJ, I started reading Chris Perkins DMing column for WotC and listened to another podcast called "The Beginners Guide to Pathfinder). Through these resources I changed my mindset and my story development into something more meaningful and enjoyable to me. Because of this my players enjoyment increased as well. I have been running this campaign for a year and 4 months (though the last four months have been rough as I changed jobs and have been struggling to come up with time to prep, I teach high school biology).
When I joined the forum community I really struggled with coming up with a name for myself and I thought back to what I had gained from HJs. I realized that since changing my GMing style I have actually "killed" a character about once a month or better. Not on purpose mind-you but because we are all so engrossed in the game my players are making unsound tactical decisions because they are invested in protecting someone or playing their character in a particular way. Because of the type of game I'm playing, though, I haven't had anyone change characters. They may have had to do a short quest-like story element to free their character and bring them back but as I told my players, "There is always a way to bring back a favorite character, we just have to work together."
That is what HJs (and others) have helped give me and my gaming group! It's awesome!
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Post by heavymetaljess on Nov 20, 2013 11:23:03 GMT -8
Previous to Happy Jack's, I had only played table top games a couple times (I've long RP'ed online in free-form chatrooms). Once was really, really great. The other times were hit or miss and often we only played once before we quit the groups due to us not getting along with weirdo GMs.
After I started listening I got inspired to try GMing. I was terrible. I said no to everything (it was my story!!!), shut down play agency, and railroaded the hell out of the players. I didn't even know this was a problem or something I shouldn't do. My boyfriend wouldn't even play in games I GMed after the second session.
In the couple of years I've been enjoying the podcast I've gotten to be a much more skilled GM with better methods for every step of the process. The last session I ran, my boyfriend agreed to play a NPC for exactly 1 hour. He ended up sticking around for the full two hour session and he made a point to tell me how much better I did. He's even thinking about making up his own character and jumping into that game.
So, thanks Happy Jack's for helping me do something I love better. I have more fun, everyone else has more fun, and I have something hilarious to listen to while working.
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Post by Malex on Nov 20, 2013 14:09:08 GMT -8
While the initial question was pointed exclusively at the hosts, I'll throw in my two cents.
Listening to the podcast has opened my eyes to different play styles and how to GM something beyond a kick in the door, hack & slash. Sadly, it's also sorta alienated me to my table-mates who still tend to be have an adolescent approach to gaming and focus on loot, xp, and dice rolling over collaborating to create a good story, yet they are in their 30s.
I'm reminded of the Allegory of the Cave by Plato.
This has pushed me to the point where I will either leave the group so they can enjoy their play style without my attempts to push a story line and being an odd moral compass when confronting situations that are questionable and should be questioned, or I shall embrace their play style to an absurd degree where I make a big dumb murder hobo that doesn't care about the consequences of his actions in a sort of ill conceived protest.
The notion that I can leave such a group behind to find my own fun and happiness is something which Happy Jacks has helped to instill in me. I know now that there are groups out there that are less about the aforementioned childish notions of what gaming is, and that is encouraging.
So to Stu, Stork, Jib, and the rest of the Happy Jacks crew; Thank You!
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sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Post by sbloyd on Nov 20, 2013 15:42:50 GMT -8
Well, it was pointed at the hosts, as it was a topic suggestion. But that doesn't make it _exclusive_to the hosts.
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Deleted
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Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2013 9:08:00 GMT -8
Since I started listening to the podcast I have tried to take to heart the principles of yes and, and other fine lessons. My playing has improved, and I am trying newer things as a GM.
I have also started looking at IPAs and wondering if they are any good.
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Post by Kainguru on Nov 24, 2013 2:46:21 GMT -8
Yes, IPA's are very good. Aaron
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Nov 24, 2013 7:57:35 GMT -8
Yes, IPA's are very good. Aaron But will they help maxinstuff with his taint problem?
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SirGuido
Supporter
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Posts: 2,127
Preferred Game Systems: L5R, Traveller, Fate Accelerated, Masks
Currently Playing: Nothing.
Currently Running: Nothing.
Favorite Species of Monkey: Anything in a Cage.
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Post by SirGuido on Nov 25, 2013 5:31:32 GMT -8
When I started gaming oh so many years ago I thought I would never ever be a good GM. I railed against the idea for years and years. Every time someone mentioned it I said "I'm a writer, I like to tell stories I don't like other people messing them up." Then after nearly ten years with the same gaming group they booted my ass to the curb(long story that I should write the podcast about sometime). After moping around a bit, a guy at work mentioned he used to game and really wanted to get back into it and thought I should run a game. Again I said no, but told him I'd let him know if I found a GM. Around that time the new L5R 3rd edition book came out and I bought it with interestand started reading it at work. The aforementioned coworker continued needling me to run a game of it, and even went out and bought the book and some dice. So I caved in and ran a campaign. To me, it was horrible. They say they had fun but I still think it was bad. I created a binder full of prep work and background material on a city that I devised. On the first adventure, they left the city. I spent the next several sessions pulling things out of my ass all the while trying to get them back to the city. About a year into that campaign was when I discovered Happy Jacks and came up with some killer game ideas because of it. Also, as a result of Happy Jacks I have become a minimal prep GM. I prep maybe a page or two of stuff and run the rest on the fly. I love GMing now, even though I still think I'm not that good at it.
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Post by ericfromnj on Nov 26, 2013 12:06:12 GMT -8
IPAs are a Hoppy mess of crap. Drink Doublebocks. I've made it no secret here (and many thanks to Aaron for talks about it) that I am medicated due to misfiring synapses going all over in my brain. The problem is these medications have caused a loss of creativity I can't really explain, which has destroyed the one thing that no matter how dark it got I knew I was good at - GMing. In a dark place I found Happy Jacks, picked a nasty fight with CC (my meds have changed since then, Cowboy), and proceeded to find an online home among the biggest, most awesome group of assholes I have ever had the pleasure of communicating with. Since then I have repaired an estranged friendship with my best friend and longest gaming partner, and we started calling some of the old gaming crew up. Through the use of skype and those calls, we got the original band back together. Soon we will be doing our 4th session of Sundered Skies (SAVAGE IT, BABY!), and I am once again sitting in the GMs chair. The plot point campaign I acknowledge as a crutch I have to use for the time being, but what they hey, everyone is having fun. So we must be doing something right.
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maxinstuff
Supporter
Posts: 1,939
Preferred Game Systems: DCC RPG, Shadowrun 5e, Savage Worlds, GURPS 4e, HERO 6e, Mongoose Traveller
Favorite Species of Monkey: Proboscis
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Post by maxinstuff on Nov 26, 2013 22:52:37 GMT -8
Yes, IPA's are very good. Aaron But will they help maxinstuff with his taint problem? It won't matter how much you IPA my taint, it will do no good you cunts ripped it from B to A.
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Post by Malex on Nov 27, 2013 4:53:14 GMT -8
Bochs are best!!
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Post by henryhankovitch on Nov 29, 2013 16:02:25 GMT -8
I'd like to think that the Happy Jacks crew has touched me, in a very personal way.
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