Josh Sawyer Q&A Thread

[Roguey]

Funny, I thought Cobwebs and Rainbows was his best performance.

 

[Roguey]

Key-phrase is "well-executed" eh, Deadfire man?

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Prime Junta]

Josh should make a game explicitly designed for humour. I would like to see what happens.

 

[Roguey]

Classic Josh humor:

 

[Nano]

Apparently, Josh never drank until three years ago.

 

[pomenitul]

It's never too late to start getting sloshed.

 

[Orma]

still haven’t warmed up to most beers, which I’m sure would make my ancestors sad.

Josh from his latest trip, illustrated

Spoiler

 

[FreeKaner]

His "ancestors" sad huh? An american "muh heritage" fascist? As expected really.

 

[pomenitul]

I almost prefer that dude in the cartoon to 'Europe is diverse, sure, but every single US state is a country unto itself, with its own identity and traditions. Culturally speaking, New York is as rich as the UK and there are just as many contrasts in California as there are in France and...'

Triggers me every time.

 

[Roguey]

Josh taking up drinking explains quite a bit.

 

[Anthedon]

Radler is a 50/50 beer/lemonade mix. It's not really considered beer, or even an alcoholic beverage. Someone send Josh some proper stout with +7% alcohol.

 

[Sailor Woedica]

 

[Drax]

autist.gif

 

[Orma]

 

[Sacred82]

is that an epitaph to the most useless human being ever

 

[Roguey]

That figures, Sawyer loves his humdrum plausible character writing and dislikes extravagance. Josh tastes vs Chris tastes

 

[AW8]

There are many things I would like to see Sawyer work with, but I would never let him near anything superhero-related. All the Joker needs to be is a guy who shows up one day with little to no explanation (same with any super-villain, really) and then proceeds to announce he's gonna murder the Mayor for no reason at all. Any story set before he became the over-the-top character that makes his existance worthwhile is not going to be interesting, and that is why I have no interest in watching the new movie.

MCA on the other hand would work wonders with some capeshit property. His work on Star Wars was fresh yet faithful, and I have no doubts he could offer a great take on someone like the Joker.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

MCA on the other hand would work wonders with some capeshit property. His work on Star Wars was fresh yet faithful, and I have no doubts he could offer a great take on someone like the Joker.

For Chris Avellone, working on a superhero game would be returning to where he began:

"Essential Villainy: What Every Supervillain Needs - Character" by Chris Avellone in Dragon Magazine #207 July 1994
"For Truth and Justice: An Adventure Checklist for Superhero GMs" by Chris Avellone in Dragon Magazine #214 February 1995

 

[Neanderthal]

The joker, the clown, the fool, Mr Punch, the Eternal jester who sits between heaven and hell, laughing at both and making his own fate. This is a mythical figure worthy of contemplation.

If you think about it modern rpg protagonists are superheroes, wrapped in a thin layer of medieval fantasy flavour, may as well just drop the pretense that they are in any way common.

 

[Sacred82]

The joker, the clown, the fool, Mr Punch, the Eternal jester who sits between heaven and hell, laughing at both and making his own fate. This is a mythical figure worthy of contemplation.

If you think about it modern rpg protagonists are superheroes, wrapped in a thin layer of medieval fantasy flavour, may as well just drop the pretense that they are in any way common.

I'd hate to think about it like that, but there might be some truth to it.

Let's sum it up: you have a group of people that start out relatively harmless compared to the real threats of their world. In short time, they advance significantly in power. Thing is, they do so by overcoming challenges and reaping the rewards, and both are constantly increasing in magnitude. That's not really what a 'superhero' does, is it? Our RPG heroes get knocked around, they get scared (naturally or by magic), they diligently prepare before setting out (because they need effective tools, not just superpowers), they're constantly reminded that they have limited influence in the world (there are shinies I want but can't afford), they carefully advance deeper into enemy territory (because they know they're not superheroes, they're vulnerable), and most of all they 'know' that there is always still room for improvement. The things they do (trap disarming, protecting the group, dual wielding, casting under pressure) are subject to an ongoing learning process. "My skills aren't high enough right now to do anything about this lock, maybe if we come back later (and I know more)"; "I've learned how to use two blades, but I'm still not as effective as I could be (I took a dual wielding feat but with taking a more advanced feat later on in mind), and I know that because I've seen others fight as efficiently as devils with two blades (I'm not a superhero but maybe I'll eventually be a hero like other people I've seen in this world)". There are standards in this world set by others - even if those others may be gods, or have ascended to become gods - that our guys are trying to live up to.

Personally I think the superhero angle is retarded and not what I'm looking for in an RPG; and logically speaking, that means we don't need supervillains either. Some people in Fantasyland are more legendary than our dudes are in the beginning, and some are just as powerful as those others but infamous. Eventually, we're going to face some of those legendary people in a showdown; but they don't need to be any more superhero-y than the player characters are. Being powerful has never been the same as being flawless.

 

[Neanderthal]

Let's sum it up: you have a group of people that start out relatively harmless compared to the real threats of their world. In short time, they advance significantly in power. Thing is, they do so by overcoming challenges and reaping the rewards, and both are constantly increasing in magnitude. That's not really what a 'superhero' does, is it? Our RPG heroes get knocked around, they get scared (naturally or by magic), they diligently prepare before setting out (because they need effective tools, not just superpowers), they're constantly reminded that they have limited influence in the world (there are shinies I want but can't afford), they carefully advance deeper into enemy territory (because they know they're not superheroes, they're vulnerable), and most of all they 'know' that there is always still room for improvement. The things they do (trap disarming, protecting the group, dual wielding, casting under pressure) are subject to an ongoing learning process. "My skills aren't high enough right now to do anything about this lock, maybe if we come back later (and I know more)"; "I've learned how to use two blades, but I'm still not as effective as I could be (I took a dual wielding feat but with taking a more advanced feat later on in mind), and I know that because I've seen others fight as efficiently as devils with two blades (I'm not a superhero but maybe I'll eventually be a hero like other people I've seen in this world)". There are standards in this world set by others - even if those others may be gods, or have ascended to become gods - that our guys are trying to live up to.

Sounds like Batman.

 

[Sacred82]

Let's sum it up: you have a group of people that start out relatively harmless compared to the real threats of their world. In short time, they advance significantly in power. Thing is, they do so by overcoming challenges and reaping the rewards, and both are constantly increasing in magnitude. That's not really what a 'superhero' does, is it? Our RPG heroes get knocked around, they get scared (naturally or by magic), they diligently prepare before setting out (because they need effective tools, not just superpowers), they're constantly reminded that they have limited influence in the world (there are shinies I want but can't afford), they carefully advance deeper into enemy territory (because they know they're not superheroes, they're vulnerable), and most of all they 'know' that there is always still room for improvement. The things they do (trap disarming, protecting the group, dual wielding, casting under pressure) are subject to an ongoing learning process. "My skills aren't high enough right now to do anything about this lock, maybe if we come back later (and I know more)"; "I've learned how to use two blades, but I'm still not as effective as I could be (I took a dual wielding feat but with taking a more advanced feat later on in mind), and I know that because I've seen others fight as efficiently as devils with two blades (I'm not a superhero but maybe I'll eventually be a hero like other people I've seen in this world)". There are standards in this world set by others - even if those others may be gods, or have ascended to become gods - that our guys are trying to live up to.

Sounds like Batman.

rly, how

 

[Neanderthal]

Starts harmless, progresses and trains, aspires, uses tools and preparation, learn by doing, steadily rises in effectiveness and foes capabilities and all that stuff.

Course he's probably not killed the hundreds or thousands that an adventurer has, but he'll have done a good few, you can't hit that many folk and expect em all to live.

 

[Sacred82]

Starts harmless, progresses and trains, aspires, uses tools and preparation, learn by doing, steadily rises in effectiveness and foes capabilities and all that stuff.

Course he's probably not killed the hundreds or thousands that an adventurer has, but he'll have done a good few, you can't hit that many folk and expect em all to live.

I'm standing by my claim that that's not the typical superhero shtick. In fact… that's what a human being does. No "I got bitten by the spider/ I come from another planet so I gots da superpowaz".

So either:

Batman =/= superhero

or simply

Batman = human being