Food | Season 02 Episode 05
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Dan and Paul make cookies! And talk about food at the gaming table while playing roleplaying games, as a prop in roleplaying games, and in the fiction and mechanics of roleplaying games.
2 Comments
Jonathan Becker
Since I was so negative about the last episode, I wanted to take a quick moment to express my enjoyment of this one.
[and, just to be clear, the interview with McAuley and Manganiello wasn’t ALL bad…very nice (and inspiring!) to hear how they’re using the game, especially the story about gaming with kids in hospital wards. But…well, I already said what I wanted to say on that episode]
This was a lot of fun, and I wouldn’t mind a weekly cooking show from you two characters while you discuss D&D and put together fun recipes…now THAT’s a program I’d like to see on the Food Network! The discussion was also good…ideas around food and starvation are things I’ve been toying with a lot lately for my own campaigns (a new B/X book I’m working on actually features some hard rules regarding food and starvation due to aspects of the setting).
I think the “carousing rules” so many folks are enamored of (other than me…*ahem*) are a direct descendant of Arneson’s house rules regarding experience use/leveling found in First Fantasy Campaign (Judge’s Guild, 1977); PCs were required to spend money on their particular “passions” in order to level, and this could range from magical research or temple tithing to the proverbial “wine, women, and song.” FFC is a tough read (if you like good editing and straightforward layout) but it has many interesting tidbits in it.
Exploring advancement rules…especially what you’ve noticed with regard to new players not liking experience points (!!)…would be a great topic for discussion. I feel like you’ve addressed it somewhat in the past (maybe episode 13 of season one?), but it’s a good subject for specific thought. You can discuss how the system has changed across editions (from 1st ed to 2nd to 3rd were all TREMENDOUSLY different) to now the current trends.
Anyway…more cooking please! Would love to see Paul due some sort of vegetarian dish.
; )
Dan Collins
Jonathan, thanks for the kind words!
I definitely agree with you that the modern carousing rules seem descended from Arneson’s take on spending to get XP in FFC. I actually just got access to FFC and read it for the first time last summer — fully agreed it’s a great resource for old-school investigators, especially to get the unfiltered Arneson perspective. (In particular, I’ve moved in the direction of using the modified wilderness and dragon rules there in my own campaign.)
Glad you’re enthused by our cooking attempt. The funny thing is, Paul is like at least five times the better cook than I am, so I’m sure that any one of his vegetarian dishes would be even more delightful, and he has a whole drawer full of them.
And I needed that reminder about the modern XP/level discussion. Putting that on our list right now, thanks!