Torment Chris Avellone and Shanna Germain on Shane Plays Radio Sat 19th talking Numenera

[Infinitron]

Someone please give me an estimate of what time my question is asked so I don't have to listen to a bunch of things I don't care about ^_^.

It's in the last 15 minutes.

 

[Whiran]

Ah, didn't know it.

Anyone have weighty opinion on Numenera?

I was a player in a Numenera campaign. It was a lot of fun and surprisingly easy to manage in terms of dice rolls. There wasn't a lot of getting bogged down in combat so the whole system was working well to keep the story going.

I know a few people (5) who only play Numenera now and have dropped AD&D entirely for it.

At a local comic book store there was a large Numenera display - a little smaller than the D&D shelf space but Numenera has less rulebooks and the like.

If I was to extrapolate from my very small sample size I'd think that Numenera (pen and paper) is very healthy and doing great. In reality, I have no idea how well it is doing overall. I enjoyed it and that's good enough for me. I'm even planning on getting into another campaign in the near future.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

The Codex did A Review of Monte Cook's Numenara in January 2014. Plenty of good insight in the article. Not sure if there have been new releases since.

 

[Prime Junta]

There's been lots of supplementary material added. No new editions as such.

I ran a campaign and even made a character generator [ http://www.prime-junta.net/numenera/ ] which eventually begat the official The Strange character generator [ http://chargen.thestrangerpg.com/app/ ] somebody else wrote based on it, but I fell simultaneously figured out the system was actually kind of shit, moved abroad (which put my campaign on hiatus), and fell out with MCG, so I haven't been following it for a while.

(No, I don't want to write another review.)

 

[sstacks]

Chris Avellone aka MCA has offered to do a special podcast with me (the show is usually live) to address questions from the Codex that were not asked during the live show. More soon, need to coordinate.

SOOOO that also means I guess if you had questions but didn't ask them now's the time.

I'll post more details when I have them (depending on his schedule).

Best,
Shane

 

[sstacks]

Someone please give me an estimate of what time my question is asked so I don't have to listen to a bunch of things I don't care about ^_^.

Every moment of the show is overflowing with riveting things you care about. Every. Moment.

 

[Infinitron]

sstacks Ask Chris to tell us what he's seen of the consequences for sleeping in Torment, and how that system is being designed. Like, is there like an entire schedule of scripted events that can happen in Sagus Cliffs as the days pass by?

 

[Zed]

PST had many well-endowed women.
how much better does Chris think this made the game?
and thoughts about this going into Numenera.

 

[Sacibengala]

-If he could ( and so wished ) bring just one character of the vast original Planescape torment cast into the world of tides of numenera , which he would bring, and why ?

-And, of all characters he had created for videogames (or something else) , which one he thinks would generate greater ideological conflict with the character he is creating for tides of numenera ?

 

[Lord Andre]

It is said in some circles that some writers write great characters and some writers write great plots but rarely both. Which type does he consider better and which type does he consider himself to belong to.

 

[Immortal]

Chris Avellone aka MCA has offered to do a special podcast with me (the show is usually live) to address questions from the Codex that were not asked during the live show. More soon, need to coordinate.

SOOOO that also means I guess if you had questions but didn't ask them now's the time.

I'll post more details when I have them (depending on his schedule).

Best,
Shane

I have a question about his feelings on the character development of why did you leave Obsdian?

 

[Fairfax]

Chris Avellone aka MCA has offered to do a special podcast with me (the show is usually live) to address questions from the Codex that were not asked during the live show. More soon, need to coordinate.

SOOOO that also means I guess if you had questions but didn't ask them now's the time.

I'll post more details when I have them (depending on his schedule).

Best,
Shane

Awesome. Still Torment related or any subject?

 

[Athelas]

Ask Chris what the top 3 studios are that he'd like to work at (and why).

 

[Prime Junta]

You fell out with MCG? What the fuck happened?

Short version: I felt I was being exploited.

Longer version: I had agreed to make the online character generator for The Strange, free of charge. I set certain conditions, one of which was that we agree to a schedule with commitments on their side also to provide me with the information I need to make it (this was before the thing was published). We set firm dates, including a release date — rather a tight one! — to which I committed. I cleared out a long weekend, including taking a couple of days off from work. When their deadline for providing me with the game materials came, I heard nothing. Two weeks later — after that long weekend was long past — they say that now they're ready to start, plus they listed a bunch of new requirements for it, with the original schedule. I told them to fuck off.

Even longer version: I had also collaborated on a collection of short stories set in the Ninth World, with a bunch of other amateur writers. We weren't able to publish for about six months because they kept changing the licensing conditions. They eventually ended up with something I thought was blatantly unfair: we pay them for a limited use license, and permanently lose all rights to re-publish our stories elsewhere. This process had already soured me to them somewhat.

(That collection did eventually get published. It's here [ http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/128492/Mechanical-Bard-Ninth-World-Tales ].)

I like writing and making stuff, and I'm happy to do it for free if it's something that really interests me, but I expect a certain degree of collegial respect among the people collaborating on it. Otherwise it stops being fun.

 

[Infinitron]

That sounds awfully familiar...

 

[Anthedon]

Is he considering a full-time position again anytime soon or are we going to see more (and smaller) segments of his writing across multiple games in the future?

 

[Prime Junta]

That sounds awfully familiar...

That could refer to any number of things. Anything in particular you were thinking of?

 

[Roguey]

I told everyone about those tabletop hacks.

 

[Fairfax]

Short version: I felt I was being exploited.

Longer version: I had agreed to make the online character generator for The Strange, free of charge. I set certain conditions, one of which was that we agree to a schedule with commitments on their side also to provide me with the information I need to make it (this was before the thing was published). We set firm dates, including a release date — rather a tight one! — to which I committed. I cleared out a long weekend, including taking a couple of days off from work. When their deadline for providing me with the game materials came, I heard nothing. Two weeks later — after that long weekend was long past — they say that now they're ready to start, plus they listed a bunch of new requirements for it, with the original schedule. I told them to fuck off.

Even longer version: I had also collaborated on a collection of short stories set in the Ninth World, with a bunch of other amateur writers. We weren't able to publish for about six months because they kept changing the licensing conditions. They eventually ended up with something I thought was blatantly unfair: we pay them for a limited use license, and permanently lose all rights to re-publish our stories elsewhere. This process had already soured me to them somewhat.

(That collection did eventually get published. It's here [ http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/128492/Mechanical-Bard-Ninth-World-Tales ].)

I like writing and making stuff, and I'm happy to do it for free if it's something that really interests me, but I expect a certain degree of collegial respect among the people collaborating on it. Otherwise it stops being fun.

Thanks for sharing, fuckers will never see a dime from me.

 

[sstacks]

Chris Avellone aka MCA has offered to do a special podcast with me (the show is usually live) to address questions from the Codex that were not asked during the live show. More soon, need to coordinate.

So good news... Chris Avellone has offered to also include discussion about Divinity: Original Sin 2 in the special podcast.

If you missed the news, he's now attached to that game.

 

[Shammy]

So good news... Chris Avellone has offered to also include discussion about Divinity: Original Sin 2 in the special podcast.

If you missed the news, he's now attached to that game.

You're doin god's work boy :kwafuckyeah:

 

[Neanderthal]

Noticed Chris has always included more old and just mature folk in his games, is this intentional or just organic? I mean Kreia's age would support her mentoring role, the Exile has to have a certain gravitas that only age allows in my experience, whereas Annah's fiery temperant fits more with a youth. Whichever it is, it's nice to see us dice jockeys who are getting on in years represented a bit, i'm sick of all the bloody young, hopeful and bright things in games.

Did Chris write all the weirdand creepy dialogue for "child" Yxunomei, the Marilith Demon and ruler of the Yuan Ti under Dragon's Eye in Icewind Dale?

 

[Jedi Exile]

Chris is a good writer, so this is hardly surprising. Of course it is intentional.

Exile has to have a certain gravitas that only age allows in my experience

Mira said I am too old for her. Fuck that

 

[Neanderthal]

Yeah but Mira fucked Wookies didn't she?

Edit: If Sawyer did write Yxunomei and all that sequence then i've got to hand it to him, then again it's not unexpected as I thought Survivalist were damn well done.

 

[Roguey]

Everything in Dragon's Eye was probably written by Josh Sawyer.