Tale of the Manticore: August 2024

Saturday, August 31, 2024

New Loopable TOTM Music Posted on YouTube

This was on my 'do-it-if-you-find-some-spare-time' list for a long while, so of course, it kept getting postponed. But recently someone asked if I might post some more music and so I got off my butt and did it. There's now 20 songs/scores posted, and I have pre-looped them so they run about 30 mins before you need to change or refresh. You can get them here.

Monday, August 26, 2024

FanExpo!

I heard this convention drew 140,000 people. That's just bananas!

I had a great time, and I'd like to thank The Canadian Podcast Awards for inviting me and letting me do my thing in their booth over a couple of days. I met a lot of cool creators and, of course, fans of comics, movies, cosplay and all other things 'fandom' (like podcasts!)

Here's a few snaps:

This is me and Jennifer of the CanPodAwards.

I spotted these guys in their Delicious in Dungeon cosplay outfits and just had to get a photo with them. So coool!

I ran a little doodling activity, saying the best original characters would make it into the show in S3. I meant it, too. I absolutely love some of these. Check out ...

Keep an eye out for Zom, Nacho (I'll have to do something with that name...) and Midge!

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Encyclopedia Manticorica Updated

It took me a few weeks to get it all together and make a few maps that had only existed as pencil sketches, but the update is done and is now available for download on DTRPG. By all means, grab it for free if you're interested in the finer details of the show :)

For those that have already got the file, there should be an email already sent informing you of the update, but if you didn't get it (or if it went to your spam folder) then you can just go here to get the new file. I suppose I should mention that there are S2 (and S1) spoilers in it, so if you haven't finished listening, you might want to wait...

(I always tell folks to get it for free, but for those of you who opted to pay for the file, a special thank you! Much appreciated!)

Friday, August 16, 2024

Yet Another Variation on a d6 Oracle

Why do I keep coming back to this? I'm not even using a d6 oracle at the moment... but I feel there's a need for a good solution here. I do like my 2 dice approach, one for YES/NO and the other for BUT-X-AND, but it does require having a blank die to write on, or else assigning numbers to those words, which means a bit of mental work.

Yesterday I had this other idea, and I think it's my best yet. The goal is to have a system that is fast, easy and modifiable.

2 dice. One is dark and one is light coloured. The dark one is NO and the light one is YES. Roll both. Subtract the lower from the higher and assign the colour of the higher. The resulting number shows you the degree of the result on the prevailing colour of die.

Some examples:

NO=1, YES=3: 3-1 = 2... YES to a small degree/YES with a minor 'BUT'

YES=3, NO=6: 6-3= 3 ... a Straight NO

The last one would be YES (minor) BUT

It's easily modifiable, by adding +1-3 to either die depending on likelihood. Very Likely might be YES die + 2, for example.

The only thing I haven't worked out is what to do with doubles. Could be a reroll, or ... could be an "interrupt event". What do you think?

Overall, I really like the simplicity of this system. Should I start using it on the show, or just stick with my High-Low rolls?

Monday, August 12, 2024

A Note About Continuity Errors in Season 2

With S2 wrapped and my retrospective/prospective now published, I thought I'd deal with a couple of loose ends. I'm talking about the continuity errors that popped up now and again over the past two years.

1. Lady Belagrette, the royal niece, who caused Catsbane so much trouble when he still went by the name 'Faylin' was said to have reported the wizard's apprentice to the prince, but later, it is said that Culfrey has no heirs. This is an error, though an easy retcon would be to say that she actually reported him to the princess (see below).

2. Princess Lophasia is mentioned by name a few times, so how can Culfrey have no heirs. This is another continuity error, but there's a good solution if we say that Lophasia is only blood related to the queen (probably from a previous marriage, and so married Culfrey as a widow). Therefore she exists, is called 'princess' but she cannot inherit Culfrey's throne.

3. Catsbane, a wanted man, was allowed to go on the Tower mission to help recover the real holy symbol. This isn't exactly an error, though it feels a bit odd. It can be assumed that High Priestess Araness changed her mind, or was talked into changing her mind at some point.

4. Not really an error, but poorly communicated by me: Sivan's Skull, and the Hezrou's eye turn to obsidian when they are defeated. One might be misled into thinking they have turned back when they are placed in the sarcophagus (perhaps due to my choice of sound effects) but the idea was that they always remained a skull and an eye, but the material they were made of changed. Sorry for the confusion here.

5. Are there more that I've missed? (Probably!) You can let me know in the comments if there's anything sticking in your craw and I'll add them to my list.

Friday, August 9, 2024

More Great Work from DailyHeroForge

@DailyHeroForge on Instagram has really outdone himself this time. Check out these scenes from Season Two and see if you've got what it takes to identify them all!

To make it a little easier, they are presented in chronological order :)