Welcome to Cool Story Guys! In this introductory episode we discuss the outline of our collaborative fantasy story and the dice rolls that determined its genre, setting, scope, and more. Topics include a variety of books pertinent to our project that we have not read (and a few we have), how role-playing games have influenced our creative thinking and storytelling processes, and a discussion on the enduring works of Kevin Costner and how all of the good ideas from “Waterworld” will be pilfered for our story. 

In the opening chapter of our story we find the island of Koa beset by a mystifying catastrophe: the ocean has disappeared. A storm is raging and the exposed sands cannot be traversed. Terrified, the islanders decide to ask a powerful recluse for her help in discovering the cause of the disappearance.

We explore the opening chapter of the book and discuss how the first set of rolls from the Fate Index has set the tone for the story moving forward. Topics include the allure of nameless protagonists, our deep-seated desires to undermine what the other has contributed to the story, and the nihilistic reading habits of Ethan’s toddler son.

Morwell awakens in a brutal and barren landscape, his boat run aground and destroyed. As his clouded memory clears, he realizes that his shipmates are missing and woefully unprepared for their new, dangerous environment. 

The dice made us do some things in Chapter 2 that we probably wouldn't have chosen to do ourselves, so we talk all about it. Fearful of being seen as a fraud, Jeff has started playing Dungeons & Dragons again, but is mostly just using it as an excuse to drink wine and eat candy in his bathroom. Ethan begins to realize that every accent he conjures up drags him back to his dark past in Southern Indiana.

With Morwell unconscious and her grandfather missing, Laureena must improvise with what is available on the wrecked trawler and bide her time until help arrives. When she meets another marooned boy named Calix, a deep friendship is quickly forged, and the two decide to take their survival into their own hands. 

We are forced to deal with the war crimes the Fate Index forced us to commit in Chapter 3 and the fact that our dice rolls so far have been such unrelenting bummers. Other topics include a gacha backpack full of tuna and flaming swords and Jeff's terrible X-Men power.

Shaken from her vision in the cavern, fear begins to cloud the mind of the crimson woman, causing her abilities to falter when Koa desperately needs her assistance.