On the show today:

The Exit 8 is not a long game, but it's not a bad thing. Can you imagine an Exit 80 just to pad the runtime? Some gamers want to maximize the amount of content, but it doesn't always apply. What do we want to experience in a game and how long is too long?

Traditional thinking is that villains are more interesting to play than heroes, but perhaps that's just because heroes were not written with complexity. Instead of just reacting to the villain's dastardly plans, the hero can have all sorts of character motivations, growth and history to flesh them out. Let's discuss how to make a more interesting hero and some examples of how that has taken shape in popular media.

Today's Reddit post is almost a decade old, so hopefully the poster found a resolution by now. The question involves a demon, a wish, a village turned to stone and a monkey's paw gone wrong. Three years into a mega dungeon campaign, will the party go out in a very silly way or live to tell the tale?

On the show today: Green Hell may have the most extreme level of survival mechanics Nathan has ever seen. It is unapologetic in how many ways you can die and presenting you with a world that wants you dead. It can be frustrating and will likely make you paranoid. It is also one of the best survival crafting games he has ever played. Why does this level of mechanics work so well for Green Hell and why can't you recreate it for other games in the genre? Mods can break a game but they can also enhance them. Nathan has traditionally tried to avoid using them until it becomes a necessity, but Alex uses them all the time. We will discuss kinds of mods and what the benefit or issue with them can be. During Steam Next Fest we played many demos, but there is also a rise in "Prologues" for upcoming games. Some of these serve as a stand-alone version of the demo, but others are their own thing. What would we like prologues to be, why do they exist and how could we distinguish them from demos?

On the show today: Have you ever started playing a survival crafting game where you wash up alone on an island? I know, it's never happened before, but for the sake of this conversation, we're going to talk about how this is a common trope and we can change up the formula. Maybe it's not an island. Maybe you're not alone. Maybe you went there intentionally. Also, we brainstorm a survival crafting version of Oregon Trail. A traditional RPG storyline involves a very powerful character who is specifically suited to kill a god. We discuss some ways to subvert this idea. Maybe you aren't special. Maybe the stakes are smaller. Maybe the chosen one is someone you need to stop. Your grandpa left you his farm. Welcome to Stardew Valley. Also, welcome to the basic structure of Harvest Moon, My Time at Portia, No Place Like Home, Blue Oak Bridge and so many others. But, what could we do to change this formula? Maybe you have to save up to afford the farm. Maybe you just have a backyard garden. Maybe you end up turning your farm into condos.

On the show today:

Someone needed to know what happens when you get turned to stone. Primarily, do you shrink? Yes, this is a physics segment about being turned to stone. You are welcome.

https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/p1325p/a_pointless_thought_on_the_physics_of_being/

The bad guy is using ceremonial circles for blood sacrifices. What do you do? Is there something more interesting than just fighting some demons? We discuss investigation and outside-the-box ideas for purifying your sacred stone circle.

https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/1bxa81b/need_some_ideas_for_consecrating_a_stone_circle/

What would spells look like in the Stone Age? A question about modifying D&D spells to work for an ancient setting leads us down the road to Planegea.

https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/7dtc8z/ideas_for_spells_in_a_stone_age_rpg/

https://atlas-games.com/planegea

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: KlaytonCalix joins us to discuss Steam Next Fest Summer 2024. He wanted to tell us about playing Drill Core and Ova Magica, which were among the 12 games he got to this time. Alex tells us about Viking survival in Aska and why it worked better for him than Valheim. Nathan attempts to explain what you do in Goblin Cleanup, the most unique and bizarre game he played during Next Fest. What has Steam Next Fest done to game demos? Once, we would have demos up and they would stay there even after the game released. Next Fest takes all of those demos, hundreds of them, and condenses them into a week, with many of them leaving right after, never to return. Klayton joins us in discussing the good and bad that has come with the Steam Next Fest model. Also, we brainstorm some ideas on how to make it more comprehensive for the average gamer. Alex and Klayton really wanted to discuss World of Warcraft's Mists of Pandaria Remix. The problem is that they wanted to discuss it with Nathan. So, this is not a video about the WoW Remix. This is a challenge video where Nathan needs to stay awake while discussing the WoW Remix.

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:

We are back from vacation and Nathan wanted to discuss his time at Hancock Shaker Village because it got him thinking about how fantasy tech works. We will talk a bit about the round hay barn, the water turbine and how pre-industrial societies handled common day-to-day life. What does this teach us about the world-building of your RPG?

Nothing says relaxing vacation like hiking up a mountain. So, Nathan went up Monument Mountain and stared over a cliff at his potential demise. And that got him to thinking about difficult terrain and how to expand on the idea of making the environment an obstacle itself.

Alex went off to LA and all he brought back was a giant D20. Also, his experience on the West Coast got him thinking about facets of a city that remain hidden from view, even by those who live there. What should we think about when building urban environments in RPGs?

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:

It's our first episode recorded in front of a live studio audience! Some folks listened in to our episode before we went on vacation and had some comments to add to this discussion of weird questions from Reddit.

The player wants to kill off their character because they did stats bad. But, like, why would you do that? Perhaps they can just go to an adventuring tavern upstate.

Can you hard boil a red dragon egg? What qualities would the egg have that are similar to the dragon? How did the poll for this question wind up so close?

We are going to talk about chemistry. It is a completely normal, very simple conversation and not morbid at all. It may contain discussion of skeletons, necromancy, acid and decomposition. But in a completely normal, not weird way.

Sometimes you create items in a game that are useful, but other times you create items that just mess with the players. We discuss some things that will make characters question their morality and annoy them profusely.

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:

Nathan searched for "Total", "Pebble" and "Knockdown" at r/DMAcademy and found the first entry that came up. The results will shock you. Should you take away player agency or perform "total action denial"? Is it good game design for either the players or the monsters? We shall discuss this because we here at TPK still have a free action.

How acceptable are total action denial and total action domination? - https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/1abybt6/how_acceptable_are_total_action_denial_and_total/

A DM wanted to give players a pet rock. This may be an incredibly mean thing to do. Let's explain...

Would it be mean to give my party a pet rock? - https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/1abybt6/how_acceptable_are_total_action_denial_and_total/

We found a letter from a DM to the players, looking to break up with them. Why did this beautiful relationship end? What can we learn about the responsibility and respect we look for when playing TTRPGs? Also, unicorn tattoos.

A Break- Up Letter to my Players - https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/comments/ci39ed/a_break_up_letter_to_my_players/