Wishcasting

Am halfway through the second edition of this TTRPG and in two minds about the rules. I can handle ability checks with intricacies - you learn those as you go - but traits, relationships, etc. are overly formalised. For example, while the amount of emphasis placed on the seasons is cool, I have no desire, at the end of Winter, to engage in a kind of performance review of my character AND my fellow players. On the positive side, there are guidelines I dig, such as what is effectively a catchup mechanic for a player who misses a session. Anyway, I'm not reading this for the rules as I'll never run it. I'm reading it because I find the tales of brave mice on dangerous missions, as depicted in numerous wonderful illos, a comfort. Given my abiding fondness for "The Wind In The Willows", it's surprising I didn't become a "Redwall" guy. Perhaps there's still time :-)

Devoured this two-parter, hoho. I'll watch anything about Korean cuisine. That said, I'd class just the first 3/4 of Ep. 1 as essential. They then go into influencers and the kimbap scenes around the globe. You could easily skip all of that jazz. I must try fresh kimbap one day soon. Have only eaten the flash-frozen rolls you microwave, which are crap (regardless of what people in the documentary claim).

In the early '90s, DQ was kind enough to bring me into his "D&D" group. I vaguely knew the Dungeon Master from senior high, but the other lads'n'lasses were strangers. They turned out to be beaut folks. The DM ran an ongoing campaign of his own creation, while incorporating modules such as "The Shattered Statue". It's typical Jennell Jaquays: ambitious, ahead of its time and bizarrely memorable. The events kick off with the theft of a giant stone foot believed to be from a god. It contains stats for "D&D" and "DragonQuest", with details on two complete new schools of magic. It offers specific role-playing advice which feels like it mighta been written today. But I digress...

Memory modules, Part 9

So what sticks in my head about DQ1, and what I want to share, was an annoying NPC who was the servant of another NPC, an important wizard (IIRC), with whom we were questing. This henchman was constantly messing up or telling lies. He became a figure of ridicule among the party. When, in the final fight, he heroically gave his life to protect his boss - literally shielding the wiz with his body - we were stunned. The DM had stage-managed the redemption perfectly. Here's the weird thing, though: flipping through my copy of "The Shattered Statue", I cannot spot him. Is he there hiding in the small print, or was he merely a winning embellishment by a terrific game master?