#random thoughts from dave

[flavoracle]

“If it was actually important to you, you would’ve made it happen.”

“Cool, cool. That’s a really fun, judgmental way of saying you don’t believe my executive dysfunction actually exists.”

[flavoracle]

Friendly reminder in this economy that entertainment doesn’t have to be expensive.

Referring to your body as your “flesh mech” in casual conversation is totally free!

[flavoracle]

From a probability standpoint, I feel like it would be way more likely for an apartment building to be haunted than a single-family dwelling. But I also bet that haunted apartments are going to just slip under the radar unnoticed a lot more often.

Like, if you live in a house in the woods and your lights are flickering and you’re hearing random wailing sounds or unintelligible whispers echoing in your room when all alone? That’s going to raise some alarm bells pretty darn quick.

But if you live in an apartment and those things happen? You’re just gonna be like, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure the people above me have a new baby, the people below me are probably running four air conditioning units at the same time, and the guys next door are a couple of gamer roommates who take turns streaming at all hours of the night. What are you gonna do, amiright?”

[flavoracle]

Her: “You were really tossing and turning in your sleep last night babe. What were you dreaming about?”

Me: (singing) “It’s the eye of the tiger, and the wings of the bat, and the mouth of the hippo, and the tail of the rat, and the teeth of the walrus, and the skin of the cat, and the cards in the wallet, and the ink in the tat, and the…”

[flavoracle]

Dude about to invent the sub sandwich: “I’ll show THEM I know the right way to slice a loaf of bread…”

[flavoracle]

“You know, I can’t help but notice that you’ve got skin on the front of your body too.”

- me, as I finish rubbing my partner’s back with lotion

[flavoracle]

Spellbooks Reimagined

A common trope in fantasy games is the idea of learning spells from single-use spellbooks. And from a game mechanic point of view, I understand the need for that. Because you don’t want it to be too easy for every character to learn every spell, which means you want spellbooks to be rare, and you don’t want characters sharing them or just going to the library and walking away with a hundred new spells under their belt.

So I get why you want spellbooks to be single-use from a game design standpoint, but from a worldbuilding standpoint I feel like the explanations come off a bit clunky. Like the book falls apart after the person finishes reading it (because reasons) or the pages all go blank as the knowledge magically rushes into the person’s mind. But, like… why?

Then last night (while somewhat high) I had a sudden thought:

“What if it’s a workbook?!”

I mean, when is the last time you learned something JUST from reading about it? Learning is often an active participatory experience. So why not have spellbooks that include instruction, yes, but also questions and prompts and knowledge checks. And learning the spell requires the learner to both read from the book AND add their own insights into the book.

This could also be a great reason to explain why two people could functionally know the same spell, but the way they cast the spell or the way the spell looks could be vastly different. Because spells become personalized as learners respond to questions and prompts with more than one right answer.

It could even be fun sometimes to give players a worksheet to respond to between sessions when learning a new spell. Like, what DOES a magic missile mean to you, Mike? What image do YOU see in your mind when gathering the heat for a fireball, Brenda? What DO you do with your physical hands while casting mage hand, DJ?

So that’s my pitch: Spellbooks should be single-use because they’re workbooks that can only contain the responses from one individual.

What do you think? How would you build on this idea or incorporate it into your own fantasy worldbuilding? Collaboration is one of my favorite steps in the creative process, so let’s discuss! Reblog and add your input, and let’s get this conversation going!

[flavoracle]

Man, I really want to start posting again. I really miss connecting with all you amazing nerds.

Because for me? That is and has always been the best part about Tumblr. Connecting with people. Sharing ideas. Building on ideas! Collaborating on stories!

Regardless of the specific fandom or community, it’s amazing that practically anyone can find a community they connect with on here, and they can swap content, make connections, share appreciation and laugh at each other’s jokes.

Viral posts and memes are fun for sure! But nothing quite hits that same high as seeing that someone you follow and admire has responded to your creative prompt, or added to your joke, or points out an eerie twist about your short story.

I know we all enjoy ragging on Tumblr for being a hellsite, but if hell did include people like you, how bad could it actually be? I’d hang out there.