Those Natural Ones: Butch's Blog

unofficial fan Tumblr of the ttrpg podcast Those Natural Ones. https://youtube.com/@thosenaturalones Most of this content is all from Butch's POV, and thus not necessarily correct. In fact, now that I'm pretty sure the Marlatt brothers hate me (since I quit them because they treated me like dirt), I should say that NOTHING here is likely endorsed by the show.

[thosenaturalones]

[quakerjoe]

[transcribepaige]

I've been part of the early play-testing of @anim-ttrpgs Death Bed: An Impenetrably Medieval Dungeon Game, and it's been an incredible experience so far. Some thoughts so far;

Once again, ANIM traits are ridiculously good at making mechanical bonuses for in-character role-play and inspiring interesting and unique characters. Not many ttrpgs make playing your character as relevant to the actual game as Eureka or Death Bed.

The social class system is also extremely engaging and informs the social dynamics of the party really well. I've been enjoying it immensely.

A lot of people might be nervous about "troupe-style play", where each player controls multiple characters, but Aoife, Geoffrey, and Laurens have been really easy to distinguish from each other, both because what they're capable of is vastly different and because I've been easily grasping their personalities just from playing them. Playing all of them at once has also allowed for unique shenanigans, like having my characters talk or react to each other.

There was a moment last session where one of my characters, the gallant and boisterous Sir Geoffrey Richardes, died. In Death Bed, all the characters are undead, so like Dark Souls, they get back up a little less alive each time they die, *eventually* hollowing completely into a mindless monster. So as Geoffrey was burning to a knightly crisp, I got to ask myself, "What is Geoffrey gonna be like now that he's not fully alive? Now that he's tasted total defeat?" and genuine role-play-induced excitement over my character fully kicking the bucket is not something you get in almost any other system.

[thosenaturalones]

I really, really wish that Nick had been willing to try out other game systems. Death Bed looks amazing. There is a whole crap ton of other D&D podcasts out there, and I imagine it's hard to compete. But if he were willing to try out of other games, TNO would be better positioned to appeal to a broader range of ttrpg gamers. But, while I was there he almost never took any of my advice, he always knew best and to be fair, TNO is his podcast his gear, his game, which I respect and never questioned because the whole project is his, really, so this is all just wishful thinking on my part. Oh, well. I was just there to support him and Scott.

(I even offered to run some Old Gods of Appalachia, but whatever. Doesn't matter, since Scott couldn't handle me saying no to him, ever. Like, I'm sorry, but you can't just have whatever you want at any time in a resource-management survival horror mini-campaign. Yes, he treated me like crap until I quit. Then he was publicly confused as to why I left. As if three months of being mean, angry, and unpleasant to me wouldn't affect me.)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[transcribepaige]

I've been part of the early play-testing of @anim-ttrpgs Death Bed: An Impenetrably Medieval Dungeon Game, and it's been an incredible experience so far. Some thoughts so far;

Once again, ANIM traits are ridiculously good at making mechanical bonuses for in-character role-play and inspiring interesting and unique characters. Not many ttrpgs make playing your character as relevant to the actual game as Eureka or Death Bed.

The social class system is also extremely engaging and informs the social dynamics of the party really well. I've been enjoying it immensely.

A lot of people might be nervous about "troupe-style play", where each player controls multiple characters, but Aoife, Geoffrey, and Laurens have been really easy to distinguish from each other, both because what they're capable of is vastly different and because I've been easily grasping their personalities just from playing them. Playing all of them at once has also allowed for unique shenanigans, like having my characters talk or react to each other.

There was a moment last session where one of my characters, the gallant and boisterous Sir Geoffrey Richardes, died. In Death Bed, all the characters are undead, so like Dark Souls, they get back up a little less alive each time they die, *eventually* hollowing completely into a mindless monster. So as Geoffrey was burning to a knightly crisp, I got to ask myself, "What is Geoffrey gonna be like now that he's not fully alive? Now that he's tasted total defeat?" and genuine role-play-induced excitement over my character fully kicking the bucket is not something you get in almost any other system.

[thosenaturalones]

I really, really wish that Nick had been willing to try out other game systems. Death Bed looks amazing. There is a whole crap ton of other D&D podcasts out there, and I imagine it's hard to compete. But if he were willing to try out of other games, TNO would be better positioned to appeal to a broader range of ttrpg gamers. But, while I was there he almost never took any of my advice, he always knew best and to be fair, TNO is his podcast his gear, his game, which I respect and never questioned because the whole project is his, really, so this is all just wishful thinking on my part. Oh, well. I was just there to support him and Scott.

(I even offered to run some Old Gods of Appalachia, but whatever. Doesn't matter, since Scott couldn't handle me saying no to him, ever. Like, I'm sorry, but you can't just have whatever you want at any time in a resource-management survival horror mini-campaign. Yes, he treated me like crap until I quit. Then he was publicly confused as to why I left. As if three months of being mean, angry, and unpleasant to me wouldn't affect me.)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[mortalityplays]

whether they're Good Media™ or whatever aside, I think mainstream liveplay ttrpg shows have been a fucking disaster for the hobby. it's hard to imagine anything that could have fucked the expectations:results differential for people more than having celebrities do college improv with dice (and an entire media production team behind them) and telling a generation of new players that's what tabletop gaming is like

[mortalityplays]

liveplay ttrpg shows are not 'professional gaming', that's the whole problem I'm talking about. they're entertainment products which make format, content and form choices that would be nonsensical or obstructive at an ordinary table. it's not just "oh if only 'hobbyist' gaming groups (🤮) could pay for all that kit and lighting and professional writers and voice actors".

liveplay production involves story meetings aimed at making the narrative maximally entertaining to a watching audience (not the players, who are also professionals who are there to entertain that audience!). It involves editing (trimming out downtime, uninteresting mistakes, technical issues, moments where the vibe is wrong or there's friction in the room). it involves a room full of production crew watching every move the GM and players make, sensitive to wastage of their time and effort if things don't go to plan. and not for nothing, it involves an entire team of people who need to keep game publishers happy by playing and displaying their products correctly and certainly never criticising them or openly adapting around their shortcomings for the sake of the group's enjoyment.

I've played at tables where we've been lucky enough to have fun props and miniatures and printed maps and sound systems and even a bit of lighting, and where everyone in the group was a seasoned player with writing and performance backgrounds, and the experience was still full of normal natural constructive frictions that are largely if not completely absent from entertainment liveplay shows. player disagreement is normal. stopping mid flow to argue about a rule and look it up and help each other with system technicalities is normal. the music just not working today is normal. the party choosing a direction the GM didn't prepare for and having to adjust their in-character choices a little and tolerate some hastily cobbled together fluff to meet them halfway is so normal it's a running joke. someone finding a scene a little too much and asking for a break or redirection is normal. someone saying something a little ill judged in the moment and having to walk it back with as much grace as possible is normal. storylines not going to plan and petering out without major dramatic resolution, or npcs being ignored and cast off with a shrug is normal. all this shit and more is normal because a normal table is structured around the organic decision-making of a bunch of players who are primarily in it for their own fun and sense of transport, not for an invisible imaginary fandom slash consumer market. which are all the things that make ttrpg play inherently a pretty bad vehicle for storytelling, incidentally!

someone else in the tags expressed their frustration at these shows 'professionalising' the hobby, and while I do recognise and sympathise with the feeling that these shows normalise a level of polish and commercial buy-in that's destructive to the diy culture of tabletop gaming, I still have to push back on the idea that these shows are representative of 'professionalised gaming'. they're not. they're sports anime.

[catchymemes]

[imjunebitch]

ever noticed how its always the kindest most selfless ppl u know who are terrified of being evil in some way and the worst people on earth always seem to be utterly assured of their own rightness 😭

[afurioushawk]

[landofla]

I will absolutely tell you that ChatGPT is not better than Google - even in this day and age where Google sucks. And there are other search engines that will do you better than Google. I will absolutely tell you if you stop using your brain to think, your ability to think will grow weaker. I will tell you there is an environmental, and economic and human cost to using AI that we don't have any full scope of yet. I don't want to partake in any GENAI generated material.

[thosenaturalones]

So, when I was still with Those Natural Ones we were directed by Nick to use AI art for, well, all our character art, NPC art, and he used it for all of our YT thumbnails. To be fair, he said, "You can draw it if you want but we don't have any money to hire artists."

And I should have spent my own money to hire an artist for my own character, in retrospect. But I remember butting heads with him regarding the you tube thumbnails for each episode. I suggested we do what other channels do and have pictures of us players, maybe laid over the free to use art findable on-line, with some cool font names. My concerns were ignored.

When *I* was asked to DM over the summer of '25, I not only insisted on using real art for our you tube thumbnails but I designed each thumbnail myself to make sure it happened. I drew heavily upon pexels.com which was fabulous. And I did incorporate the players' little ai-computer drawn characters, as a compromise.

My art has all been removed sfaict, replaced with their own stuff. Mostly like to make the thumbnails be uniform, which is fair.

Anyway, for free to use art I recommend Pexels

Free Stock Photos, Royalty Free Stock Images & Copyright Free Pictures · Pexels

Free stock photos & videos you can use everywhere. Browse millions of high-quality royalty free stock images & copyright free pictures. No a

[thosenaturalones]

I'm sharing this because Nick and Scott Marlatt love LOTR, which heavily influenced D&D in its naissance.

[princesssokphanny]

A once-in-a-lifetime shot — the moon perfectly framed by a rainbow. Caught at just the right time. 🌈 🌕

[kosmogrl]

this is so cool!!

[kosmogrl]

[thosenaturalones]

[thosenaturalones]

Be good to your friends. Don't say "you're not listening to me" when you mean "you aren't doing what I tell you to do." Don't be mad that your friend the DM actually is allowed to see what's on your character sheet. Don't be mad you aren't allowed to just have whatever you damn well please on your character sheet.

[obfuscus]

This Tortal is Shelby (and their familiar Flit), a Warlock for a friend :3. Based on an Alligator Snapping Turtle (fubky lookin lil folk :3).

[thosenaturalones]

Unsolicited advice time. If someone yells and screams at you, and that hurts your feelings, you're not a liar when you tell other people that person hurt your feelings. If that same person, say, humiliates you, you are not a liar if you say they humiliated you. Even if they did not realize what they said about you--in their angry outburst in front of you and your friends--was humiliating for you.

You're not a liar when you tell your friends these things. And if that someone tells you that you're the liar when you tell people they humiliated you does not somehow make it so that it never happened. Never apologizing also doesn't help. Telling you it's "slander" to say these things about them is not correct. Slander is when you tell lies, not the truth.

It's also not lying when you say you weren't trying to do things they accuse you of trying to do if you weren't trying to do them!

At this point please realize you're dealing with a crazy person who's bad for you, and leave.

[mollybeenoel]

[thosenaturalones]

Of course I had to reblog this!

[dailymanners]

Anger and aggression are not the same thing as strength or power, by the way.

[dailymanners]

I really mean this, by the way. Not just in some feel-good-but-ultimately-meaningless sort of way.

If you are an angry and aggressive person, you might make other people nervous or scared even, but ultimately people will not genuinely respect you or take you seriously, or see you as a strong or authoritative figure.

Leaders and authority figures who are able to conjure genuine respect from other people (and wield that respect as a form of social power) are rarely overtly angry and aggressive people.

They are calm because they are secure in their power and strength as an individual. Anger is an expression of feeling threatened. Anger evolved with the purpose of protecting us when we are threatened or in danger.

Perpetual anger and aggression will make you look afraid and insecure to other people, even if only subconsciously. With genuine strength and power comes security, and security looks like calmness.

[thosenaturalones]

Yes, this is me throwing shade.

[wholesome-animal-images]