Darths & Droids

Episode 727: The Cake is a Lie

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:11:01 +0000

The Revelation can be a powerful moment in a character's life. They learn something that overthrows everything they (thought they) knew about themself and the world around them.

No reason not to make it a joyous occasion!

Episode 726: Hermit Gab

Sun, 13 May 2012 10:11:01 +0000

Every character needs a turning point. A fateful decision. A moment that defines the rest of their life.

Often this occurs without much fanfare. It could be a decision made in the heat of battle, amidst the whirls of blades and the roll of dice. Or something that occurs in a conversation with the king, that changes the course of empires because the GM has decided that the king's reaction will be based on what the PC does. You can set up situations like this.

But an interesting way to to approach them instead is to draw attention to them. Make it abundantly clear to the character (and the player) that this one decision will have the potential to change everything about the campaign from now on. Lead them by the hand. Say, "These are your choices." Explain what a decision either way will mean, and how it will flow on to affect things across the span of continents, worlds, and decades.

Then sit back and watch.

Episode 725: A Perfectly Reasonable Explanation

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:11:01 +0000

Characters need history. A background that ties them to the game world, that gives them family, and the sense that other people out there in the otherwise anonymous wilderness might be interested in them. Something that connects them to wider events.

Given how the typical roleplayer generates a character, it might be a good idea to have someone else tell them all this stuff.

Episode 724: A Duck's Quack

Wed, 9 May 2012 17:07:03 +0000

Polite, softly spoken insistence can work wonders.

Just hold the big stick in a not-quite-inconspicuous way.

Episode 723: Slagging Off

Sat, 12 May 2012 16:05:02 +0000

Another metal that has a ridiculously low melting point is NaK, or sodium-potassium alloy. Sodium melts at 97.7°C, so you could melt it with boiling water - remembering of course that sodium exposed to water reacts spontaneously and violently explosively, so be careful. Potassium melts at 63.4°C, which can be done with hot tap water - remembering that potassium is even more reactive than sodium and when it comes into contact with water the reaction is so violent that it also ignites the hydrogen released from the water, causing an additional source of explosive combustion.

Mix these two extremely safe molten metals together and you produce the alloy known as NaK. The melting point of the alloy varies with composition, and is a minimum with a mixture of 22% sodium to 78% potassium. This mixture has a melting point of -12°C. So it'll stay liquid, even in the freezer compartment of your fridge. Though any moisture whatsoever that gets into contact with it will trigger an explosion.

What use is this wonderful stuff? It's used to cool nuclear reactors! Because it stays liquid at much higher temperatures than water (and much higher temperatures than mercury too), and won't freeze solid in the pipes at room temperature.

What use is all of this for a roleplaying game?

Hello? Incredibly dangerous explosive material? Found in large quantities in nuclear reactors? The game scenario almost writes itself!