I Hit It With My Axe: Episode 12: The Blind Stabbing The Blind

Nickisimo

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The premise of the show put me off at first(I assumed it was a gimmick - "hey, look, there's porn stars so that gives it value!), but now that the game and the interaction between all the players has gotten deeper, this is actually pretty decent.

It reminds me of my much younger days when I played AD&D 2nd edition(about...15 years ago?) and we would get into similar predicaments and arguments. I'm also currently working on an RPG board-game, so this is good material to watch to get some creative juices flowing. :)

Also...I'm hot for those clear dice...
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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LunarTick said:
chepenoyo said:
I don't know that I'm prepared for this. How many hit dice does a kitten have, and how difficult is the will save to resist one?
It only has 1/2 hit dice, but that's all it needs because of it's Endearing Presence ability:

[strong]Endearing Presence:[/strong]
This ability affects all living creatures within 30 feet of a kitten. Those who directly look at a kitten must succeed on a DC 19 Will save or be dominated permanently as though by the Dominate Monster spell. A kitten can suppress or resume this ability as a free action.
The save DC is Charisma-based.

Because of this ability a kitten has a vast army of followers, usually consisting of hairdressers.

Now all we need is for the GM to grin evilly and dig out some ancient, dusty, rulebooks from the back of his closet and use this video series to re-introduce the new generation of gamers to things like "Kill Kittens" which I believe are from "Arduin Grimoire" (or was it the equally ancient "All The World's Monsters"... my mind is going in my advanced years ).
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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Skullkid4187 said:
I honestly don't see why escapists members don't like this show. You got very attractive, great haired, and funny people mixed with d and d. That right there is a 100% sure win!
Hmmm, well to be honest I've given it a couple of shots here and there, I guess the thing is that it's just not all that exciting to watch other people play an RPG, even if I haven't gamed in person for quite a while (I do however do a few PBP RPGs).

The ladies involved are attractive (I actually looked up Mandy Morbid online because of this series, having never heard of her), but I'm not a teenager anymore, and simply seeing a bunch of hot girls, even porn stars, just doesn't have a huge appeal in of itself. I mean I can see gorgeous ladies in any media, and if I wanted to I could sit down and just watch porn if it came down to it.

The bottom line is basically that, in the few attempts I've made to watch it, I just don't find it very exciting or interesting. I guess the group chemistry and interaction is decent, but when you get past the fact that your dealing with people in the adult industry, it's pretty much just few minute bits of watching people goof off while playing an RPG.
 

Mordicai Caeli

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May 1, 2010
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Therumancer said:
The ladies involved are attractive (I actually looked up Mandy Morbid online because of this series, having never heard of her), but I'm not a teenager anymore, and simply seeing a bunch of hot girls, even porn stars, just doesn't have a huge appeal in of itself. I mean I can see gorgeous ladies in any media, and if I wanted to I could sit down and just watch porn if it came down to it.

The bottom line is basically that, in the few attempts I've made to watch it, I just don't find it very exciting or interesting. I guess the group chemistry and interaction is decent, but when you get past the fact that your dealing with people in the adult industry, it's pretty much just few minute bits of watching people goof off while playing an RPG.
I agree that if you are coming here to see titillating material you'd be better off going to look for actual pornography. I don't think that is the reason to watch: watch because it is fun? If you don't find it fun, then c'est la vie, each to his own cup of tea, all that. Really though, the player's professions are only the hook. Just like "listen to the guys from Penny Arcade" is a hook. The material is fun. I like watching different groups to see the weird universals of gaming-- like being obsessed with tactics like "how can we weaponize this blanket?"
 

Erick.S

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Therumancer said:
... it's pretty much just few minute bits of watching people goof off while playing an RPG.
Which is exactly the point. If you enjoy the group's dynamics, then great, if not, then no big deal, right? Individual taste and all.

And I also think the adult industry thing is just a hook. Personally, I wouldn't care if they were car mechanics, experts chefs, or cat burglars (that's the ones who rob cats, shame on them!).
 

Joethelawyer

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Mar 23, 2010
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Something I've noticed about the camera work is that is looks more choppy when it is viewed in a webpage. I downloaded the vid to the pc, then viewed it with Quicktime, and it seemed much smoother and clearer, and the camera work didnt get in the way at all. I have an older pc, so I am not sure if the choppiness is a product of viewing it through Firefox or the age of the pc.
 

JdaS

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Oct 16, 2009
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Hahhah. Loved the ending, when all of a sudden Kimberly starts to talk about work.
 

0over0

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Zak, if you're reading this--well, I know Mandy checks the thread, so Mandy, tell Zak he needs to give you guys a magical Blanket of Blinding. Every group has some weird quirk that becomes a theme for them--blinding people with blankets is clearly this group's raison d'etre!
 

Theyand

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Jun 6, 2010
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Is it just me or do they need a dry erase board? that said the show grew on me and it seems to get better each time I tune in.
 

Noumenon

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Jun 6, 2010
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I have resisted downloading any of the players' videos because I feel like I owe it to them not to pirate their stuff -- but I did download some Dirty Harry videos just now! Wow, I'm fascinated by what goes into that decision KK made. Is it like, "Dirty Harry helps reach the demographic of men 45-55 who like 'accessible' porn stars," or "I can't really say I'm a porn star without doing Dirty Harry, he's like an icon of the genre," or is it like a boxing champion quest like "In order to fuck Mandingo, you're going to have to last six rounds with Dirty Harry."

Anyway, Justine is having a great run, the energy with everyone is enviable. I wish I could evoke that much emotion in my players.

Regarding the seating, seems like you've got a good setup there. KK tends to take over, so she's way at the far end so the DM has to see everybody to interact with her. Then you've got Mandy as a special tutor for the new girl. But I wonder what would happen if you rotated Franky and Satine and Connie to different seats. I bet the episode would feel different just from the different amounts of camera time.
 

Noumenon

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One other thing -- does anyone else have the issue where in Firefox, the blue bar with the Comments link in it just doesn't appear under the video? Obviously no one else is going to agree to that, because they won't be able to comment. I had to try it in IE, or go to the list of all episodes and then click the comments links there. Might get more comments if that was fixed...

The gonzo thing is working for me, it's quite exciting. Maybe "viewer at the table" isn't what they're going for. Maybe it's about "how can we make this game look as cool on video, as it is when you're there?" Which entails more "let the camera zoom around toward the hotties". I wish Zak would post something on his blog about the filming itself, other than the cuts -- I bet he puts just as much thought into it as he does into everything else. Angles, editing, and stuff like "does the camera height make the viewer feel subliminally hunched over?" I don't notice that it does -- I'm used to video-game camera angles where the camera is totally dissociated from any viewpoint a real live person could use. To me the camera goes to whatever height it has to be for me to see what I'm looking at.
 

TasteofLst

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Jun 6, 2010
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Thanks for a great show!
Its keeps getting better for each episode.
My expectations wasn't high when I decided to check it out but I'm glad I did.
 

Paendorrah

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Sep 8, 2009
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I so wanna sit down at that table and roll some dice. Hands down the most interesting show on the Escapist.
 

Joethelawyer

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Noumenon said:
I have resisted downloading any of the players' videos because I feel like I owe it to them not to pirate their stuff -- but I did download some Dirty Harry videos just now! Wow, I'm fascinated by what goes into that decision KK made.
I guess I don't consider it pirating, just making it easier to view on my piece of crap ancient laptop. It runs a lot smoother viewing it through Quicktime than through the web browser. No choppiness, no skipping, and the camera movement is not a distraction. It's not like I'm selling it or posting it somewhere, or that its something others pay for that I'm getting for free. I dunno, maybe I'm off here...?
 

KnThrak

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Jan 11, 2009
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Therumancer said:
Hmmm, well to be honest I've given it a couple of shots here and there, I guess the thing is that it's just not all that exciting to watch other people play an RPG, even if I haven't gamed in person for quite a while (I do however do a few PBP RPGs).
It depends. I gamemaster, and I sometimes feel I can see Zak pull a grimace outside the camera view.
I can relate to a lot of things in it, because I usually have groups of people who tumble forward rolling whatever dice they can to smash through things (or stabby-stabby them), and who consider negotiations something only done while eating pizza and being unable to roll dice.

And watching semi-newbie players play alongside experiences people is always fun as a gamemaster. That being said, did you specifically make the character Justine plays? Since she's probably temporary, you gave her a relatively strong character to use her for the story, right?
 

MNRA

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Jun 8, 2009
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Kimberly Kane is awesome, her personality on the show is great and I love her gung-ho, tomboyish, in-your-face playstyle. "Okay that was complicated. I'll just run straight up and lop the spiders f**ing head off". I don't know if it's her personality, or her charchter coming across, but it's still so much fun to watch.

And she's awesomely beautiful, which is always a plus.

Good episode.




*edit* I just had a bit of a realization. Is it possibly that shows like this that actually let you "know" the people in front of the camera on porn makes you more eligeble to pay for it? I know that I've never paid for any porn in my life, with the internet being what it is, but when you know the person you're watching it makes you more interested in their well-being and as such more likely to dish out some dollars for their living. Sidestepping the obvious pitfall of the piracy discussion, let's just assume there is little to be done at present about it, would it be viable for porn stars to market themselves through some sort of public relations? I mean porn stars do have their own sites (at least some, Kimberly Kane, Liz vicious etc.) and Mandy writes her own blogg, but do you guys think that building this kind of rapport with the consumer might help sales?

...maybe this deserves it's own thread. I'll put one up later.
 

Noumenon

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KnThrak said:
That being said, did you specifically make the character Justine plays? Since she's probably temporary, you gave her a relatively strong character to use her for the story, right?
Going by what I read in the video and the blog... Zak said "you can make your own character from scratch, or you can have this secret." She picked the secret, but then in the video Mandy helped her roll up a half-orc wizard with two hit points, so they made that character right there. I don't think Mandy had a clue that there was more to Justine's character than that!

btw -- this "2 hit points" thing really makes me wonder. Characters like that are so fragile, yet they all survive all these scary things. I haven't been able to put my finger on any DM cheating for them, unless it gets cut out.

It would really be interesting to see the whole, uncut videos for these -- I would actually pay money for that as a bonus feature.
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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KnThrak said:
Therumancer said:
Hmmm, well to be honest I've given it a couple of shots here and there, I guess the thing is that it's just not all that exciting to watch other people play an RPG, even if I haven't gamed in person for quite a while (I do however do a few PBP RPGs).
It depends. I gamemaster, and I sometimes feel I can see Zak pull a grimace outside the camera view.
I can relate to a lot of things in it, because I usually have groups of people who tumble forward rolling whatever dice they can to smash through things (or stabby-stabby them), and who consider negotiations something only done while eating pizza and being unable to roll dice.

And watching semi-newbie players play alongside experiences people is always fun as a gamemaster. That being said, did you specifically make the character Justine plays? Since she's probably temporary, you gave her a relatively strong character to use her for the story, right?

?

I'm not involved with this at all, I just mentioned that I've given it a couple of watches here and there and found it rather dull (in response to other things). I didn't make any of the characters involved, for obvious reasons.

That said when I do GM, I find that taking new players, either new to the game or ones I've just met, through character generation gives me a decent chance to get to know them, and also explain the rules to an extent.

As far as giving brand new players a meatier character, well typically I don't do that because newbies do not remain newbies forever, and assuming the person stays in the game as intended they are going to figure things out. If I'm gaming for the long run that could cause some problems because booting someone's beloved character from the game because *I* twinked it and they no longer need that isn't right.

That said, I'm fairly into heroic fantasy (which is a matter of taste) as such when I GM the PCs are usually somewhat weighted towards the higher end of things. Unlike some other GMs I kind of take the approach that "it wouldn't be there, if it wasn't intended to be used", which means that I tend to cut the characters loose quite a bit and occasionally put the kind of magical items into treasure hordes that most GMs consider to be "Munchkin". On the other hand I also tend to cut loose with a lot of the nastier and more exotic monster types that you also don't see very often in D&D games.

This isn't to say that I don't do low powered campaigns, but simply that I game for escapism, and see the point is to get away from being humble and realistic. As trite and stereotypical as it might be, while it might not be your first adventure or two, you typically wind up saving the kingdom/world/multiverse in my games at some point. :p