merelymatt

[merelymatt]

fuck your zodiac sign, is there a squishmallow with your name? Reblog with answers I wanna see <3

#yes there is #and it's a manatee

[merelymatt]

hmmm

[merelymatt]

After several months of unemployment I'm finally starting a new job next week but now idk how and when I'll be able to work on the show.

I'm curious, for anyone who has a full-time job with long commute, when do you work on your show? Are you more productive early before leaving or late after coming home? Do you only work on your free days?

#recording sessions on weekends #editing and production tasks for an hour or so before work every workday #merely roleplayers

[merelymatt]

Please return to your seats in the Dragonmeet Podcast Zone

The staff and customers pool their talents to rid the Coffee Shop Hey, You! of the rowdy Suits.

Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

- Alexander Pankhurst as Morgana Le Fay

- Natalie Winter as Jemima Puddle-Duck

- Strat as Tom Thumb

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Interstitial: Our Hearts Intertwined by Riley Hopkins

MUSIC: In The Dark – Flashes by Bix Beiderbeck, performed by Jess Stacy, provided by the Open Music Archive

RECORDED AND ENGINEERED BY: Kristian Mitchell-Dolby

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

COMMISSIONED BY: Mira Manga and Fiona KT Howat for the Dragonmeet Podcast Zone 2023

#mina harker #the train fiend

[merelymatt]

Goth girls love trains

#mina harker #the train fiend

[merelymatt]

The adventures of the Wizard Sorrow & Boshi (working title): a WBN Umora OC comics collab with @yeehawpim!!!!!

Pim did the story + layout and then let me run wild (and pop in at odd hours with questions about Boshi's design) See Pim's mad composition genius + OC lore over here Sorrow lore here & here

👀 more to come perhaps 👀

#give this more notes #worlds beyond number #the wizard the witch and the wild one

[merelymatt]

More random tropes that I fucking love: Becoming the mask you wore.

Like oh shit, this character who was sent to spy somewhere under a false identity suddenly realises they've started to genuinely become the person they claimed to be? Someone who's been telling the same lies about who they are for so long that they're actually forgetting that the story isn't true? Finding themselves genuinely doing the things they pretend to do in front of people, when they're alone and nobody's watching? Answering to a name that wasn't supposed to be theirs without thinking?

Ooohh-hoh-hoh, you lost track of yourself in pretending to be someone else? You were only supposed to impersonate somebody, a plausible background and a name you came up with on the spot, and now that the people you were supposed to infiltrate have become your true companions? You lost yourself in the game you played, and no you no longer know who you truly are, and where your true loyalties lie? And both sides would mark you a traitor if you came out with the truth. On a scale of one to ten, how bad did you fuck up.

Fuck that is a good trope. Never seen it done badly. Pour that shit on a table and I'll chop it into lines and snort it.

#project snakeskin #maybe??? #regardless i love this trope too

[merelymatt]

We technically only played half this game (you're supposed to write 24 lines, we wrote 12), and that's the only reason none of the original band members got pissed off enough to flip the table, smash the bass and leave the band – at least 2 of us were right on the edge at the end there

This'd be a fun one to play on stream some time!

And that's it for the microgames! Back to the main Monster of the Week campaign next time.

Now playing in the (recording) Studio

It’s only going to take one song to get everyone to stand up and take notice, and then your career will open wide in front of you. You all work so perfectly together. How hard can it be?

This season, we're playing a selection of individual micro-roleplaying games from The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book, edited by James D'Amato!

Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com

CREDITS

FACILITATOR: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

- On vocals, Matt Boothman as Skinny Steve

- On lead guitar, Strat as Jimmy Danger

- On the keys, Ellie Pitkin as Pixie Dust

- On rhythm guitar, Josh Yard as Sludge

- On the bass, Natalie Winter as Spacy Stacy

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Wonders by Alex Flanigan, published in The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book, edited by James D’Amato

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst, inspired by Horse Elevator

SEASON PLANNED BY: Strat

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

[merelymatt]

But then: knife

I'm a pretty knife guy once you get to know me

[merelymatt]

Before you get to know me? Just a pretty guy

I'm a pretty knife guy once you get to know me

[merelymatt]

I'm a pretty knife guy once you get to know me

#merely mine

[merelymatt]

Posted the teaser trailer to youtube for good measure

#wanderer's journal premieres today! #audio drama #audio drama premiere #wanderer's journal

[merelymatt]

Hello! I’ve been seeing a lot about your work on social media lately and would love to read your books. What series do you recommend I start with?

Thanks ☺️

That depends on your taste/interest. I don't really write the same kind of thing from series to series, because I get bored easily and often want to try new subgenres/styles/etc. So I'll just briefly list my series and you can pick the one that appeals the most.

There's the Inheritance Trilogy, (link goes to the first book) my first published novels. A secondary world that has enslaved its own gods deals with the repercussions of that, from the POVs of three mortals. There's an overarching plot arc for all three books -- and there are some side-stories for this trilogy, too -- but each has a different narrator and takes place at different times. First person past tense, if you care about that sort of thing. (I don't, but some people seem weirdly attached to/repulsed by particular persons/tenses, so I'm including that info here.)

Then there's the Dreamblood Duology, which were actually written before the Inheritance books but I couldn't get them published at first because publishing in the 2000s was hella racist, basically. (I know, it hasn't changed much... but that little bit of change was enough for me to break in.) These books are as close to traditional fantasy as I'm probably ever going to get, except that they take place in faux ancient Egypt instead of faux medieval Europe. The story follows priests of the dream goddess as they're forced to deal with a conspiracy that threatens to inflict horrors on their society. Third person past tense for both books.

Next up is the Broken Earth trilogy. That's my experimental one, with first, second, and third-person POVs, present tense, a completely non-Earth world, and some heavy themes. All three books form a single story spanning, oh, forty thousand years or so, but mostly they're centered on one incredibly angry middle-aged mother who is on a roaring rampage of revenge/revolution. Features earthbenders, anti-magic groomers, magic statue people, and the apocalypse (again). Lots of "dark" themes and horror moments (harm to children, systemic bigotry, people-eating bugs, more).

My most recent books are the Great Cities duology. Urban fantasy set in modern-day New York, third person multiple POV ensemble cast. Turns out cities come to life once they hit a certain point, and then they claim a human avatar to represent and protect them. New York turns out to have six. It's also got some very unwanted tourists in the form of Lovecraftian entities that are trying to destroy it, along with reality as we know it. I meant for these to be lighthearted and silly and I think they kind of are, but there are still some notable political elements in them. (I mean, it's set in modern-day New York, and I started them the year Trump got elected, so...) It's lighthearted for me, anyway.

So, pick your poison!

#all of them? #*nods* #all of them is good

[merelymatt]

[merelymatt]

Yes! And A Horror Borealis' Keeper Alex Flanigan wrote a micro-RPG called WONDERS which we're playing on @merelyroleplayers next week!

#A Horror Borealis #actual play #ttrpg actual play #actual play podcast #monster of the week #motw #alex flanigan #wonders #merely roleplayers

[merelymatt]

podcast character body pillow

[merelymatt]

We surprised ourselves a bit with this one. I feel like, even though we always say what we like about improv and actual play is that you can't predict where it's going, it's still rare to hear an episode where the direction of the game really takes the players by surprise. And rare to hear one where the outcome for the characters is transparently not the one any of the players were shooting for!

Listening back, I kind of want to run the numbers on the game and see just how heavily it does stack the odds against the kids. It made me think of a couple of episodes of Heart Points, with ZW Garth playing Mechs into Ploughshares - where it takes until the second time playing the game to clock that one of its core mechanics isn't as random as it seems, and actually the outcome is predetermined. Does Summer Break! always force the kids to grow up...?

Now playing in the Studio

("playing" in so many senses of the word)

Before getting thrown face-first into school, cling to your final summer break with family and defend your childhood fort from dangers that are definitely not allegories for adulthood!

This season, we're playing a selection of individual micro-roleplaying games from The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book, edited by James D'Amato! Look out for next week's finale: Wonders by Alex Flanigan!

Follow us on your usual podcast app - search Merely Roleplayers or head to www.merelyroleplayers.com

FACILITATOR: Natalie Winter

STARRING:

- Natalie Winter as Max, aged 10 ¾

- Strat as Billy, aged 10 ½

- Ellie Pitkin as Cara, aged 12

- Josh Yard as Sam, aged 14

- Matt Boothman as Ani, aged 8

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Summer Break by Joey Barranco, published in The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book, edited by James D’Amato

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst, inspired by Horse Elevator

SEASON PLANNED BY: Strat

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

#merely roleplayers #summer break! #joey barranco #heart points #zw garth #mechs into ploughshares #game mechanics #ttrpg design