Total Pebble Knockdown

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: It is our season one finale, a time to look back on where we’ve gone in the past year and what we plan on doing in the future. Guests? Livestreams? More obscure videos? Let’s find out on a very close-to-home Weekly Muse It’s the last chapter in our spoopy fest and we have saved the worst for last: CLOWNS! We go into why clowns are scary and how you can ma...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Everybody get on the trolley. Oh no, some people are tied to the tracks! What shall we do? On this Crit Think, Nathan subjects Alex to a few of his homebrewed trolley problems to see how cruel he is toward the poor people about to be run over. An overview of the trolley problem - What is the 'Trolley Problem?’ | Merriam-Webster Last of the One D&D exp...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Steam is having a Next Fest with tons of demos for upcoming video games. Nathan got the chance to play a few of these games. Some of these were good, some were mediocre and one was basically unplayable. Find out which are which in this Weekly Muse. Some more discussion on draft material of One D&D because of course. This time, we'll talk a little abou...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Star Citizen, the game that still has not actually been released, just passed $500 million in funding. We still have no idea when the game is coming out, but there are rumblings about sequels. Anyways, let’s discuss this milestone after 10 years in development. Star Citizen Crowdfunds Half a Billion Dollars - and $100 Million In Less Than a Year - IGN Sta...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: So, a lot of discussion has been going on around player character death, so let’s discuss what you can do with characters once they die. Perhaps they can have a fun adventure in the afterlife, fight some demons, haunt the living, reincarnate, be a rat therapist… okay, we might go off the rails here. Cozy games are an ever-growing genre of video games, but...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: In Weekly Muse, is Matt Mercer a terrible DM? This is something we decided to discuss following comments on the most recent Critical Role episode. So, we're going to talk about how dangerous a world should be, what the consequences are for a player's actions and other ways to slam players when things go wrong. We will also answer that question. WARNING: S...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Are you getting enough sleep? Not in real life, we already know the answer to that is "No". Instead, are you getting enough sleep in games? We're looking at sleep, resting, curfews and other annoyances that games will use to make you end your business day, even if you were doing something cool. Does this work? Should it be changed? Are there better ways t...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Wizard Presents 2022 gave us many big announcements concerning Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. We are somewhat familiar with these things, so let's break down some of the big announcements, from Warhammer cards to the upcoming supplements to the huge One D&D reveal. Wizard Presents 2022 So, One...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: If you have ever watched a movie or TV show, played a game or read a book, you have probably noticed some typical character archetypes. At a certain point these become tropes that are easy to fall back on as writing devices. But does that mean you should play one in your games? We look at a list of 15 character tropes to see how these could work in your g...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: While magic items may often be powerful, they can also prove to be rare and expensive. But what about secondhand magic items? You know, the “gently used” items pawned off to a traveling merchant for resale? What if your players got ahold of those? We ponder the possibilities of broken, worn and mysterious used items that have more intrigue than your stand...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: It’s rare that we have good news to share regarding NFTs, but we’ve found some this week. Mojang announced that NFTs and blockchain will not be allowed in Minecraft. Yay! However, NFT Worlds plans on building their own Minecraft so they can make the crypto-paradise happen over there. Not yay! Let’s break some of this down in a Weekly Muse. We love our sec...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: The trailer for a new D&D movie just dropped at San Diego ComicCon. So, I guess that's what we're talking about on Weekly Muse. We discuss some of the monsters, classes and spells showcased in the trailer and if it looks good. Alex also attempts to explain that older D&D movies existed, although you likely don't remember them. Nathan's character m...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: When exploring worlds of imagination, you want to make them feel alive. But if we are escaping from reality, the worlds themselves should reflect that. How can we set our fantasy, sci-fi, post-apocalypse, etc. apart from the here and now? How do we introduce those elements? Let's discuss that in a Delving Deeper. We play our fair share of RPGs. Before you...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: During a recent D&D session, the party ran across some wererats. This forced the mostly martial party to get creative with dealing damage and that led to a completely unorthodox usage of Heat Metal. What is Heat Metal? How are you supposed to use it? How did we change it? The answers may surprise and annoy you. Heat Metal is an interesting spell Werer...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: June was a big month for gaming. We’ve already talked about the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase, but on this Weekly Muse we take a look at the Summer Games Fest, a repository of sequels and remakes. Also, a few original titles. Some of it is likely worth your time, but exactly how much has yet to be seen. We mentioned in passing the oddity of choosing a barb...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: The Xbox & Bethesda Showcase 2022 had many announcements, some of which were of particular interest to Nathan and Alex. So, let us discuss a new entry from Squanchy Games, a new cthulhu-vania title, Hideo Kojima, Hot Wheels, giant spiders and souls games for some reason. And, of course, we have an extended discussion of Starfield. One of the other tit...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: In a less than angry Soapbox, Nathan makes the completely reasonable argument that your in-game store informs everything about your world. Alex has some disagreements about that and makes those very known. Who’s hill will we die on? Perhaps each others… perhaps! Since Nathan now has a Level 5 Bard in the TPK D&D game, he took a 3rd Level spell called...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: E3 2022 is dead. We killed it... with shrugs. But in it’s wake, a whole bunch of game company streams will be flooding our lives over the next couple weeks. What companies are not having conferences? Do we know about any games being announced? Could we ever hope for a new IP? Will E3 2023 be more for gamers then the industry executives? Sorry, I made myse...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: * It appears that video games are the new go-to medium for film adaptation. What a wonderful time to explain that video games and movies are different things. Is Super Mario Brothers a movie masterpiece? Why would you want silent protagonists to suddenly recite dialogue? Why has Master Chief not gotten to the freakin' ring world the whole game series is n...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: Recently, Twitch was all ablaze with streamers playing an early build of Overwatch 2 and views were off the charts. Then, on Day 2, views were off the charts in a very different direction. So, why did enthusiasm for the game go away so quickly? We will look at a few possibilities and ask what Blizzard might be able to learn… from other Blizzard games. Ove...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: In news we thought had already happened, Wizards of the Coast has purchased D&D Beyond, bringing the online service under the umbrella of the D&D parent company. Will this change anything about the core offerings for the users? Will you need a WOTC account? Can we wish for integration between digital and physical books? Time to dig into this acqui...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: * So, Bethesda is letting it's game launcher go. Fly free little launcher! What happens to everyone's data, their save games, their libraries, their friends lists? And the question on everyone's mind: What about Fallout 76!? Also, a few old Bethesda games become available for free on Steam on the heels of this news. Coincidence? Maybe! Bethesda Launcher w...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: * Launched on April 12, two TTRPG Kickstarters hit the $1 Million mark in mere days of release. So, on this Weekly Muse, we talk a bit about that. Should we make monsters more interesting in Flee, Mortals! from MCDM? Should we bow down and worship the Old Gods of Appalachia from Monte Cook Games? Why isn't there an RPG set in a mall? Why has Alex not gott...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: * After hearing about the horror that is the false hydra, Nathan started thinking about rectifying player knowledge versus character knowledge. If you know how to combat a monster that is imperceivable by normal means as a player, should your character prepare to fight it accordingly? Should I pick Silence as a spell knowing what I know? How much of this...

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown: * Well, we had a weird one on the last episode, which pretty much sets up the whole premise of this episode. To start things off, we're going to have a Crit Think asking if games can be so bad they are good? Some examples are given and personal experiences are relayed. Perhaps the whole thing is subjective. But also, Nathan played Kattastik, so... * Somet...