00:00.00 sidekqpodcast Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of sidekicks and side quests the best unofficial dungeons and dragons podcast my humbly biased opinion I've got an awesome guest this week but before we get to the guest I got to leave you in suspense with our first. For the top of the show ad read from our friends over at plus one e xp of course you recently heard Tony Vicinda return to the podcast and he had the whole spiel the whole rigamo role to share with you but just to give you the long and short of it. They make fine beard and Lip Balm products so if you feel like you need some pep in your step a plus one to your strength your charisma your dexterity. What have you? they've got it covered and they all are made. Ah you know, very well and I happen to have a can of plus one charisma that when I remember to put on. Ah, some beard bomb for my face. It always leaves me feeling refreshed and feeling that just feeling that much cooler for the day. Um, of course the whole thing that helped to launch this brand was an indie rpg that was developed called beards and beyond and ah, that. Has since inspired Tony to collaborate and work on several other indie games including repugnant I toaster down we go through the void vamp nugula brain and ambrainst standing just to name a few of course if you go to their website plus onexp.com. 01:33.38 sidekqpodcast Or the itch page. You're gonna find all of these products and all of these games. Um, and whenever you purchase a product through either of these mediums you're contributing to the plus one forward program which seeks to support additional indie tabletop content creators to continue making awesome stuff and of course. At the time of this recording now. Hopefully it's already launched um, but they should have their new ah monthly. Ah, quarterly. Whatever you want to contribute towards um Rpg Zine Club so if you ah sign up for this subscription, you're going to be getting brand new indie. Rpgs that are like straight hot out the oven off the presses and so and you'll be able to join in with the community um over on Discord and other and across social media in order to be discussing and and talking about these games. Um, so everyone can be ah, checking out the latest things that are being developed in the indie scene. So for more details and all these things again I highly encourage you to follow Tony and plus one on all the socials over on Twitter x Facebook youtube Twitch and discord. In order to keep up with all these various projects that are being worked on as well as upcoming interviews oneshots and actual plays of again some of these amazing ind indeed ttrpgs that are being developed and if you don't mind when you go to the website page plus 1 eexp.com use that affiliate code for this show. Randolph. 03:03.96 sidekqpodcast In order to save on a beard bomb or a beard rpg and ah you know you get a discount at no extra cost to you and it helps to support the podcast. So again, go to the website plus One eexp.com use that code randolph at checkout and I appreciate you so much. So. 03:22.33 sidekqpodcast Ah, with without further ado I would like to turn the microphone over and ask hello mystery contestant would you care to introduce yourself tell us who it is that you are and what is it that you do. 03:33.85 Adam This is already so much fun and we haven't even started I love I love the prompt there. Ah I am Adam Bradford I am the chief development officer at demiplane currently. Which is a very very made up title to say that I do you know that there's a ah lot of kitchen sink stuff that that falls under my realm of responsibility at demiplane but um I formerly was the founder of d and d beyond. And before that I also I spent about a decade in the defense and aerospace industry I live in Huntsville alabama which is the rocket city. So a big Nasa presence and everything here and so so yeah, i. 04:03.96 sidekqpodcast Um, m. 04:17.23 sidekqpodcast Mm. 04:21.70 Adam I am someone who has been you know, kind of lived in the normal day job for you know, probably a big portion of my career and then I got a very lucky chance to enter the gaming industry gosh Eight or nine years ago I guess at this point and. 04:29.14 sidekqpodcast Yes. 04:41.61 Adam Um, it's It's just been nothing nothing that I would have ever expected happening to me but but it's been an incredible ride to be able to especially through D and D Beyond and through working with wizards of the coast and now with all of The. Ah, incredible publishers that we work with at Demiplane you know pizo and free league and um I almost said some that we haven't announced yet but lots and lots of really great publishers that we're working with. It really is just an incredible privilege to be able to work in this industry that I Love so much because tabletop role-playing is genuinely my first first love and never thought that it would become a job for me. 05:28.73 sidekqpodcast Awesome! Um I know that you were a guest on our previous I know that you were a guest on my friend Andrew Strather's podcast role for persuasion and you did a very. Cool in-depth interview and I believe that was when you were still with ah d and d beyond and so you got to tell the whole story of how that came about and so if you haven't listened to that episode I totally encourage you to go do that. So ah, you know we're not necessarily retreading old ground but it is really. Interesting. You know to have the architect if you will of d and d beyond which is a tool set that you know so many people in the hobby are thankful for and that they can use to now have you transition you know to Demi? -plane um, you know, kind of you know, can you speak to that experience kind of what it's like you know, being regarded as like ah this architect if you will this guy who helped to make the game accessible to so many people you know from within the hobby and you know from those outside the hobby that now have come into the hobby. 06:32.57 Adam Yeah I think that accessibility is a really important word there and I think that you know again playing these games and I really that's a point of emphasis for me. Is I say these games instead of ah d and d because I have from the very beginning over thirty years ago at this point whoa getting it man time really marches on um, but when when I started playing um I actually started playing with the star wars western games. Ah, version of the rules and you know you're you're picking up Twenty D six s and and throwing them down on the table and just hearing hearing the rumble. Um, but ah it was just so incredible I fell in love instantly. With ah with everything that was of course I found a dung and some dragons at that point you know second edit a d and d and and so started playing that but then I quickly discovered you know a Marvel game you know and there were there were just so many exciting things and so. The biggest challenge that my groups always had as I was a younger person was sticking to 1 game and so we were constantly. You know, bouncing back and forth between things and um and you know I did I genuinely fell in love. 07:56.27 Adam With the hobby and it became something that I liked more than video games I liked more than any other way that I spent my free time and so I think that um you know as I played all those years that I wasn't doing any of this professionally I was tinkering with ways that. I could get friends that would just hold out no matter how hard I can be very convincing and there were still people that were were holding out on me and just just wouldn't try it and so. 08:20.86 sidekqpodcast So. 08:27.75 Adam Um, you know, especially when it came to hey everybody come over. We're going to talk about characters. We're going to get these characters created and oh you know about 4 hours later it's like oh okay, we're finishing up with the the final stats for this last character. Finally hey, let's get together next time and play. And so you know that entire onboarding process. You know, really for the hobby itself like it's it's not even specific games or anything else. It's ah it's this concept that um, you know if someone is trying to to learn how to play baseball. 08:56.51 sidekqpodcast Um. 09:02.81 Adam You are not going to give them a baseball rulebook. You're just not going to do that because if somebody starts with the rulebook. They're not going to have a clue how to actually play that game and um and you know the way that you teach someone is you take them to a game and let them watch the game and and so I think that that's ah, such a huge deal. 09:07.52 sidekqpodcast Um. 09:10.73 sidekqpodcast I. 09:18.37 sidekqpodcast Mm. 09:22.36 Adam This hobby is that for so long it has required you happening to stumble upon people playing it in the basement of a game store and and get you know, interested in it and all that but with the advent of. You know, streaming technology you have people that are playing campaigns that you know thousands if not millions of people are watching you know week over week. You have you know these these digital tools and you know as I started in the gaming industry. 1 of the things that I was really seeing is you know hey we had some virtual tabletops out there and and they were doing a great job at what a vtt does which is you know, allowing for a map to kind of coexist between you know everyone who's connecting to the platform it lets you move your. Tokens or you know digital miniatures. You can have your fault with war you know all of that and trying to recreate that part of the experience. But the thing that I always saw as a gap that I really really wanted to fill was what is the cornerstone. Really all of these games which is the characters themselves and so I think that um you know that's where everything started for me was ah you know hey there aren't great ways to make these characters and huge world of Warcraft player back. You know from from vanilla on through you know, wrath of the lich king. 10:47.71 Adam And um, and as that was going on one of the things that um, you know in my younger days I even got you know in trouble at my job sometimes because you know the Vp would walk past my desk and I would have the world of Warcraft Armory up on my computer screen. Because I was just enamored with this completely made up character that I was playing and I wanted to dream up their future and everything else and so we connect with characters in the games that we play in ways that. 11:10.10 sidekqpodcast Um. 11:17.87 Adam Um, we don't fully even understand I mean I think I'll write a book about it one day of of the psychology and even sociology that goes on with with the way that we connect with these you know characters that we create and so when I saw that technology as powerful as it was. It wasn't. Really solving that fundamental problem for the Hobby. It's something that I jumped in on and then finally you know my long wied way to to come back to the original question of you know, hey how how do you get from D and D Beyond to what you're currently doing at Demiplane is that you know. Once D and D Beyond became a thing and once the initial changed bias and everything else you know, kind of kind of worked itself out and ah and people understood like hey this this actually is a really accessible way for people to come into the Hobby. Um, if I'm a veteran. It's going to save me several hours. You know when I'm creating ah a character all of those things when I saw that I being a person that played these games many many multiple games all those years. Um I wanted to do it for other games and other systems. And um, you know as things progressed with wizards of the coast and with fandom it became very clear that um you know that wasn't going to be the outcome of that situation. We All know what? what the outcome is now and so ah, you know at demiplane. 12:43.31 Adam Um, you know working alongside. Ah you know, ah the founders there. We have put together something that is like hey we want to provide that level of accessibility and convenience and ease and and you know help onboarding with the technology. Especially centered around the character experience for these other great gains and and so that's ah, that's really, you know it is kind of a mission for for me. Even personally you know not to sound too. You know cheesy about that. But but it really is something that I believe that the world would be a better place. If everyone played these games because I I think that it just makes us Kinder. It makes us wiser. It makes us just better people and so you know the more people can be introduced to the hobby the better off the world's going to be. 13:31.65 sidekqpodcast Yeah, yeah, wholeheartedly agree yeah knows that this is just you know fascinating learning this and and hearing your perspective and you know, ah you know, not necessarily the Nitty gritty details. He you know of the O The the espionage or you know corporate espionage Or. Or what have you going on behind the scenes you know none of that here. This is all very positive podcast I was just. 13:56.84 Adam Oh yeah I could tell a lot of stories but you know I don't want pinkertons coming to my house or things. So so we'll ah we'll stick to the high level here. 14:02.56 sidekqpodcast Yep, yeah, we we will keep the high road and we you know it's all smiles and and good vibes and positivity here. Ah. 14:10.67 Adam Oh it is It is yeah absolutely I've I've lived ah a wonderful adventure and journey and D and D Beyond is such an important milestone and part of my life it. It literally has changed my life and and it's something that I'm. 14:22.77 sidekqpodcast I. 14:26.70 Adam Forever grateful for and you know, really what I love the most about that experience is it does allow me. You know there. There aren't many times in people's careers or even just their personal lives that you're able to do something big. A second time. Um, and having the benefit of that hindsight of of what worked and what maybe didn't work as well. You know the the first time around and so um, as we are putting together the platform. Um, you know at demiplane for for characters in particular, you know we're in beta with pathfinder. We've got. 14:45.51 sidekqpodcast Um. 15:02.49 Adam Um, you know several things that that we're working out. Um you know, kind of some of the kinks especially with performance at the moment but um, the experience itself. Um, you know is is a really great flow. It's It's so flexible. 15:06.59 sidekqpodcast M. 15:16.63 Adam And 1 of the most incredible things has happened is that you know we've been hypothesizing this entire time that we can't build this like I did at d and d beyond because d and d beyond got kind of painted into a corner where it's like hey you know we're building this for this one system and. 15:32.18 sidekqpodcast I. 15:35.20 Adam If there are sweeping changes to that system. It's going to grind everything to a halt and we saw that with ah you know things like Tosh's cauldron of everything. It's like hey we're going to make some big changes to the system and you know it made it very difficult to develop within that framework. 15:37.82 sidekqpodcast M. 15:51.52 Adam Um, and so you know having that benefit of living through that at you know at demiplane we say you know hey, especially if we're going to support dozens of game systems. This has to have a dramatically higher you know amount of flexibility and power in order for that to support that. So. We've been in this deep dark development tunnel for for nine or ten months really on trying to to put this platform in place. So now we're you know, baiting with with pathfinder and as we started looking for the first time at our you know next game genuinely from you know I'm not talking the. 16:13.58 sidekqpodcast M. 16:30.57 Adam Design and conceptualization that that was going on for months and months but you know actual you know, ah fingers to keyboard development work avatar legends which is our second game. We've got this great character builder and digital sheet for for that game now it came came about in you know 4 to six weeks 16:32.40 sidekqpodcast I. 16:46.86 sidekqpodcast Um. 16:49.83 Adam Um, and so and that's the power of the platform we have. We're working on Marvel and vampire the masquerade right now and those are going really really well making a ton of progress before I joined ah you know here to to talk with you I was. Looking at ah you know I was fixing some things on the Marvel you know character builders. So. It's really exciting to see you know how fast we are able to move now that that platform exists and and I am really excited about what the outcome of that's going to be which is you know i. The ah amount of times that I've heard over the years having played a good bit of vampire the masquerade over the years the amount of times that I've heard man that game looks so incredible I could really get into that like it's so it's so edgy. It's so. Dark like I could really throw myself into that hey do you want to play? Yeah I don't know like I just I don't know how to create characters I don't understand the rule you know and and being able to have digital tools that are going to help you get a character very quickly. And and really you know, kind of launch you into to this really firm foundation for getting started in those games that you've never played. It's a really exciting prospect. 18:03.80 sidekqpodcast Yeah, yeah, no I just fondly think back to my fourth edition days when wizards had their ah character builder thing that was really helpful for making characters and fourth edition. And yeah, so it was a godsend. Um, you know when d and d beyond ah came along and now you're continuing on with that work over at Demi Plane which is just which is just awesome. So yeah and it sounds like you've already answered the second question which is you know you currently or you have at least played some d and d in in your past. And it sounds like you know you're even having an opportunity now to play a multitude of other different ah ttrpgs over on demiplane as well. So. 18:43.89 Adam Yeah, and you know that's the thing is that when your hobby becomes your job. Um, you know it's It's an interesting transition that again, a lot of people. Um I understand fully how blessed I am to be able to to have just. Such an engaging such an enjoyable job like I I Really do understand that. But at the same time. It's it's it's still a ah transition and it's something that you got to kind of get used to and and so I have played so much dungeons and dragons and and you know some sometimes that is. Something that I've wanted to do Sometimes it is something that I need to do to make sure something's working the right way but ah, but yeah, at the end of the day. Wonderful game and wonderful games that we get to support out there. 19:22.16 sidekqpodcast Right? so. 19:29.73 sidekqpodcast Awesome and of course with the theme of this podcast. We like to talk about sidekicks and we like to talk about side quest so my question here who is one of your favorite Npcs or sidekick characters whether they be from one of your rpgs or video game. Maybe ah from a movie. Ah some ah film television show ah stage play history, etc. And why is this character your favorite sidecaker favorite. Npc. 19:59.58 Adam This is I mean we we genuinely could talk for 28 hours on this like I have so many characters I'm I'm into so many different things but you know what. What I will try to narrow it down to because you know earlier I mentioned the world of Warcraft I was a big world of Warcraft player. It was really funny to me when I first entered the gaming industry. It was a company called curse that used to support a variety of video games. So it was primarily video gaming that I got into first. 20:31.49 sidekqpodcast And. 20:33.58 Adam And they ran a website called mmo champion that probably many listeners are going to be pretty familiar with and I remember just being starstried that I was meeting the people that ran you know, moc and and you know I remember in those days that when I interviewed with them. They said you know do you play world warcraft and I was like yeah absolutely and they're like ah you know are you like a hardcore player and I was like well you know I play it every day I think about it when I'm not playing it like yeah I think i'm. Um, a hardcore player and and and then they start talking to me about what hardcore I guess really meant you know with your rating top 10 and yeah and I was like you know that's that's really not how I ever played the game I definitely rated did all the content all that. But um I played on a roleplaying server shadow council representing here. And ah so played on a a role-playing server for many many years and it really was like I found a group of people that I was getting to essentially play d and d through the lens of this incredible game and so um, I'm going to you know, go go with that game and my favorite npc in that game. Is a character called tyrian foring who is this that you know he in he is a paladin I am I gravitate towards paladins all the time bards and paladins are are the thing for me and ah I feel like ah you know. 22:03.54 Adam I see in some of the descriptions for you here that I even so I think I'm looking at it your name right here Kurt and then thebartic paladin. So ah so that that seems like that fits. but but yeah it's ah it's the same for me and and so Tyrian was a paladin that kind of got you know, disgraced and. 22:12.15 sidekqpodcast Um, yeah. 22:23.36 Adam You know, essentially excommunicated because he helped out an org and and so I love orcs and and a lot of literature and and so I think that you know it just really resonated with me that he helped out someone that you know. Society felt like he shouldn't be helping out and he got excommunicated and completely banished from his you know paladin order and then he went to live this quiet and peaceful life and I will never forget. Sorry this is a spoiler if you haven't played you know world of Warcraft twelve years ago or whenever that came out but um. But ah, you know you're you're kind of going through the the play glands and you come across this farmer and the farmer ends up so you know talking about side quest here. Um, this is the answer to this one too comes up with a whole bunch of side quests that. At First you know when I'm first playing through this because this is before everybody's looking every single thing up for a video game on on the internet and so I was come I had no clue what was happening but I am doing this for him and that for him and and and I'm going through and collecting things and then. 23:28.61 sidekqpodcast Um. 23:38.64 Adam You know each time I come and turn in the thing that you're going to get in the game. There's more and more of this lore and and telling the story coming out and you find out you know what's happened with his son and his son is now you know. Part of the scarlet crusade who everybody knows in the game. Those those are horrible people you know and and so and and you find out the story of why he was disgraced and and it was just the most fascinating thing at the time you know video games weren't getting. Like really getting you in the feels like that you know it's like I felt something for this character and then um, it kind of culminates with this. You know what? what is typically horrible in video games this escort Quest where the Npc is walking way too slowly somewhere and you're you're having to follow them and. And you know keep things from killing them. You know or whatever. But but because I was so invested in this story. Um, you know it it was It was the most incredible thing I had done and so you know all this ensues and unfortunately his son ends up. Dying as part of it but not before he kind of redeemed himself and they had a moment and I remember playing this and first of all, it's a little bit of a tough battle. You know that you're not expecting to happen and so I'm like you know blood pressure's up I'm like you know I get through it. 24:57.51 sidekqpodcast But. 25:03.98 Adam And and I'm playing through this and and then you know sun dies and then Ty and Ford ring essentially ah you know vows that he is going to restart the order of the silver hand and and and you'll restore all of that and and bring justice you know to to the world out there and I ah. Like didn't even realize it but I'm just like boohooing like I've got this tears streaming down my face and everything else and this is a video game and of course my wife you know made a lot of fun of me and everything else, but it was it was an incredibly impactful thing to me and and again, especially that concept of. You know someone who is trying to do good out. There gets really really knocked down and in in some very unjust ways and you know has to ah you know, kind of withdraw for for you know whatever reason and then being able to have that gumption. Ah, to to come back from that and to to overcome again and and you know all of those things it just really really spoke to me and satirian you know became my favorite Mpc at that moment. And then of course Tyrian ended up. Um you know after that in the expansions that follow, especially wrath of the liitch King which was peak world of Warcraft for me tyrian you know was kind of the the head of of everything that was going on against you know the Lich King and and so it was just such a satisfying. 26:31.96 Adam Story that started out in really really humbling your humble ways and and so yeah, that's that's something that really has has stood out to me all of these years later 26:43.82 sidekqpodcast That's awesome. Yeah yeah, the simple you know it's kind of like the o b one thing of like oh I'm just this hermit that's out here in the desert and you don't know that I'm actually this super powerful Jedi ah, you know out here. 26:54.47 Adam That's exactly right? and you know and and that's the thing is you know one of if not the most um you know, possibly frost morn artis' weapon but you've got ash bringer and that is the weapon that Tyrian wielded and all of a sudden you know it comes back into play. Um, ah you know in this game and and and like I said it was just so compelling, especially when you think about when that came out because you know we enjoy this complete golden or platinum age of video games right now where you know things like god of war exist you know and and you. 27:24.18 sidekqpodcast Red dead redemption 2 27:31.13 Adam Yeah, yeah, exactly you know you're you're playing through these things where store it's literally like you're playing a movie and just to think about that ah blizzard pulled that off inside a massive multiplayer game which you know has a lot of constraints and ah. 27:45.40 sidekqpodcast M. 27:48.75 Adam Just the fact that they were able to pull it off and how much it tied into the lore of the world and I think ultimately that's what really set world of Warcraft apart and the reason it was so successful. but but yeah it was a definitely favorite Npc and then again I you know hate that I kind of jumped jumped forward there on you. But. 28:05.22 sidekqpodcast Oh no, that's fine. 28:08.14 Adam Definitely favorite side Quest What was that? ah you know and I've answered that way for you know over a decade at this point like you know people have asked that question sometimes I get I get the question more than people would think um and and I always come back to tyium. 28:23.48 sidekqpodcast Awesome! Yeah I know you you were explaining you know this this deep love and appreciation for world of Warcraft and that's how I kind of feel like you know with fallout 76 which I know you know listeners of the podcast in the early. 28:34.50 Adam E. 28:39.80 sidekqpodcast Times Ah know how much I played it and I had to take a break for a while and I've come back to it and it's a game I Enjoy you know it's different than all the other fallouts. Ah, but the community around it that that plays and is active is really great. Um, and yeah I Enjoy it. You know getting to to be part of that community and. And tell those stories you know and sew uniquely in a MMORPg kind of setting. So um, yeah, yeah, so moving Along. Ah you know we'll end the personal interview section with the question of what are you passionate about and why. 29:01.92 Adam Absolutely. 29:15.13 Adam This is wow this ah that may be the most open ended question possible for somebody like me because um, you know I think maybe the the place I will go with that is um I think that I am passionate about passion. Um, and and and I hate to you know, be just you know, kind of kind of trite there. But um, but it is so attractive to me in you know myself in others when I see it. With people being passionate about things because I have seen the transformative power of passion in people's lives I have seen. Ah you know this goes all the way back to to you know, being a kid that was just enamored of Michael Jordan and seeing like even back before the internet you know, reading in the newspaper. How hard he worked and to get to where he was and just the passion involved in in making him that kind of competitor to you know, ah loving ninja turtles so much that um, ah you know I literally could. Not think about anything else when when I was you know 1011 years old and you know those kinds of things and then you know going and seeing that live action movie and ninety ninety and just losing my mind you know passion has been something that has been probably. You know if. 30:42.17 Adam If someone asked me like what is life about, um, you know if I had to boil it down to 1 word. Um, most of the time I'm going to answer passion because you know I know that passion is the thing that really drives people to accomplish incredible things. It drives them to what I would ultimately think is the most important thing in life which is joy and so you know I think I think passion is so important and so if I had to list just a few I'm a huge ninja turtles fan. Um as I just said um love gi Joe Big Snake eyes fan um I am also of course very much my first love when it comes to gaming of any sort is dungeons and dragons and just tabletop role-playing games in general a lot of people assume that means that I love board games and I'm passionate about those but I actually don't like them at all. Um, which which you know is a discussion for another time. Probably you know at the end of the day if somebody asked me to play a board game I'll be like yeah, do you just want to play you know d and d like you know it's like I just prefer it so much more. Um, and and so yeah, those are those are some of the things. Um this surprises a lot of people but I am very passionate about sports especially the and Nba so I follow very closely I am a daily watcher and consumer of anything going on with Nba and really other sports I ah. 32:05.87 Adam Saw that shohey otai hit his forty second home run a little bit earlier. You know it's like all of those things you know, big time into sports and you know ultimately when I think about those things it really boils down to you know fans and and I think did I love being a fan I love being a fan of so many different things. And I love you know what? it feels like when you're a fan of a sport you know a sports team and and they accomplish something succeed at something. It's just exhilarating you know it's the same feeling when you know we're sitting in the theater. And we see you know I just watched me mayhem from inja turtles and when I see the love and the care and the passion that went into that then that continues to spur on and feed my passion and and I just enjoyed the hell out of the film. You know so it's just like you know all of those things. Ah, you know passion to me is what gets me out of the bed in the morning and um and that's another reason that I feel so blessed that I get to kind of turn you know one of my my core just fundamental passions in my life. Into something that I can do as a job. 33:19.32 sidekqpodcast Amazing. Well we've learned so much about Mr. Bradford here in the personal interview section that I think it's time we now turn to some npc creation and npc creation is brought to you by you. Ah, the podcast audience and our patrons from patreon so now is the time in the show where we give a shout out to our comfortable patrons and above with a loud hurrah. So do you Katie Downey answer Jablinsky my parents we say? Cheers so again, all of these folks are among my wealthy level patrons Katie Queen of Patreon is actually our first aristocratic patreon supporter. So certainly we want to give them those additional kudos because it means that they get to introduce an element of chance to our random tables that we can use here in npc creation. So we might get to hear some of those responses used here today. So if you'd like to learn more. About our Patreon Community just check the show notes below go to the podcast website or just go directly to patreon.com/sidekicks and side quest to find out more about our accommodations help us expand the operations of the levitating platter and this demi plane wink and worlds beyond. Ah. All right? So before we started ah hitting all the record buttons on the podcast I believe we were going to go the path of random today with using some random tables and some dice rolls is that correct. Okay, well if you've got them at the ready I've got all my tables here. 34:48.39 Adam That sounds great to me. 34:56.36 sidekqpodcast And the first question that we will ask and get an answer for is what is going to be the name of our character and we determine this by rolling a d two and d. 35:06.32 Adam D twenty all right nice and you said that Katie had something to do with at least some of these responses. Okay, nice all right? So we've got 16 35:12.12 sidekqpodcast Exactly. 35:19.86 sidekqpodcast 16 all right? Your answer was provided by previous guest ah max chiquino sandrine which is yeah which is spelled s a n d r I n e I I believe it sand dream. 35:26.80 Adam San Dream okay 35:37.15 sidekqpodcast That's how I would say it unless you feel like okay okay, all right? So Sand green. Okay, the next the next thing we get to roll for is the ancestry of our character and we do this ah you can If you'd like I've got. 35:38.52 Adam That's how I I would certainly say it that way. Yes, Sandra me. Okay. Now now. Do I need to be keeping up with this or okay, yeah, you've got everything. Okay, just want to make sure I'm not a note taker normally because I'm an auditory person and so like I'm I'm gonna listen so but but but I can't wait to to kind of. 35:54.67 sidekqpodcast Everything that I'm I'm trying to Mark. Yeah. 36:07.31 Adam You know hear hear how this goes all right? What's the next one. 36:07.40 sidekqpodcast Sure all right? So then the next thing we get to roll for is the ancestry of our character and we determine this by rolling two d ten s for a d 100 effect 36:25.71 Adam Yes, so that is only a 10 36:31.23 sidekqpodcast 10 Okay, interesting. Okay, so we've got some choices. Um, so you have the ability to be um, a cogwork clockwork person constructed commoner or a magn which I believe the magn are from spelljammer. 36:40.35 Adam Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah,, let's let's go the the Clockwork gear. Yeah I like it. 36:47.37 sidekqpodcast But basically some sort of cogwork constructed Commoner Aagian 36:57.70 sidekqpodcast Okay, so the the cogwork or the Clockwork ah per or the constructed comment. Okay I think there's a there's a couple of them that sort of overlap and that are similar so it's ah okay so we'll go with the clockwork of sort of individual. Okay, um, all right? and then. 37:00.63 Adam Yeah. 37:09.61 Adam Got it? Yeah like that. 37:14.16 sidekqpodcast Ah, the next thing we'll get to roll for is the job or role in society that ah Sandrine has and we determine this with a singular d 10 role. 37:24.17 Adam Okay, and that time we got a 7 37:28.98 sidekqpodcast 7 okay, your answer was provided by previous guest Nicholas Carterelli fishmonger yeah 37:39.67 Adam Fishmonger. Okay, so we've got a constructed a construct commoner that is a fishmonger So I'm thinking through how that works and I definitely I definitely can see it. Yeah, all right. 37:49.32 sidekqpodcast Okay, okay, okay, and then the next the next thing we roll for before we get to take a pause on the dice rolling is the age range of the character and we determine this with a D Eight roll. 37:54.98 Adam Um, on board. 38:01.00 Adam Okay, all right and that is going to be a 5 38:10.12 sidekqpodcast 5 is mid-life so we have a middle aged clockwork ah commoner named sandine that is a fishmonger and with all of these pieces of information in mind. Can you describe the physical appearance of sandri. 38:26.33 Adam Yes, absolutely can So you know first of all being middle aged as a construct means you know different things likely than you know other squishier races. 38:27.72 sidekqpodcast With all of these key details. Yes. 38:43.37 Adam Um, and so we're we're going to go with you know, very aged and worn. So you know lots of time with water and salt and everything else and so this looks you know beaten down this looks you know c 3 po before the oil bath. 38:59.75 sidekqpodcast O. 39:01.55 Adam Ah, you know, kind of stuff is what we see here but growing out of various orifices and cracks and seams in this kind of a patchwork body at this point so it looks like possibly the body at one point. Was some kind of ah you know, possibly even adamantine. But at least a mithal. It's something that that shines a little bit brighter than than you know your typical steel? Um, but um, but you see kind of ah complementing that and accenting that. Um, more bronze and brass and and honestly just kind of brown. Um, you know looking bits of metal that have been repairs over. You know, a pretty long lifetime. At this point you see that the frame itself is is you know. 39:56.20 Adam Unk al and so it's you know humanoidesque. But but it's going to look a little bit closer to to just a bunch of columns that have been stacked together. So almost you know I G eighty eight ish you know, kind of ah long. But then it has very very long arms because that is used. 39:59.54 sidekqpodcast Um. 40:08.44 sidekqpodcast Um. 40:15.13 Adam Ah, in the ship. Um, and we won't get too far into that but ah, but but this is about the body. Um, there's a place that you know basically they're able to plug into ah the the ship and attach themselves. 40:25.30 sidekqpodcast Okay. 40:30.27 Adam Where it doesn't really matter how stormy it gets they're They're not going anywhere unless the boat itself busts apart and then with those long arms. They're able to manage nets because this construct understands that efficiency. 40:35.30 sidekqpodcast M. 40:45.62 Adam Is not casting or anything like that it is making sure that you have nets in the right places and so almost go go gadget Extendable arms are something that this this model now again didn't start out as a fishmonger. So a lot of these are modifications over a long lifetime that they've had to put place. 41:02.53 sidekqpodcast Mm. 41:07.80 sidekqpodcast Interesting. Yeah, um, yeah, So I Love how in the Npc creation part of the show. We. You know we start to describe these things and it it naturally kind of generates this ah this worldbuilding aspect as to try and to place this Character. So. Okay, so Sandine didn't originally start off as a fishmonger but over time middle mid-age Middle aged um construct has now found themselves. You know being adopted by this. Ah this I guess this fishing vessel crew here in the the prime material Plane. And helps work out and helps work with some kind of like phishing ah company of some sort if you will. 41:46.17 Adam Yeah I love it and again I'm not you know I don't know if I'm you know jumping for too much, but you know the way the way that I would see this happening with sandine is sandine was created you know ultimately for companionship and um and I mean that a very platonic sense but but just um. 42:04.92 sidekqpodcast Um. 42:05.99 Adam That you know was an older wizard that was you know wanting initially someone to simply record some of the things that you know some of the musings just ah ramblings as he was. You know, walking around his tower created. Sandine and as sandine got created the wizard the mage at some point took sandine on a trip and it was a fishing trip and so when this fishing trip happened sandine. 42:36.81 sidekqpodcast Mm. 42:40.78 Adam Ah, that was basically how they were introduced to the material plane and so they they kind of you know the the best that they can do fell in love with that activity and so when the wizard passed eventually. 42:46.17 sidekqpodcast Um. 42:56.42 Adam Ah, sanderine was you know looking for ways that they could you know have purpose and so you know this is something that they kind of went back to a first love that they had. 43:05.70 sidekqpodcast Interesting. Okay, okay, um, yeah, no, just yeah I know in my head I'm already trying to spin up different stories but the beauty of this podcast is that anyone can listen to this episode take this character and figure out how they need to adapt it to their game. So you know. 43:22.78 Adam Um, absolutely. 43:23.62 sidekqpodcast Sometimes it's best to just leave things open-ended as it were So. Yeah, So so we got the modifications and all this stuff and I like I like the image of the C three po as well. But all the different mixtures of of metals that have ah been introduced as as repairs have happened is there anything else. That goes towards the ah the physical appearance of this character or do you have 3 adjectives in mind that you think best describe sandrine. 43:51.39 Adam And like the 3 adjectives let's go. Let's go with 3 adjectives here. Um, we are going to say creaky. We are going to say course. 43:53.43 sidekqpodcast Okay, so. 44:07.38 Adam And then we are going to say I was trying to be alliterative here but I don't know if I I'm going to be able to do it with the last word there. We're going to say cranky. So and again some people might think course means that. 44:18.51 sidekqpodcast Mm. 44:24.10 Adam But that's not necessarily how I meant it there core course ah in in body. So again, beaten by seawater for for a long time. There is a smoothness there. 44:26.56 sidekqpodcast So How do you mean course? then in this particular circumstance. M. 44:41.66 Adam But also you know this this coarseness that comes from. It's not always water that that you're getting hit with when you're in this kind of environment. So and trust me I know that from from some time you know with the ocean. It's ah. 44:48.30 sidekqpodcast M. 44:59.59 Adam It's a little more dangerous than a lot of people like to admit, maybe it is especially where I would see Sendurine possibly you know doing this fishmongering. 45:01.98 sidekqpodcast Right? right. 45:10.78 sidekqpodcast I just got a happy image of sandrine working alongside a lieutenant Dan and and ah and Captain Fors Gump or something like that. Ah wonderful and now we get to go back to some dice rolling so we always like our. 45:18.30 Adam That's it. That's it. 45:22.68 Adam I see. 45:25.88 sidekqpodcast Npcs to have something cool on them. So what's going to be a valuable item piece of Lore secret or ideal or concept that the character cares about and this is a combination so we're going to do a D four for the category and then a D six for the particular thing. 45:41.43 Adam Okay, so d 4 first that's it 3 Oh nice and then what was the other role. Okay. 45:45.50 sidekqpodcast Okay, this is going to be a secret. 45:52.55 sidekqpodcast D 6 45:58.24 Adam But when you say secret does that mean I don't know what it is yeah has possesses got it. Oh yeah, okay I love it right? So that do I roll the d six now. Okay got it. That's a 4 45:59.67 sidekqpodcast Oh no it. This is a secret that Sandrine possesses. 46:09.63 sidekqpodcast Yes, sir for I yeah so your secret was provided by previous guest d and d Jordan Lee let's see so Sandrine. 46:15.31 Adam Only very you know middle of the road. 46:23.20 Adam Not true. 46:26.52 sidekqpodcast Has a ring that actually holds a rambunctious blink dog inside of it and it may randomly pop out thoughts on this. 46:34.20 Adam Interesting. So what I would say so so again I don't know how far in the store we go. But if that randomly happened in 1 of my games and I was improvising about it I would say that the blink dog was actually the pet of the wizard and. 46:52.73 sidekqpodcast Yep, so. 46:54.60 Adam As the wizard you know left the mortal coil. However, that happened um then um, basically Sandine felt compelled to care for the creature but being cranky as they are um, really can't stand the creature and definitely the responsibility associated with the creature. 46:58.60 sidekqpodcast Um. 47:12.80 Adam And so has ah you know provided it a home inside the ring where it can subsist without a lot of direct interaction with Sandra so it's it's keeping the dog safe but also not having to engage with the dog. 47:28.53 sidekqpodcast I'm very much getting ah c three p r two d 2 vibes in a new hope where c three pos just had it with r two d 2 and then r two d she's like no, we got to go this way. We got to do this thing and it's like you dumb dred like yeah you. 47:35.50 Adam Yeah. 47:41.81 Adam No, you you get in the ring you go to your crate. Um. 47:44.40 sidekqpodcast No, you are supposed to get in the ring Park Park Park Park Park blink blink blink blink blink yeah especially we're trying to keep it on the boat as well like just wants to blink and ends up in the ocean you're like I get. 47:53.50 Adam Yeah I I mean yeah, it's It's honestly a mercy for the blink dog right? The blink dog's not going to like the water and being out there and so you know while on these long you know fishing trips because ah you know our construct here is able to you know, kind of stay out longer. Then then a lot of crews would be able to and so you know get get some pretty big hauls as result result result of that. The blink dog is not going to have it being on a boat for that long and so you know it gets to just you know, rest and and have a nice little doghouse inside this magical ring. 48:22.42 sidekqpodcast Um. 48:27.63 sidekqpodcast Yeah, although I do like to imagine as well. Some very adorable scenes where like you know Sandine is giving scretes behind the ears and the the blink dogs rolling over you know ears and tongue flopping all over and is just like yes this is this is really nice. 48:42.69 Adam Yeah that's it. But again like you know, very very cranky I'm seeing and and I think that you know San Dream being really efficiency minded you know in in this you know job is that like okay if this is something I have to do with this creature. And I'm going to install something that can do that so you know it's kind of a secondary limb of some sort that can come out and do the scritches while Sandine can still do other things with their you know core arms their primary arms. 49:12.81 sidekqpodcast Oh awesome. Yeah, and then let's see of course every Npc on this podcast has to be able to give a side quest out to whenever player characters interact with them. So What is going to be a particular quest that sandurine would be willing. To recruit or hire player characters to go and do on their behalf. So here. You can roll the last dice which is going to be a D 12 and be totally random or if you're inspired you can lay on us What you think an appropriate side Quest for sandrine would be. 49:44.87 Adam I Mean why not both now. Um, it's ah yeah, let I'm going to jump in here because now I am attached to sandine at this point and feel feel a kinship with them. So I would say that. Ah. You know as as our characters player characters approach with the nice you know exclamation Yellow exclamation point over Sandurine's head and then click and you know the the quest that is given here. 50:14.16 sidekqpodcast Um. 50:17.88 Adam Is a pretty simple and straightforward one from where we've gone with this which is you know hey there is a spot that no one has ever fished in the Bay because it is incredibly precarious to get to. But. 50:31.85 sidekqpodcast Um. 50:37.92 Adam Sandine knows that you know that's where the best the best fish are going to be and basically sandine knows that you know they can essentially be done with a month's worth of work in a week if they can just figure out how to get to. 50:43.38 sidekqpodcast So. 50:57.14 Adam This body of water that is not accessible by a regular boat and you know essentially it's sendine hires people sandine can pay because Sandine does does better than a lot of crews out there and sandine tries to go with this solo most of the time. But this is one one One of the ways that sandine you know, understands that they can't do this solo What they're trying to accomplish they need to hire some help and so it involves you know the the Pcs needing to figure out how to get there how to get a boat there. How to get. 51:15.92 sidekqpodcast Mm. 51:32.82 Adam That's there and then the age old thing in all of these games that some people gloss over maybe a bit too much is once you get your haul. Whatever you're after how are you going to get it back and in the case of in the case of fish fish. You know, go bad. Um, and. 51:43.90 sidekqpodcast Right? right. Right. 51:51.15 Adam And so it's like how are you gonna get them back quickly. So you know I think that the reason I like this is it's got some you know, engineering challenges that that the you know characters can try to sort out. It's got exploration. It's got you know social interaction with a very cranky cantankerous. Um. You know construct that lives their entire life on the sea. So. So yeah I you know I feel pretty inspired I think I might use it in 1 of my games. 52:18.83 sidekqpodcast Awesome! Yeah I was going to say I'm trying to imagine the scenarios of either like yeah, you're having to do a Fitz coraldo situation. So you're literally trying to pull a boat over land to get to the body of water. 52:30.24 Adam Yeah. 52:32.25 sidekqpodcast Or you know you're employing like the druid to like move all this earth and stuff like that to make a natural channel or you know. 52:35.35 Adam Right? Or or you're or you're you know, finding out how to get there and then you know discovering that there are enough natural resources there to build the boat Once you get that you know like there are just so many. 52:49.72 sidekqpodcast Yeah, there's a nasty Beastie there that is the reason why people can't get there. Yeah. 52:51.91 Adam Ways that that could go but um, yeah, of course yeah, it's it's It's very dangerous and you know if you know sandurine can't fight off creatures. Um, at the same time that they are collecting the fish. So So yes, so so much action and you know at the heart of it. All is the very mercenary capitalism of it and that you know is always at least a good place for a lot of these things to at least start. 53:21.88 sidekqpodcast Sure Yeah, and then ah you know so now that we have the idea of what this side Quest is going to be what do you think the reward ah sandine is going to offer the players ah should they be successful in this endeavor. However, it is accomplished. 53:35.67 Adam Yeah, definitely you know fat wads of gold you know and or cash I think is ah is very appropriate here because again, you know it kind of is proportional to the amount of danger that they would be in but but I would also say that. You know this is one of those situations where you know possibly the reason that this place is pretty inaccessible is ah you know some kind of magical ward that that makes it so and so I think that you know probably a relic or an item of some sort. Is the cause of that and so even though not promised initially it's the kind of thing that Sandreine would not have a use for themselves and therefore very freely gift that to any characters that helped out with this. 54:25.92 sidekqpodcast Yeah, I'm just imagining like a critical role situation. It's like oh I have no use for this device and it's like this is a vestige of divergence. That's just laying around randomly. Okay I guess you get it now that'll be very funny. Yeah. 54:35.61 Adam Um, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly? Yeah yeah. 54:42.30 sidekqpodcast Okay, and then to consider the opposite. What's going to be the consequence of failure or refusing the call to the adventure. So. 54:48.50 Adam Yeah I love that because you know and I love the concept of the hook. Especially when we're talking about phishing here because that's that's the whole point right? is that the the characters have to have to take the hook and you got to be able to set the hook and so so when that's happening you know I would say that. Ah, you know First of all consequences is they just don't get paid. You know a very large sum for for whatever level these characters would happen to be It's a very large sum and so so they wouldn't get paid but then you know I also think that. It's always fun to say that you know if they turn that down then whoever that rival adventuring party that just keeps you know, eating their breakfast you know and and beating them to this place to that place. You know freely goes in and and. Agrees to it. You know, right? right? where they can see it so so it's like you know how you missed your chance and then your your rivals over here are the ones that you know are gonna potentially get to take this risk and and possibly get this reward so I like going that route for sure and then I think other than that is you know. They're going to discover some kind of threat when they get to this place and if that threat continues to become a bigger and bigger fish in a smaller and smaller pond then those kind of problems have a way of pouring over into the wider. 56:03.29 sidekqpodcast M. 56:19.10 Adam You know ocean and possibly you know coastal towns there so you know a consequence of that could be hey you know you could have discovered this when something could more easily be done about it. But but but since you didn't find this earlier than um. 56:31.31 sidekqpodcast M. 56:37.69 Adam You know you're you're going to have to deal with bigger consequences later on. 56:39.91 sidekqpodcast Yeah, yeah, the kowatoa that were there just you know minding their own business that you could have dealt with but now all of a sudden they've managed to summon Blip Duel Poop who is now trampling the harbor. 56:50.35 Adam That is exactly it. Yes. 56:56.23 sidekqpodcast All right? and then ah do you think that pretty well covers the character I know there are some optional questions but you know also looking at our time and you know don't want to keep you forever. So ah, you know. 57:03.94 Adam Yeah, no I Love sandurine and and I think that you know again, it would not surprise me if sandriine ends up in. You know some of my games in the future and and that's one of the other things that I just love about this stuff is is this is. Completely randomized and you know I had no idea what I was getting into with with any of those roles but but that improvisational storytelling aspect really is just ah, it's It's one of the key key ingredients and. 57:40.14 sidekqpodcast Okay, so you're good with the character as is okay, all right now that we've had the opportunity to create sandine. It's time to throw him into a random encounter. So this segment of the show would have a sponsor. 57:40.18 Adam But I love about this hobby. Yeah I'm good I am good. 57:58.57 sidekqpodcast But we don't have a sponsor at the moment and if you want something to be promoted here on this podcast which is you know on its way to 10000 downloads. You know that's not nothing too shabby. But yeah, if you're looking for ah for a billboard for your kickstarter your project your service. What have you. Ah, feel free to send me an email psykicks andywise at Gmail.com and we'll look over the proposal. We'll talk. We'll do lunch all the good stuff and so thank you for listening to the podcast and let's get back to it. So the random encounter segment is where we like to do a little bit of a role play of vignettes of. 58:34.50 Adam All right. 58:35.68 sidekqpodcast Ah, scene with the character that we've created so you know you don't have to talk in a funny voice or anything like that. But we're just trying to embody and contextualize Sandine. So The question becomes what kind of scene? are you interested in portraying sandine in. Is it going to be. Sandine meeting one of the podcast adventuring characters to give the side. Quest is it going to be a poignant scene with the former wizard owner of the construct a gifting the blink dog ring. Um is it just a slice of life of sandine just kind of dealing with the ins and outs of of life. In this Harbor town and you know dealing maybe with other fishermen and and maybe hearing these stories or these rumors about this. You know the gold mine fishing spot that no one can get to or what have you. 59:23.10 Adam Yeah, yeah, now let you know this is one of my favorite types of scenes and in film television. But but let's say that Sandine is so good at their job. That the other you know, fishing crews become very covetous of of that success and so sandine being you know so such a perceived outsider has been you know trying to carve out you know a living. 59:44.55 sidekqpodcast M. 59:58.89 Adam In this you know coastal town where there is a lot of fishmongering and so somebody kind of gets tired of what seems like Sandrine is is getting. You know all the good stuff and you know one evening attempts to. 01:00:12.85 sidekqpodcast M. 01:00:18.61 Adam Steal steal the hall before the morning sale goes on and so sandine is you know, kind of deactivated or whatever our construct would would do here. You know that would ah constitute sleep. And is awakened by intruders on their ship because like I said Sendine Flies solo because they're able to um and and so awakened by intruders that are after um, you know an entire day's catch. 01:00:35.13 sidekqpodcast Um. 01:00:43.60 sidekqpodcast M. 01:00:53.87 Adam Which in this economy is is a really big deal. The century. 01:00:56.22 sidekqpodcast Okay, so would you like to go ahead and set the scene or shall I set the scene. Okay. 01:01:03.46 Adam Ah, yeah, feel free to I'm I'm I'm curious to see where this goes. 01:01:05.31 sidekqpodcast Okay, all right? So the scene we ah pan towards ah the evening time here in a sleepy harbor town ah name to be determined whatever you want. But um, you know it's it's peaceful. Maybe I'm imagining you know I'm i'm. Remembering our earlier example of ah of a forest Gump and whatnot so maybe somewhere like a Mississippi or an Alabama coastal sort of region and so you have a number of boats all out there moored and tied up at the docks. You know there's a lot of shrimping that goes on. But maybe there's also like other fish and stuff like that. And so a lot of these ah you know fishermen and these families in this community just depends on it so much and then you know, however, many years ago it was you know Sandrine came into the picture. And over time you know because of this mechanical efficiency with not needing to sleep or eat or drink or any of this stuff. Sandrine can outpace a lot of the other people and because Sandrine has this goal and mind of efficiency. Um, you know is able to determine. Ah, you know these. Spots where the best fish can be caught. Maybe even does something that other fishermen don't don't do and will actually ah you know will sort through the fish and allow for certain fish to go back into the sea in the hopes that they will enable future and stronger and better offspring and stuff like that. So. 01:02:33.92 sidekqpodcast It's been years that this has been going on and we will say that a particularly ah salty dog that we will call. Um, oh I'm just looking at something around me that I can use as an example will say big Charlie. So big charlie is the saltiest fisherman in this harbor you know likes to bully some of the other guys around because he's just tough and you know he you know he's got the tattoos and scars to show for it. So you know everyone respects big Charlie they may not like him but they respect him. And so after everyone had come in for the day and you know rumors began to circulate like ah, did you hear you know that sandrine you know just is I don't understand how he does it you know and so then big Charlie's been drinking at the tavern and is just like you know what enough enough is enough. You know that bucket of bolts. He's not like us. He's not fishing blood he you know he doesn't have it the sea water in his veins like us and he's like rallying up the people and he's like you know you know if you were all real men. You do something about it wouldn't you and everyone's kind of looking nervous because they're like well you know I mean you. We you know we don't like that sandines a better fisherman than us. But we're not gonna you know he's cool. We don't want to do anything but big Charlie gets worked up into a frenzy and so he's going to storm off out of the tavern and make his way to the boat and is there a particular name. Ah for sandine's boat. So. 01:04:04.46 Adam Who that is a great question and I am going to say that it is going to be the sunset. Um and and and the sunset because our wizard friend. 01:04:12.50 sidekqpodcast Ok. 01:04:20.10 Adam Um, that is actually you know, kind of magically created this this demiplane where the fishing was going on and so sandreine originally didn't understand that. That's what was going on but um, crafted in a way that they were fishing at Sunset Essentially the entire time that they were there. 01:04:36.85 sidekqpodcast M. 01:04:38.39 Adam And it was it was it became a core you know heuristic memory for sandine and named the ship after that. 01:04:44.79 sidekqpodcast Okay, yeah, so big Charlie stomping his way down the harbor towards the the mooring spot for where the sunset is located and so you know with rum fresh on his breath. You know he licks his teeth. Ah you know. With a couple of them missing from bad dental hygiene and he's going to like C Clomp Clomp his way on the deck and he's just going to start muttering under his breath. He you know has like a big like a big knife that he uses for flaying fish or whatever on his hip and he pulls it out and so he starts stomping through the the ship. And he's like looking and he's muttering like where's that score I'm gonna I'm gonna teach this bucket of bolts. What for and so what's happening with ah with Sandine. So. 01:05:31.10 Adam So Sandrine again you know, not not a need to eat sleep. You know, really any of those kinds of again that the squishies have to do and so sandine. Ah, really just kind of deactivates because one of the things that Sandine has discovered over the years is even without the physical need for those things. There is a need for mental health purposes to to continue to you know, kind of decompress and so sanderine. Ah, you know, not unlike a transfer in elf. But um, you know, not as ah, maybe you know, spiritual or ethereal as that is is is kind of almost deactivated to a large degree but the sunset is equipped with a variety of gadgets because again sandine. 01:06:21.59 Adam Ah, works on themselves a lot. Um and and you know, kind of some alarms are are you know, triggered in and sandine activates. You know some ocular sensors. You know, come on and and kind of light up. And if you know big Charlie happened to glance that way say just a couple of you know glowing eyes in the darkness of of the Captain's quarters on the sunset but sandri knows that someone is on board the ship. And is going to just very casually kind of whirr to life and again creaky lots of creaking and big Charlie's probably going to hear this but sandine is on the way. 01:07:09.48 sidekqpodcast Right? We'll say big Charlie rolls a perception check and does very poorly because he's just so singularly focused on trying to find this catch a little bit inebriated. So his response time is maybe not as great as it should be. 01:07:17.79 Adam Little bit ineborated. Yeah, all those things. 01:07:25.72 sidekqpodcast Um, but he like and maybe even like the slight rocking of the boat as it sits in the Harbor So he's just it's just it's being lost in all of that sort of noise. Um, we'll say he kind of like bumps his way down the the stairs to a lower deck where maybe the hole the hold is for all the fish and so. 01:07:40.97 Adam Right? yep. 01:07:43.81 sidekqpodcast He starts like reaching in there and he's pulling fish out and he's like you know he's like being very over the top and gross where he's like squeezing a fish until like it just like falls apart or he gets his knife and you just start stabbing a fish. He's like yeah this is this will teach you you bucket a bolts kind of the thing is what he's doing and so his back is turned and he's not noticing where sandine is in the moment. 01:08:03.60 Adam Yep. 01:08:10.60 Adam Sanurine is going to continue down the steps and again you know not worried about doing this in any kind of quiet way. This is Sandine's domain and you know, no one else belongs here except for sandine and so. Sandring continues down and then he is going to call Out. You should not be here. 01:08:33.69 sidekqpodcast Yeah, and then ah so big charlie'll turn around and be like just the piece. Ah crap I was looking for and then he'll like get up in Sandine's face and he'll just be like. You know, squeezing a fish at the same Time. He'll just like falls apart and he's like I'm not paying you nothing you bucket of Bolts. You shouldn't even be Here. You're taking away the honest work for honest men. 01:08:50.97 Adam That will be to copper. 01:09:05.10 Adam I Don't understand why you would say I do not belong here. 01:09:13.65 sidekqpodcast You're not flesh and blood like us you see this and he like points to his chest. That's where my heart is it beats with the sea it beats with the aquatic life that dwells there and you. You don't have that and you know he's slurring his words and he's. 01:09:27.66 Adam Say sandurine is just very slowly going to kind of reach out again. You know, actually on at least the left hand here. There are more like 8 you know, kind of attachments that would be fingers almost and one of them. Points out and um, just kind of touches that flesh and blood where Charlie's and then sandraine just says yes, very squishy, very easy to puncture bleeds. Lots. 01:10:03.68 sidekqpodcast Are you threatening me San dream. 01:10:06.20 Adam I am stating facts. It is up to you whether you believe them or not. 01:10:16.70 sidekqpodcast He'll reach over to grab like another more handful of fish and like throw them down I guess and he's just like it and he like stomps his boot on it and like squishes it around. He's like trying to see what he can do to like maybe goad. 01:10:21.77 Adam That is 6 additional copper. 01:10:34.40 Adam And say sandrain is going to say I estimate that you turning around now and exiting the ship will take approximately 22 seconds I shall be merciful and give you. 01:10:34.60 sidekqpodcast Sandraine at this point to see like how. 01:10:52.53 Adam 26 seconds to do so failure to comply is going to mean that you take a dip. 01:11:02.68 sidekqpodcast And big Charlie will just start laughing at this point because he just he just doesn't believe the nonsense he perceives coming out of sandine's ah face and so he's just gonna be like I'm I'm gonna wreck your ship. You don't belong here. 01:11:12.81 Adam Um. 01:11:19.74 sidekqpodcast You're not a real fisherman. You're not like us. You don't you you steal our work you steal our jobs. You're taking food and money at the mouths. Yeah. 01:11:26.22 Adam Centine San training is gonna start kind of corraing because sandine is fully aware that they have installed a hatch at kind of. On the ah, the 2 kind of front sides but both ah you know Starboard and you know pork or whatever those things are but but either side um there is a hatch where the the railing of the ship kind of comes down and this is actually where seine. 01:11:41.83 sidekqpodcast M. 01:11:54.80 Adam Ah, typically attaches like kind of comes out to the side of the ship and attaches and is going to try to position where you know with the the hold the big hole that they've got to kind of walk around and just literally trying to herd Big charlie. 01:11:57.43 sidekqpodcast M. 01:12:12.70 Adam To where they would be near this place where if they shoved big Charlie the hatch could also go down and and make that an easier prospect of them ending up in the ocean. 01:12:22.98 sidekqpodcast Yeah, yeah, so I think you know like for every moment ah that you know ah sandine advances. You know, like big Charlie stumbles back and he tries to make a like a big show of like ah what are you doing? You're trying to pick a fight. You know I'll go to the guards I'll tell him that you you picked a fight with me and that you. Ah, yeah, yeah, and so he's like he's trying to like argue and like maybe he'll try and like you know, try and smack back at San Dream but probably it doesn't do anything to him at this point. 01:12:44.30 Adam Ah, no fight. 01:12:49.33 Adam 8 more copper and sanine just unphase continues. This is not a fight I have heard that humans appreciate this type of humor that if this was a fight you would know it. 01:13:09.28 sidekqpodcast And so yeah, big Charlie is just gonna maybe try like one last ditch short of effort I suppose sandraine wouldn't have any need for ah light sources like lanterns or anything like that in the hall because being a construct. 01:13:20.41 Adam I Would definitely assume yeah, the dark vision is there? yes. 01:13:25.95 sidekqpodcast Yeah, yeah, so um, maybe an old lantern again in his drunken state. Maybe he's not quite thinking but like you know like this old lantern So he grabs it and he tries to smash it on the ground like Ha I'm just going to set fire to your boat. But then he looks down and he sees like a pool of like glass and oil for something that hasn't been. 01:13:38.38 Adam O. 01:13:45.52 sidekqpodcast Lit in like however, many years and so then he just looks confused is just like oh that should have worked like why why is nothing on fire right now. 01:13:45.81 Adam Right. 01:13:53.35 Adam I do not need fire on the sunset speaking of sunset I believe that yours is about to set and he's just going to continue on and when he thinks that. If Charlie gets close enough to the edge here. He's actually going to kind of surprise with a little bit of reach that you know these extensible arms are going to just literally just kind of just reach out in a very straight efficient manner. And and try to shove Charlie off into the ocean. 01:14:34.18 sidekqpodcast And yeah I think it totally catches him off. Garden He's not expecting it kind of like he you know grabs onto it but like it gets pushed out and so maybe he's like dangling out. Um and he's like trying to hold on and not get fully pushed out and so he's like yelling and struggling. Enough to maybe like get attention of like people pass you know, bystanders and stuff looking over and so he's like trying to play it up as like oh no I'm being attacked or something like that or but also probably mixed with like you know what are you doing stop. You're going to embarrass me kind of kind of a vibe. 01:14:53.16 Adam Um, wow. 01:15:05.22 Adam Got it and then sandrania is just going to simply say you took 27 seconds and did not exit the ship would you like to exit the ship via the ocean below or. The docks to our side. 01:15:24.90 sidekqpodcast So ah, he'll probably say very mean very naughty curse words at you in response. 01:15:29.40 Adam Ah, all right? So then at that point Sandine is not ah, does not care about the subtleties of the situation and just says very well and just released like you know releases and or flings. Um, you know if he's still holding on too tightly. Um, and and. 01:15:44.50 sidekqpodcast So all right? yeah with a loud splash big Charlie ends up down below. 01:15:47.81 Adam It just wants him to end up in the ocean. 01:15:55.94 sidekqpodcast And so he kind of like struggles a little bit to get up and maybe some of his other buddies standing on the docks. You know, throw him a line and they they manage to pull him in and then when all is said and done. Um, you know his friends look at him like you know? Well so how to go. And then he's just like I don't want to talk about it and so he just kind of storms off and then maybe at this point a couple of other more friendly fishermen and maybe some of the guards you know, come up to the Gang plank for the sunset and so the. 01:16:25.60 Adam Um, yeah. 01:16:28.53 sidekqpodcast Ah, one of the more friendly fishermen types will come and be like hey sandreine everything all right. 01:16:33.49 Adam Yes, everything is satisfactory I would prefer it if people did not enter my ship when they did not have my permission. 01:16:46.52 sidekqpodcast And then ah the guard will call up and be like you think big Charlie needs to have a night in the in the jail do you think? yeah. 01:16:52.68 Adam I care. Not either way, he just better. Not come back onto my ship or the next time I shall probably show him just how squishy the skin that he was flashing to me truly is. 01:17:09.50 sidekqpodcast And so I guess the you know the small group of them at the edge of the gang plague will just kind of look at each other and be like all right and then the guard will probably just be like probably for his safety and then he because he's looking and maybe seeing big Charlie starting to make his way back to the tavern. He's like big Charlie probably needs to cool off and so then as the scene begins to come to a close. We'll see this group of ah of guards and and friendly fishermen start to make their way back to the tavern to apprehend Charlie to have a night in the in the in the jail cell. Um, and is there any last thing that Sandine will do before he he goes back to power down. 01:17:52.42 Adam Yeah, so as Sandine um, you know as all that commotion in sandine looks down and you see just the the kind of chassis of this body kind of were and and is just looking horizontal. You know, kind of a perfect bend. Ah, and monitoring the fish and and you literally hear like ah audible like account but it's going like super super fast and it's like and he's like only owes me and he he's like 1 gold and 3 silver and. I shall collect at a later time and then you see sandine walk back towards the Captain's quarters but you notice as you know we pay in a way that um, you know, very peculiar. Everything here is incredibly spartan um, you know because. Sandrine doesn't need really you know any you know niceties in that way around them. But but you do see that sandine before they do that pulls something out of the drawer and it's a photograph of a small human um, a child. 01:19:07.18 Adam And ah, you see Sandrine look at it. You have no idea what emotion is going on within Sandrine's you know processor. Ah, but then once this once you know 30 seconds pass the photograph is returned to the drawer. And then sanduring goes back into you know, kind of this sleep move. 01:19:29.35 sidekqpodcast All right and scene so there we go now that we've had ah the opportunity to present sandine as a character living and breathing if you will ah what did you think getting to be San dream. 01:19:30.40 Adam Nice. 01:19:42.38 Adam Yeah I like I said you know before that started I think ah I think I like Sandine I've always been fascinated and again I had 0 clue you know how how any of that was going to turn out but I've always been fascinated with that concept of. Ah, you know hkfortyseven from knights of the old republic you know and stuff and so the squishies was a a little callback to meat bags and you know all that. So. So definitely like that aspect of it and then I actually really really enjoy playing the alien rpg. 01:20:00.71 sidekqpodcast M. 01:20:17.21 Adam Ah, from free league and being able to play an android in that game is one of my favorite experiences. You know it's so one of my favorite parts of you know all of the films and everything too and so you know I think that there is a lot of mileage out of that concept of. Ah, you know this constructed being that was built for some purpose having to find a new purpose once they've outlived that original one and and so that's very compelling to me and I think Sandine would be. Very interesting to explore because you know at the surface when this first came up and I randomly got fishmonger. Um I'm just like yeah like that doesn't really engage me at all. But then the more that I got into it. It's like okay wait a minute this is a town where this is a really important resource. And you know this idea that that this outsider can find the new purpose in doing that and then again who whoever they're looking at the photograph there. It probably ties into the reason that they care so much about about you know, making sure that they are. Ah, getting a good living off of of this resource. 01:21:31.74 sidekqpodcast Wonderful. Yeah, and so ah, yeah, here as we are now in the final thoughts section of the show I Always like to ask my guests. Ah their overall experience on the podcast. You know, Ah how you thought this night was going to turn out and. How do you feel now having come through the other side. 01:21:49.61 Adam Yeah that's ah, that's a great question. It's very brave of you honestly, you know like ah because I know that doing any kind of retrospective. You know, look at anything is is sometimes a challenging process and so. Ah, yeah I applaud your bravery there. But but no I had a really great time as I told you before we started. Um I I get a lot I get a lot of interview requests. You know all the time and for the most part um, you know, not that I'm necessarily advertising out there I don't have you know infinite time. But um. But most part I always say yes like if ah if I am remotely available I always say yes, um, and and so I did the same thing with your invite and I did not look into really anything until a couple of days ago and then I was like wait a minute like these questions these are not just questions because in in the. ah you know, hundreds of interviews I've done the questions all ah you know end up being pretty similar most of the time and so as I told you before we started here I love this hook. Ah you know to go with the fish metaphors again like I really think that it is a great angle. It is a good way to get to know someone. 01:22:48.21 sidekqpodcast So. 01:23:03.11 Adam Ah, you know to ah to tell a story with them. You know, even if it's ah just a very short one. It's ah it's a great way to get to know people and and to feature people and their personalities and everything else. So I think that the concept behind the podcast is a really really cool one and then I personally. As I came through um I had a really good time and I had no expectation of how that was going to turn out and through randomized Character. You know it could have gone a whole bunch of different ways. Probably. But but it it ended up you know, being really engaging so nicely done on your part. Good stuff. 01:23:43.21 sidekqpodcast Oh thank you I appreciate yeah, you know you were talking about the randomization of the dice rolls. Ah you know I'm just thinking of ah you know earlier today at the time of this recording. We just had our patrons pub night. Bonus episode come out where I had both ah Katie and. And my buddy Anson on and so I know Katie was very very insistent that I try and have you sing on the podcast not that I would not that I would force you to do so but she did relay the story of how you introduced in a game a goblin that was you know having a party. 01:24:08.80 Adam Ah, yeah. 01:24:17.85 sidekqpodcast And so that was very much like a callback to her so she was very appreciative of that. 01:24:18.82 Adam Yeah, yeah, no I yeah I I love Katie and everything that that she does out there. She's a wonderful member of the community and and yeah I you know I also was in a game. Ah, with Katie at one point where everyone was playing a bard and we we were kind of instructed by the the game master to as we're introducing our characters to sing because it was kind of like a battle of the bands. You know, kind of. 01:24:54.32 sidekqpodcast So. 01:24:54.90 Adam And situation and and so everyone's you know, singing this great great stuff and of course I came in there with some tenacious d you know and and did that for my jester inspired. Ah. Bar that I was playing but ah, but yeah, it's ah singing is something that I certainly enjoy to do I'm not fantastic at it. But I think you know to to come full circle here I think that um you know, even when I'm hiring people for for our demi plane team and and previously at you know d and d beyond. Ah, passion really can make up for a lot of things and um and so I think that you know when I'm hiring and looking to expand you know our team I'm looking for passionate people because if if someone is not the best at you know, technical skills or. Ah, you know, different. Ah you know, kind of tools that we use internally or anything else. Those are all things that can be overcome by passion. Um, and ah and you can't really teach the passion part like that's the harder part to to inspire and so when you find someone who's passionate and really loves what they do. Then that it makes a difference and so again I'm not a great singer by any means. but but I am pretty passionate about music and and so it has afforded some interesting opportunities for me over the years and and you know I 01:26:17.74 Adam Constantly I'm drawn to paladins as I said before but also to bards and I'm currently playing a bard on our children of airte live show that has ah you know Deborah Anne Wall is you know the the game master there and we have a fantastic cast of people that I have now had the privilege to play with for. You know, 3 almost 4 I guess 4 years at at this point and so we just have so much so much of a rapport so much chemistry you know in that cast and um and you know I'm playing a I'm playing a bar that is actually from the real world like our world. And so he ends up just kind of being like scott lang ah you know mixed with starlord hopefully the good parts of Starlord that it are just like ah you know, ah just constant pop culture references. Um, you know able to sing songs from our world in that show because like he is from our world. You know so. 01:26:54.62 sidekqpodcast Um. 01:27:13.70 Adam Ah, so there's just a ton. There's literally a soundtrack going on you know in my mind every moment that we're playing and so that that's been a lot of fun to do. 01:27:21.67 sidekqpodcast Awesome! Well, Ah, yeah, So for for the final moments of the podcast I Always like to leave the soapbox the stage the microphone the platform etc to the guests so where can people find you on socials. Um. What projects and things do you need to promote and any other passions or causes, charities, etc that you'd like to promote to close us out. Okay. 01:27:46.42 Adam Yeah I appreciate that um I will say that you know definitely check out everything that demiplane has going on. You can go to demiplane.com. We have a Discord server that you know our entire team is is pretty active in there. Um, and and forums. So so anywhere that you can find demiplane definitely check out all that we have going on we have at the moment we have they're they're called nexuses. So so a nexus is you know digital tool set for a particular game. And we have a pathfinder nexus. We actually just announced at gencon that we will have a star findder nexus when the second edition of that game comes into play test next year we have you know I referenced alien earlier. We have an alien rpg nexus we have our Marvel multiverse rpg nexus. Ah, vampire next you know it's a really big list already and as I you know, kind of coyly. You know, teased earlier. We've got you know so many publishers that we haven't even publicly talked about yet. So there's just so much going on at Demi Plane and if you enjoy something like d and d beyond and you've always wished that you had you know, high quality tools for for some of these other games that you either play or want to try or always wanted to play then ah the demilane ah we we are. We are on that journey. 01:29:13.39 Adam And and and we are working really really hard to to start providing all of that for those fantastic games and for those fantastic publishers. So so check out demyplane.com and ah personally you can find me I guess I'm still on Twitter like honestly I don't know if they just close the doors at some point like. I don't know if I will jump anywhere else because social media is something that I don't have a ton of time for but but I am on Twitter at bad iaum you can find me there but also really easy to find me on our demiplane discord server feel free to reach out I love. Love talking with folks and and interacting going to be at you know pacs unplugged at game wholecon this year so you know definitely say hello if you see me at any of those conventions back half of this year and you know other than that I think I will end on again just saying that. I really do believe that the world would be a better place if every single person in it played a tabletop role-playing game and you know even if that's not your thing ah perfectly fine. You know, definitely not going to yuck other people's yum in any way. Because as I said earlier I'm all about passion but you know whatever that thing is that you are passionate about be passionate about it and I think that we all, you know my hope is that we can all agree that we all need to be passionate about kindness and about love and about you know, light. 01:30:41.52 Adam In an increasingly dark world. So so that will probably be my last thought out there. 01:30:47.10 sidekqpodcast Wonderful! Well. Mr. Adam thank you so much for your time and ah can't wait to have you back on and some of your other demi plane team members on the podcast to make even more interesting in pcs all right. 01:31:00.21 Adam Thanks for having me? yep. 01:31:04.60 sidekqpodcast Perfect.