Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM)
banner
chattydm.bsky.social
Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM)
@chattydm.bsky.social
Dynamically-priced Gen X Gamer Dad. 40 years as a GM, 2.8 years sober. Full-time narrative designer@VibrantStudios (D&D: The Immersive Quest, Transformers (in creation)). Retired award-winning freelance #TTRPG designer. He/Him. FR/EN
Redemption, Phil, Redemption...
December 3, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Redeption: I have not read the deluge of Romantasy and FanFic pieces about Orcs so I'm sure the movement predates Pratchett, but he waited until 2009 to even mention them in his series.
December 3, 2025 at 8:38 PM
I feel your pain.
December 3, 2025 at 8:36 PM
I take it this is not "Halifax, Nova Scotoa" ;)
December 3, 2025 at 8:32 PM
What are you going to do, Phil, after having read all these books?

I'mma watch all the Deadpool movies so I can FINALLY see Deadpool & Wolverine. :)
December 3, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Also Meta-Analysis is fancy for "Literature Review" which is probably powered by LLMs now.
December 3, 2025 at 6:56 PM
It's a mirror for us all, we're messy and amazing too!
November 30, 2025 at 12:15 AM
It's the unholy grail, we both know that (pops a can).
November 27, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Regarder des gens jouer à Star Trek au poste 37!
November 27, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Or you go full indie

"To Shadows we Sang" ;)
November 26, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Reposted by Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM)
Will always remind me of a post-mortem about a project at Ubi where the devs were so tightly packed that someone wrote "on est trop proche et le monde me tappe sur les nerds..."
November 25, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Love you too, friend!
November 25, 2025 at 5:10 PM
I got a HIGH REZ gridless battlemap and adjusted the 5'X5' square on D&D Beyond's VTT to a small enough size that players had to move, teleport, jump, and fly all over the place to address its various "puzzle" pieces and guardians to disable the BBEM's immunity shield.

Characters are level 7.
November 25, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Thanks Chris. It was a journey!

Now I get to be a healthier, happier old man! :)
November 25, 2025 at 5:02 PM
They are low on ressources and Malakor, the Geomancer Lich and heir to the fallen Dwarf King of the Glistening Spires of Sorrow just stepped out of the protective bubble the characters deactivated.

"I will erase you and your worlds like your ancestors erased mine!"
November 25, 2025 at 4:59 PM
...
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Reposted by Phil. A. Ménard (AKA The Chatty DM)
I just discovered accuradio & basically am listening to older R&B I grew up on.

The templating is a side effect of record companies realizing it's cheaper to push a dozen super stars than to have an ecosystem of musicians/singers/bands to support.

Now all pop music uses the same producer/writers.
November 24, 2025 at 6:42 PM
My "Discover Weekly" now has a significant portion of AI-art cover bands with AI-Generated bios with no artist names assigned to "voice".
November 24, 2025 at 6:30 PM