Loki

I've watched the first two episodes of Loki and I'm really enjoying it. Tom Hiddleston is showing what an amazing actor he really is, giving Loki some incredible depth.

The TVA is a hysterical bureaucracy stuck in a 1950s mold. I barely recognized Owen Wilson as Mobius. All in all, so far it's a strong cast.

What's fun is that (minor spoiler) the time bombs set off by the Variant in Episode 2 completely set up Marvel's Phase 4. We already know that the next Dr. Strange movie is subtitled "in the Multiverse of Madness," and that there might be a multiverse element in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Plus, the animated What If? series coming to Disney+ is explicitly alternate history takes from different timelines.

There is one thing you will never find in any more my games.

Random encounters. Dear Halford, how I loathe random encounters. Shall I go on about this?

Thank you!

To me, one of the goals of any TTRPG is to create a narrative storyline, a plot that has highs and lows, thrilling moments, and times of quiet reflection. This is accomplished by designing adventures in separate scenes that define a few things: why are the characters here, what happens that starts the events of the scene, and possible outcomes.

A scene can be anything from meeting with a border king to negotiate to clearing an orcish camp. But the Gamemaster needs to know what is coming. To keep the flow of the game going, the GM needs to know the layout of the king's hall and who is there, as well as the possible outcomes based on player actions and die rolls. The same goes for the encounter with the orcs. Each scene should have three scripted outcomes: Player success, Neutral, or Player Failure, with further scenes written to handle these possibilities.

And yes, the players will find a way to wander wildly off track, but that's why DMs get to decide what's on the pizza.

But random encounters just seem to stop the game cold. first of all, there's all the rolling on charts, then looking up stats, then setting things up. . . it's a colossal waste of good gaming time, especially for meaningless combats!

If the group is traveling from Point A to Point B, plan a few encounters. If they're on a well-traveled trade road, there might be a patrol from the local lord (who will be most interested in a heavily-armed group in his territory,) or a merchant caravan that will share news and barter for supplies around the campfire. You might meet religious pilgrims who will ask for an escort to the next monastery where they can seek shelter. If the party is coming close to a hobgoblin camp, it would make sense to have them encounter goblin patrols, or villagers fleeing the monsters begging for help.

But plan it out! Know the name of the merchant in charge of the caravan, and give him three features (balding, laughs everytime he speaks, wears an obviously magical amulet). Have the stats for the goblin patrol at hand ready to use. The villagers might need someone rescued, so have that adventure ready.

Keep your game moving. Don't let the dice dictate the events. Reject random encounters and all their works!

One down, how many to go?

I have shed a specialist! Appointment today with the retinal specialist, who looked at my pictures and saw no need for me to really continue and thinks that I can go ahead with the cataract removal. Now that's up to my ophthalmologist, whole I'll be seeing a few weeks. But progress!

I was warned that my cataract surgery was going to be a bit more complex due to scarring on my Iris from the uveitis I had years ago. But whatever, I just want to see properly again, get a solid new prescription for my glasses, and get that all taken care of!

Shedding one doctor is the first step.