Highly recommend a chest freezer or similar setup (we have a standing freezer)

The extra space means that you can have a deep library of options, which helps to prevent the frustration of being picky.

We buy half a cow at a time and it means we have variety, but EXPECTED variety

THAT WAS MY FIRST THOUGHT TOO

100% agree, and its possibly one of the simplest large scale meals to cook for a group. I have used it for LARP dinners before for that reason.

Is someone else already taking on the Cygnar models, or is that the next project?

Ethically harvested acrylic paints?

Standards are very low, its true.

What’s the first lesson you’d want to implant in their brains? I can think of too many starting points myself.

I have always loved the Warmachine designs but yeah, so many rivets. My favorite faction (Cyriss) foregoes the rivets but instead has so many edges to highlight. Just can’t win.

For combat or dungeon crawl purposes, I still don’t have a lot better than 4e D&D (though I am working on my own engine based on it).

For general use, Unknown Armies. Great mental stress system, social RP engine, and character identities all building on each other. Criticism of it is that it doesn’t give lots of tools for players who aren’t used to having agency.

The DVD versions have some very interesting attempts to make it interactive, with some very bad bugs in the disc code. Feels just as janky as VCR problems.

Fun to watch someone stumble over it though.

Anne de Chantraine’s call and response phrase is… interesting.

The comedy group LoadingReadyRun has played all of these (as well as some other VCR games like the Star Trek one) and they’ve been a blast to watch. Highly recommend.

Induction is great, many models have roughly identical internals so be wary of branding increasing the price. Only seen a couple that are really different. Personally excited about the battery capacity / burst power in the Impulse Labs one.

Rules, particularly how it is designed to reward certain types of play. Aggressive, strategic, etc. Knowing what style they are targeting matters a lot on several axes.

I dislike terms like “audience engagement” for it, but it is a necessary component. To know one’s work is valued, and that others want to help you bring it to life. Not solved by an individualist focus, in my experience. 7/end

I know what it MEANS in many circumstances. “Have faith in your own taste.” Which is fine, but ingredients aren’t the meal. The tool I am lacking isn’t taste or confidence in my cooking, but guests to join me. 6/

In such a case, saying “make art for yourself!” misses the point. I am making art for myself, but without the other people around me it never comes to life. A game is alive in the playing, not the writing. 5/