CB#12 A Very Scary Kickback

CB#15 Connie Chang

On this Season 2 Finale of Character Build Kyle has the privilege of speaking with professional GM and game designer Connie Chang (he/they/she)! Connie discusses his actual play show Transplanar RPG, and gives a valuable perspective on the presence of racism in the hobby. We also take plenty of time to dive into Connie’s new table top game GODKILLER: First Blood! Buckle up for a great season finale! CONTENT WARNING: -Discussions of racism -Discussions of religious trauma -Discussions and references to violence and peril throughout -Brief mention of cannibalism -Some language and themes may not be suitable for all audiences GLOSSARY: -Anti-Orientalist- a rejection of Orientalism, which is an approach to representing Asian countries through stereotypes, cliches, and generalizations typically established by Western and colonial perspectives. Connotatively the word “Oriental” is a harmful term often used to refer to any person or country from a country in Asia or an Eastern country -AP- short for “actual play” -Ashcan- a prerelease or public release of a game while it is still in the last stages of development -Blades in the Dark - a TTRPG about a crew of daring scoundrels seeking their fortunes on the haunted streets of an industrial-fantasy city (bladesinthedark.com) -Blorbo- slang for someone’s favorite character from a piece of media -Diasporic- (diaspora) a group of people who spread from one original country to other countries, or the act of spreading in this way (dictionary.cambridge.org) -Homunculi - plural for homunculus, which is defined as “little person” or refers to a fully formed miniature human or humanoid creature -Masks - a superhero TTRPG full of action, youthful angst, and dazzling bravery where young adults can take on the roles of members of the latest generation of superheroes (paraphrased from magpiegames.com) -Non-colonial- the rejection of colonialism, which is defined (by dictionary.Cambridge.org) as the belief in and support for the system of one country controlling another -Otaku- a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. (Miyadai, Shinji (2011). "Transformation of Semantics in the History of Japanese Subcultures since 1992". Mechademia via Wikipedia.com) -PBTA- short for Powered by the Apocalypse, which is framework used for many TTRPGs -Subsystem- a self-contained system part of a larger system, applied to games it can be referring to any system within a greater TTRPG -TTRPG- table top role playing game CHECK IT OUT: Follow Connie Chang @byconniechang on Twitter, Instagram, itch.io, TikTok, and elsewhere Follow Transplanar RPG @transplanarrpg on Twitch, Twitter, Instagram, and elsewhere Follow Jonathan Charles at @the_lonely_orchestra Find GODKILLER: First Blood on itch.io Learn more about Auricle by following @auricle_podcast or visiting auriclethepodcast.com CREDITS: Produced, edited, and hosted by Kyle David Perry Show art by Gabriella Ashlin “Transplanar Preamble” (heard at the Outro) composed by Jonathan Charles

CB#14 Eryn Barnes

This week on Character Build the excellent Eryn Barnes (they/them) gets in the weeds to discuss authenticity, trusting your players at the table, and what it takes to be a dice goblin! Kyle and Eryn chat about the new A24 horror hit “Talk to Me” as well, it’s the season all year for scary stories! If you would like to avoid spoilers for “Talk to Me” you can skip to 53:30 once we bring it up. CONTENT WARNING: -Death -Discussion of grief -Possession -Discussion of bloody horror violence and gore -Brief discussion of cults -Language and themes that may not be suitable for all audiences GLOSSARY: -Brechtian- refers to the work of 21st century German theatre playwright and practitioner Bertie Brecht -Boon- a wish or favor granted within the power of a god, royalty, or other entity -Dice goblin- Someone who likes to play with, collect, marvel at, talk about dice to the point of it unbecoming their personality -Face- Typically a charismatic member of the party that acts as their representative in social situations -Kobold- a mythical sprite with human and reptilian features -Pantheon- a network of gods that exist within a certain universe -Paladin- a class in D&D 5th edition that relies on an oath they have made to a god in order to receive healing and offensive abilities CREDITS: Produced and Edited by Kyle David Perry Show Art by Gabriella Ashlin Original music composed by Gabriella Ashlin

CB#13 Sarah “Kal” Kalinski

It’s good to be back and as unhinged as ever! GM Extraordinaire Sarah “Kal” Kalinski (she/they) has graced us with their presence to talk about the complexities of good and evil, the power of names, and her new actual-play podcast Crits & Tits! We get emotional, deep, and down right goofy in this episode. Be sure to review our episode-specific content warning and glossary of terms below. Spoiler Alert for Frank Herbert’s 1982 novel “The White Plague” and the 1988 film masterpiece “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. You’ve been warned! CONTENT WARNING -Death of a parent -Death of a child -Murder -Brief mention of cannibalism -Discussions of mental health -Language that may not be suitable for all ages GLOSSARY -BBEG- Acronym for “big bad evil guy” which typically refers to any main villain in a table top story -C3- Short for “Campaign 3”, which is the current campaign for the actual-play podcast Not Another D&D Podcast (NADDPOD -D20- Short for Dimension 20 -Dimension 20- A high-production actual play show with a rotating cast of characters season to season featured on Dropout, and Independant streaming network -Fantasy High- The title of Dimension 20’s inaugural season, the conceit of which is “D&D meets John Hughes (Director of Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, etc.) -Short rest- The official NADDPOD after show where the four primary cast members discuss episodes week-to-week CREDITS Produced and Edited by Kyle David Perry Show theme composed by Kyle David Perry Show art created by Gabriella Ashlin Original music composed by Gabriella Ashlin Special Thanks to Riccarda Eickenberg

CB#12 A Very Scary Kickback

Velcome! And BOO! Mwahahaha!!! Thanks for listening to this special Halloween Kickback episode of Character Build! Fiona Sabrina (she/her) returns to deliver a queer thesis on the 1996 cult classic “The Craft” and filmmaker Danny Villanueva Jr. (he/him) talks about his horror anthology “I Dream of a Psychopomp”. Since we told you ours, we want to know…what’s your favorite scary movie? _______________________________________________ Content Warning for this episode: -Discussions of horror elements throughout -Descriptions of bloody violence and gore throughout -Discussions of grief and family trauma throughout -Mentions of physical trauma involving fire and burns -Mentions of self harm and suicide -Mentions of racism -Mentions of physical assault and emotional abuse -Contains strong language not suitable for all audiences and discussions of mature themes throughout _______________________________________________ Spoiler Warning: -Scream (1996) -The Craft (1996) -Child’s Play 2 (1990) _______________________________________________ Character Build is produced and edited by Kyle David Perry Show art by Gabriella Ashlin Outro music [“SSH Theme (Revised)”] composed by Adam Qutaishat

CB#11 Chloe Baldwin

Thanks for listening to Character Build! In this episode professional actor, filmmaker, and stunt person Chloe Baldwin (she/her/any/all) gets Shakespearean about tragic characters on as we discuss her new short film Morning is Broken and the real-life catharsis table top can foster. Then Chloe clears the table to talk about her time as Drag King Christian Rock! _______________________________________________ The content warning for this episode includes: -Discussions of trauma -Discussions of mental illness throughout -Discussions of death and peril -Brief mentions of alcohol consumption -Severe language that may not be suitable for children _______________________________________________ Glossary: -Risk- A strategy board game diplomacy, conflict, and conquest for two to six players. Originally released in 1957 -Inspiration- A mechanic from Dungeons & Dragons 5e among other versions and systems in where the GM or DM can give a resource called “Inspiration” out whenever they feel a player has done or said something inspiring. Inspiration allows a player to re-roll a failed roll at the discretion of the GM -“Go down”- meaning that someone has dropped to 0 hot points and is now rolling death saving throws to determine whether their character stabilizes or dies _______________________________________________ Get your tickets to see Chloe in “POTUS” by Selina Fillinger at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, IL running from October 26 to December 10, 2023 at Steppenwolf.org Keep up to date on where to see Chloe in “Morning is Broken” at chloebaldwin.net/morningisbroken Follow Chloe on Instagram @chloeglowyflowy Follow Christian Rock @christianrockdragking _______________________________________________ Produced and Edited by Kyle David Perry Show art by Gabriella Ashlin Opening theme and transition by Kyle David Perry Additional music: “All Arcadian’s Theme (Western) composed by Adam Qutaishat Special thanks to Shane Richlen and Riccarda Eickenberg