The Forest of Doom: What If‽: An Unexpected Detour

      I'm going to do something a little different today. I've been avoiding this kind of thing, but I have to say yesterday's posts got me curious enough, and now I want to delve into the realms not of the here and now, but of...

WHAT IF‽

     So, remember how I had the option to draw my sword against Yaztromo? I can't help but wonder what would happen if I had done that. Partly because it's a fascinating thing to be even able to do, and partly because on checking I think it's both a good bit of game design and a really funny aside.

     So, with that in mind...

What If 54?

     This! This moment, so terribly familiar to me, and yet one I have rarely seen from this side. The moment where the GM looks up from their notes and over to you and says, "Are you sure?" The moment that exists for no other reason than to let you know that what you are trying to do is the equivalent of taking logic and common sense out back in blindfolds and letting a firing squad of idiocy shred them in a hail of madness. 

      Now, reading these pages, I see Ian Livingstone, separated in time and space, look up from his typewriter, give me that wary and uncertain look through the spaces between the text and say those magic words. "Are you sure?"

      Yes, Yaztromo! I am sure! Let common sense and logic have their final cigarettes!

What If 399?

     I'm guessing, "Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo."

     "Your body feels like a bubbling liquid inside." Does that not scan for anyone else? I guess it means "The inside of your body feels like a bubbling body", or, more cleanly, "Your insides feel like a bubbling liquid." 

      Honestly, I'm delighted by the image of becoming a frog, but is it too much to ask for to have a better metamorphic description?

     "Your insides begin to boil and shift. Your armor begins to grow larger, and then to crush down on you! The whole world grows bigger and bigger until you fall into your own boot. You try to scream, but only a harsh "Ribbit" emerges from your throat. Life as a frog is not going to be easy."

     You know, something like that.

     I adore the fact that Yaztromo has an evil laugh, almost as much as I love that he nearly drops YOU while performing it. That's just great.

      This is a great training moment. A rough death near the beginning for doing something foolish. Even a chance to not do it with a warning. Really pushes the concept of what the game is and how you should play it. Which is why I thought this detour worthwhile.

      Still, it hardly seems like an end to my adventure. What if the frog goes on to quest to become human again? What if it finds a way to live happily as a frog? What if...?