Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple on roll20, from Justin Lowmaster

Justin Lowmaster has put together some tips and files for playing Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple on Roll20, the virtual tabletop service. Check it out here! Thanks, Justin!

Collect the tiny pandas! [Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple | Play Report]

(Art by Amy Houser from Do: The Book of Letters)

Yesterday I ran a very fun session of Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple for a group of five players! Together, they answered a letter from a third-grade class asking for help with a big problem. Actually, lots of small problems. Small, adorable panda problems.

Dear Pilgrims,

My name is Sam. I am in third grade, and our class is having a lot of trouble with our classroom pet. Our teacher, Miss Hollsworth, asked us what kind of pet we would like this year, and we decided that we would like to take care of a panda bear. It took some time to find one, but this morning we came to school, and there he was! We decided to name him Xing-Xing, and everybody gave him lots of hugs.

When Miss Hollsworth left to get our morning snacks, we were playing with Xing-Xing and climbing on him, and someone accidentally knocked him over. We were very surprised when he broke into ten thousand little pieces when he hit the ground! It’s okay, though, he wasn’t really hurt — but now there are ten thousand teeny tiny pandas crawling all over the school, and we need to find them all and figure out how to put them all back together into one big panda before our teacher comes back and figures out what happened. We don’t want her to think that we are careless with animals!

We have been trying very hard to collect up all the teeny tiny pandas, but it’s a lot of work! We have some of them in a shoebox in the classroom, but there are still so many more to catch! I know that a bunch of them must have gotten outside, and we’re not really allowed to go out there in the schoolyard and into the park without a teacher with us, but we thought that it would be okay if there were some Pilgrims with us! There are lots of places for a panda that’s the size of your thumb to hide out there - in the statue garden, on the rocks in the fish pond, underneath the jungle gym, up in the bamboo grove, out by the bicycle racks, up on the roof, so many places!

There’s no way we can do this by ourselves, and even if we did get every single little panda back in the classroom, we have no idea how we’d put Xing-Xing back together into one big huggable panda again! Please help us, Pilgrims! We don’t want Miss Hollsworth to think that we can’t be trusted with a nice pet!

Many thanks to Marc Majcher for authoring that letter! You can find it in Do: The Book of Letters. These are the goal words that the players will try to use in the story before time runs out.

Panda
Panda
Panda
Xing-Xing
Xing-Xing
Miss Hollsworth
Miss Hollsworth
Sam
classroom
shoebox
window
bamboo
pond
fish
statue
garden
playground
roof
park
pocket

These are the pilgrims of our story:

Pilgrim Flighty Ukulele (played by Jamie Sue)
Gets into trouble by being too distracted
Helps people through music

Pilgrim Stumbling Beaver (played by Seth Harris)
Gets into trouble through his natural clumsiness
Helps people through his hard working nature, also has buck teeth

Pilgrim Silly String (played by Kate Niman)
Gets into trouble by causing hijinks, nothing too serious
Helps people with ropes and knots and lassos and stuff

Pilgrim Bright Flower (played by Ariana Ramos)
Gets into trouble by being too loud and brash.
Helps people by brightening people’s lives.

Pilgrim Spinning Candle (played by Shoe Skogen)
Gets into trouble by getting hyper and zoomin’ about.
Helps people with her inner fire: her passion and warmth.

And this is the story of how the Pilgrims helped... kinda.

Pilgrim Bright Flower grabs an armful of pandas at first sight. PANDA!!!

Pilgrim Flighty Ukulele lures the pandas with her ukelele into her pocket. The pandas swarm into her Ukelele!

Pilgrim Silly String knocks over the shoebox of pandas! She re-strings the ukelele and captures all the pandas still in there!

Pilgrim Stumbling Beaver searches Miss Holsworth’s desk for the panda invoice, finds the Curio Shop, knocks on the door. He finds a sign at the window saying the store is closed, disappointing the children who feel abandoned.

Pilgrim Spinning Candle zooms about, gathering bamboo. She builds builds a cage for the pandas in Spinning Ukelele’s..ukulele. Only...she was moving too fast to notice that some of the bamboo belonged to playground equipment! 

Pilgrim Bright Flower has scared the pandas into the neighboring park. She grabs the shoebox and collect all the pandas.

Pilgrim Flighty Ukelele gets distracted by a shiny goldfish in the pond.

Pilgrim Silly String flies to the roof and finds the frightened owner who is scared of all the pandas. She talked him down from the roof but couldn't resist a prank, and dumped a bucket of water on his head. PIIILGRRRRIIIMS!!

Pilgrim Stumbling Beaver calms down the furious owner, getting him to explain that Xing-Xing can be repaired at high velocities. The owner is calling Miss Holsworth to tell her everything about breaking the panda!

Pilgrim Spinning Candle asks the magic fish to bring all the pandas into one location, thereby also distracting Pilgrim Flighty Ukelele with her clever plan – and it happens!

Pilgrim Bright Flower sneaks into the classroom, drops off the shoebox, pretends to be the teacher while she picks up the call, gets the information. Sam sees her throwing pandas at each other! OH no!

Pilgrim Flighty Ukelele softly sings “Pandas love to be smashed together!” to calm down Sam. She abandoned her duties though, and the pandas are swarming on the statue of the school founder, which is now buckling and teetering under all the weight.

Pilgrim Silly String plays with a crystal bowl in the curio shop’s garden, causing the pandas to scream – this does not look good to the children. Pilgrim Silly String makes cute little boats out of string to calm down the pandas and get them into one place.

Pilgrim Stumbling Beaver flies to the teetering statue to hold it up as a bridge to the roof, which is just high enough to be dropped at great speed! The pandas merge together suddenly and crush Stumbling Beaver beneath Xing-Xing’s great weight!

And at this point the goal words were all used! Hooray! A Parades ending! Here's how it all got resolved in the end.

Pilgrim Spinning Candle bakes a cake to thank the fish for gathering the pandas and provides counseling to the children.

Pilgrim Bright Flower helps fix the statue and Stumbling Beaver’s injuries.

Pilgrim Flighty Ukelele plays a song, and calls upon the magic cake-sated fish to fix all her wrongs: He arises from the pond, brings the playground to life and heals all injuries.

Pilgrim Silly String disassembles the bamboo cage and makes an even more dope panda accessible playground.

Pilgrim Stumbling Beaver assists the owner in fixing up his shop to save the Pilgrims’ reputation. 

 Many thanks to Ariana, Jamie, Kate, Seth and Shoe for playing yesterday!

Beyond the Books: Next Steps for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple and Happy Birthday Robot!

It's been a while since the news that Do and Happy Birthday Robot would be going out of print. We're working to set up our files for print-on-demand for those who still want to get their hands on a physical copy, but any new hardcover copies are not planned for the foreseeable future.

Beyond the books, I've been thinking about whether either brand would be a good candidate to enter  the burgeoning storytelling board game market. In particular, Do may be well-served by converting many of the mechanics into card components. I can see a deck of cards expediting several parts of the storytelling process without changing any of the core rules.

But would a direct port of Do into a card game be a worthy endeavor or should a Do card game be its own unique thing? Still set in the same universe, of course, but with entirely different mechanics more akin to a co-op strategy game? Happy to hear your thoughts on the matter!

Do: Fate of the Flying Temple

There is big news from Evil Hat's Fate Kickstarter! The latest stretch goals include a new Do game built from the newly streamlined Fate Accelerated system. This is great news gamers out there who loved Do's Avatar-meets-Little-Prince setting, but wanted a more character-focused style of play. This is also great news for the legions of Fate fans who haven't yet had a chance to explore the worlds of Do.

In Do: Fate of the Flying Temple, the Flying Temple has mysteriously drifted away from its home in the center of the sky. It's up to the Pilgrims to explore the worlds of Do to uncover the mystery. Along the way, they must raise a young dragon left behind after the temple's disappearance.

Pairing that approachable rule set with a family-friendly setting like Do feels like a perfect fit! If you want fresh new Do, go back the Kickstarter now and tell your friends!

Happy Thanksgiving, Pilgrims!

It's Thanksgiving here in the States, when we gorge ourselves on mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and, of course, a lot of turkey. Here's a new letter for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple from one special turkey's perspective.

Dear Pilgrims of the Flying Temple,

Gobble gobble. I'm a turkey. I'm to be served to the farmer's family for the upcoming holiday! I have mixed feelings about this, as you can probably understand.

This family has been so good to me through the years. When I was just a featherless chick, they kept me warm and plumped me up. Together, we won all the county fair turkey fashion shows. Oh, what a sight I used to be on the runway!

Unfortunately, my feathers aren't so glossy these days. My confident stride is a little wobbly. I just need a favor from you before I head to the dinner table.

I'm only a turkey, so I can't really talk to Mr. Farmer. Could you express my thanks for all the care he and his family have given me? Thank you! I hope I am delicious.

Gobble gobble.

Turkey

Goal Words
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey
Fashion
Stride
Feathers
Family
Family
Mr. Farmer
Mr. Farmer
Dinner
Dinner
Thanks
Thanks
Gobble


Enjoy the holiday, friends!

What's scarier, pilgrims or monsters? [Actual Play of Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple]

Long-time pilgrim Sophie Lagacé shared this lovely play report from last weekend, plus some follow-up comments on this thread. Below is the actual play report in Sophie's words:

At Pacificon this weekend, +Edmund Metheny ran +Daniel Solis' Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple for the Young Players' room.  I played with the kids and served as scribe.  Here is the letter (contributed by +Ariele Agostini for Do: The Book of Letters)  we answered and the story that ensued:

"Hello!

I am writing to you because I'm stuck on my bed.

I just dreamed that the Evil clan of Tvel.. Twl.. 12 Bed Mosters declared war against me, and I just woke up.

I know I should not be afraid, so I sent two of my teddy bears to take a look, but they haven't come back.  Then I sent all the others but none came back.  Now here on the bed I'm left with only Poldo and Capt. FluffyEar but the monsters are pulling my blanket and I can hear them laugh and chuckle and snicker and say they want to roast me and eat me and I DON'T WANT TO BE ROASTED!

So please come help me, because I don't want to be roasted and prettyprettyplease don't make too much noise or my sister will mock me until Christmas because I'm afraid of mostners!  Stupid she is, she hasn't to be afraid, the mosnters don't go after her, do they?

Listen, here while I was writing they have eaten half of my blanket so now I fold my letter and make a paper plane but hurry.

Thank You,

Agatha"

We had three Pilgrims:
Chatterbox Advisor, who gets in trouble by talking too much, and helps people by giving wise advice;
Forgetful Finder, who gets in trouble by being absent-minded and helps people by finding things; and
Tiny Mouse, who gets in trouble by being too small and helps people by being able to get in places where no one else can.

As soon as the Pilgrims arrive, Tiny Mouse says: "Don't worry, Agatha, we're here to help!" and dives under the bed to take a peek at the monsters.  The monsters catch her, tie her up and throw her in the closet.

Pilgrim Chatterbox Advisor tells Agatha to stay with her teddy bears.  But she also starts talking so much that Agatha falls asleep and over the edge of the bed!

Pilgrim Forgetful Finder looks over the side, spots the toy grabber that the monsters have been using to reach up, snatches it and pulls Agatha back on the bed with it.  But he forgets to dodge the monsters so they tangle him with the blanket and pull him down to eat him!

Tiny Mouse, all trussed up, crawls like a caterpillar through a hole in the closet wall into the next room.  Agatha's sister thinks this is a big caterpillar, screams and throws Tiny Mouse through the window into the grass.

Pilgrim Chatterbox Advisor tells Captain FluffyEar to throw pillows at the monsters.

Pilgrim Forgetful Finder finds an old feather in his pocket and uses it to tickle the monster from the inside and make it sneeze him out so far he bounces into the corridor.  Forgetful Finder runs back in the room -- but gets it wrong and scares the sister in her room so she hits him with a pillow!

Pilgrim Tiny Mouse, flying crookedly, manages to get in through the window cracked open and Poldo unties her.

We get a parade ending!

Tiny Mouse goes back under the bed with Poldo and Captain FluffyEar.  Forgetful Finder finds the missing teddy bears, so Chatterbox Advisor organizes them as an army against the monsters to throw them out.  Then Chatterbox Advisor puts Agatha and her sister back to sleep by talking to them for a long time, so they'll think it was all a bad dream, but the teddy bears give the pilgrims a parade!

The kids had a great time and were really insistent that we should play another game, but we had to run for our next scheduled event. I spoke to one of the Do players and her father today; they liked the game so much that they went to the dealers' room and bought the book after yesterday's game!

Interview with Booklife on Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple

Earlier this year, shortly after Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple won a special judges' award at Origins, Booklife requested an interview. Do's editors Ryan Macklin and Lillian Cohen-Moore joined me to discuss the finer points of editing RPGs, how to edit mechanics, and writing for games. Here's a snippet!

BW: As editors, how does your approach differ when you edit a game versus other kinds of manuscripts?

Ryan Macklin: I’m primarily a game editor. A game has many different contextual channels, more than fiction or even most text books. Games books need to serve as instructional text (along with examples and other methods that facilitate learning) and sources of inspiration. That means text flow is as much of a page design consideration as what’s on a given page.

Since people learn by different methods, including having others read a book and teach, a given section needs to take that into account, as well as blend in evocative tone and color to facilitate learning the context of the game and giving additional points of reference to remember a given rule or piece of advice.

Lillian Cohen-Moore: Since I’m primarily a copy editor for games, I have to pay attention to whether I’m reading something with mechanics in it. If I don’t keep that in mind while changing passages to fit a style guide or clear up unclear text, I run a risk of taking a machete to text that’s essential for understanding gameplay.

Read more at Booklife!

Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple - Indie Game of the Year, Best Production, Most Innovative

Last night, all eyes were on the Ennie awards at GenCon. Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple was nominated for Best Interior Art and Best Game. As Rob Donoghue says, Do defies categorization, so our chances were slim and it really was an honor just to be nominated. Thanks to everyone who voted!

Meanwhile, the Indie RPG Awards were announced and we cleaned up! Check it!


Most Innovative Game

Gosh, this is the one award that I appreciate the most. I'm still learning what it takes to be a good game designer. With the support of great folks at Evil Hat Productions, playtesting feedback over many years, and Mark Sherry's math skillz, Do turned out to cooler than I could have hoped. Thank you!

Best Production
It took a lot of TLC to get this book laid out just right, but it wouldn't be any good without the amazing art. All credit goes to Liz Radtke, Kristin Rakochy and Jake Richmond for the art contributions. I also want to give a special mention to Amy Houser, who did some amazing art for Book of Letters that doesn't get seen nearly enough. Hire her a lot!

Indie Game of the Year for 2011
This one just blows me away. I have no idea what to say, honestly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

What's next? Well, clearly I gotta do a better support job for Do. Taking a lesson from Bully Pulpit, expect new letters to the pilgrims more regularly. Can't say for sure how often, but moreso than now.

Vote for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple in the Ennies!

Hello, Ennie voters!

Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple is nominated for two Ennie Awards: Best Interior Art and Best Game! Now it's up to you to vote. We're in competition with some very prominent and great products, especially in the Best Game category. I want to thank all the Ennie judges for the hard work they do in making their selections.

Okay, down to business. We have a small retail footprint compared to the other entries. When something like Do goes to a public vote, most voters will understandably overlook the product they don't recognize. The Best Game category will be tough for that reason.

So, I want to focus your attention on the Best Interior Art category. Flip through the page spreads shown above. Young illustrator Liz Radtke poured everything into this project over several months. We paid as fairly as we could afford, but she deserves so much more. It is gorgeous and we have Liz Radtke to thank for it.

I also want to thank Kristin Rakochy, Dale Horstman and Jake Richmond for their contributions to the art.

If Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple ever caught your eye on a game shelf, even if you never bought or played it, please vote for it. I want Liz Radtke and the rest of the team to get all the recognition they've earned.

Thanks very much.

P.S. For a limited time, Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple is 10% off! P.P.S. I'll add a link to the voting page as soon as it's up.

P.P.S. Voting is live!

Less than 10 copies of Do: The Book of Letters left in stock!

Get Do: The Book of Letters while it's still in stock! This expansion to Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple adds many more letters and some tips for writing your own. Plus! Tons of excellent art from Amy Houser.

Clark Valentine and Kids play Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple

Clark Valentine kindly shared his family's play session when they played Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple. Check it out below!


PILGRIMS

Pilgrim Loud Frog, played by T. (age 9) . Pilgrim Loud Frog gets into trouble by waking people - or things - up. He helps people by jumping high.

Pilgrim Tall Thinker, played by C. (age 39). Pilgrim Tall Thinker gets into trouble by bumping his head into things. He helps people by giving wise advice.

Pilgrim Creative Dancer, played by M.R. (age 11). Pilgrim Creative Dancer gets into trouble by thinking too far outside the box. She helps people by being clever, flexible, and athletic.

The Pilgrims received a letter from a young girl named Agatha, who had a monster under her bed and a sister sleeping in the next room; the letter can be found on Page 9 of The Book Of Letters. Here is the story they all wrote together.


THE STORY


Pilgrim Loud Frog jumps into the rafters above Agatha with Pilgrim Creative Dancer, and ties ropes around Pilgrim Creative Dancer's ankles. Pilgrim Creative Dancer lowers herself to try to free Agatha from the monsters.

Unfortunately, Pilgrim Tall Thinker bumps his head on the rafter, falling under the bed with the monsters, and also knocking Pilgrim Loud Frog off the rafter. Pilgrim Loud Frog hits the floor so loudly that Agatha's sister wakes up!

Pilgrim Creative Dancer lowers herself even more so she can stick her tongue out at the monsters, grossing them out so they let go of Pilgrim Tall Thinker. Instead, the monsters pull the blanket from the bed and tangle up Pilgrim Creative Dancer!

Pilgrim Tall Thinker, now free of the monsters, tells Agatha's sister an old, sleepy story, and she falls back asleep. But the sleepy story also makes Pilgrim Tall Thinker fall asleep.

Pilgrim Loud Frog leaps back into the rafters and unties the ropes holding Pilgrim Creative Dancer. He shouts "You're free!" which attracts the monsters' attention. Pilgrim Creative Dancer tries to distract the monster using Poldo, Agatha's stuffed bear. This makes Agatha angry. Pilgrim Creative Dancer says sorry and does flips to distract the monster instead.

Pilgrim Tall Thinker wakes up, and remembers old lore that the monsters can be bound to leave by Agatha fearlessly ordering them to. In his haste to tell everyone, he bumps his head on Pilgrim Creative Dancer, and falls on Capt. Fluffy Ear, Agatha's other stuffed bear.

Pilgrim Loud Frog jumps back to the rafters, and recruits birds to help chase away the monsters. But he speaks so loudly that he frightened the birds, who start pecking at him! Meanwhile, Pilgrim Creative Dancer tells Agatha to order the monsters away, and she does.

When the monsters are gone, everyone was happy and they had a great feast. THE END.

Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple wins the Vanguard Origins Award

Well, this was interesting news to hear last night! The Origins Award occasionally gives a special prize to innovative games that don't quite fall into an existing category. The Vanguard Award doesn't go out every year, which always makes it a surprise when it's announced. Sure enough, I was surprised to hear about it!

I can't take credit for this award, obviously. True credit goes to the entire team who helped make the game possible. My uncountable thanks go out to...

Fred Hicks, Rob Donoghue, Lenny Balsera and Evil Hat Productions for publishing and support. The game wouldn't be what it is without your guidance.

Ryan Macklin and Lillian Cohen-Moore for editing. You honed my soft words into sharp crystal.

Liz Radtke, Kristin Rakochy, Josh Roby, and Dale Horstman for art. You're what compels people to turn every page.

Ben Lehman, Myles Corcoran, Dev Purkayastha, Kirk Mitchell, Peter Aronson, John Wick, Richard DiTullio, Ryan Macklin, Jared Sorensen, Colin Fredericks, Sophie Lagacé, Evan Franke, and Nick Wedig for your letters. I just tried to make a game that lived up to your contributions.

Ralf Achenbach, Jen Armstrong, Lenny Balsera, Chris Box, Jeffrey Collyer, Myles Corcoran, John Cottongim, DeWitt Davis, Jonathan Davis, Rob Donoghue, Adam Dray, Haggai Elkayam, Alex Ferguson, Matt Gandy, Kaylee Goyer, Brett Grimes, Rory Grimes, Shannon Haggard, Jesse Harlin, Fred Hicks, Liz Hooper, Shane Jackson, Marie Lane, Peter MacHale, Ryan Macklin, Samantha Mullaney, Megan Raley, Shreyas Sampat, Kate Sheehy, Greg Stolze, and Remi Treuer for playtesting. The game wouldn't be what it is without your input.

Annie Rush, Jonathan Walton, Kynn Bartlett, Doug Pirko, Peter Aronson, Ben Woerner, and Patrick Shulz for special advice throughout the development process.

Thanks to all the kickstarter backers!

• The Reverent Keeper of the Exalted Tome: John Hopper
• The Four Giant Flying Turtles of the Universe: Matthew Bishop, Russell Hoyle, Rick Neal, Anders Smith
• Twin Dragons of the Cosmos: Scott Acker, Nick Bate
• Venerable and Wise Transcendent Masters: frosty, bbmeltdown, nathan, 2percentright, Joe Beason, Shaun Bruner, devi brunsch, nelson cambata, Grant Chen, Robert Cooper, Don Corcoran, Raven Daegmorgan, Steve Dempsey, David Elliott, Chris Gunning, Eric Johnson, Jason Johnston, Garrett Jones, Aaron Leeder, Flavio Mortarino, DivNull Productions, Josh Rensch, Sean Riedinger, Tim Rodriguez, John Rogers, Eric Smailys, Paul Tevis, Edwyn Tiong Yung Ron, Bruce Turner, David Tyler Hunt, Aaron W, Tim White, Jennifer Wong
• Pilgrims of the Flying Temple: maelic001, Chris, Cgeist7, Saladdin, ronbunxious, FelTK, Rocha, Lucias, Catherine, ShamZam, Kevin, Kobal, Buddah, Loretta, greatkithain, Marcelo, Colin, Mendel, Reed, deadlytoque, Michael, darkliquid, Morgan, melibabe, divaD27182, ringmaster, Emelyn, eggdropsoap, craigp, Dominique, Matt, Heuhh, Sebastian, Tucker, AmyMGarcia, anderland, Jonathan, arajski, Aaron, Amaquieria, Albert, Yragael, Zack, Jimhug, Windmilling, john, John, Temoore, Jordan, junloud, ayvalentine, JackFractal, Ishmael, HiddenJester, HPLustcraft, aufrank, James, Arvor, David A Hill Jr, David A Wendt, Vasco A. Brown, Angus Abranson, Scott Adams, Brendan Adkins, Ariele Agostini, Joe Aguayo, Clint and Cassie Krause, Sandy Antunes, Peter Aronson, Ken Arthur, Scott Askew, George Austin, Jared Axelrod, David B, Candice Bailey, Giulia Barbano, Harrison Barber, Dana Bayer, Brian Bergdall, Karsten Blechpirat, Antoine Boegli, Scott Boehmer, Adam Boisvert, Julia Bond Ellingboe, Logan Bonner, Travis Bryant, Laura Burns, Tom C, Geoff Carr, Susie Carter, Robert Cawley, Daniel Cetorelli, Dave Chalker, Edwin Chan, Bay Chang, Stuart Chaplin, Joanna Charambura, John Chatham, Donnie Clark, Wayne Coburn, Patrick Coleman, Stephen Cooke, Brian Cooksey, Chris Costello, Colin Creitz, Josh Crowe, Mike Curry, Matt Cushman, Matthew D. Gandy, Justin D. Jacobson, Mikael Dahl, Neal Dalton, Guillaume Daudin, Jesse David Wan, Adam David Pinilla, Tracy Davis Hurley, Jonathan Davis, Mark Daymude, Jim DelRosso, Mark Delsing, Scott Dierks, Jonathan Dietrich, James Dillane, Richard DiTullio, Mario Dongu, Rob Donoghue, C√©dric Jeanneret, Josh Drobina, Rasmus Durban Jahr, Richard Durham, Herman Duyker, Jeff Eaton, Corvus Elrod, Jack Everitt, Keith Fannin, Metal Fatigue, Scott Favre, John Fiala, Kristin Firth, Wilhelm Fitzpatrick, Daniel Forinton, Evan Franke, Eric Franklin, Jeremy Friesen, Iacopo Frigerio, Leslie Furlong, Brendan G Conway, Marcella Ganow, Bryan Gerding, Brandon Gollihue, Marcello Gorla, Gr√©gory Bernal, Stephen Granade, Jonathan Grimm, Jacqueline Gross, Jack Gulick, Michael Harnish, John Harper, Michael Harrison, Seth Hartley, Ed Healy, S Hefley, Chris Heinzmann, Jim Henley, Darren Hennessey, Fred Hicks / Evil Hat Productions, kitt hodsden, Jonathan Holmberg, Quentin Hudspeth, Dan Hust, James Husum, David Inacio, Jonathan Ingsley, Brian Isikoff, Tim Jensen, Ren√© John Kerkdyk, Seth Johnson, Aaron Jones, Jonathan Jordan, Cecil Juan Robinson II, Clay Karwan, Jeremy Keller, Sean Kelly, patty kirsch, Andy Kitkowski, Adrian Klein, Matthew Klein, Jody Kline, James Knevitt, Jon Knight, Shane Knysh, Jeremy Kostiew, Mischa Krilov, T. Kurt Bond, Annie Kwan, Jason L Blair, Mur Lafferty, Wade Lahoda, Leo Lalande, Justin Lance, Rusty Larner, Nora Last, Sage LaTorra, Matt Logan, Davide Losito, Rob Lowry, Kurt Loy, Connie M. Allison, Steve M., Daniel M. Perez, Matt Machell, Marc Majcher, Griff Maloney, Josh Mannon, Amichai Margolis, Tiago Marinho, Mr. Mario, Manu Marron, George Martinez, Rick Mason, Gregory Matyola, Jonathan McAnulty, Luke McCampbell, Kyle McCowin, Michael McDowell, Shane Mclean, John Mehrholz, Ezio Melega, David Miessler-Kubanek, Diego Minuti, Nicky Moore, John Morrow, Julian Murdoch, Skeeter Murphy, CE Murphy, Liam Murray, Ilan Muskat, Lukas Myhan, Mary Neff, Piers Newman, Maxim Nikolaev, Christian Nord, Herb Nowell, Jo√£o Mariano, olven_oil, Ryan Olson, James Orr, Michael Ostrokol, Jim Pacek, Stephanie Pakrul, JF Paradis, Simon Parker, Brian Paul, Michael Phillips, Brian Pilnick, Jason Pitre, Yan Prado, Geoff Puckett, Jesse Pudewell, Dev Purkayastha, Tim Quinn, Clinton R. Nixon, Renato Ramonda, Erin Ramos, Ross Ramsay, Nick Reed, Luca Ricci, Carl Rigney, Jorge Rodr√≠guez Araya, Fraser Ronald, Kristine Roper, Sean Rose, Aaron Roudabush, Keith Rowe, Nathan Russell, Tim Ryan, Pj Saad, Robin Sanford, Arthur Santos, Anne Sarver, Rennie Saunders, Ernie Sawyer, Crystal Scott, Greg Sewell, Mark Sherry, Mark Shocklee, Simon Silva Jr, Robert Slaughter, Scott Slomiany, Justin Smith, Bob Smith, Monica Speca, Popov Square, Charles Starrett, David Steiger, Mike Stevens, Irene Strauss, Cameron Suey, Matthew Sullivan-Barrett, John Swann, Jim Sweeney, Seth T. Blevins, Tara Teich, Gail Terman, Doyce Testerman, Jesse Thacker, James Thatcher, Owen Thompson, Ken Tidwell, M.Tip Phaovibul, Brian Todoroff, P Tracy, Chris Tulach, Alan Twigg, Julian Tysoe, Scott Underwood, Tyson Vanover, Alan Venable, Jonathan Venezian, David Walker, Euan Walker, Amy Waller, Steven Watkins, Craig Wayling, Greg Webster, Paul Weimer, Greg Weir, Wayne West, Daniel Westheide, Donald Wheeler, Heath White, Chris Wiegand, Harry William Bullen IV, Brian Williams, Victor Wyatt, Joshua Yearsley, Roy Zemlicka, Daniel Zenon Klein, Reed Zesiger
• Suspicious-Looking Troublemakers: mitchw, Jeanne, Madu, Motipha, Scott, Omer Ahmed, Jens Alfke, Daniel Bayn, Eric Behrens, Sam Brown, Jonathan Campbell, Doug Daulton, Jason Dettman, Ben Durie, Steve Ellis, Michael Hill, Amy Houser, Justin Koopmans, John Loughlin, Duncan Merkert, Guy Shalev, Michal Smaga, Alden Strock, Robert W. Calfee, Michael W. Mattei, Nick Wedig, Paul Worthen
• Learned Scholars of Worldly Fauna: Tronk, Michael, Xavid, MtFierce, Zencore, Ralf Achenbach, Vincent Arebalo, Maggie Arroyo, Renee Aubuchon, Luke Bailey, Russell Bailey, David Bednar, Nathan Black, Noah Bogart, Ian Borchardt, Nick Brooke, Samuel Carter, Francisco Castillo, Ross Cowman, Alan De Smet, Nick Desimone, Mark DiPasquale, C. Edwards, Sven Folkesson, Daryl Gubler, Derek Guder, Rick H, Gilbert Isla, Eric J. Boyd, Ignatius Jopy, Josh Jordan, Max Kaehn, Stephen Klein, Bess L. Walker, Kit La Touche, Eloy Lasanta, Daniel Levine, Erich McNaughton, Scott Messer, Marshall Miller, Mike Olson, Maurizio Paoluzi, Wes Price, Denis Ryan, Mike Sands, Andrew Smith, Alfredo Taranc√≥n, Derrick Vidal, Christopher Weeks, Brad Wilke, Alexander Williams, Kam Wyler, Derek Yap, James Yasha Cunningham, Mike Zwick
• Groundling with a Heart of Gold: Aaron Poeze
• The Teeming Masses: lovekickstarting, Harold Taylor, James Scriven, Jhenne Tyler Beauford, Jim Ryan, Kathleen Donahue, Overflow Cafe, Patrick Gingrich, Rainy Day Games, Roland Bahr, Stephen Parkin, ThatGuy
• and thanks to Kickstarter itself. You make small projects come to life.

Matt S. Wilson for his awesome musical score. Your talents never cease to amaze, sir.

Fred Hicks, Mur Lafferty, Megan Raley, Anders Smith, and Jenn Wong for lending their voices to the Kickstarter video.

Ralf Achenbach, Rin Aiello, Tresi Arvizo, Matt Bishop, Alden Bradford, Ezra Bradford, Lola Bradford, Joanna Charambura, Donnie Clark, John Cocking, Jen Dixon, Rob Donoghue, Matt Gandy, Clay Gardner, Brett Gilbert, Michael Harrison, Amy Houser, Quentin Hudspeth, Justin Jacobson, Chris Kirkman, Jonathan Korman, Chris Leader, Marc Majcher, Chiara Marchesi, Flavio Mortarino, Lyndsay Peters, Renato Ramonda, Corey Reid, Josh Roby, Tim Rodriguez, Anders Smith, Greg Stolze, Craig Wayling, and Matt Widmann for lending their handwriting to the Kickstarter video.

And thanks to my patient wife Megan for putting up with me all these years.

It's a good thing I wasn't at Origins to accept, because they would've pulled me off stage with a giant novelty hook before I got through with this list!

Lyndsay Peters teaches Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple

Lyndsay Peters keeps sharing the love for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple with new players. This time, she teaches her friends Randall and Anna. Here is their story. They were playing the 10,000 pandas letter from Do: The Book of Letters.


THE PILGRIMS
Randall - Pilgrim Drunk Bottler
In trouble: is probably spilling something unfortunate on someone
Helps people: by showing everyone the perfect liquid refreshment

Anna - Pilgrim Shiny Felter
In trouble: is easily distracted by shiny things
Helps People: by connecting them with their true feelings

Brian - Pilgrim Clumsy Dancer
In trouble: Knocks things and himself over... constantly
Helps People: by showing people that all of the worlds problems can be solved with one thing: DANCE

Lyndsay - Pilgrim Wiggly Feelers
In trouble: very ticklish and prone to tickling people
Helps People: Has a great sense of smell and can tell when people are sad


THE STORY
Pilgrim Clumsy Dancer’ macarena flips over the shoebox with the pandas the children had collected.

Reacting quickly, Pilgrim Clumsy Dancer begins to do the chicken dance luring the fleeing pandas into a ridiculous dance number.

Pilgrim Wiggly Feelers finds some of the humbuggin-ass pandas who don’t want to do the chicken dance and gets them involved in a rousing game of tic tac toe.

As few of the pandas break away from the chicken dance and jump into the pocket of Pilgrim Wiggly Feelers and begin tickling her madly.

Pilgrim Drunk Bottler begins feeding each of the little pandas in the classroom, a little teaspoon of water from the fish tank so they’ll learn to swim.

Pilgrim Drunk Bottler is walking back from the fishtank with his small 5ml dish when he spills some fishtank water on Sam and three of his friends, who then demand he takes them swimming.

Pilgrim Shiny Felter gathers Sam and the other children who want to go swimming and helps them to see that the reason they want to go swimming is because the task of catching the 10,000 pandas seems too hard for third graders.     

Grabbing a nearby piece of bamboo, Pilgrim Clumsy Dancer starts an impromptu limbo contest, dragging Pilgrim Wiggly Feeler over first to shake the pandas from her pockets.

Pilgrim Clumsy Dancer trips over the end of the limbo pole, accidentally hurtling the bamboo out into the playground.

Pilgrim Wiggly Feelers smells Ms. Hollsworth coming down the hallway and runs out to distract her by showing her the latest issue of F-stop magazine, which just arrived in the inter-school mailing system.

“Who are you and WHAT are you doing in my classroom?” demands Ms. Hollsworth as Pilgrim Wiggly Feelers offers the magazine and begins to wiggle unexpectedly as she realizes one lone panda remains in her pocket, and tickles her.

Pilgrim Drunk Bottler holds up a glass full of aquarium water and shouts, “Xing-Xing, ASSEMBLE!”, causing the little pandas to begin to assemble together.

Pilgrim Shiny Felter is distracted by the broken glass Window on the classroom floor, and  she starts sweeping it up to use in a mosaic later, a project she is now completely engrossed in.

As she sweeps up the shiny glass, the shards make a sound like Xing-Xing, and Pilgrim Shiny Felter remembers the reason she is in the classroom and puts the glass pieces away for later.

Pilgrim Clumsy Dancer climbs through the open window and begins to maracarena  towards the park in an attempt to lure the missing pandas out of hiding.

Pilgrim Wiggly Feelers attunes her panda senses to the roof of the elementary school, where her feelers smell some pandas and she flies up to the roof!

Pilgrim Drunk Bottler carries the “growing” panda arm outdoors and shouts, “free milk to all the little pandas that join this arm!”

Pilgrim Shiny Felter flies out the window and joins Pilgrim Drunk Bottler in shouting to the pandas by crying, “Xing-Xing, ASSEMBLE NOW!”

Just as Ms. Hollsworth reaches the room, Pilgrim Shiny Felter and Pilgrim Drunk Bottler fly back into the classroom with the recently re-assembled Xing-Xing, and Piilgrim Clumsy Dancer and Pilgrim Wiggly Feelers get the children involved in the Happy Dance of Victory!

"Hey Girls of the Flying Temple!" A letter by Lyndsay Peters

Lyndsay Peters wrote another letter for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple. She's a big fan of writing her own letters for her games. This time, the letter was inspired by a video with NSFW language. Glad she kept this letter G-rated so I could share it with you. :)

Hey Girl!!

I live in a little town, just a quiet village. Every day, like the one before? I hate this town.

ANYWAY. Here's my problem, girl. Tonight they're having a ball. It's pretty much the only interesting thing these people do. So I need my dress to look amazing, to show those girls always talking about me that I CAN HEAR THEM! Problem is, this town sucks. There's Bernice with her wigs, but other than that it's just sheep and pigs. I am not wearing a matching sweater to this ball.

So here's what I need you to do. Make a good impression for me. Of me. Because girl, I'm special. And after the ball, nobody should forget it! If you need inspiration, make it like pretty in pink, but if the dress looked good.

Oh, look out for Gaston. Who is that guy? I thought we uninvited him!

See you soon, girl!

– Belle

Goal Words
Belle
Belle
Belle
Dress
Dress
Ball
Ball
Town
Town
Girl
Girl
Sheep

Lyndsay also posted her actual play report here. (NSFW language) Lyndsay's group is a salty bunch. :P

A Taste of Storytelling at Labyrinth Games & Puzzles in Washington DC

Labyrinth Games & Puzzles in Washington D.C. just hosted a big event called a Taste of Storytelling, featuring Happy Birthday, Robot! and Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple. The store owner was very kind to host my wife and I over the weekend and give us a tour of the city. We saw lots of cool schtuff and there was way more to see than we could fit in one Saturday. We'll return soon!

But the main event was on Sunday and it was awesome. About thirty attendees played six different sessions of either Do or HBR. It was my first time actually being in the room while others taught and ran my games, which was a surreal and exciting experience. Probably my favorite moment was when everyone fell quiet at the same time, long enough to overhear me ask "So... what could possibly go wrong with using a sword as a baseball bat?"

During short one-shot games like these, I've been trying to relax the writing requirements of Do. Upside: It speeds up play quite a bit when people can just say what their pilgrim is doing. The downside is that you really need an outside facilitator (a GM, basically) just to keep track of everyone's current trouble-state. I'll adapt what I've learned from to my newer storytelling games.

Oh! And Megan was kind enough to be the typist during our HBR sessions. The best part of that? She could have her laptop read aloud the story after the game was complete. That drew big laughs from the group. Here's a sample of some of the stories from the event, first from Do.

THE PILGRIMS

-Pilgrim Sublime Elephant gets in trouble by being slow to action and helps by having a great memory.

-Pilgrim Exuberant Mountain gets in trouble by helping and helps by being patient.

-Pilgrim Anxious Fountain gets in trouble by being nervous and helps by being very giving.

-Pilgrim Insolent Monkey gets in trouble by mouthing off and helps by climbing things.

THE STORY

••Pilgrim Sublime Elephant remembers this was not the first time Melanie has written to the Temple and begins a thorough search through the vast archives. After hours of searching, Sublime Elephant finds the letter...just as a cat nabs it from his hands and runs away.

Exuberant Mountain chases the cat straight into the whale's mouth.

°°Pilgrim Anxious Fountain brings a tasty treat for the whale to eat in order to get access to the swallowed cat. The cat then leaps out of the whale and is chases Anxious Fountain.

•Pilgrim Insolent Monkey loudly demands the whale release the planet and is promptly swallowed in the process. Insolent Monkey then quickly climbs up and out the whale's blow hole.

°°Pilgrim Sublime Elephant realizes he didn't need the original letter because read it previously and states, “I know why that planet was so delicious!” Sublime Elephant, however, did not know he looked up the WRONG Melanie and sets off for a different world.

••Pilgrim Exuberant Mountain finds the planet inside the whale and begins dragging it toward the blow hole. Dragging the planet thereby destroys the roof of the house in the process.

°Pilgrim Anxious Fountain realizes she needs to help her friends, confronts her feline fears, and heads back toward the whale.

••Pilgrim Insolent Monkey sees Sublime Elephant lumbering in the wrong direction and re-directs him toward the whale. Sublime Elephant resolves to shove one of the trees into the blow hole and is subsequently sneezed into the sky (a literal snot rocket, one might say...).

•Sublime Elephant manages to yell, “Burn the cookies!” while flying past the other Pilgrims.

Exuberant Mountain makes a quick decision to set the roof, still in his hands, alight to burn the cookies as directed. The whale then sneezes hard enough to expel the planet!

DESTINY

-Pilgrim Sublime Elephant: ••°°• The lessons learned here in sky whale congestion will serve me well in teaching other pilgrims back at the Temple. He'll soon becomes a library hermit in the temple.

-Pilgrim Exuberant Mountain: •• Fire + Whale = Whale Bacon. I'll create the universe's largest BBQ shack.

-Pilgrim Anxious Fountain: °°° I learned so much during this adventure. I'll return to the temple to create a training program and share what I learned.

-Pilgrim Insolent Monkey: ••• I am the Whale Whisperer! And also a traveling outcast...

And here's a story from Happy Birthday, Robot!

Happy Birthday Robot!
Robot ate cake and called his friends, but his friends couldn't come.
Robot was sad that his friends missed his party, so he decided to cry.
However, Robot's friend Matt was able to come later and they had fun, but Matt lost his present.
Robot had extra presents to give Matt and they both had a lot of fun, but something bad happened.
Robot saw it started to rain...with lightning! But, the sun was out.
A beautiful rainbow showed Robot where a present was hidden, but someone else was there.
Amazingly, it was his other friends who were coming to visit.
And when he saw friends he was totally amazed!
Robot really wanted the present (it was a water slide). And it was ginormous!
So, they played.
After they went on the water slide, they dried themselves off.
Matt found his present and oiled Robot.
They went home to eat more cake.
Robot said, “this was the best birthday ever!”

Check out the pics above a fine city and an even finer game shop. Many thanks again to Labyrinth Game Shop. DC gamers, you're super lucky.

RPGamer: "Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple is Tabletop RPG of 2011"

January was a good month for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple and possibly the start of an auspicious awards season for our favorite flying troublemakers. Thebig news is that Do won a fancy schmancy award! Check it:

RPGamer names Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple as RPG of 2011
Whoa. This was totally unexpected, mainly because Do's status as a proper RPG is so tenuous. Still, I'm delighted to share the honor with everyone who helped make the game possible.

Gamehead reviews Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple
This is probably the most thorough review of the game I've seen yet, with special attention paid to the long-term Pilgrimage mode of play. Generally, Do is played as a one-shot, but I'm glad to see some love for the long journey. That's where the coming-of-age vibe really comes out.

And here are some international reviews! Fanzine Rolero reviews the game in Spanish. Rede RPG is a Portuguese site that will soon translate some of the free games on my blog.

Reddit asks: "Anyone played Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple?"

Yesterday, a Redditor asked "Has anyone played Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple? Is it any good?" And boy, did we get some nice responses!

rkalajian "The game, along with the physical book itself, are amazing. The mechanics are simple enough to get up and running quickly, and help spur creativity with your stories."

e4mafia "I have played Do with my daughters, ages 8 and 6. They both love it and so do I. Its a great, fun way to spend time together, telling a fun, irreverent story. Its also a great chance to encourage them to write."

stupidgremlin "This is easily one of my top-ten favorite games, and number-one favorite for sharing with people new to gaming, and especially children. I have, since its release, purchased about 12 copies of the physical book and given them away to friends and family as gifts, and they have been well-received."

ios329 "It's amazing. It's a great family game, it's a great non-family game, it's just a great game."

Keep it up, folks! Share your play experience on Reddit.

Classroom Activity Guide for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple

For all teachers, parents, librarians who want to incorporate Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple into kids' learning: Teacher and education consultant Cassie Krause returns to offer tips and learning opportunities while guiding a whole class through the pilgrims' adventure. Best of all, it's totally free, licensed under Creative Commons from Smart Play Games.

» Download Classroom Activity Guide for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple
» Also see the Classroom Activity Guide for Happy Birthday, Robot!

A Christmas Letter to the Pilgrims of the Flying Temple

You remember Lyndsay Peters of Dragon Chow Dice Bags, right? She's hosting a session of Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple for her family, so she wanted to write a letter just for the holiday season. Inspired by the Island of Misfit Toys, she penned this cute mission for the pilgrims:

Dear Pilgrims of the Flying Temple:

We simply cannot stand one more year of heartbreak. Every year we watch the eight reindeer fly overhead, left here in the snow. Every year we have to tell toys why they're here, and not on the sleigh! It's all because we have square wheels or fly in water. If we have to go one more year without seeing a happy child on Christmas Morning, we might give up on the magic of Christmas… FOREVER!

Please, Pilgrims! Get us on Santa's Sleigh!

- The Island of Misfit Toys

Goal Words
Reindeer
Reindeer
Santa
Santa
Santa
Presents
Presents
Island
"Happy Child"
"Christmas Morning"

Thanks for a great letter, Lyndsay!

"Achooooo!" Actual Play of Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple

It's the holiday season, a time when families get together around the hearth to feast, laugh, and save the world from giant whales. Yup, it's time for another batch of actual play of Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple.

The first AP report comes from new blogger Lizz Schulz at Dice & Daydreams: Ramblings of a Girl Gamer. She's one of the few I've heard of who played A Matter of Roses, so I was very curious to see how it turned out. Well, it did not turn out well for the Queen's eyeballs, that's for sure.

Here's more AP from Harlequin at the Story-Games forum. He also took the liberty of writing up the story in a more narrative format, though all the puking and ear canal travel remains intact. Pardon me while I get some antacid.

Another story comes from Shane Mclean and is all formatted into a fancy PDF! Alas, this poor whale doesn't get such a dignified treatment. After all, when Pilgrims Vibrant Hound, Frank Weasel, and Hairy Bubble come to your rescue, it's fair to expect some allergic reaction.

And finally, a few tweets from @strasa with pictures of his setup and the resulting story. He even wrote his own unique letter just for the occasion!

Want to join in on the mayhem? Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple is 10% off for a limited time. I want to hear more about your actual play! Write it up and I'll round up your report on the blog in a future post.

Previously:
» "Yeah, that happened."
» Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple at Gamekastle.
» New reviews and actual play for Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple