Cool Story Guys
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Description
Cool Story Guys is a creative writing podcast and fantasy adventure audiobook where major plot points are determined by RPG-style dice rolls. Join hosts Jeff and Ethan for humorous discussions about the storytelling process and an ongoing collaborative fantasy tale inspired by the unpredictability of role-playing games and actual play podcasts.
70 Episodes
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Welcome to Cool Story Guys! In this introductory episode we discuss the outline of our collaborative fantasy story and the dice rolls that determined its genre, setting, scope, and more. Topics include a variety of books pertinent to our project that we have not read (and a few we have), how role-playing games have influenced our creative thinking and storytelling processes, and a discussion on the enduring works of Kevin Costner and how all of the good ideas from “Waterworld” will be pilfered for our story.
In the opening chapter of our story we find the island of Koa beset by a mystifying catastrophe: the ocean has disappeared. A storm is raging and the exposed sands cannot be traversed. Terrified, the islanders decide to ask a powerful recluse for her help in discovering the cause of the disappearance.
We explore the opening chapter of the book and discuss how the first set of rolls from the Fate Index has set the tone for the story moving forward. Topics include the allure of nameless protagonists, our deep-seated desires to undermine what the other has contributed to the story, and the nihilistic reading habits of Ethan’s toddler son.
Morwell awakens in a brutal and barren landscape, his boat run aground and destroyed. As his clouded memory clears, he realizes that his shipmates are missing and woefully unprepared for their new, dangerous environment.
The dice made us do some things in Chapter 2 that we probably wouldn't have chosen to do ourselves, so we talk all about it. Fearful of being seen as a fraud, Jeff has started playing Dungeons & Dragons again, but is mostly just using it as an excuse to drink wine and eat candy in his bathroom. Ethan begins to realize that every accent he conjures up drags him back to his dark past in Southern Indiana.
With Morwell unconscious and her grandfather missing, Laureena must improvise with what is available on the wrecked trawler and bide her time until help arrives. When she meets another marooned boy named Calix, a deep friendship is quickly forged, and the two decide to take their survival into their own hands.
We are forced to deal with the war crimes the Fate Index forced us to commit in Chapter 3 and the fact that our dice rolls so far have been such unrelenting bummers. Other topics include a gacha backpack full of tuna and flaming swords and Jeff's terrible X-Men power.
Shaken from her vision in the cavern, fear begins to cloud the mind of the crimson woman, causing her abilities to falter when Koa desperately needs her assistance.
The Fate Index's bloodlust has left us in a precarious situation. Where do we go from here? How can we possibly salvage this miserably-paced story and sell it to Netflix or Amazon? Other topics include which stories we'd like to see on the big and small screen and how fantasy death is a bit more malleable than non-fantasy death.
An outlander comes to the Northern Plateaus looking for leads on a powerful girl whose actions threaten to topple a world that has already been thrown perilously off balance.
Desperate to be anywhere other than inside our urban apartments, we discuss the idea of using fantasy as an escape, and how our story isn't a particularly inviting travel destination. Other topics include what exactly constitutes a "monster," Jeff's Haribo Hierarchy, and a new segment about how we're terrible at Twitter.
Faullen Danvers has spent his life on the sea, always mindful to honor its protectors thanks to customs passed down by his father. When the future of Delvorn is compromised, will the Sea Mothers hear his call?
After learning that one of our big original ideas is now being used by a much more legitimate media venture, we discuss the idea of do-overs and whether or not we'd indulge in them if we had the option. Other topics include Ethan adding bureaucracy to our fantasy tale, the difficulty of dealing with time jumps, and a soon-to-be canon Shrek and Donkey cameo.
When the Capitol Islands military forces reveal unsettling tactics for relocating the Touched to the mainland, Danvers escapes from Delvorn with the Sea Mother and is forced to make life-altering decisions in order to continue with her on her quest.
After Ethan's son develops Beast Tongue and speaks with a duck, we discuss the very real probability that humans will someday be able to communicate with animals, as well as other fantasies that may eventually become realities. Other topics include our favorite X-Men powers and how Jeff turned Danvers into a mutant, Ethan being afraid of his guts getting all scrunched up if he transformed into a bird, and new ideas for the Fate Index submitted by our parents.
Disfigured and bewildered, a woman awakens encased inside a massive mollusk shell. Someone - or something - has been regenerating her broken body in a bizarre laboratory deep beneath the ground, but for what purpose?
Lots of bug talk in this episode! Discussing Ethan's crab- and insect-heavy chapter is a perfect reason to talk all about the swarm of cicadas overtaking much of the United States and how he's going to have to deal with the bug swarm on his trip home to Indiana. Other topics include which sizes of things are the most frightening, how lobsters and crabs are basically just sea spiders, and deciding between two excellent submissions to the Fate Index from one generous listener.
Elinea navigates the perilous island of Vlyk, finding herself in constant danger thanks the loss of her abilities and a new, unpredictable appendage. Seeking shelter and knowledge from a sequestered Magi named Corrilous Hallister, she discovers the man isn't at all what she expected him to be.
Big life changes are underway for the Cool Story Guys: Ethan is moving back to America, threatening to dispel the magic and magnetism of our face-to-face recording sessions. In anticipation of our podcast inevitably becoming awful, we discuss the etiquette of content creators addressing the fact that they've made something terrible. Other topics include fretting about consistency, revelation as a guise to pretend that you knew what you were doing all along, and though it's not exactly a topic discussed, Ethan is so allergic to America that his voice is pitched down to the point where he almost sounds like a different person in this episode.
Finnegan explores the smoldering wreckage of the Irapa village, looking for clues that will lead him to Laureena. With a snowstorm bearing down and a host of unfriendly characters trying to do him harm, the ex-soldier worries he might have bitten off more than he can chew.
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interesting idea, well executed. interesting listening to them discuss creating this story.