Page 1638 - Dungeons & Ponies, Part 13
13th Jan 2022, 6:00 AM in Intermission 15

Author: GreatDinn

Guest Author’s Note: “my name is Dinn,
and wen its nite,
or wen the moon
is shiyning brite,
and all my frens
haf gon to rest-
i stay up late.
i rite the jests.

In all seriousness, there are two points about today’s comic that I want to briefly discuss. The first: Fluttershy’s question is one that I actually think about a lot for “trapped in another world” type stories. Basically all of them open up with “here’s how the world works” exposition, but since so many of them are game-based, there’s still a lot of shared assumptions that never get questioned or commented on. North, as a concept, has a surprising amount of cultural baggage that is so rarely considered, and while I don’t think it’s something that should always be explored, I think I personally would like some stories that really dig into worlds being very different, or having such a different understanding of the mechanics of the universe that we have a chance to reflect on our own. Though I wouldn’t want to see any less where it’s just a fun concept of being in a world that’s similar but different. Variety is spice, after all.

The other thing is that what Spike is doing in the first panel is suffering from a problem I’ve experienced many a time as a DM: really wanting to give off the perception of fairness in random encounters by using a table, but also desperately wanting something to break up the tedium of a stretch of exploration that has reached its limit. It’s mostly gut instinct for me, at this point, but I will be the first to admit that in my earlier days as a DM, I would roll on random encounter tables to the point where my players could tell I wasn’t exactly trying to let them off the hook.”

DM: Okay, so you’re sweltering under the heat of the two suns.
roll
DM: You’ve been unable to scavenge for food because this forest is dead.
roll
DM: And you’ve been walking for several hours straight now.
roll
Twilight Sparkle: Spike, it feels like you’re rolling for more than our survival.
DM: Twilight, I am shocked you would think that.
roll
DM: Dangit!
Fluttershy: We are heading north, right?
DM: Yes, you still found north despite the whole…other world thing.
Rarity: Is walking really the only way to get to Helix?
DM: Unless you can grow some wings, yep.
Rainbow Dash: That’s it!
Rainbow Dash: I’m magic! Maybe I can cast that spell Twi used before to give us all butterfly wings!
DM: Yeah, that could work. Give it a roll.
roll
Rainbow Dash: So how’d I do?
DM: Umm…
Rainbow Dash: What.
Pinkie Pie: Looks like we’ll have to make the butter first, before it can fly!
The Cow: Hello, stranger! My name is-
Rainbow Dash: Nope! I did not use magic to have another conversation.
Rainbow Dash: The cow is going back in my hat, and we pretend this didn’t happen.
The Cow: Well, I never!
Rainbow Dash: That’s the idea!