No Plot, Only Lore

The Honeymoon Phase is Over.This week, Josh and Kris revisit their stance on Generative AI. While early adoption promised a reduction in cognitive load for DMs, the reality has shifted toward a "net negative" across nearly every metric. From the environmental impact of data centers to the "enshittification" of search results, the hosts break down why the "word guessing machine" is failing the people it promised to help.Topics covered include:The Admission: Kris publicly admits Josh was right about the "AI bubble".The Tech Cycle: Late adoption vs. the "new toy" syndrome.Art Theft: Evaluating the "British Museum" argument for AI training.Linguistic Limits: Why English is a "hoarder language" and how "burstiness" keeps AI detectors effective.The DM’s Craft: Why the "lonely fun" of manual world-building remains an essential, deeply human artistic act.

Josh and Kris talk about Kickstarter, the good, the bad, the really bad, and Exploding Minions.

Look, December low-key sucks when it comes to a lot of things, and gaming is no different. But it doesn't have to suck completely! Come hang out with us and we'll talk about it.

Josh and Chris for their second annual Holiday Gift Guide dedicated to the coolest tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) and accessories for 2023.Hear their takes on the year's biggest releases and hottest picks, including the tactical giant mech RPG Lancer, the Critical Role-backed Daggerheart, and the OSR darling Mythic Bastion Land.Plus, get recommendations for:TTRPG Books: Dive into the Cosmere RPG (Stormlight) Starter Set and the hilarious goofball game Pigeons 11.Accessories: Explore Hexbound aluminum dice, beautiful Dispels astral thread dice, gorgeous notebooks from Rook & Raven, and detailed minis from Arch Villain Games.Stocking Stuffers: Discover dry-erase condition rings, initiative trackers, and the Twice Dead King (Warhammer 40k) omnibus.If you're shopping for the D&D player, role-playing gamer, or TTRPG enthusiast in your life, you need this guide! Available on all podcast platforms and at noplotonly.com.

What is the difference between Goblin Mode and Goblin Core? Dive into the ecology of the internet's most feral archetype. We explore why embracing your inner "cozy swamp creature" is a coping mechanism for millennial burnout and the pressure of perfect adulting.

Welcome back to No Plot Only Lore! This week, your hosts Josh and Chris dive deep into the most chaotic and complex anime powers to figure out how to import them into your favorite TTRPG (like Dungeons & Dragons). If you love D&D mechanics, worldbuilding, and outlandish character concepts, this episode is for you.We break down the rules and roleplaying challenges of:The Social Credit Hero: A power set based entirely on a character's popularity and public trust. What happens to a superhero's power when their social score tanks?Death & Reset Mechanics: Examining the genre of "Groundhog Death Day" anime where a character resets time upon death, including the protagonist who killed himself 4,000 times to power up.Magical Garbage: Analyzing the unique ability to imbue mundane trash with extraordinary TTRPG powers.The Turbo Granny Problem: How to run an encounter against a villain with a bizarre, high-speed power, and the logistics of powers drawn from the series Dan Da Dan.Discover the best (and worst) ways to integrate these plot-bending abilities into your next D&D campaign or tabletop adventure.

We was talking clowns and that got me on the ha-has. The Party as a Comedy TroupeMost D&D tables accidentally become improv comedy theater.“Every game starts as Game of Thrones and ends as Monty Python.”Long campaigns kind of naturally develop bits and recurring gagsPlayers have a tendency to start to fall into roles associated with ensemble comedy subconsciously.QuotesI don’t know what to tell you, man - people are gonna quote D20, Critical Roll, Monty PythonThey aren’t necessarily meant to be funny? They’re more like a cultural shorthand and rituals for belonging.They say “I am one of you, I know the right scripts, I can do the call-and-response!” It’s like a meta-textual handshake of sorts.Often, the quotes mutate or change over time to become more specific to your group.The BitsEvery group, whether gaming or not, develops an internal economy. A bit is currency - you can buy attention or affection with it.You trade a bit for laughs or groans or the DM watching their soul evaporate into sighs.In some ways, tables will self-regulate this economy.Good bits live on, bad bits die, Legendary Bits may transcend this table or this game and be used at others. Modern table comedy is deeply parasocial.Many players have internalized the cadence of Brennan Lee Mulligan, Aabria Iyengar, or Matt Mercer.Quoting or mimicking them isn’t laziness — it’s a way to align tone and show respect.But it can also blur identity: Are we referencing their games, or ours?Is the humor derivative, or are we participating in a shared meta-culture of play?This creates a kind of folk comedy canon — the oral tradition of Actual Play media.The Function of Comedy in Collaborative PlayIt defuses tension, reinforces bonds, and stitches continuity across long gaps.Laughter is a feedback loop of participation — even disengaged players rejoin the moment when someone lands a good bit.Table humor = the heartbeat of the group.In many ways, the group’s sense of humor defines its culture more than its ruleset.The Meta Bit: When the Table Knows It’s a ShowFor Actual Play games, humor becomes performative.The “table” has a secondary audience.Every joke carries dual awareness:Does it land here?Does it land out there?The bit becomes both a bonding mechanism and part of the brand.You joke different if you know your joke could be on a mug forever.