Almost Bedtime Theater

Precious Things: Review, Actual Play (Ep 21)

• Dan & Rachael • Season 2 • Episode 21

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A transcript of this episode is available via the episode page on Buzzsprout.

In this episode, we review and play the RPG Precious Things.

  • 06:57 - Actual play

Precious Things was written by Lucas Zellers, with layout and illustrations by Emily Entner. It is available through Itch.io.

Our intro and outro theme music are by McRoMusic, who can be found on Patreon at patreon.com/mcromusic. Their piece “Busy Tavern” was used in this episode.

The following tracks were also used and are by Michael Ghelfi Studios https://michaelghelfistudios.com/

  • Cleric (Short Themes Collection Vol 1)

How to reach us:

Rachael:

Hi, I'm Rachael,

Dan:

And I'm Dan, Rachael's dad.

Rachael:

And this is Almost Bedtime Theater, a podcast about playing roleplaying games with kids. In this episode, we are reviewing and playing Precious Things, an RPG about tiny dragons building cozy little hoards.

Dan:

Precious Things was written by Lucas Zellers with layout and illustrations by Emily Entner. It's a one page RPG, printed on front and back, and you can fold it up into this cute little tiny booklet.

Rachael:

It was based on the game Lasers and Feelings, so you'll need a game master and two to five players. You've also got two characteristics that affect dice rolls, Tiny, which means more agile and stealthy, and Dragon, which is more intimidating and talkative and things like that. To be better at one means being worse at the other, and you end up rolling one to three six sided dice to find out what happens. It also includes a little game master section with ideas for where the dragons are searching for items and what's making it difficult for them to find them.

Dan:

Precious Things is available through Itch.io. It normally costs$5 for a digital copy, but for the month of February, 2024, it is available for free. That said, during February you can also choose to spend$7 or more purchasing the game, and by doing so, you help support the creation of physical stickers of the little dragon illustrations. There's also mention in the game that it's being expanded into a full source book from Wet Ink Games later in 2024, so depending on when you're listening to this episode, there may be additional content available. So let's talk about what we thought about the game.

Rachael:

It was fairly simple to play. It was easy to pick up and just go with it.

Dan:

It takes you through the character creation very easily in the booklet.

Rachael:

Yeah. It was fun to make our little characters and decide their spells.

Dan:

I wanted to make little dragons. I wanted to make, like, a little spice dragon. I wanted to make a little tooth fairy dragon. Oh man, I have so many fun dragon ideas. I also thought it was pretty simple to run. Mechanically the players roll all the dice. The only content really to keep track of is the player stats. So, like, what's your threshold number, and you can always ask the player that number. I think that really the toughest mechanical bit is remembering when the goal is to roll low, and when the goal is to roll high. I always draw out a little, a little diagram for myself so I can keep track of that real easy. What was your favorite part of the game?

Rachael:

I think my favorite part was probably the chaos at the end when we turned off the light and all that. But like, mechanic wise, I liked that I got to turn into a die and roll around as a little dragon with numbers all over me.

Dan:

The nature of the dragon, where you pick something that's, that's based off your hoard: what do you look like, or how can you act? That, that, that was a really cool idea on their part, I thought. You can go a lot of ways with that. Do you have any suggestions for someone who's looking to play this game for the first time?

Rachael:

Don't forget the fact that you've got spells! Cause I never used mine! It was a cool little spell but I think part of it was just the game wasn't long enough that like I had a reason to use it. I mean I think I could have used it just fine but I didn't really see a way where it would have like actually helped in a way.

Dan:

Effectively what it does, it lets you automatically succeed at some, some event. So if there was, had been anything where you didn't want to risk a complication. You could have duplicated the number of cats, duplicated the number of humans, duplicated yourself, oh, like uh, two of you slamming into the glass cover,

Rachael:

That's true, I could have done that.

Dan:

But it all worked out and it was fun. It was good.

Rachael:

Do you have any suggestions for somebody about to run this game for the first time?

Dan:

I think that one thing to be aware of is because it is a one page game, one of the drawbacks to that is there's only so much space. So there are only a handful of little tables to get you started in terms of ideas. If you aren't comfortable improv ing an adventure, you might want to give it some thought beforehand about what's this actually going to entail? Who might the dragons meet? What kind of complications might they run into? Alternately, as was my preference this evening, is throw some of those questions at the players. Find out, you know, who or what hangs out, in our case in the library? What are the library cats named? What are some of the potential issues that they might run into based on last year? Unless of course the response is, I learned nothing.

Rachael:

Okay, well, yeah.

Dan:

But don't be afraid to talk to the players and have them help paint the picture of this place. I think the other thing is, in depending on how the game is played you could end up with more of a, of an adventure scenario. Like you're making your way through, let's just say a dungeon environment trying to get the goal at the end, or you could have something like ours where it ended up more of a, of a heist scenario, you know, there's, there's a plan, there's a thing I want, and we're going to steal it. For the heist scenario, there is a tidbit of advice that I heard once from Grant Howitt. This was from the My First Dungeon podcast, and he was explaining some tips and tricks for running his game Honey Heist. And he mentioned the idea of aiming for a plan where there's three steps. And then you can always add and subtract from that, but for example, if you're going to steal dice from a prize table you say, cool, but here are the complications. There's going to be a bunch of people watching that table. And there's going to be a heavy glass lid on top of the dice and you're going to need some way to get up on the table, for example. So there are these three obstacles that have to be addressed in this plan for you to get to that. Did you have any other thoughts about the game?

Rachael:

I don't know, I think that pretty much covered it.

Dan:

I still just want to make so many dragons. I want to make like a little leaf dragon. I want to make a dragon that collects cat hair and makes little felted critters. I want to make, you know, I just want to make all these little cozy dragons. They, they sound so fun.

Rachael:

I want to make a cake dragon.

Dan:

Cake, dragon. Oh, I want a jelly bean dragon.

Rachael:

And that's our review! If you would like to get in touch with us with a question, comment, or suggestion, you can email us at AlmostBedtimeTheater@gmail.com, or find our current social media links at bio.link/AlmostBedtimeTheater. And if you enjoy our show, please consider leaving a rating or review whenever you get your podcasts. It means a lot and helps other folks find us. Thank you!

Dan:

Last, but certainly not least, I want to say thank you to Rachel's mum who joined us for this episode as Loop, the marker dragon.

Rachael:

And now let the adventure begin!

Dan:

Your ancestors were colossal dragons with mountains of gold and earth shaking magic. You are their proud descendants, building a hoard of your own full of magical power. It's not easy, since you're under two feet long. You and your dragon friends need to work together to get more precious things and avoid the dangers of the modern world.

Rachael:

Cheese. Cheese.

Dan:

Cheese. Cheese. We're now going to make dragons.

Christina:

Of cheese?

Dan:

No.

Rachael:

Yes. I mean...

Dan:

Oddly enough, if you choose to make a cheese dragon, they will be cheesy. So, first up, we need to find out the size of your dragon. Rachael, would you like to roll the dice first? Find out how many inches long your dragon is.

Rachael:

My dragon is fourteen inches long.

Christina:

I am a 15 inch long dragon.

Dan:

All right, so we got a couple of dragons here just over a foot long. Now you get to decide your hoard. It should be something that you can find in the place where you're playing the game.

Christina:

Her dragon's tail feathers.

Rachael:

Do I just wait for them to grow and then pluck them out?

Christina:

Sure.

Rachael:

Or wait for them to fall out on their own?

Dan:

They do offer a table that you can roll on to figure out what your dragon hoards or you can just come up with something on your own, and then you'll go get three of those things and bring them to the table and that is your hoard. So they offer up things like buttons, coins, pens, tea, but you could also choose something else and if it's something we don't actually have a handy three of, like cheese, we can pretend.

Rachael:

I found them.

Dan:

You're hoarding dice?

Rachael:

I'm hoard-- oh yeah, I'm a dice dragon now.

Christina:

You know what, colored markers seems handy.

Dan:

So we've got a dice dragon with three dice, and we have a marker dragon with three markers. Your hoard determines what kind of dragon you are. You get to decide how you resemble it. So for example, if you were collecting earthenware mugs, maybe your skin is as hard as the ceramic.

Christina:

I'm sharp, apparently.

Rachael:

I've got dice. Like, I've got these numbers all over me.

Dan:

If what your dragon is like is something that can help you, you get a bonus to your roll. You're a dice dragon. Can you roll?

Christina:

Yeah, I mean, obviously she knows where all the numbers on her hide are, so she can roll and have any number she wants come up on top.

Rachael:

That's true. I think when I roll, I just roll myself. Left foot is a 20.

Dan:

Do you like curl up like a, like a roly poly or an armadillo or something and then just roll around? Okay, cool, cool. I like it.

Rachael:

Mm-hmm

Christina:

And I suspect you're really good at calculating, too.

Rachael:

Yes.

Christina:

I suspect that I have scales in whatever colors I've managed to hoard, so I can be very decorative, very camouflaged. At the moment, I can only be camouflaged if I'm up against a silver, bronze, and copper surface, but, you know.

Dan:

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Next up is your magic. Your hoard is the source of your magic. You get to pick a single special spell that your hoard allows you to do. So for example, maybe your button unlocks doors, or you can put a human to sleep with your chamomile breath if you're a tea dragon, that kind of thing. So there's something about dice and something about markers that gives you a magic spell that you can do.

Rachael:

I think with the dice I can roll one and then whatever number comes up I can multiply something in the house by that number.

Dan:

Oh, like you make duplicates? Are they temporary duplicates?

Rachael:

I, I suspect that they last for like maybe 10 minutes.

Dan:

I think that sounds awesome. Are they illusions or are they effectively real for those 10 minutes?

Rachael:

I think they're real.

Dan:

Okay, cool.

Rachael:

You can interact with

Dan:

them. Awesome.

Christina:

As a general point of worldbuilding, can we talk to other people, creatures, whatever that we run into, or not usually?

Dan:

I'm thinking that you can. The implication is that you're hiding from like humans. But dragons can talk, right? So yeah.

Christina:

Well, then I think occasionally I can use my claws to write messages, like in non destructively, not just because I rip things, but, you know, like, marker.

Dan:

Ah. This is the third thing to figure out for your dragon. You get to choose a number from 2 to 5. The lower it is, the better you are at Tiny. And tiny means like stealth and agility and awareness. The higher the number, the better you are at Dragon, which is big actions and intimidation and using your magic.

Christina:

Three.

Rachael:

Four.

Dan:

So one that's slightly more towards Tiny and one that's slightly more towards Dragon. Got it. Would you like to pick names for your dragons?

Rachael:

Rumble.

Dan:

Alright. Mommy?

Christina:

Loop.

Dan:

All right, when it comes time to do something where we don't know about the outcome and you're rolling dice, you get to roll one d6 plus another one if it fits your nature, plus another one if you're helping each other. So you can have up to three d6 for those rolls. And what you're looking for is values that are higher than that number that you picked or lower than the number you picked, depending on what you're doing. So if you're trying to do a Dragon thing, you need a lower number if you're trying to do a Tiny thing, you need a higher number. And then there's also a roll that you do when you're collecting an item for your hoard to see if it's a viable item. See if it's good and it's worthwhile. Then they give me a Game Master section where I have some tables. And we get to decide where you are trying to find items for your hoards. Somewhere that has dice and markers. Dice and markers. But with something interesting going on...

Christina:

A gaming store. With an RPG going on.

Dan:

Tempting.

Christina:

What about game night at a library?

Dan:

Yes, good. So we've got your dragons figured out. Now we're going to put them to work. Your task is to acquire new items for your respective hoards. This is going to be taking place in a library having a role playing game convention night. So far so good?

Rachael:

Yes.

Dan:

Okay. And uh, there's going to be plenty of humans down there. You are going to be on a bit of a timetable, because once they're done playing, they're going to pack up all of their dice, and they're going to pack up all of their nifty markers, and it's all going to go away. So this is

Rachael:

The Chance.

Dan:

The Chance. It's like the best chance of the year to get wondrous new things for your hoards.

Christina:

I've been training.

Rachael:

Oh, yeah, we've been, we've been training.

Dan:

How have you been practicing?

Rachael:

Well, I think that one of us has pretended to be, like, the hooman, the hoomans, and we've been, like, running around, stomping, and obviously being chaos minions, as that is what humans are. And then the other one will be the dragon, running in and being stealthy all like, yeah.

Christina:

I've been like running races around the library to familiarize myself with its layout and especially the area where I expect most of the people with the markers, I call them, the marks, to be.

Rachael:

Well, okay, maybe she's been a little more productive, but I've had fun, okay?

Christina:

Oh, I'm not saying I haven't had fun, you know, a lot of, you know, skittering and leaping and grabbing and dodging and rolling and, yeah.

Rachael:

I've had... less productive fun. Yeah.

Dan:

So here's a question: what are three things that you were preparing for that you expect to have at this event?

Christina:

Markers left conveniently visible in people's bags.

Dan:

Nice. Wouldn't that be easy?

Rachael:

Oh, you know, people are gonna be rolling dice off the tables, onto the floor, right into my hands.

Christina:

They're going to have markers on the table to keep notes for themselves. People are going to have markers in their pockets. And dice in their pockets, too. And holes in their pockets.

Rachael:

New ones by the end of tonight!

Christina:

And people are going to want to take their dice out to like show their friends and they're going to be like shaking them around going, Hey, look at these amazing dice and that, you know, droppity, droppity, droppity, yeah, yeah, yeah,

Rachael:

We'll be rich. More so. Yeah. Yeah.

Dan:

Are there...

Rachael:

Are there any realistic expectations?

Christina:

On the counter of the library, a little can with, you know, like they have with pens in it, except this library, they like to have markers.

Rachael:

Oooooh.

Dan:

Are there any challenges you're anticipating this evening?

Christina:

Nope.

Rachael:

Nope.

Dan:

Well, then this is about to get real interesting and short.

Christina:

I mean, people are inconveniently and rudely attached to their markers and their dice.

Rachael:

And they're kinda perceptive

Christina:

So

Rachael:

Distraction. Ohhhh.

Christina:

So distractible. But the, the cooler the dice or the cooler, the marker, the more attached the humans tend to be, unfortunately.

Dan:

What would you say was the take home lesson that each of you learned at last year's library TTRPG night?

Rachael:

I didn't.

Dan:

(laughter)

Christina:

Grab lots, move fast.

Rachael:

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it didn't really stick, you know. New Year's resolutions was a little difficult because I thought I was perfect just the way I was.

Dan:

(laughter)

Christina:

Wow.

Rachael:

I love this dragon already.

Dan:

One last thing, I need some names. First

Rachael:

Tutti-frutti.

Dan:

the names of the two library cats.

Christina:

I'm thinking Aster and Cordy.

Dan:

Aster and Cordy. And what colors are these cats?

Rachael:

Tutti-frutti.

Christina:

No, that's not a color, doofus! Cordy is all black, void cat, and Aster is multi colored. Sort of-

Rachael:

Rainbow. Tutti-frutti.

Christina:

Like Gray stripes all over, but like an orange striped triangle on her face and white socks.

Dan:

All right. And the last thing I need a name for is the other dragon in the library. The one who collects bookmarks and is quite territorial.

Rachael:

Wyrm. Bookwyrm! Bookwyrm!

Dan:

Okay, it is a warm summer night.

Rachael:

How do we know?

Dan:

It was purportedly a warm summer night. You wouldn't know for sure. You live in a refrigerated library.

Christina:

We can tell because the people, the humans coming in are wearing tank tops and shorts and stuff.

Dan:

The setup has been taking place all afternoon. They've been putting up extra tables. They've been setting out all the places where you are sure markers are going to end up. All the places you're sure that there's going to be some dice. It looks all very promising.

Rachael:

I'm just eyeing the floor, like, just, I'm on, I'm on the

Dan:

lookout. You ready to pounce?

Rachael:

I'm ready to pounce. I mean, here's the thing, you gotta be quick about it,

Dan:

Uh-huh

Rachael:

cause those humans, they bend it over so fast. It's so annoying!

Dan:

The room that this event is taking place in, is this like the sci-fi fantasy book room? Is it a, is it a...

Christina:

I'm, I'm thinking that it's like in the, in the Makerspace gaming room where they've got, you know, lots of tables. They have a, they have a teen afternoon get together a couple times a week so the kids can come in and play games and make stuff.

Dan:

Right, right. Rachael, what kind of stuff do they have up on all the walls?

Rachael:

Like, I think posters, and art supplies, and things like that, and I think I've got a couple 3D printers.

Dan:

But no worthwhile markers.

Rachael:

Wait, how? It's like an art supply studio.

Christina:

They keep the markers locked up most of the time, though.

Dan:

Ah, yes. Because they have-

Christina:

After the Incident.

Dan:

-have a tendency to go missing.

Christina:

I had nothing to do with the Incident.

Dan:

The marker incident?

Christina:

Nothing was ever proven.

Dan:

Really?

Christina:

Yeah. They tried.

Dan:

Okay. So that, so that would mean that yes, tonight is your chance because they're actually opening up the Marker Vault.

Christina:

I know what the combination is, but it requires opposable thumbs.

Dan:

The night is here. People are coming in. They're talking. There's lots of chatter. You start to see a flash here and there as people are taking out dice. They're showing off dice. People are starting to play with dice; they're making little towers out

Rachael:

I'm starting to drool now. Like, I'm just

Dan:

What is dragon drool like?

Rachael:

Oh, I think it's actually,

Christina:

Very slippery.

Rachael:

No, yeah, that. But contrary to popular belief, it's not stinky. Okay?

Christina:

How many people have beliefs about dragon drool? I just,

Dan:

Smelly, smelly dragon drool.

Christina:

I guess.

Rachael:

(laughter)

Dan:

I am, I am delighted to hear that your dragon's drool does not smell,

Rachael:

Contrary to popular belief.

Dan:

Contrary to popular belief. All

Christina:

How come you're laughing so hard? So Rumble is up there just like, and you know, it's becoming slipperier eventually Rumble is just going to like

Dan:

slide.

Rachael:

I mean, it's how you make an entrance, you know.

Dan:

Loop, where are you positioned?

Christina:

Oh, with a good view of the marker vault.

Rachael:

Are you drooling too?

Dan:

Very intense view of the-

Christina:

Oh, no. That would be undisciplined.

Rachael:

Who says that we're disciplined?

Dan:

Loop is apparently considerably disciplined.

Christina:

For certain goals.

Dan:

Things are starting to get underway. You see that people are setting up, game books are starting to go out, little figurines are starting to come up, and yes, that's when you see the librarian. They come in, they're greeting people, they've got is it a key? Is there a key required for this marker vault?

Christina:

Well, they have to scan their ID card.

Dan:

Ahhhh.

Christina:

And then they have to-

Rachael:

For markers?

Christina:

Yes!

Dan:

After the incident.

Christina:

After the incident, and then they have to enter the combination with their cursed, non clawed opposable thumbs.

Dan:

All right, so going up with their badge and it goes beep beep beep beep and then and then they do the typing thing and the biometric scan to open the vault. It opens and you can immediately smell that just...

Christina:

Markers.

Dan:

Ohhhh...

Rachael:

I'm just kinda giving you a side eye, like,

Dan:

With the drool falling out of your mouth.

Rachael:

Yeah.

Dan:

And and they reach in and they bring out a huge double handful of markers and the marker vault closes again, hiding all the rest of the markers. And then they go out and they start setting out markers at the various tables. What is your plan?

Rachael:

Who's got one? I don't.

Dan:

Got no plan.

Rachael:

Well, okay, fine, I'm just waiting for them to drop the dice.

Christina:

Okay, see, I think we have at least a very rudimentary plan based on some of my practice runs through the library. Rumble has floor duty, and we'll be, you know, looking for dropped dice and markers, and I will also have floor duty, but if there are any opportunities to drop down from above, race across the table, knock markers and dice off the table,

Dan:

Ah,

Christina:

toward where Rumble is, you know, then um,

Dan:

So trying to get, get the goods onto the floor where there's a better chance to then make off with such items.

Christina:

Yeah, before the humans bend down really fast like they do.

Dan:

Okay. As you're, you're looking out across the room, taking this all in with this well established plan of knock everything on the floor, grab it and run, you are aware of a couple of things. One is the presence of the library cats.

Christina:

They can be bribed.

Rachael:

Oh, yeah.

Christina:

They love head scritchies. And we have claws.

Rachael:

Ha ha

Christina:

They love us.

Dan:

Cordy and Aster are in attendance tonight. Very similarly, they're kind of doing the floor cruise because they're getting all kinds of attention and pets and there's a refreshments table and people are handing things off to the kitties. They probably shouldn't be, but little, little snacks are making their way down to the kitties. But you're also aware that is totally what they're after. So you can use that to your benefit if necessary. Let's say they get some music going, lots of chatter is going on. There are plenty of tables to pick from if you want to hit one and try to knock things over. Question, how much are you trying to keep yourself hidden from humans? Because they don't know about you. And certainly, Wyrm, the elder dragon in the library, is very solidly of the opinion we have to keep it that way.

Christina:

Yeah It's the only problem with my plan is I have to wait for, you know, either an unoccupied table or when people aren't looking or whatever,

Dan:

Or you need to be disguised.

Christina:

As a cat.

Dan:

Or get one of them to do it for you.

Rachael:

but that's like, you gotta talk to them.

Christina:

No, they'll do anything for head scritchies.

Rachael:

Yeah, but like, that's not as fun to me.

Christina:

Oh, girl. Who do you think I was doing all my practice runs with over the past few weeks?

Rachael:

Wyrm.

Christina:

No.

Rachael:

The cat?

Dan:

What would you like to do first?

Christina:

Well, I think I'm gonna look for a table that has had its markers laid out on it, but doesn't yet have people at it.

Dan:

There is one where it looks like everybody's taking a bit of a break, and they all got up to go over to the snack table, maybe get some punch. There is just one person at that table, and they are looking very carefully at some sort of worksheet.

Christina:

Okay.

Rachael:

Dice. Markers.

Dan:

Oh, there's markers, there's dice, there's minis, there's all kinds of stuff up there. There's a map.

Christina:

Okay. So, you're gonna go get below that table and I'll get on it and see what I can knock off.

Rachael:

Oh yeah.

Dan:

All right.

Rachael:

I'm gonna like drop to the floor and run between the tables and stuff.

Dan:

Rumble, are you gonna curl up and roll dice-like across the floor? Okay.

Rachael:

Yeah. I'm like, I think, can I shape myself into like a d20?

Dan:

A big, big, chonky d20. Mm hmm. Okay. Okay, cool. You hit the ground rolling. Loop, what's your plan of the many options for getting stuff scattered off this table without getting caught?

Christina:

Well, I've gotten myself over to the top of the shelf that, cause you know, there's like, shelves

Dan:

Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah.

Christina:

Cause, library. So I got myself over to the shelf that's near one end of the table. It's the one that the one remaining person is slightly turned away from.

Dan:

Mm

Christina:

Um, so my plan is to hop down lightly onto the table. I'm going to go sneaky and quiet as much as I can, you know, I'll knock things off as I can or grab them if available.

Dan:

All right, the rolling your way across the floor, I'm thinking we'll have a roll for that to see if you can, you can get yourself there without getting picked up by someone going, Ooh, look at that die. And then we will also then have a roll from what's going on above the table as you go sneaking through trying to push stuff off the edge. All right, shall we start with the roll across the floor? You get to start with a 1d6. You get to add a d6 if your nature is assisting.

Rachael:

I think it is.

Dan:

So you've got two six sided dice. And then the third would be if you were having help, but at the moment I think you're pretty much on your own. And I should also say, we need to decide whether this is a Tiny roll or a Dragon roll. It sounds like it's a Tiny roll to me. You're, you're trying to be agile and stealthy and, and get through without getting spotted. So if you're rolling for a Tiny roll, that means you need to roll over your number. What was your number again?

Rachael:

My number is four and I had a four and a two.

Dan:

All right, so you got a four and a two, which means that none of your dice succeeded. Things go wrong. How about we say you crack into somebody's ankle, you ricochet off, the noise catches the attention of the cats. And you have Cordy on your trail. There's this thing rolling around on the floor. So you've got cat attention and they are chasing you across the floor. Scrabble, scrabble, scrabble, scrabble, scrabble.

Rachael:

I think what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna like, stop, like really suddenly so that Cordy goes like, scrambling to stop.

Dan:

Cordy comes running up, pulls up to a stop right at you and sits on you.

Christina:

Given the size that she is, that's gotta be pretty uncomfortable for Cordy.

Dan:

Maybe kind of sits slash lies down on it.

Rachael:

This might be actually really nice.

Christina:

Oh, you're nice and warm, and now you're hidden under cat.

Rachael:

Yeah, cuz if somebody glances, it's not much of a complication at all. I mean, I'm pretty uncomfortable right now, but. Well, actually, no, I'm not. I'm still rolled up, and I'm, I'm fuzzy and warm.

Christina:

Plus, if you unroll just slightly, you could kind of tiptoe across the floor, covered by cat!

Dan:

Cat has a very shocked look on its face. Over here for Loop, then. Loop, you see the layout before you. You have the plan for the table. I'm thinking if your intent is to be sneaky about this, it is probably a Tiny roll as you try to get onto that table lightly and start nudging stuff off. Okay you get 1d6 to start.

Christina:

And I, I get 2D6 because camouflage. Cause I can do things with colors. On my scales.

Dan:

Oh, very nice. Especially maybe that, that silvery white can help you blend in with some of the papers and stuff?

Christina:

Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

Dan:

Okay, and what was your number that you're trying to...

Christina:

My number is three, and I'm trying to roll higher. Uh, Four and a six.

Dan:

Two successes. You do it well; good job. Go ahead and describe for us what you managed to knock over and do and how you get to slip away from being spotted on the table.

Christina:

Well, I think this is a table with spaces for four people. And so of course everybody's got their dice and their markers out. So everybody, everybody's probably got out like 20 or 30 dice. I, okay, maybe not 20 or 30. I think I managed to knock about, let's say, ten dice and three markers off the table.

Rachael:

That's a lot.

Christina:

It is, but I mean, they're all,

Dan:

I mean, that's, That's basically one, one person's seat. You get to one person's spot, kind of out of, out of view behind the GM screen and just,

Christina:

Knock it all off.

Dan:

Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum. The dice start to come down and Cordy, I mean you can feel the tension, as Cordy's attention-

Rachael:

I think, I like, try and surprise them by like, springing up really quickly? just gonna like, spring up and unroll.

Dan:

What's your goal by this action?

Rachael:

Surprising Cordy away.

Dan:

Ah, so they scatter?

Rachael:

Mmhmm.

Dan:

Okay, I'm-

Rachael:

I mean, honestly, I think I could probably rear up on my hind legs and maybe do like a little hiss.

Dan:

That sounds to me like a very dragony sort of action. So you're going to get 1D6. Is your nature assisting you in any way? The fact that you can roll up and are covered in numbers.

Christina:

No, but I am, because I will try to drop a die on Cordy's head at the same moment as you are...

Dan:

Very nice. Very nice. Okay. So you've got the help die. So that's 2d6 and you're trying to roll under your number. Okay.

Rachael:

They're both under my number. I got a 2 and a 1.

Dan:

Excellent. This means that you do well. Good job.

Rachael:

I think I've got really short legs and I'm just

Dan:

Cordy looks over you. It's like kind of scoots around and up because you're, you're emerging from underneath them. And right about then. Bonk! A die bounces off their head and they just leap into the air like two feet, legs, every which

Rachael:

Crash

Dan:

Hit the ground. You're probably kind of under the table; bonk into the table. Crash, land, hit and they tear off.

Rachael:

I start rushing around to pick up all the dice and then like, and the markers.

Christina:

I mean, I'm down off the table at this point. I'll grab the markers

Rachael:

yeah. I probably can't carry all ten dice, so...

Dan:

Here's the thing, not all items, not all dice, not all markers are good enough to be part of your hoard, right? I mean-

Christina:

We are discerning dragons.

Dan:

Correct. There are markers and then there are markers, right?

Christina:

Yeah, yeah.

Dan:

And same with dice. You got to get the good ones. So. What you're each going to get to do is you're each going to do a roll. This isn't something that comes with complications and the like. It's just to ascertain whether you are able to find in this batch of dice and markers, any that meet all of your requirements to be included in your hoard. Okay. And to do that, you're going to roll 2d6 and then give me the total value that you roll.

Rachael:

Four.

Dan:

Okay.

Christina:

Eight.

Dan:

Okay, with an 8 you find one item. Perfect. Magically delicious. Describe for us this marker that is excellent for your hoard.

Christina:

It is exactly the right thickness for me to grab, and there's a nice little separation between the marker and the cap, so I can hook a claw under there and get it off real easy which is, which is something that I particularly appreciate.

Rachael:

I bet there's like, like, the owner didn't like, draw on the cap, and there's not like, ink all over the

Christina:

Yeah, no, it's, it's a very clean, fresh marker and it's a really nice shade of dark green that matches the library carpet really well, and also I just like this, this green color.

Dan:

So does this mean that now that you've claimed it for your hoard, you can do that dark green?

Christina:

Can do that dark green, yeah.

Dan:

Nice. Unfortunately, rolling a 4 means that none of these dice are good enough. What's wrong with them?

Rachael:

I think I'm just kinda sorting through them, and I'm just so disappointed.

Christina:

Disappointed.

Rachael:

I'm just like, oh I'm so sad.

Christina:

I, I pat Rumble on the head and say, Don't, don't worry bud, there's lots more dice here, we're gonna find you some.

Rachael:

I think what's necessarily wrong with them is that like some of them are just like I guess ugly colors in my opinion? I think there's one that like like an olive green and like I don't know like a Greenish red maybe?

Christina:

It's probably brown.

Rachael:

Okay, maybe brown isn't my favorite color then but-

Dan:

Oh, and you know, this would make sense if ah, Loop, you only had the opportunity to knock the dice off from one person's area. Maybe it was their set of dice and it's all this same color that just, but there's a lot more dice there.

Rachael:

Yeah, I'm still feeling pretty disappointed right now

Dan:

Well, let's say that the night continues on. The tables on the whole tend to have pretty constant attendance, so there's not really this option for crashing through and swiping their stuff. But then comes the big reveal that they're holding a drawing for prizes. And then they unveil all the prizes, and that's when you have the opportunity, Rumble, to see that the big prize is a set of dice. You want to tell us what those dice look like? How do you know that if you can get one of those dice, it is going to be the perfect addition to your hoard?

Rachael:

They're shiny, they're purple, they're galaxy, they're, they're, they're sparkly. Oh, they're drool worthy.

Dan:

You're starting to drool again, huh?

Rachael:

Yeah. Sorry.

Dan:

All right.

Rachael:

Aw.

Dan:

Is that the cat or is that Rumble?

Christina:

Oh, it's Rumble now.

Dan:

It's Rumble now. Alright, but it's not going to be easy. I mean, that's, that's the prize table. People are watching it. What are the three things that the two of you are going to have to overcome to actually get your little claws on that set of dice?

Christina:

I think we should recruit the cats to help.

Rachael:

All right. Mm.

Christina:

The cats are adorable and everybody wants to watch the cats.

Dan:

Okay, so you've got cat distractor. What if the dice are under like a heavy glass lid, like you'd put over a cake.

Rachael:

Hmm. Yeah.

Dan:

So you're going to have to take care of that. What's the third thing?

Christina:

The distance to get your, you know, to get somewhere without being seen.

Dan:

Getting up on the table in the first place, maybe?

Christina:

The prize table is going to be not only up front where it can be paid attention to, but also there's, you know, more space around it. So to get your die and get away, that's a little more distance.

Dan:

It feels to me like that's, that's part of the whole, you need to distract the humans, enough of the humans and long enough. I mean, you might need something more than just a couple of cats, frankly.

Rachael:

What would we need?

Christina:

We could try turning the lights off.

Rachael:

Ooh. Yeah.

Dan:

Those dice probably glow in the dark on top of everything else, so...

Christina:

you know, so you'd still be able to find the dice. And once it's dark, then you're not going to get seen. So you can just, you know, book it. And I can help the cats trip people at that point.

Rachael:

Yeah.

Dan:

Keep them from getting back to the light switch. Alright, so it sounds like you have a plan. You're going to enlist the cats, kill the lights, loop and cats keep people from getting to the light switches, while Rumble gets up, gets under the heavy glass lid, and makes off with the goods.

Rachael:

Yeah.

Dan:

All right, who's talking to the cats?

Rachael:

You.

Christina:

Sounds like it should be me, because Rumble's got history and an attitude.

Dan:

All right, all right, who are you going to? Cordy or Aster?

Christina:

Well, we've already gotten to see Cordy, so I'll go talk to Aster.

Dan:

Cordy's nursing a bruised ego at the moment, I think. Alright, yes, you find Aster.

Christina:

Aster. Aster!

Dan:

Yeah, what?

Christina:

You remember those head skritchies I was giving you earlier?

Dan:

Oh, yeah.

Christina:

You want more?

Dan:

Yeah.

'kay, I got a

Christina:

proposition for you and Cordy.

Dan:

Oh, oh, okay.

Christina:

Lots of head scritchies. So, we're gonna turn off the lights at a certain point, and we need you to help us keep the humans from-

Dan:

I have darkvision.

Christina:

Oh, sweet. So you're going to know exactly when things are going on. Yeah, that's so cool.

Dan:

I'm good like that.

Christina:

You're so cool, Aster. So once the lights go off, we need you and Cordy to help me keep the humans from getting back over to the lights to turn them on. So if you want to trip people, if you want to get them busy scritchin you, you

Dan:

Can I trip ones that are holding food?

Christina:

Yeah sure.

Dan:

And they won't see the food.

Christina:

I don't think so. They don't have darkvision.

Dan:

So I will get the food.

Christina:

Seems like.

Dan:

And the head scritchies. I agree to your terms.

Christina:

Excellent. Will you tell Cordy? See if Cordy is game?

Dan:

Yeah, let me, let me go attack, I mean, let me go tell Cordy and...

Christina:

Do you need me to talk to Cordy? How are you and Cordy getting along this evening?

Dan:

Oh, this evening?

Christina:

Just, just right now.

Dan:

She bit me.

Christina:

I'll go talk to Cordy.

Dan:

Okay.

Christina:

I'll go find Cordy.

Dan:

Cordy is sitting in a corner.

Christina:

I'm gonna come up to Cordy and start giving Cordy back stritchies.

Dan:

I think this is going to go over well. Yes.

Christina:

Yeah, but hey, Cordy. Rough day?

Dan:

Yes.

Christina:

Oh, what's going on, baby?

Dan:

I sat on a thing and then got hit by a thing and then something hissed at me.

Christina:

Oh, rude! More scritchies.

Dan:

I'm just self soothing. Don't read anything into it.

Christina:

I wouldn't dream of it, sweetie. Scritchies, scritchies, scritchies, scritchies. I tell you what, Cordy, oh, you know what? I have to go do a thing, but if you would be game to help me do the thing, I can get back to giving you scritchies afterwards sooner, because it'll go a little faster.

Dan:

Do I have to sit on anything? I don't want to get hissed at again.

Christina:

You don't have to sit on anything.

Dan:

I mean meow the other thing that hissed at me was, was Aster. So I bit him.

Christina:

You know, if you need to, if Aster hisses at you again, I'm going to leave it up to you what to do about that. I figure two cats fighting in the dark is going to be super distracting, so whatever.

Dan:

So what is it you need help with again?

Christina:

Well, so in just a minute, we're going to kill the lights because we're doing a fun little trick on the humans and we just need to keep the humans from turning the lights back on. So, you know, trip them and steal their food or sit on their heads and purr in their ears. You know, whatever floats your boat, Cordy. It's all good.

Dan:

I don't have a, meow, I don't have a boat, but I think I could float on things. That's like sitting.

Christina:

Sure. I will keep scritching Cordy and I'll give Rumble a big, like, go for it now, nod.

Rachael:

Right. I'm just gonna like climb up to the switch and like i'm kind of flapping my wings.

Dan:

So you have wings? What kind of wings do you have as a, as a dice dragon?

Rachael:

I think they're, they're pretty, they're not like super good wings like they're not for long flights or anything more like longer jumps.

Dan:

This sounds like something you probably need to be a little sneaky about. You have one die for attempting something. Is your nature assisting you?

Rachael:

Hm. Am I getting assistance?

Christina:

I'm scritching Cordy, but there's no reason that couldn't be happening over under the light switches so you could kind of climb up on my head and get a little boost that way.

Dan:

So you are going to use the light switch that's just over Loop's head to get a boost up there. Alright, roll 2d6.

Rachael:

got a 6 and a 2.

Dan:

Okay. And you needed...

Rachael:

At least a 5.

Dan:

Excellent. You're up. You hit the light switch, the lights go out. There's this brief moment of silence, shocked silence, and then lots of chatter. Now that human language is going off everywhere. There are two light switches in this room, one where you are, and one on the other side of the room that people are going to be trying to get to. And then there's, of course, the table of interest.

Rachael:

I think Aster and Cordy are on different sides of the rooms, cause remember, Aster got bit.

Christina:

Cat's were not sitting by each other. Yeah.

Dan:

It's now quite dark. How well do the two of you see when it's very dark?

Rachael:

I think us dragons, we see a little better in the dark.

Christina:

I mean, there would be required emergency lighting. So there's like an, there's an exit sign that's lit red. I mean, it's not a lot, but...

Dan:

Your eyes adjust quickly and, okay. So you have a little to work

Rachael:

Start heading over to the dice.

Dan:

Absolutely.

Christina:

I'm going to say, okay, Cordy, go. And then I am going to climb up the wall and spread myself over the light switch and then make my scales the same silver and dark green pattern as is in the wallpaper.

Dan:

So that anybody looking for the light switch will not be able to find the light switch?

Rachael:

Even though it's dark and they can't see colors?

Christina:

Shhh!

Dan:

There is a scramble of the cats getting underfoot and trying to, find the light switch. Go ahead and give me a roll. I think you get to roll 3d6, one for attempting anything. You've got your nature helping you out, hiding the light switch. And you have help from the cats. So, let's do 3d6. And this to me feels like it's kind of a combination of this stealth plus action, but the action's on the part of the cats. So, what would you say to making it a Tiny roll? So you want numbers that are higher than your threshold, which is a?

Christina:

Three. I have two successes. A four and a six.

Dan:

Okay. Would you care to describe for us the chaos that is ensuing as humans try to turn the lights back on, but between yourself and the cats, it's not happening.

Christina:

Yeah, well, you know, somebody stumbles over kind of in my direction and they're like feeling along the wall, but, you know, I'm, I'm over the light switch. So they, they can't tell what they're touching, but obviously it's not the light switch. So they keep looking somewhere else and can't find it. There are There, there are sounds that sound like, people finding the cats. So I think there's some scritching going on. And then two of those episodes seem to happen pretty near each other. And then there's a, and then, and then there's a lot of yowling. And then it sounds like possibly large things about human sized falling to the ground, followed by, you know, there are special words that the humans say sometimes when they fall down, and it's kind of like that intonation. And, and that, you know, there's, there's more noises of cats scrambling over the floor.

Dan:

Excellent. Rumble, chaos is ensuing. As soon as you got the lights off, you made a break for the prize table. Tell us.

Rachael:

Like, how far away is it?

Dan:

Maybe five, 10 feet.

Rachael:

Uh, jump to it, like, gliding with my wings and stuff.

Dan:

Perfect. Yep. Okay. Prize table. Let's see. Books. Boring. Little figurines. Boring. Paint set. Boring. Dice! How are you going to deal with that big, heavy, glass lid?

Rachael:

I'm gonna go running through and like roll into it or something.

Christina:

You have, you have slippery drool. If you drool-

Rachael:

All around it!

Christina:

All around it, then you could push it any direction you want.

Rachael:

Oh yeah, I think I'm gonna do that, I'm just walking around it and I'm staring at the dice.

Dan:

I thought maybe you were rolling around it, drooling as you go.

Rachael:

No, I'm just, like, doing a slow walk to make sure I'm being real thorough.

Dan:

You got your nose up against the glass. It's drooling down

Rachael:

There's a drool going. I'm just kind of staring at the dice.

Dan:

So do I understand correctly? Then you're just going to shove this lid and try to like, push it all-

Rachael:

I'm going to do a running jump towards it. I think, like, I start running towards it and I jump, but, like, midair I turn into a ball and then I crash into it.

Dan:

Excellent. This sounds like a very actiony thing to me. So this is going to be a Dragon roll. You need to roll under your number. Your number is?

Rachael:

Four.

Dan:

Okay. You get a die for trying. You get another die because you are going into your ball form, into your dice form. Okay. Is that the way you want to tackle it?

Rachael:

Okay. Five and a one.

Dan:

So that means you have one die that succeeds. You barely manage it. There's a complication or cost.

Rachael:

There's a really loud crash and somebody comes over, I think.

Dan:

I like it. All right. So you hit it. Yeah. Oh, it, it slides. It slides like nothing. It all goes off. The glass makes a huge crash as it hits the ground.

Rachael:

I, I grab just one of the dice. I don't need two. I just, okay, yes I do, but I think I only find one because I'm trying to get out there really quick.

Dan:

Roll me 2d6.

Rachael:

Four and a six.

Dan:

That's a ten. You acquire two precious things.

Rachael:

Wow, wow, goodness, okay.

Dan:

It helps, perhaps, that they're glowing. They got a little glow in the dark going on now.

Rachael:

So I I grab them and the moment I've got them I dive off the table.

Dan:

Because, yes, somebody's immediately coming over to check on what's going on. I, I think the complication there is you, you managed to grab a couple. Um, That was, that was like a 12 piece set, and every one of them would have been perfect for your hoard. But you got two. You got two.

Rachael:

I've got two like, I've got the dice stuffed into my cheeks and we're Oh, we're running like crazy.

Dan:

You don't roll up and, and

Rachael:

You know what, yeah. Yeah, I do roll up, and I'm just like, blblblblblblblblblblblbl Oh,

Christina:

Self soothing.

Rachael:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I think the so, the floor is carpet, right? So I think when I get there, I take the, the dice out of my cheeks.

Christina:

They're so drool covered

Rachael:

They're so drool covered, but to dry them off, I roll them all over the carpet.

Christina:

Now they're covered in drool and carpet fuzz.

Rachael:

Yeah, and I, I like, I look at them, and like, I roll one, and maybe it like comes up, I think it's a D8, and it comes up on like a six or something, and I'm like, hmm, mlem.

Dan:

And Loop, what do we epilogue out on for you in the chaos and the darkness?

Christina:

I slide off the light switch and right back down the wall. I just hang out under the, uh, the chair. You know, eventually the lights get turned back on, and then, you know, the cats come over, and I'm like, Okay, one of you on this side, one of you on that No! No, one of you on this side, one of you on that side, and then I scritch each of them with the claws on one side, and I don't let them interact with each other.

Rachael:

I think there's some

Christina:

think

Rachael:

from both of them and then they're both like it's self- soothing

Dan:

The party gets all reassembled and with the exception of, unfortunately, a couple of dice went missing from the prize set everybody still has a grand time and, and the raffle goes on. All the snacks are eaten and people scatter and it's, it's a good night at the library. Well done.

Christina:

Gosh, yes.

Dan:

And that's our show on Precious Things. If it sounded like fun, you can find it at Itch. io and don't forget that it's available for free through the end of February. Our intro and outro themes were created by McRoMusic. This episode also features music from Michael Ghelfi Studios. A list of specific tracks and links to their work are available in our show notes. Thanks again for listening and have a good night

Christina:

And there's gonna be a lot of A lot of just like that.

Dan:

A lotta P'TONG!.