Every week, Recall Knowledge recaps the Know Direction content of the past week, a preview of the Know Direction content of the week to come, and the director of operations, Ryan Costello, thoughts on the state of the network.
Loren recently gave me a shout out in the staff section of the Know Direction Discord. She talked about how we collaborate on her blog, Bend The Knee, and how much she enjoys the partnership. To give an idea of how we work, Loren does all of the creative work. Then she hands the prompts over to me so find three guests, set deadlines, and wrangle any stragglers.
Like Loren, I love this process. She does the 90% of the work to make the blog happen, but that last 10% is a huge hurdle for her. She feels like she is harassing people doing a favour for her when she pokes them for an update, and she feels legitimately bad about it. As opposed to me. To quote another Montrealer named Ryan, for me it’s super easy, barely an inconvenience. An insurmountable obstacle for Loren is no obstacle for me. It’s one of the strengths of the network: we are all talented individuals, but in different ways. We replace our own weaknesses with one another’s strengths.
Which brings me to PaizoCon Online 2020. Eight days from today, Perram gets in the captain’s chair to execute a largely theoretical plan for live streaming a virtual convention. Like Loren and Bend The Knee, this project would not be possible without Perram, but at the same time Perram could not do it without Alex Augunas, Vanessa Hoskins, Dustin Knight, and John Godek. We actually had more staff members volunteer than we were allotted for this project, which is always encouraging. As you saw or heard if you watched our live recording or listened to the last Know Direction podcast release, we can have fun and juggle responsibility surprisingly well.
As we continue to grow, what the network is capable of grows exponentially bigger. It’s exciting to consider what other projects we could accomplish with the combined skills and drive of our staff.
Shoot, is it too late to rename the network The Know Direction Balanced Party?
Recap of May 11th to May 15th
What happened last week on knowdirectionpodcast.com and twitch.tv/knowdirection?
Monday, May 11th
PODCAST
Stellar 008 – One Foot In The Grave
This episode is a wall-to-wall combat that begins with a volley of grenades, ends with a rain of meat, and features a bear butt bite in between. It’s also a great example of how to remain in character when you’re in combat.
ARTICLE
Recall Knowledge – May 4th – May 15th
By Ryan Costello
I went over how May 2020 is a huge month for The Know Direction Network.
Tuesday, May 12th
PODCAST
Digital Divination 004 – Gearing Up!
John and Ron talk about Starfinder equipment, and boy do they pack it in. They explain the rules and reasoning behind equipment levels, and the challenges of hanging out loot when optimal equipment is 90% more valuable than suboptimal equipment. They also go into why so thick a line was drawn between personal equipment and starship equipment.
ARTICLE
Burst of Insight—Pandemic Memes: Influential RPGs, Part 1
By Andrew Marlowe
If your feed is like mine and Andrew’s, you’re seeing a lot of “I was asked to list” type posts. Rather than post his answer to social media, Andrew fleshes his thoughts out and shares four of the ten RPGs that have influenced him.
Wednesday, May 13th
ARTICLE
Fox’s Cunning – The Second GASP
By Dustin Knight
Dustin has a simple but handy pneumonic device for remembering what to do on your turn in Pathfinder 2e if your plan takes less than 3 actions. If you read this article and end a turn with an unused action, Dustin will be personally insulted.
Thursday, May 14th
PODCAST
Know Direction Special – PrepzoCon
PaizoCon coverage is going to be different this year, and it takes a different kind of episode to get ready for it. We assembled the KD Con Team to practice the live stream guest wrangling we’ll be doing at PaizoCon Online 2020. We made it a special episode because we weren’t sure if it would be any good as audio entertainment. Ends up, when you get enough network members on camera together and we have a good time.
ARTICLE
Something Creates – An Adventure! (Quest #1 Outline)
By Andrew Sturtevant
Andrew continues his series on plotting a quest arc by sharing his outline for the first quest. I loved his liberal use of bullet points to break important ideas into individual thoughts. It’s a clean, collected way to reference what’s important, especially for a five part adventure where each part has individual and overarching needs.
Friday, May 15th
PODCAST
Intrepid Heroes 036 – Welcome Party
Kaholo, Razz, Julakashti, Skootch, and Whiskey make a new friend. Unfortunately, that friend is not technology. There are a few technical issues this episode. But it’s a Starfinder actual play, so it’s thematic!
ARTICLE
Bend the Knee – Everyday Heroes
By Loren Sieg
Heroes. PCs earn the label by default, but what is a hero, really? To answer that question, we assembled industry guest Lar DeSouza, Know Direction Network member Andrew Marlowe, and fan Anthony Adam, all of whom recently participated in charity work during these troubled times.
Preview of May 18th to May 22nd
This is back to Block 1 of our 2-block schedule.
Monday, May 18th
PODCAST
Adventurous 0036 (available now)
The catfishing continues, with no end in sight!
ARTICLE
Recall Knowledge (also available now)
The banner was *this* close to saying this installment previews up to May 22th.
Tuesday, May 19th
PODCAST
Legend Lore 004
Luis and Loren cover another Pathfinder 2e class in the latest class feature.
ARTICLE
Groundbreaking by Randal Meyer
Wednesday, May 6th
TWITCH
Geek Together – Paint Together
Crystal Frasier joins network members like Perram and Loren to paint miniatures and discuss hobbies and the RPG industry.
PODCAST
Presenting
John speaks with Adam Vick, Paizo Art Director
ARTICLE
Guidance by Alex Augunas
Thursday, May 7th
ARTICLE
Investing In by Rob Pontious
Friday, May 8th
ARTICLE
Monstrous Physique by Luis Loza
Important Reminders
Like a bulletin board of all the adventures you should be on.
- PaizoCon Online 2020
In just 8 days (thanks Darran Caldemeyer, The Know Direction Network’s official PaizoCon countdown correspondent, the annual celebration of all things Paizo goes 100% virtual, and The Know Direction Network is there to bring you four days of seminar coverage!
As you may have noticed, Battle of the Pantheons is off the Important Reminders list. That’s because entries have been turned over to us, and the staff has voted on them and turned our Top 20 over to Paizo. Look for an announcement on the Paizo blog of which entries made the cut some time after PaizoCon. Thanks to everyone who entered, to Dustin Knight for spearheading this project, and to the Know Direction staff who helped narrow the list down.
Now you know,
Ryan Costello
