B028 Interview with OneShot's James D'Amato

> "*When you make a character to be a hero you are saying what you think a hero is, and that reveals something very personal about yourself whether you want to acknowledge that or not.*"
> ― James D'Amato
>
>

**Interview with OneShot's James D'Amato** is the twenty-eight bonus episode of Queens of Adventure. It is an interview with James D'Amato, GM of the OneShot Network podcast recorded during the show's trip to Chicago in Fall of 2019.

## Summary

Around the Mic:

* DM Matt
* DM James D'Amato

James introduces his work of working on podcasts involving table top games, starting with One Shot, where they have showcased over a hundred different table top games. He knows people default to thinking of D&D, and he wanted to show off more. Their other big show is Campaign, which is long-form storytelling without D&D. There they've done StarWars and now a new unique setting. In addition to those, others on the One Shot network host many other podcasts.

In college he thought that table top gaming was too nerdy for him, who was trying to avoid a nerdy persona, until a girl he was interested in was part of an introductory game in a club. So he learned that it was fun to get to know people through exploring their imagination.

He had done improv and theater in High School, but didn't at first realize they would be part of D&D. He was blown away by the possibilities of the game genre. His first DM had them due night watches when camping, and James loved the campfire conversations with other characters. It removed some of the burdens of storytelling and made it easy.

One Shot came to be after James worked on other shows, and someone familiar with the "Nerd Poker" show approached him about working on a table top show. He was in as he thought it might be a way to display the game to others who might not have tried playing a table top before. Most of the shows he found doing research were D&D and Pathfinder, so he decided to make a show that tried out many other games.

One of his favorite memories of his early games was that each year, one college senior would run a massive game as a final adventure. James ran a large game of Mouse Guard, where players had to navigate around the entire school. People would navigate the halls of the school and have to encounter things.

ShadowRun was one of the first games he played after D&D, and loves how it's a kitchen sink system with magic, monsters, and future sci-fi. Before playing, James thought he would only need D&D. Once he tried it, it was revelatory to show him the potential for other systems of games.

One of the core missions of One Shot is "Make Games Accessible", by showcasing what makes each game magical and appealing.

James discusses his early characters including a heterocromatic eyed half-dragon sorcerer, who was a total Mary Sue. His Shadow Run character thought he would be a rebel who tried to overthrow the corporate-tocracy, until James realized that most parties turn into rebels and he wasn't that unique afterall. He also recalls a werebear who was raised as a bear and learns to become a hero. Matt notes that James thinks to unite politics and comedy in his characters. James agrees as the two have plenty of overlaps for him, and goes so far to say that all player characters try to use their power to change the world.

Matt asks James if the comedy and improv scene in Chicago brought James here. James says he had wanted to be a comedian since he was very young (after giving up being a cartoonist due to lack of artistic skills). At a time he was realizing stand up efforts and web comics weren't making him happy, he tried improv and found everyone there was happy despite most not earning a living from comedy. Even if he didn't go the distance, he could find happiness in improv.

James hypes the book he wrote "The Ultimate RPG Gameplay Guide", which contains a lot of his thoughts from actual play and improv. Such as how to use the idea of Yes, And from improv to not just accept things that end a show "Here, drink this mug of poison." He gives an example of how a character's joke about orphans on a ship, he took and turned into a touching character moment for the ship's captain. His feeling is its important for engaged players to take people's jokes and random ideas, and find ways to work with them. While this is often the Gamemaster's job, the players can do that too, such as through emotional reactions. His book encourages players to see themselves as an artist if they play, and overcome any fears of rejection.

Looking ahead: This is the second book he has written, and is working on a third (and has a soft agreement for a fourth). One Shot and Campaign are doing well and they are looking for new ways to expand those works. They want to find a way to make compelling content and monetize it, but doesnt want to fixate on the money only.

The shows can be found on oneshotcampaign.com.

## Behind the Queens

* In the intro, Matt announces an online adventure with Arson, Butylene, Bosco, and Fraya on Wed Sept 16th on Pax 2 channel.
* The interview was recorded on October 8th, 2019, the day his book "The Ultimate RPG Gameplay Guide" was released.
* In the outro, Matt plugs the Minimum Rage arc of the OneShot podcast which featured him, Butylene, and Fraya.

01-10: The Day of the Lepus - Hang Ten - Putting on a Show - Doube D20 - DragCon - Children of the Cornball - The Lost Treasure of the Neverglades - Enter the Wigsnatch - Cragmaw Kerfufle - Kickstarterversary Retrospective -
11-20: Chat with Bryan Wuest - Ravnica Part 1 - The Fur Hole - Release the Meat (Lost Mines Part 2) - QoAQnA - Interview with Celeste Conowitch - PAX 2019 - Secretly Hot - Mr Boogaloo's Dungeon Dash - 2019 Year in Review -
21-30: Gaylaxicon 2019 - Feetpics for the Hellwasp Fingering the Bone Throne - For the Queen! - Haus of Geek Live - Ravnica Part 2 - Ravnica Part 2 - **Interview with James D'Amato** - Seattle in Chicago
**==PATREON BACKER MONTHLY UPDATES==**
April 2020 - May 2020 June 2020 - July 2020 - August 2020

**The Party**: Bunsen "Bunny" Burner - Bootsy - Whiskey Pickleback
**Other**: Downtown - Electric Flames - One Shot Podcast - **Interview with James D'Amato**