Welcome to Tavern Talk Thursday! This is a weekly column where we chat with a member of the TTRPG (tabletop role-playing game) community to learn more about how they found themselves at the table, what they love about tabletop gaming, and other fun things. Think of it as a little sneak peeks into the minds of our fellow players and DMs.
Settle in for another fireside chat. This week we have sat down with the incredible mind behind Homie and The Dude – Bodhi. From finding Dungeons and Dragons in his teens to helping create overlays players can use to take their battles to the next level, he lives and breathes the TTRPG community. When he isn’t leading his friends and family at the table, he is working on his latest creation, Sky Zephyrs. Check out everything he had to share and what he loves most.
RELATED: Check out more Tavern Talk Thursdays!
Bodhi of Homie and The Dude
Julia Roth: Let’s chat your TTRPG backstory! How did you find yourself at the table?
Bodhi: I used to play D&D as a teenager, but 3.5 was far to crunchy for my dyslexic brain. So I let it be for a couple of years. Then when COVID hit, Tom and I found Acquisitions Incorporated and Node. We fell in love with their Actual Play content, and the rest is history.
JR: Favorite world to adventure in?
B: The Sky Realm, our homebrew world of floating islands.
JR: Favorite one-shot adventure?
B: One that I am not a part of… haha. I don’t like one-shots. I tend to find that they lack interesting plot and character development. And if I’m honest, RP and a great story are why I play TTRPGs. So at a minimum, I would be happy to be part of a four-shot.
JR: Backstory or class first?
B: Neither. I tend to come up with my character’s looks, personality and flavor. Then I go to class to fit my concept. Then finally, I go with a backstory to help flesh them out.
RELATED: Homie and The Dude Chat Upcoming Sky Zephyrs Kickstarter
JR: Favorite spell and why?
B: Hideous Laughter. Because what’s funnier than forcing others to laugh at terrible jokes and puns I use for verbal components of the spell?
JR: Who has been your favorite character to play?
B: I play a character that I came up with for a short story as a child that is, to this day, one of my fave characters ever. His name is Jimmy James Gentlemen. He is a late 40s ex-cop who has turned to a life of crime. You will never find him without a cigarette in his mouth, Dr. Martens boots on his feet, a classic Led Zeppelin t-shirt covering his muscles and his vibro-Katana on his back.
JR: Do you have a particular race/class you enjoy?
B: I typically play Martial Classes as we are huge MMA fans. So getting down and dirty with hand-to-hand combat is my jam. Monk, Fighter, Rogue or Ranger are my go-to’s.
RELATED: The Velvet Lodge TTRPG Actual Play Is Filled With Horror and Mystery
JR: Is there something that you build into every character? A fun trait or a special item?
B: I always like to build in a massive character flaw, something that, with character development, can be resolved or at least something that my character must face up to.
JR: What is your favorite system to play within?
B: Orbital Blue. It’s, at the moment, for me, the most balanced system of allowing freedoms with RP and adventuring, but it also makes combat really freeing and open to interpretation while somehow retaining enough crunch to still feel like a TTRPG.
JR: Tell us about the wildest adventure you have been on?
B: I have traveled the world twice, seeing many parts of Asia. I love any chance I get to leave the Western world and experience something different, so travel is my greatest adventure.
JR: What has been your most impactful moment at a table?
B: Having our entire cast die at the end of our Avatar: The Last Airbender Actual play series called “The Last Breath” set during the Fire Nation attacks on the Air temples.
RELATED: Deny Trudel of 12 Parsecs Designs Chats Upcoming Little Worlds Dice Kickstarter and TTRPGs
JR: Favorite dice to use?
B: Loaded…? Joke. I like gemstone dice the best as they have a good weight-to-roll ratio. I like the d6 most as it is the most versatile dice.
JR: Would you rather face off against an entire dungeon of undead or charm your way through a royal court?
B: I would like to charm my way through a royal court as I feel it would challenge my improv RP skills to act out all those social encounters.
JR: Favorite TTRPG Monster?
B: A Homebrew creature I made called a Night Deceiver. It is a leviathan size angler fish that flies through the skies eating airships. These airships then are swallowed into the vast hollow space in its stomach that, over time, becomes a hidden city of airship debris and survivors that can’t get out.
RELATED: Chera Meredith Chats Inspiration Behind Closer Than You Know and Learned To Design Games
JR: Good luck charms or rituals before a game?
B: I always wear some sort of D&D-based t-shirt even if my player can’t see it. And I always GM standing up.
JR: Who is sitting at your dream table?
B: I feel like I really have a dream table for our actual play series, The Sky Realm. Shout out to Blake, Amber and Sam. However, if we are talking about celebs, I would say Lou Wilson, Aabria Iyengar, Zac Oyama, Travis Willingham, Robbie Daymond and Patrick Rothfuss.
JR: What are you most looking forward to within the TTRPG world?
B: Releasing our Sky Zephyrs Kickstarter. We hope to revolutionize Vehicles and Vehicle Combat for D&D 5e with our swashbuckling dynamic 3D movement and momentum system and Version 1 of our custom Vehicle Builder web application. We love TTRPGs more than anything, and this Kickstarter and supplement is our love song to the community. We hope you all love it as much as we love y’all. And we hope you guys play it on repeat for years to come.
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/tavern-talk-thursday-ben-of-homie-and-the-dude/
Who I Am: A nerd by the strictest definition. I enjoy diving straight into my favorite fandoms without a care in the world. I live on video/board games, fantasy movies and TV, and all things geeky.
- Saturday Morning Webtoons: SAY THE RIGHT THING and OSORA - October 12, 2024
- Tavern Talk Thursday: Grow Your Myth With TWISTED CRYPTIDS - October 10, 2024
- Meredith Moriarty Talks THIRD SHIFT SOCIETY and What Lies Ahead - October 7, 2024
