#yazeba’s sal

[woyms]

for the gazebos request: Hey Kid, dancing!

They’re playing just dance~

Gertrude is surprisingly good at it!

[jdragsky]

it's really rare to find ttrpgs that are explicitly about trans people, and i'm really grateful Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast has so so many ways in which transness shows up, both big and small

[carecrowgames]

Yazeba Read Through Session 3

Today was pretty busy so todays reading is gonna be only of page 17, but I want to keep up doing these daily. On the other hand, page 17 is the dramatic personae so there is a lot of meat to chew on!

Reading the book this slowly really makes me appreciate how seriously it takes creating a strong image of the bed and breakfast, its characters and storytelling genre, as well as the feeling that you are being drawn Into the world of a BOOK. Idk seeing a dramatic personae in a ttrpg book just excites me ~~

This where part of me wishes I knew EVEN LESS about the book. Because what yazeba IS, is such a unique thing in the ttrpg space and I would love to be able to see how my brain puts the nature of the beast together as I read it. The dramatic personae would probably be even more exciting then! On the other hand knowing a bit of what’s to come means I can try and find out how it builds up to it with some forth sight so I don’t mind it at all.

Btw, I love how the little symbols next to the characters serve as mnemonic devices to remember core ideas of the characters. Yazeba being a heart that was broken several times over but still holds together sticks out as especially strong to me.

In general, while I believe strong design elements are those that fulfill several functions, I also think any one function should be fulfilled and reinforced by several design elements as well. The way the book layers, builds and reinforces information, themes and vibe of its characters so far is I think really strong - and necessary, if you want people to want to inhabit and explore them!

Because no mortal can stop me, I will give some notes on each of the character introductions:

Gertrude: "Capable beyond expectations" is such a wonderful and kind genre phrase, I just really love how much the book itself cares for Gertrude, it makes it impossible for the reader to not also care about her.

Sal: I did not expect Sal to have been yazebas dropout apprentice! What an absolutely amazing combination with wanting to be a Rockstar. I have so far mostly appreciated how this book deploys its genre space but it can't be unsaid how cool the specifics of the characters and world it is building is. Sal being a cool dropout lyricist who wants to be a Rockstar is a great character, but making him a dropout WITCHES APPRENTICE? absolutely in love with the idea I'm so hooked. Once again, I would read an entire book with him as the protagonist based on this premise alone!

Hey Kid: This page also has the first mention of Hey Kid!! They are one of the characters I come in knowing the most about, because they appeared so prominently in the advertisement of the book, and I am so excited to see more of them!! For now, i can only say: what an incredible name, it says so much of the character and their sense of identity and role in the b&b, even before you know they are a delightfully rambunctious devil-child. Like, of course they are, they are called Hey Kid!

Speaking off it, as you see I decided I will take the advertisement into account when I discuss my experience with this book – it is part of the paratext afterall, and I find with most ttrpgs people will most likely enter them with some amount of outside knowledge, that is propably informed by the games advertisement and strongly informs how they interpret the text. Sadly I don’t have an absolutely garbage memory, so what I remember of the advertisement campaign is full of holes. On the other hand, the fact that my entire brain lights up when I see Hey Kid makes pretty clear how delightful the voice of the character is and how well it stuck with me over the months. In that way the advertisement gave me yet another narrative hook to enter the world through, because I can easily imagine what sort of hijinks Hey Kid might get up to, and have a very clear voice in mind with which I could play them.

Parish: Here is where I have to admit that I already knew who the frog on the cover was, and that it is likely to be the first character I’ll play once I get a game of Yazeba together. I have an incredibly soft spot in my heart for gentle but burdened knights. Once again an amazing take on this character type, making him a frog and not-a-knight-anymore but instead someone who makes sure people get to eat is just *chefs kiss*. Immediately such a range of characteristics to combine and play with and apply to each other. Btw, I feel like with the way this book builds up characters from interconnection and layers information about them, that the wizard who cursed parish might come up as a guest or a chapter. Super curious, because this is yet another narrative thread I can see myself wanting to pull on as the story progresses.

Amelie: And here we have our teased at robot! I am actually the most unsure about what to make of Amelie from the vibe I have of them so far, which means reading that they also don’t know who they are supposed to be strikes a fascinating chord with me.

Yazeba: I love the playful way the book is written, especially when it surrounds Yazeba who stands in strong contrast to that playfulness and is all the more characterized by it. I am also amazed by how strong she is characterized already. I feel like I have a very clear picture of how she moves through the B&B, and also the way people behave around her, both in space and in relationship.

The Moon Prince: As predicted, our resident to be! I was curious how the book would build them up, considering they are the first of the locked characters. Would I only know of them once I get to the locked characters, would I read of how to unlock them in the early chapters, etc. I think it works really well for me that the expectation that they will join the cast is build up this early on. It gives a first hint at the very unique unlocking mechanics that are core to the books narrative construction and an immediate motivation to want to engage with them. And what a motivation it is! I am a sucker for romantic melancholics and the image evoked by the prince is such a wonderful picture of longing. It just gets me!

It also somewhat reminds me of the French childrens book the little prince. In honor of that I’m adding a french piece to the playlist. “Comptine d’un autre été, l’après-midi” is I seem to remember the first ost playing in the french-german cult hit The wonderful world of Amelie. It creates a melancholic mood that helps me imagine the prince staring out of his window, so there it goes into the playlist.

We end the page with a promise that there will be many guests to come, building first expectations for yet another part of the narrative structure. And the Rabbits in the Garden who wear little outfits are mentioned to! Yazebas realy knows what names will tempt me xD

That’s it for today. I ended up writing way to much for one page, but the introduction of every resident felt like something I couldn’t jump over quickly. See you tomorrow!

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you can find my other Yazeba readthrough posts under #zeebthrough!

Preorder the game on https://possumcreekgames.com/pages/yazebas-bed-breakfast

[thoughtsfromyazebabnb]

The Gang's Favorite Musicals

Gertrude: I really liked Wicked when I was younger, I really related to it, not sure why.

Sal: Anything by Sondheim but no, not the one you just thought of, I mean his obscure stuff you wouldn’t know about. Also this niche show that ran for one performance in a New Jersey parking lot in 2003.

Parish: Is there any answer other then Les Misérables (over pronounced) it’s a tale of love, action, redemption, why when I was a younger man I even once helped to build a barricade whe-

Amelie: I have only seen one musical when Sal had me watch something called “Cats”. It is the only one I have seen so I suppose it has to be my favourite.. Also my least favourite.

Hey Kid: CATS!!

Moon Prine: We didn’t really have musicals on the moon, my mother kept some old records of Venusian opera but I never liked it all that much. Too much astral screaming

Yazeba: Who are you and how the fuck did you get into my office?

[yellowhoothoot]

played the "gone fishing" chapter of yazeba's and sal could not stop catching the same 2 fish over and over, poor guy. in the end we gave the boot to hey kid (who didn't play) so they can try to plant something in it. as parish i got a golden fish statue that i'll have to find a spot for in the b&b and mr. boggs immediately caught his fish then caught parish twice (once on purpose and once by mistake)

[jdragsky]

Meet Sal

This is Sal, the night porter at the Bed & Breakfast! He's been here for a long time, ever since he was a kid. He was Yazeba's first apprentice, but he got sick of magic and went road-tripping with his (now-ex) girlfriend. He got sick of that lifestyle too, and now he's back, playing music in his free time and idly dreaming about being a rockstar. He's an important counterbalance to the stuffy grownups at the B&B, often breaking the rules right alongside the kids.

In Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, Sal is a cheerful, outgoing, and relaxed character to play. When he's doing good he's often Taking his time and getting it right and Speaking from the heart, lighting up the world. When he's not doing so well, he might be Failing to follow through or Making light of something important. His journey is all about becoming a rockstar, although by the end he'll probably realize the most important music is the music he gets to play for his friends.

(this is the fourth part in my series on the residents of Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, you can read the rest of them here when i post them. Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast is an upcoming tabletop RPG i've helped create, and you can learn more about it here. Header art by Aster Santiago, portrait by Val Wise, other art By Alxndra Cook and Ashanti Fortson)

[jdragsky]

if the main cast of yazeba’s were animals, what animals would they be? and alongside that, what animals would they *want* to be?

oh amazing question ok ok, these answers are all for where the characters start out at the start of the book and i think they'd change over time

Gertrude: wants to be a chameleon (i don't know, whatever lets me hide), would actually be a racoon because they're crafty and adventurous

Hey Kid: wants to be a dog (or a cat! or a cool bird! or—), would be a chimpanzee because theyre expressive and mischevious. if hey kid knew more about chimps they'd wanna be one also

Sal: wants to be a panda (they seem like they're having a chill time), would be a bird of paradise on account of his talents performing, which would outstrip his desire to snooze

Parish: wants to be a boar (brave warriors of the forest! the knights of the woodland beasts), would be a frog for boring and sad reasons.

Amelie: wants to be a cat (upon consulting my records, i believe a cat would most efficiently allow me to continue my duties), would be a cat because cats can be disobedient and mischievous but they also help the house

Moon Prince: wants to be a rabbit (they're fast and good at keeping themselves safe!), would be a ferret because ferrets are good pets and loyal friends, but also kinda weasely and crafty

Yazeba: wants to be a vulture (and i'll turn you into one too if you keep asking me stupid questions!), would actually be a rat because rats are social animals with caring souls and a bad reputation

[jdragsky]

i want to know more about the fashion choices you made for these characters, specifically yazeba, sal, and hey kid! what were some visual signifiers for them that solidified earliest in their development?

so the vast majority of clothing choices were made by the art director ruby and the concept artist aster santiago, who worked together on making pinterest boards for all the characters! hey kid's and yazeba's outfits were the most obvious, while some (like gertrude or sal) took a little bit of figuring out. here's some of the pinterest boards:

[carecrowgames]

Yazeba Readthrough #2

After some technical difficulties (hello twitter) i am continuing my aspirationally daily readthrough commentary on Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast on here!

I am changing the format from readalong commentary to an end of day summary of my thoughts. Right now i am still going very granular though, allthough that might change over time.

Today I'm leaving the cover and the table of contents behind for actual text.

But first! Shout-outs to the welcoming sign to the bed and breakfast. It's absolutely overflowing with rules in different fonts, in a way that feels like such a perfect mixture of stubborn and caring. It immediately gives me an idea who yazeba and the residents might be. "No snitching" and "no unnecessary smalltalk" one after another realy paint the picture of someone who doesnt want to be bothered, but isn't gonna be an autocrat about chasing down missbehavior. This all ending with "room for everyone" realy warms my heart!

This reminds me to introduce a little game for this read through! Last time I listened to the official ost "running away again" by naked lake, but I want some variety. So I'm gonna add a new song to my read along Playlist once a day whenever the book reminds me of one.

Today that's gonna be one of my favorite mountain goat songs "colors in your cheeks" because it’s what i most closely connect to the emotion 'room for everyone' evokes. I have a bunch of others I want to add but I will wait to grow it organically, as I read the book - so in the end listening to the playlist can remind me of some key moments from the read through.

Enter “Go home Kid, Gertrude’s Arrival”. Immidiately the small narrative text evokes images of a point in click adventure in my mind. Playing Gertrude, clicking on Sal and getting the little animation of him awaking before the conversation pops up below.

The whole thing is the kind of opening that leaves me wanting to play these characters which is exactly what the game is gonna allow me to do. I love it!

Favorite parts: Gertrudes character becomes so well lined out: the facts that she ran away, that she doesnt like her birthday and that she chose her name on the fly. This sentence

I opened the door. And my name is, uhh…Gertrude.” She said, and over the course of the sentence, it became true.

is a standout to me. The phrase “and over the course of the sentence, it became true” builds such a specific genre space, i immidiately know the tone i am supposed to read the characters and the narration with.

Gertrudes reaction to potentially not getting a room, her getting something and knowing she's gonna become a resident are also incredibly emotionally resonant, while building a very effective fantasy. It all makes me realy want to see the story, and *be* in the story.

Enter the next page, which is. incredible. The small blurp on how Yazeba came to found the Bed & Breakfast is yet another amazing character pitch - and one that answers questions that have been brought up by the last text. That one had realy build up the mystery of who yazeba is .. and now we know, because does such a good job developing her relationship to the world and how it evolved to have space for the people and trouble of the bed & breakfast. “In her own cruel and spiteful way the witch made a friend” is such a beautiful and complex character summary. There's something about this I immediately deeply relate to and once again it builds up a fantasy that I want to inhabit.

We finish this read through on page 16 "Welcome to the Bed & Breakfast”

i love how the book reinforces a lot of the impressions narrative and pictures have sketched out so far in its own voice. The magical realism and genre expectations it establishes for the stories we can tell with it being wrapped up as “mysteries of the bed and breakfast” feels super clever because it makes narrative hooks that also establish storytelling modes.

In general another thing the book has been super good at so far is seeding questions for narrative exploration that I assume will be done by playing the chapters. But the buildup to them doesn’t only take place in the chapters or the playbooks, but the rule explanations and world outlining itself.

Example here: Gertrude is the only person the b&b does not have a room for. It might be an more fictional ground work for the genre, but it also lends itself to the basis of a deeper exploration into the b&bs nature, or yazeba and Gertrude as characters. It makes me wonder if the book will drop threads like this as something to be develop3d and explored by yourself in addition to the chapters, or something that will be developed through them (and maybe the shelves?)

I also feel like these small narrative facts also do a realy good job at building a kind if fun fact library in the readers head. Which assuming they are the only one who read the book in the playgroup gives them alot of ways of enticing and introducing people to the vibe of yazeba and its cast. Similar to how it can hook the reader into the narrative they can use them in conversation to give other players some narrative hooks to develop some expectations for stories they might want to tell or elements they would want to explore at the side of a chapter. It all propably also realy helps with choosing a character one wants to start out playing.

Speaking of giving players entryways into playing the game! I appreciate how the narrative text on this page feels like it also gives an example of what playing the game might look like, while giving a more lived view into the mundanity of the fantastical reality of the b&b.

This one also seeds amelie, another resident I'm super excited about (I happen to know they are a robot which the text hints at it!)

What an interesting narrative tension btw, for Gertrude who dislikes September the 15th for being her birthday, to now live a life that's always September 15th. I feel like that might be an early narrarive thread i would like to pull on - and would you look at that, one of the early chapters (chapter 1 actually) happens to be A Birthday for Gertrude (I had an inkling i saw a birthday among the early chapters so i jumped back to confirm). I had to physically stop myself from jumping ahead to find out if it's her first day in the b&b or another one, but for once I don't want to jump around in a ttrpg book.

And thats all i managed to get through today. We made it 5 more pages in, let’s see how many it’s gonna be tomorrow ~ I’m super excited to get to some more mechanical explanations but so far i am enjoying letting myself get introduced and teased by the wonderful narrative elements.

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you can find my other Yazeba readthrough posts under #zeebthrough!

Preorder the game on https://possumcreekgames.com/pages/yazebas-bed-breakfast

[partyofonepod]

Sal, my beloved <3

I love Yazeba Bed & Breakfast's a lot, and Sal is probably my favorite character. I just think he's wonderful.

Meet Sal

This is Sal, the night porter at the Bed & Breakfast! He's been here for a long time, ever since he was a kid. He was Yazeba's first apprentice, but he got sick of magic and went road-tripping with his (now-ex) girlfriend. He got sick of that lifestyle too, and now he's back, playing music in his free time and idly dreaming about being a rockstar. He's an important counterbalance to the stuffy grownups at the B&B, often breaking the rules right alongside the kids.

In Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, Sal is a cheerful, outgoing, and relaxed character to play. When he's doing good he's often Taking his time and getting it right and Speaking from the heart, lighting up the world. When he's not doing so well, he might be Failing to follow through or Making light of something important. His journey is all about becoming a rockstar, although by the end he'll probably realize the most important music is the music he gets to play for his friends.

(this is the fourth part in my series on the residents of Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, you can read the rest of them here when i post them. Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast is an upcoming tabletop RPG i've helped create, and you can learn more about it here. Header art by Aster Santiago, portrait by Val Wise, other art By Alxndra Cook and Ashanti Fortson)