Stars & Wishes - The After Session Ritual That Changed My Games!

Today I am talking all about Stars & Wishes on this solo episode of The RPG Goblin!

I share all about how I use this after session ritual to help with the prep, expectations and figuring out what my players are loving most about my games! I also share some stories and examples of Stars and Wishes my players have given, How I tried adding Wards after a comment on Threads and try and think of different ways to adapt the idea in different games!

Check out the Safety Toolkit here to learn more about Stars & Wishes:
https://ttrpgsafetytoolkit.com/

Also join The RPG Goblin Discord to come to the TTRPG Party on December 29th at 8pm EST!
https://discord.gg/5EE3kNVYyA

There will be giveaways, guests, TTRPG convos and a big surprise at the end! So you gotta be there! 

Transcript

0:00

Hey, everyone! Welcome to the RPG Goblin! I am your host Willow, aka the resident goblin and the one who asks all the questions. And actually in today's episode, I am going to be the only one talking about TTRPGs as this is going to be a solo episode all about the topic of Stars and Wishes. Now I really wanted to do this episode because Stars and Wishes is something that I've more recently implemented into my own games, And I've mentioned it, I think, a few times on the podcast so far, but I don't know if many people know what it is or really know anything about it. So I decided I wanted to do a solo episode just kind of talking about my experience using it and how it's affected my games and what it is and all of these things. So if that sounds like cool and awesome time, I think we should get into it. And so kind of the first thing I want to cover is, like, what is Stars and Wishes as a whole? So this is a, like, after session ritual or at least that's what I like to call it is like an after session ritual where basically when you end the session, do you know in your games where it's so fun to talk about the game and different moments that happened and like Basically all of the little things that happen because it's really fun to just get that out. You know, these are your friends and especially because they know what this game is. They're like the best people to talk to about it. But sometimes you don't always get to say the things that you want to or really spotlight some of the moments that you like. And so what Stars and Wishes basically is is a ritual that lets everyone highlight moments that they really enjoyed in the game and then also have a chance to tell the GM and everyone else what they are wanting what they look forward to or what they want to happen in the game or expressing a character goal, or something like that related to the game, aka the wish part. So the stars Let me backtrack a little bit. The stars are for basically giving someone a star. Like, this is a moment that happened that I really enjoyed. Here's a star. And then the wishes is for, basically, hey, I want to see this happen in the future or I want to see more of this or anything like that whatever works for your group. I know in mine I've had quite a few different kinds of wishes from like I don't want like more of a joke wish of like I don't want this to happen but secretly they do or anything that's a bit more serious where it's like I really want to finish the mystery next session. So I kind of get an idea of, like, where my players are wanting to go with things and so I just find him really helpful, but I want to talk a little bit about where you can find Stars and Wishes. So for me when I first encountered the idea it was on TikTok, I believe, a few years ago and I Wish I remembered the creator that posted this video I can't find it but it's a it was a video on TikTok of someone just introducing the concept of stars and wishes And I just thought it was so fascinating, like, okay, I you know, in my game at the time, yeah, we talked about the the game and the characters and what happened in the session a lot after we finish up. But having kind of a ritual that's a bit more structured where everyone can kind of get their words in and stuff like that, I just like really connected with me, and so I started implementing it in my old D and D game. And then it's been a part of my entire monster of the week campaign, and I it's one of my favorite tools, honestly, especially as, like, kind of a ritual. It's just really really cool, and so I wish I knew the account that posted that TikTok, and hopefully I can maybe find it before this comes out. We will see for sure. But what I do know is that the TTRPG safety toolkit actually has Stars and Wishes in it as something that you can actually, you know, read through and and see how it's presented like that. And so the link for that toolkit will be in the description of this episode just so people can go and check it out because that's a really great resource for tables, especially if you're wanting to implement more safety tools into your games, or you're just looking for some new ideas of rituals and things that you can do that can kind of help, you know, your game. Because how I I Recently, actually, on Twitter, I've seen some things talking about instead of calling safety tools safety tools, instead calling them, like, collaboration tools, which I thought was really interesting. And I like that idea because I think people people have a preconceived notion of what safety tools are and that they're trying to limit what can happen in the game. And I don't think that's a correct representation of them because they're just they're they're there is tools to help you tell a story, and you can use them or you cannot use them. And I think they just can help groups feel more comfortable with each other, especially if it's a new group. They can help put in rituals for a game that can help it become better, such as Stars and Wishes, which, again, I love it so much, and it just helps. It's it's just different tools to use for your game. It's just like any other TTRPG. All the mechanics and stuff like that, those are tools for you to help run the game. And so safety tools are kind of the same thing, but they're just outside of what's written in a few TTRPGs. Actually, they're starting to get into more of them now, but I love Stars and Wishes, and that's that's what this is going to be about. Maybe in the future, I'll actually bring on the people from the safety toolkit, to actually talk about it because I think that would be awesome. But This episode is going to be primarily talking about, Stars and Wishes since that is what I have used and what I'm more familiar with. I just went over kind of what Stars and Wishes is and how I introduced it to my group is basically like, Hey, you know, we like to talk about the game, and I just think it would be a really fun idea to try this out, you know, see how it works. And so we implemented it into one of our D and D sessions just to, you know, test it out. And when we got to the end of the session, I started the ritual, and all of my players, like, fell in love with it. And it's been really funny because game since then. Everyone's so excited to get to the Stars and Wishes part so that they can start talking about, like, some of their favorite moments. And for me I think that's just really fun for me. In my mind it In my mind, I think it helps people kind of look for the things that they think are cool, remember them, and then like from And then you get to then tell the people like, Hey, you know your role play in this specific scene was fantastic! Good job. Like, I I just really love this, this, and this. And so it's it's a really fun tool for basically reinforcing, like, what kind of themes you like in your game too. And, like like, hey. You know, you did a fantastic job doing that. Keep going. And it's, like, just a really great way to kind of feel good about, like, what you're doing in the game and knowing that others are liking it too. And so as the GM of all of my games, I find it to be a really fantastic tool for me on getting, like, some feedback on things that my players really like. And so I can start getting some ideas of like, okay, You know, if this player is really liking the dynamic between them and another npc, I can make sure that that gets included in more scenes, especially with that npc, and feed into that more because I know that player is enjoying that dynamic. Same thing and and I see this even with other players that, like, One player giving them feedback tells them, Okay, that's what they're enjoying about my character, and they can lean into that more, especially if they're already enjoying that, too. And so I think it's like just a really I don't know. It's a really fun process because it kind of just feeds into each other and you get a game where everyone's super excited about these certain aspects. And you just get this moment at the end where everyone just is so excited and gets to just like tell everyone how cool they are and what all the cool things that they did! So I I love it and I kind of want to talk about the way that I use stars and wishes too, because I put this up on threads talking about stars and wishes a bit, and someone said that something they don't like about it is the fact that you only give the 1 star, and only 1 person's supposed to get a star. And so you go around the table, and you don't want to leave someone out of it because then that's not fun and that, you know, that would make them feel bad. Like, oh, everyone else got a star, but I didn't. Or someone got 2 stars and I didn't. And so someone mentioned not liking that aspect of stars and wishes, and I can totally get that. And for me, at least, when I interpreted what Stars and Wishes was, I thought it was something where everyone kind of gave a star to every player, and so that's actually how we've done it for my own group is that, you know, when we we get to the end of the session and it takes a little bit of time, granted, especially if you're doing everyone in the group. You know, I have 3 players, and then I'm the GM, so it's a 4 person group. And we get to the end, And we start stars and wishes, and, you know, x player gives 3 other players a star, and then they do a wish. And and that's also how I do it too is, like, we do the stars first, and then we do the wish. And how I and it's always, you know, on kind of the same turn. I don't know if other people do it a different way, where maybe they do all the stars first, then they go and do the wishes. This is just how I do it, but I pick a player to go 1st. I'm like, alright. Give your stars, and so they'll give everyone a star, and then they'll give their wish. And then I go to the next person, and we keep going until everyone finishes up all of their stars and wishes, and that works really well for me. It does take a little bit of time, again, because we're giving it to every single player. And I'm curious if you can find a way to do it without giving it to every player to make it a bit more fair, I suppose. Because when you're doing that endpoint, like, when you get to stars and wishes, and let's say you're only doing it where you're giving 1 star and it has to be a different person, you could give a star to someone where you that wasn't your favorite moment. And so I've thought about this a bit. And I'm really curious if other people have, like, maybe an answer on how to figure this out because you could always do, hey, maybe 2 stars. And so that makes Sure that maybe 1 star can go to each person, then you have an extra star to extra spotlight someone, I guess. I don't know. Because at least for me, I mean, everyone give a star has worked really well, and I just know that not everyone can do that, especially if you play in a group of, like, 6 people. Like, I'm not sure how long that would take, But for me, this works out really well! And so, I know that it's just the 1 star normally, but but consider doing everyone giving a star if you can. At least that's that's how I like to do it, but I'd love to hear anyone if they have any ideas on how to make it a bit more fair. I even thought about, like, you could go around the table. And this is because the whole see, the thing is is the whole point of the stars is to spotlight your favorite moments that someone did. And so yeah. If you you play a session, it's like, okay. I loved this moment that this that the GM did where they describe this whole battle sequence. You know, that's that's the thing that you loved most, but if the GM already has a star, yeah, what do you do then? Like, I thought maybe you could go around the table and maybe give a star to the person on your left or right and then, like, kind of do it like That so that everyone gets a star, but then those might not be your favorite moments either! But I think that's not a bad way of doing it anyway! You could do that, and then you could maybe give a spotlight of your favorite moment, too. I don't know. This is just me spitballing ideas because I just love this ritual so much that I want to figure out ways that it can be a little bit easier for people to use in their games and not feel like they're leaving anyone out because I mean these are collaborative group games you don't want like 1 person be left out of Stars and Wishes because, oh, you know, I I really liked everyone really liked this role play moment from this 1 person, so I don't know it's just You could also maybe even do it where you all kind of talk and have a conversation and be like, okay, for this player, I loved, like, almost everyone having a conversation on the moments that they loved and then settling on a star! That could be fun! But I mean, Also at the same time, you could just you don't have to use stars and wishes as well. You could just have an after session where you all talk and just say your favorite things too. And that's what I really like about tools in TTRPGs is because you can use them if you want to and you can Not use them if you don't. So for me, Stars and Wishes works really well because I have that smaller group. I can let everyone give their stars, and it's a more controlled experience for me. But for other people, maybe just your after session ritual already of talking works. And if it does, don't change it because it it's entirely dependent on your groups. But if this sounds like an interesting thing that you want to check out, Again, the link for stars and wishes from the safety toolkit will be in the description of this episode along with, you know, just pitch it to your group and maybe work Shop some ideas on how to interpret it and use it in a way that you're gonna have fun with. This is just me kind of rambling a little bit. I don't know. These solo episodes are fun because I can just kind of get the thoughts out of my head. But I post that thing about stars and wishes on threads, like I mentioned earlier. And one of the comments actually was something really interesting that I recently applied to a game, which was adding wards. So So stars, wishes, and wards. And I was really curious, like, what do you mean wards? And basically, wards is a section where someone can mention something that maybe happened in this session that they wouldn't like to see further in the game, you know, something that maybe made them uncomfortable, something like This specific NPC wasn't fun, like things like that. Kind of a point to give some construction some constructive criticism there we go, I can say words to the GM and basically, like, give some ideas of, like, you know, how we're feeling about the game. You know, I recently did an arc of Monster of the Week with hellhounds and Part of the whole kind of lore of the world is a lot of these monsters actually come from, you know, Peep like, are basically, like, mutated people or animals, and specifically this one was dogs! And there were a few moments in the game, and with this being kind of a monster hunting game, you know, you're wanting to kind of hunt after the monster, and I realized that, you know, there were some uncomfortable topics of, like, you know, animals, being harmed in the game. And when we had when I implemented wards into that session, it was around, like, the last I think it was around the last session of that arc. I'm like, hey. You know, I wanna implement wards, and here's, like, the first one that I'm gonna do because I wanna make sure to cover it. I don't want to include any more themes of kind of animals being involved with this, like, monster world because that made me feel really uncomfortable. You know, I I thought it would be an interesting Same idea, and turns out it really wasn't, at least for me. And then one of my players agreed with it, like, yeah, I didn't really enjoy like, they're like, I liked the arc, but I really didn't enjoy those themes, and the others agreed. And so I made sure to make a mark on my notes of, like, hey, I don't want to include that further in any of these arcs that will come next because that just was an okay Richard's gone right in front of my table here that was something the group didn't want to see any further. And so I really like this We love when cats decide to come up! And so we decided we just didn't want to see any more of those themes coming forward, so we set that ward up. And actually Let me look at my notes very quick. There may have been, some other ones. Yeah. So it was mostly the the topic of the animals, and then also, like, my another one of my players was just, like, you know, this isn't necessarily, like, award but a little bit of, you know, constructive criticism, which is more so what I took that war topic is bean because, you know, as a GM, I don't always get to hear the things that my players want changed. You know, I try to have that conversation open as much as possible. I try to talk to them about it, but hey sometimes things happen and I don't get to hear it, so I liked using this as constructive criticism, and one of my players was like, you know, sometimes the scenes can run a little bit longer when they need to be cut. And so, For me, I was really thankful that he said that because I kind of realized that those kinds of things happen in my games like in my own head, but I don't know if other people want that to end. I don't know if other people also find it to be a problem. I don't know if it's something that I should change or if it's something that everyone enjoys. And so that kind of gave me a moment where I got again to hear some feedback be like okay Great to know. Thank you. I will I will take that forward because I know that, at least for me, I have trouble describing sometimes as a GM and, like, especially, like, describing, like, scenes and stuff like that, so I will get, like, stuck sometimes on trying to do it, and I will sometimes overextend the description just because I'm trying to compensate and I'm trying to like get the right words in and so You know, that's just something that, you know, I might not be able to immediately fix, but it's something that I'd also like to work on, so I enjoyed getting that. And so I really like getting that suggestion of warts from threads. And this is also why I just like talking I don't know. For me, I am loving threads because it's so fun to have more character space to talk about things than have actual people have conversations back, And so I'm really enjoying, like, having those conversations about stars and wishes and and different stuff like that. And so for me, I think that Stars and Wishes at least some of the benefits is having that structure with these end of session, like, times. And so Again, if if you if you have something that already works for your group, fantastic. But I know when we were having end of sessions before, even though we would talk and have a great time. Sometimes there would be, like, an imbalance of people being able to share what they wanted to talk about, and so people would sometimes get a little frustrated, like, hey. I really wanted to this, but we didn't have the time, and then we had to all leave. And so it's like, okay. You know, why not try this system where it lets you do that? It lets you have those moments of being able to talk and discuss and have that structure. I also really love it as a GM. I love it so much as a GM because this has been a really good tool for me to consider how I'm going to run the game, and also what I want to add more in future arcs and future sessions. So actually, I I have my notebook here where I've I've made all my notes for my Monster of the Week game. And actually on the like in the front cover, I have a whole section of basically the big stars that we've gotten in this game so far. Now the ones that have showed up several times and that people seem to be consistently interested in. And it's stuff like character dynamics, interactions with NPCs, getting, like, lore and getting more information on the lore and mysteries, the actual, like, unit that they were a part of, the monster hunting unit that they're a part of, learning more about the world, bringing in personal, like, elements from these characters, like backstories and stuff like that, into the game. Getting to be badass, which is one of my favorites because I I love letting my characters have, like, those big moments to shine and it's so fun. Flashback scenes, which is actually something I kind of stole from Amnesty, or The Adventure Zone, their their campaign Monster of the Week, which was amnesty, during, like, kind of big, like, tense moments during that whole season or that, I guess, that campaign, characters would have flashbacks to things that happened in the past, obviously, and it would basically like give more information or context on, like, certain actions and things. And there were times that it would actually relate to, like, the moments that, like, was happening and that caused this flashback. So some of the ones that I remember very thoroughly is during big battles. You know, I think it was, Was it Duck that got, like, thrown at the water park and then, like, he, like, went unconscious, and then that's when he had a flashback maybe about, like, the his, like, chosen thing that was really cool it's been a little bit since I've watched Amethyst so apologies for if that's not exactly right but I implemented that into my own Monster of the Week game because I just thought that was such a fun idea. And I am all for as well, like, discovering the characters' stories, more as we're playing versus, like, writing a whole thing beforehand, and so this gave my players moments to kind of expand on some elements, you know, why is this character feeling this way? What, you know, what happened? Like an example that we actually recently did is 2 of the characters in my game are siblings, and one of them ended up leaving the, the one ended up leaving home, like, I think it was like 6 years ago ago or something. And we knew that happened, and we just didn't know the details of it. And there was something that came up where that character actually revealed that they have, you know, they've known that they've been home because they've been connected, but that character was actually lying and they've been home for much longer than they let their family know because they didn't they didn't want them to know that they came back because they basically failed when they moved out and, like, their job, ended up, like, failing or something like that. And so we had a whole flashback scene of actually what went down, that basically why they moved and the whole thing that led up to it And kind of knowing the information now of, like, you know, that they came back and didn't tell anyone, there were some really, like, heartbreaking moments that got put in that flashback because we knew that information already and so it made it sting a little bit more but it was Actually, like, one of my favorite scenes that I think we've done in this game because it was just so it was just so fascinating to explore this thing that happened in the past as these future characters! And, you know, the fact that, like, the sibling that was moving said I'll promise to let you know when I ever come back to town and then they didn't tragedy tragedy it's it's beautiful you know TTRPGs tragedy tabletop games I don't know something like that but it's that's that's something that I really liked and so, you know, as a star, I made sure to write down, you know, these flashbacks I I was getting stars personally as the GM for providing these flashbacks and for setting them up, so I made sure to make a note of that to make sure to continue to do them throughout the game because that's something my players really enjoyed. A few other things again, I think a lot of these, stars came from specifically stars that my players gave me because those are usually the ones that I look at more closely because, you know, I am the GM I'm looking at, you know, what I'm providing to the game, and so I want to know what I'm, you know, doing right I guess I shouldn't say doing right I mean, like, yeah, it's doing right, but also what they are enjoying. And so 2 other ones was creating atmosphere in the game, which is when I was starting to experiment with scribing a lot more and trying to get a bit more into it. And then other opposing groups, which is something I love in this campaign too, is that there are, like, At least, like, 3 different, like, kind of groups involved in this whole monster hunting thing, And so it's really fun it was really fun for them to, like, kinda mess around with that and be, like, you know, you're on this side and I'm on this side, especially because we have, like, a traitor character. And so I really enjoyed, like, all those different aspects of, like, all these opposing groups, and so I was really happy when my players gave me stars for that. Like, yes, we actually really enjoy that. I'm like, perfect because I really enjoy it too. Now that was kind of the whole idea when I started the campaign was to have kind of these different groups, and ended up working really well. But I love love love love getting these stars and being able to look at them and be like, alright, you know, I can set up more opportunities to interact with NPCs because I know that my character or I know that my players love that. You know I can set up more things where they can discover the lore and mystery and, like, you know, have a lot of agency in figuring that out. I can have more scenes setting up interacting with the units and, you know, the the n p c's that are involved in that. So, you know, kind of ticking 2 of those boxes, you know, bringing in more personal aspects of the story, bringing in the flashbacks, which is kind of, you know, similar thing there getting to be badass. I know that, you know, when it comes to the moments where that would be a great opportunity, I know that my players want to feel cool, you know, and so I can have it in my mind as I'm describing these things is that they want to feel cool they want to feel badass as they're hunting these monsters, so I can keep that in mind. And, you know, again, this could be something where, you know, just having conversations with your players you could probably figure out most to these things. I just really enjoy the ritual that I know that I'm gonna figure some of this stuff out because they're gonna TELL ME! And Also, from a GM perspective, I love the wishes because those are specifically a bit more aimed at the, you know, campaign and story in total. They are, you know, I wish for this to happen! I'm looking forward for this happening! This is something that my character desires, this is something I desire, and so I love getting the wishes. And some of the ones that I've gotten is, you know, some things that are a bit, you know, small Gale. So, like, one of the wishes that a player gave me was to figure out what a monster was when we first started the campaign. You know, Session 1, they wanted to figure out what the monster was, and I love that because it's like, okay, this is a goal that me and my character have. We want to figure out what this monster is, and so going forward I kind of know that's what they want to see they want to try and figure that out. Another player on the 1st session was his character, Matt, getting humbled by the monsters. Because this guy is, like, super into cryptids and and, you know, kind of this mythology of them. And he's like into the Jersey Devil, has a podcast where he talks for, like, 3 hours about cryptids and whatever. So he kind of takes it a bit more he doesn't take it very seriously and this was, like, his first time encountering it and so he was going Crazy he's like, Oh my god monsters are real! And he wanted and the the player want wanted his character to get humbled. You know have that moment where it's like, Oh shit, these are actually like a big deal. I have to be careful with this and I can't just be like monster! And so going forward, that was a note that I had, and we had it in the game and He got humbled! And I also, you know, provided, another character was, like, stealing for Leon, which is one of, like, this is the traitor character, you know, this this Leon guy was basically, like, I want to get evidence from this unit and I want you to bring it back. And so the goal was to steal for Leon, and so again that was a character goal, like, I wish to do this. And then for me, I was like to see how, like, in this one situation resolved. We're like one of the main people of the unit was going to talk to these newbies coming in because it's like, Hey, you now know about monsters! We don't want to just let you out! Joined the unit basically! And so I was really excited to see how that would resolve. So that's an example of kind of the 1st sessions wishes went, And I really love them because as a GM, I get some direction on where the characters are wanting to go, and then the players give themselves their own motivations for their characters. Now these are more, like, kind of short term, motivations, at least in my head. I I like to view them sometimes they can be a little bit longer, but I like the use of having them be a bit more short term. You know, I want to figure out what this monster is and so they can work towards that. Also, it's funny because I'm flipping through some of my notes For this, just to kind of give some examples, and I got to one where, I had a wish to conclude the mystery or get close basically in the next session. And that mystery went on for 3 more sessions! Or Yeah, 3 more sessions! It wasn't a bad thing, it was a really fun mystery! It was just funny to see that! And some actually, here's another one where, You know, we're getting a bit further into the game this is like session 3. And some of the wishes are like getting into downtime in personal relationships, interacting with the other characters outside of monster hunting. Kill the wolfie, which, for context, the monster in our first mystery was a werewolf, and so killed the Wolfie while everyone's like, Oh, I want to interact with other characters! It's like got got got our priorities straight, which I I just think that's also fun to see, like, just the the different ways also the players are viewing the game too, you know, what they're wanting to see and being able to have and being able to put the space of exploring all of these things, too. And I'll say this is like when you have a group that Play style does match up with, and, you know, everyone's kind of have the same expectations in the groups. You're probably going to get similar wishes throughout the thing, which I think is kind of fun because that's just reinforcing the ideas and the wishes and the drives and the motives that they want to be discovering within the game, and so I I really like that. And also, I get to kind of I get to have my wish too, which is Always a little bit more general. Or I guess I shouldn't say more general. It's usually a bit more broad, because For me, I just want to see how my players will usually, resolve anything I just really find that I love presenting opportunities and being like okay how is this gonna end? You know how are you gonna figure this out? And then watching as they try and figure it out for you know 3 hours and so like in this one it was like how the group will approach the end of the mystery and downtime since we were getting close You know, we're still kind of getting through this 1st arc, and we haven't had, like, a chance of downtime, so I was especially curious of, like, you know, how my players were actually going to handle that. You know, what would they want for downtime? What what even are their characters gonna do for downtime? Like, what personally would they even do? No. I I want to know what Pigeon Cooper is going to do in their downtime. And, you know, how does that then reflect further in the game? How does that develop their character? Stuff like that. I I just find it to be a really, really fun element to add into games And actually fun- another one that I just looked at is one of the characters was like I want to fight a vampire And so, actually, I I've been looking at possibly fulfilling that wish, soon. But, yeah, I don't know if there's Too much more to really say on the topic of stars and wishes since this is, you know, this is a tool. This is a tool that I use. This is the experience that I've had with it so far. I've implemented it into 2 games along with some one shots That turned into slightly longer games where I just thought it would be funny, and we didn't even do stars and wishes. We actually just did, like, a fun fact thing. So we did, like, a after session ritual. It just wasn't really stars and wishes because this this game of definitely wizards that just ended up going really long because we were messing around and there's like internet issues and like a million other things. And so it ended up going for like 3 sessions, and like at the end of every session we would do a thing like Here's a fun fact about this character! And that's how we learned that Scribble Scales the 6, a, a little a magician was actually orphaned at 33 so you know we learn something new every day but this is something that I've really enjoyed putting in my games I found it to be really useful in my games in trying to find like a direction to go in, manage my player expectations, and see what they are wanting, and then also have have just a feel good moment at the end where everyone gets to have a star, Everyone gets to say their favorite moment that everyone else did and like I don't joke when I say this is like literally one of my players favorite things! They look forward to the end of the session so they can talk about what cool thing the other person did. And I do want to make a note of this too is that in in Stars and Wishes, or at least the version that I do, you never give yourself a Star. It's always to the other players. And so I just think it's an another good way to just help build that the dynamic between the players, and then be able to tell them how cool their character is. Because sometimes it's So easy to think about your own character that sometimes you don't give other people, you know, Hey! You know, I love your character. You don't always get to have that moment if you're thinking about your character and you're not always given the opportunity to, you know, give an outright compliment or at least I've found that sometimes in my group but obviously every group is different and I want to stress that enough is like this is something I've done This is something that I found really fun and helpful to add into my games And if this doesn't sound like something that would really work in your game don't use it! You know, just enjoy the stories that I've told, I guess, and and the scribble. Scribble scales, the 6th, are are like back alley magicians! So, yeah, I like doing kind of these topic type things And I'd love to know, too, like how people would even adjust stars and wishes depending on their because, you know, I shared the way that I do it. We all give each other stars. It's kind of a a whole it's a proper ritual at the end of the day, you know, we all have our wishes, and there's even little jokes that have happened from it too, where it's like one of the players, my younger sibling, Whenever it comes to their time to give a wish, they're like, I wish for 3 more wishes. I just always enjoy that too. Like, it it's just a fun way to, I don't know. It's just a fun ritual. Like, it's just it's almost being able to extend more of the fun of the game into the after times where we just all get to fawn over all these characters and all these really cool things. And so, hey, try it out. If if you think this would be fun for your group, Try it out to the link for the safety toolkit where this is, where Stars and Wishes is in and where they explain it is going to be in the description of this episode. Again, you can adjust it however you want. You can use it if you want. There's also other tools in there where you can help, you know, safety tools and making sure that your group expectations, lines and veils, and stuff like that are all taken care of too, because, yeah, those those are important things. And also, You know, always be open to adding new ideas to your group too, because that's something that I've definitely enjoyed in my time playing TTRPGs and getting further into the TTRPG a space where I'm learning more, kind of, ways to play and skills and ideas is, you know, I've had some games, Like, my D and D game originally, I was playing that for about a year, and after actually recording an episode with Zachariah on the show about, oh god, I think it was Mork Borg where we were talking about the SITE initiative even though I've been playing that game for about a year. I went to my group afterwards and I'm, like, hey, you guys wanna try side initiative in this game to see if it helps streamline combat? So I think it's so fun to add in new ideas and new aspects to games, and so I am always on the on the side of, like, hey. Here's the thing, try it out, see if you like it, and if you do, awesome, then you get a better game out of it, which I think is the best part. You know, all these tools is just to help support the game that you are playing, and to have a good time! And so, yeah, I mean this is my, I guess, Reflection of Starves and Wishes, how I've used it, what it is, examples of ones in my game, stuff like that! So I hope that you enjoyed listening to this! I know it's a slightly shorter episode then normal but, that's okay. I also want to let you know that there won't be an episode of the RPG Goblin coming out on the 29th December, which is, you know, a Friday when we normally release an episode. And that is because we are actually going to be hosting a t t r p g party in my cord server, and that's gonna be full of a bunch of guests coming on. We're gonna be having giveaways about every 30 minutes, and there's gonna be a huge announcement at the end of it. And I basically, you know, I just want people to come come to the Discord, hang out, win some cool, you know, we got some dice is gonna be up in the giveaways. We have, 3 the 3 hatchling games PDFs that are gonna be given away. We have some cool dice accessories, like a cool dice bag, and some D and D cards coming from, the people from 5jam's and trenchco and all of that cool stuff! So if, Again, you want to win dice, you want to come hang out, talk like, listen to people talk about TTRPGs, have a good time on a sat on not a Saturday on a Friday where there's not gonna be a normal episode, then come on and hang out. The link to join the Discord will be in the description of this episode along with it is in my link tree as well, and everybody is welcome to come in. It's gonna be hosted with basically the guests and I as, you know, video or, you know, as the ones talking, and then you will be in the audience and you can chat in the chat, obviously. And, yeah, I don't know it'll be a great time! So if you are bummed about there being no new episode, at least you can come hang out in a party and it'll be awesome! Yeah! You know, bit of a shorter episode. We're gonna be wrapping up the year of 2023 soon, which is crazy. We're slowing down a little bit just to basically come into January, like, full speed, new ideas, bunch of new episodes. There's lots of cool stuff coming in January and the year, No approaching, I shouldn't say the year approaching, but, like, all of 2024. It's gonna be insane. So, Yeah, I I hope that you enjoyed listening all about Stars and Wishes. I hope that you found any of this helpful, and, like, please, like, tag me in anything where you want to talk about stars and wishes and maybe interpretations that you may have of it because I would love to hear it. I always like hearing ways that you can, again, change tools and games and stuff like that. I find it really fun, but enough of me rambling. Thank you for listening. I hope that you Come join the party on the 29th December. It's gonna be at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time, and, yeah, bye.