Interview - B. Dave Walters - LA by Night/D&D/Dear America, From A Black Guy

Today I talk with the incredible LA by Night, D&D, Agon, Twitch Streamer and social campaigner B. Dave Walters. We discuss the hardwork, good fortune, and sense of  community surrounding TTRPGs, musical influences, lack of sleep and getting started as a DM/GM and/or Streamer.
You can find B Dave Walters and all of his content via the links below.

Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/bdavewalters

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BDaveWalters
https://twitter.com/LAbyNight
https://twitter.com/DnDBeyond - Sliver and Steel
https://twitter.com/MotherlandsRPG

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/bdavewalters/

Dear America, From a Black Guy
https://t.co/Kgnj95DMnS?amp=1

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Yours Sincerely,

Adam 'Cosy' Powell

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CAST & CREW

Host: Adam Powell

Guest: B. Dave Walters

Sound Design: Adam Powell

Music: Epidemic Sound

Cover Art: Tim Cunningham - www.Wix.com

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Transcript

Snyder’s Return : 0:28

Hello and welcome to snows return a tabletop role playing podcast Today my guest when not addressing an open letter to the populace from his heart can be found after dusk in the temple of boom as Victor temple Baron of the valley is the darkness imprisoning him Is it all that he sees absolute horror as he cannot live and yet cannot die. In our lives, we find him on the frontier surviving or moving freely from one d&d adventure to the next. It is an absolute pressure to say all Welcome to be Dave waters Welcome to the show

B. Dave Walters : 1:07

you know I'm gonna go ahead and tell you something I'm gonna say that was the finest the finest introduction I've ever gotten God we got a la by night woven in there get the silver and steel got a little Metallica my favourite band Brava extra points. One my favourite song, it's like you brought me flowers. This is uh, yeah, Brava.

Snyder’s Return : 1:28

But if I knew your address, I may have sent you flowers, but I couldn't I couldn't promise that. So that's but thank you very much. That's very kind of you to say. But this is this is all about you and what you bring to the table, almost literally in some instances and the community at large. So with without further ado, would you like to tell us a little bit more about yourself and how you got into tabletop role playing games. To start with please

B. Dave Walters : 1:52

be a Walters I say words about things. I'm probably one of the busiest people in tabletop gaming. I'm silvering steel for d&d beyond I'm on Ascension on roll for it I run the dungeons and dragons a darkened wish stream for Wizards of the Coast. I do a lot of World of Darkness streaming as of this time we're doing a rage across New York. Also, I'm on a gun the heroic adventure series on Barton barbarian I run about six to 10 games a week from a Patreon and that's not counting like charity stuff and one shots and writing gigs and all of the like so it's a it is a fun but hectic existence that I live. And I got into it. I think like like so many of us when I was around 13 started playing I started with riffs actually playing with my friends very quickly branched out to a D and D and in the, I would say just went on from there. Got into werewolf the apocalypse around late high school like together In a werewolf before I got into vampire, and tabletop gaming, it's just been with me my whole life, there's never really been a time that I wasn't playing in a campaign somewhere with someone. And just in recent years as the ability to be a pro at it has manifested, I got the ability to be a pro at it. And here we are. It's it's been very unlikely so much so that I think if I just woke up tomorrow, and it was 2016, and the last four years hadn't even happened. It would, uh, I'd be like, yeah, yeah, for a lot of reasons. I'd be like, yeah, that all makes sense. Mm hmm. Yep, that all makes sense.

Snyder’s Return : 3:39

But first question I'm telling is we come on to later is with all of that, when do you find time to sleep?

B. Dave Walters : 3:47

What is this lead up that you speak of? No, I do not know these words. Yeah, I got. I got special training I have. I have two little girls. So you know, I went through the gauntlet of not sleeping with babies and again, suggest it carries on. I don't know I do it like once a week maybe I'm like a Python you know just like sleep for 20 hours once a week and then just kind of keep going I

Snyder’s Return : 4:10

thought it might be it might have been a balance of catnap some power hours but whatever works for you.

B. Dave Walters : 4:17

So no I am I am not a napper if I don't sleep for at least an hour and a half. I wake up all groggy and it's worse. Like I can't do power naps, even though like neurologically it's supposed to help just not me, man, not me.

Snyder’s Return : 4:34

So just in your your lead into this, this whole there's a lot on pack. Effectively, you are in so much but let's let's concentrate on one system at a time maybe I think so. probably the safest option to this and talk us through la by now moving into the fifth season. There's some promotion stuff happening on on Twitter. So what can you tell us about la In your role within the coterie there and everything that's happening in in that world

B. Dave Walters : 5:06

well if you're not familiar with it if you haven't seen the show as Vampire the Masquerade la by night you can find it on YouTube. We have done four seasons, the fifth season is going to happen not sure when because you know the entire world is on pause right now with with COVID it vampire is a storytelling game of personal horror. And I think the the world of darkness and its mythos has affected all the vampire and werewolf stories of the last 25 years. So pretty much anything that you find familiar if it's true blood or underworld, or even blade. Well, not so much blade because no thin blood could kill that many vampires. But it's what it's like. And the thing that sets the World of Darkness apart is that it is our world it is this world. With some very minor adjustments in we are vampires. In it in my character is what is called a Baron. So I'm, I'm the ruler of a local area for my affection. And that is the Valley in California if you're familiar with California, so when you hear that I'm the undisputed Baron of the valley. That's what that means. And it is just about originally four of us that kind of expanded the six of us just trying to make our way through the nights and the twisting all we have eternity and losing a bit of yourself night after night after night and trying to hold on to as much as you can. It is very dramatic. It's far more dramatic than a lot of tabletop streams. We make it through whole episode episodes where we never roll dice at all. So in some ways, it's just as much a drama as it is a tabletop stream. But yeah, check it out. It's up on YouTube Episode One is I think we're at almost a million views on episode one. It's getting close. So never never too late to join the family. You got time to get caught up before we finally do season five Then I myself, also run Vampire the Masquerade Long Beach by night, we've done two seasons by that of that which is in continuity. Well runs parallel with la by night. It's in the same continuity with la by night and also did a anarchs of New York, showing what it was like over in New York that right now we did we did the vampires. Now we're doing the werewolves over in New York. So I spend a lot of my time in the world of darkness. Wow,

Snyder’s Return : 7:29

I believe that included a foray up to Vancouver as well, if I'm not mistaken.

B. Dave Walters : 7:35

And I may just be showing my face up there again soon. Who can say

Snyder’s Return : 7:42

the more to be revealed in the future? I'm sure you've mentioned a couple of things there. So where can people go to find you and, and your content or broad brushstrokes? Just before we sort of move on?

B. Dave Walters : 7:55

easiest places my Twitter ad beat a Walters. I'm Working on assembling a singular content hub, because my website is woefully outdated, but Twitter is definitely the nerve point of where I mentioned all the things that I'm doing. And there's so many podcasts that I'm blessed to do like this one although this one had the best introduction of any I've done charity events I only say it because it's true charity events one shots just I just did like a four week run on hunters entertainment, running outbreak and dead it's just it's I don't expect anybody to keep up with all the places I met because I barely can. So Twitter at BJ Walters, and I'm sure you're going to ask me about this later. But I'd be remiss if I didn't say right now pinned at the top of my Twitter, I am crowdfunding for a documentary called dear America from a black guy trying to help save the country. It is going until next Wednesday or Tuesday, right i think is the real cut off Tuesday the eighth because it's the morning of the ninth that is done. So I don't know when you're going to Hear this but if you hear it before the eighth click the link at the top of my Twitter had been a Walters take a look at the Indiegogo

Snyder’s Return : 9:07

well moving on from Victor temple and I'm moving into your dear America stuff that you're working on it and again I highly recommend people clicking on that tweet if this goes out afterwards you potentially will then please get involved anyway you can so to take another one of your your songs from your playlist who's going to inherit the empire of debt but Johnny Cash the you know what is the dear America? Would you like to expand on that since we've touched on it?

B. Dave Walters : 9:46

Yes it right now people are yelling at each other isn't working. People are dying people are literally dying over the fact that it is more important to You own the other side, man it is to recognise people's baseline humanity. And that's what I'm trying to get back to is fostering discussions. I have no illusions that we're all going to agree on things. There's There's never been a time that everyone agreed on things. But I think just recognising that those people, you know, those people are still human beings. And as such, there's lots of things that we have in common. And I think it's more important to get back to or at least it is very important to get back to that realisation of the baseline humanity of all of us and start building on the things that we do have in common. Everybody wants a roof on their head food in their bellies, yes, a foil for their children a better life for their children, things like that. And I think when when we can at least reestablish a certain level of respect and then we can build off of that to have a certain amount of health The discourse because right now there is no healthy discourse. So that's that's what it is I'm trying to bring back to the table is just an ability to talk to people with reason and sanity.

Snyder’s Return : 11:13

It's, it's a noble cause and I really hope that the more people take, take it up and, as you say, come to the table with this with this mindset that we're, we're trying to, to create and foster and draw the good out of the humanity that's, that's in us all. So it's, it's a fantastic cause I have to say,

B. Dave Walters : 11:34

Well, I appreciate it. And it's just, it occurred to me that it was within my power to do and so I have to do it. So

Snyder’s Return : 11:44

of course, of course. So moving on from people infected with one thing to you trying to stay alive on the frontier and quite another you're you're so involved in the We're alive frontier stuff. So the undead outbreak game, would you like to sort of touch on that as well? Please?

B. Dave Walters : 12:07

Yeah, it's it's, it's it's funny because I've gone on record many times saying that I'm actually not really a fan of horror, and I particularly don't like zombies. But this opportunity came. This was the first big stream I got to do without breaking dead. And I was an alternate, I've told the story before I was an alternate where the original concept of the show is that it was just going to be just a meat grinder, just a bloodbath. And so many people were gonna die this way. They had other people waiting in the wings to jump in. And we shot the whole thing over four days, the whole season, and I was the second alternate of three. The first one got called up on the second day, I don't want to ruin it because if you haven't watched, we're alive. It's a it's an astonishing show. It's also on YouTube. Now. We're live frontier. I have to say, because we're alive is a podcast series that we did this stream set in that world. So if you just look up, we're alive you'll find all sorts of things where specifically we're alive frontier. And that's because there were a lot of franchises created by Casey Wayland. We were playing the outbreak undead game set in that world. So we made it all the way through. It was the night. So we did a Friday and a Saturday. And if you'd seen me that Saturday, when I went home, I went home very sad because I was so excited about the idea that I was going to have an opportunity to do this. This is going to be my big break, and then it really looked like it wasn't going to happen. And I was very sad. And because I came and I sat there for the entire filming, I watched it all on set because my rationale was if I got called up, I wanted to know what was going on and be able to just jump right in. So then I showed up on Sunday morning. Actually Saturday I was told this to be ready be in the wings and I was separated from everyone. So I kind of like set off by myself and missed a big chunk of it on Saturday and went home like very sad Saturday night. Then I came in Sunday morning, and they were like, yes, no, we're gonna get you in today. And I was like, cool. And then still was like a bunch of delays and it really looked like it wasn't gonna happen. And when I did finally get in, again, I won't spoil it for you because it was bananas. But I did the equivalent of hitting a hole in one in front of a live audience on camera, you know, to win the PGA Tour. Just a very improbable sequence of events all played out right there. And a cat to come back for season two did did all season two and it was incredible. And I think one of the things that we realised very early on, was what we thought was this gore game was really a game of hope in the survival and the fact that you can make it over overwhelming odds. And as I said, as of this recording just over the last four weeks, I just did a outbreak on dead short run for hunters entertainment set in their zombie universe, which is very similar to the universal were alive where they're not zombies so much as infected creatures, like, I Am Legend, and I got to put some friends of mine did that same beat grinder and it was quite it's quite an experience. It's quite an experience. I'll say that. Yeah.

Snyder’s Return : 15:34

Not true. I will start with Ivan Norman.

B. Dave Walters : 15:38

Eat is Ivan's company but Ivan is one of the owners of hunters entertainment, but he was not in the stream. It was Luis Carrasco which Vampire the Masquerade are for led by Knight fans know Marquis and McCarty mainly damage to same thing a Long Beach by night and dark and wish fans know. And Michelle when Bradley were my players

Snyder’s Return : 16:01

Well, that's definitely something to look forward to coming out because that whole we're alive in the zombie side of stuff is draws draws the attention definitely draws my eye. So I'll be looking out for that. Definitely. So that's like two systems down and we haven't touched on the 30. Other you've already mentioned. Maybe we'll continue on the the more established route, and discuss your involvement with Dungeons and Dragons in its myriad of ways. If you wouldn't mind sort of touching on some of your favourite projects you're working on or have worked on characters and wherever you'd like to, to sort of take us.

B. Dave Walters : 16:44

Yeah, you know, NDA, NDA, NDA. It's wild. It is wild, that every game that I have grown up with and really loved and really got lost in. I've got to contribute something to now which is wild. Got to effect the canon of everything I've wanted to do except riffs. I haven't played riffs in a minute. So hey palladium games, anybody that's gotten in riffs let me know I need to write something for riffs on principle. And then I will let you know checked all the check check them all off. Yeah, I've had the opportunity to write an official comic book for Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeons and Dragons, a darkened wish, which actually is a transmedia story, which means the exact same characters in the same story is occurring in multiple mediums. So the events of the comic and the events of the stream are all the same lives of these same characters telling like a singular narrative. We just did to see we just actually I think, as of now, tomorrow, the season finale will air for season two, but we are coming back for a third season, which has been fantastic. I do play freely on silver and steel for d&d beyond. He's my lucky boy. So when I go into Do Other appearances places that she's the character I play? And like you said, I play all these games I'm at the point now that when I make a character I just it's just what have I not done? When I made Victor for LA by night? My overt God knew and wanted to event true, but I wanted him to be not chotto I didn't want him to be a leader of unruly masses that just don't listen to everyone's collective ruin. And then spoiler alert, that's sort of exactly what happened. So by the time it came along to to play freely I just picked like I'd never played a halfling I picked this wild build because he was just supposed to be he's just supposed to be a one shot character. And if I keep calling my lucky boy cuz he has created his own luck he was I got was main cast on that show ended up being main cast on a spin off show. He's the first character I got no video game for idol champions. Like my lucky little halfling has opened all these doors. I just I think to me, I take storytelling very seriously I take the fact that these are worlds and places that people can go get lost in and take their mind off their troubles for a while and experience their their own mythology that they can build their own legends and they get to be the heroes, I'd take that very seriously. And the fact that I've got to add a link to the chain of 50 plus years of continuity of the Forgotten Realms, is wild. And I think that all peaked for me during the descent event, when they built waterdeep and we did the the off the table like semi dramatic LARP thing that we did. Then when I walked into the yawning portal and it was the yawning portal, and I walk over and Ed Greenwood is there dressed as elminster and he turns over and he's like elements of shadow tail well met. If you watch that video, I freeze there for a second and I just like Look at him. And I'm like, I just happened. It just happened. I just met him during the yawning portal. Okay, cool, cool, cool. Oh, yeah, what I'm supposed to do and then you know, keep going but it's uh, it is I just tell people I've rolled rolled some very timely crits in my life like my own hard work and effort has allowed me to roll with advantage on some of those, but I just been I've just been very lucky.

Snyder’s Return : 20:25

They often say you make your own luck in life, but you definitely channel some of feelies. By the sounds of it. I Curiously, just before we we started speaking, Todd Kenrick could put a tweet up and I can't quote it because that's, that means I had to prepare it slightly better. But you mentioned about exposing an elf. It all seems very cryptic. I'm sure that's a silver and steel reference.

B. Dave Walters : 20:54

Actually, that is a reference to the one on one shot he did with me. On Sunday mornings I have a series haven't done in a couple of weeks but I have people begging me to bring it back where I sat down with just very interesting people in the in the ttrpg community and we just played either vampire or d&d one on one. And with him, I brought on he and his wife and a friend exploded an elf in that game. I won't tell you how but you can look at the top kinrick one on one shot to see what it is he's referring to there.

Snyder’s Return : 21:27

Yeah. I'm I might be misremembering. If you have Matthew Lord on as well. I did.

B. Dave Walters : 21:33

He was the first guess he was the first guest on one on one shots. Yeah. Matthew Lillard, Jim sub melee damage. Jasmine bhullar Luis carazo and a pro Sir James hake. Brandon Lee Mulligan Tania de pass, Todd and Megan This this is all off the top of my dome so anybody I don't miss mentioned I mean no disrespect Alicia Marie body. Uh yeah Yeah, yeah, I was just I'm just gonna like randomly just start listing people's names here as I go along again I apologise for anyone I didn't miss it was no disrespect. But yeah. It was it was a very fun project. I got to get back into it more for sure.

Snyder’s Return : 22:26

I'm sure people will be queuing at the door. Absolutely, because that they are brilliant. Which sort of leads on to a project within a project or in support of a charity I should say in charity work. You have been part of japp justice game day, this year. What was like?

B. Dave Walters : 22:49

Ah, this Jasper's game day was an unusually wild one because it I won't tell you how. So here's the charity games are always wild because usually it's like, you know, you can donate to affect the outcome. And so, um, you know, they just they go bananas all over the place and it's a draw from the deck of many things. And this guy's got 20 this monster shows up and that monster shows up in my niche is level 20 I do level 20 games is that how I enjoy playing so few people do it. So I'm always out here doing it to try and show people that it's not so bad at level 20. And this one was a lot of fun. We had a big old group and the person that donated for us to hit our goal, ask for something that I would can best be described as catastrophic. And, again, I won't spoil it but a lot of thing a lot happens just a lot happens in that and it's um, it's again, I'm so fortunate to be able to be able to make a difference in people Live doing something that I love being able to get to have fun with incredible people, and also make a difference at the same time is just, it is a wild and insane thing. So that's why when I get called up to do charity, I do my best to move heaven and earth to make it happen.

Snyder’s Return : 24:18

Well, some people might be unfamiliar with Jasper's game day, would you be able to give us a just a brief rundown of what it is and what drew you to, to sort of join in their project?

B. Dave Walters : 24:28

It is kind of expanded now to Jasper's game week. Jasper's Game Day is there a suicide prevention charity. There there was a young man who took his own life. And this was an outgrowth out of that to help at risk teens usually disproportionately affects the LGBTQ community, but it but it is a problem across the spectrum. I myself lost a friend to suicide when I When I was a teenager, so I'm very acutely and uniquely aware of the pain that comes along with that. You know, lost lost another another, another relative later, later a little later in life to it too. And it's just amazing how just feeling like you're not alone is worth its weight in gold, which is part of the strength of tabletop gaming. It's the strength of storytelling and the communities around it. It's the strength of fandom and feeling like you're a part of something. And what Jasper's game day does is help remove that sense of hopeless isolation for people in literally saves lives in the process. So I'm passionate about a lot of causes, but that one in particular, I think, has the, the most one to one correlation about keeping people here with us longer than than others and so it's very much near and dear to my heart.

Snyder’s Return : 26:00

It's very moving and very touching. And thank you for sharing that information with us. Clearly you didn't have to and, and I appreciate you. So opening up a little bit for me. So moving, moving into community then sort of stepping away from that because the community has welcomed yourself myself. So many people are sort of coming into this community. Where do you want to see tabletop role playing games move into next? Where do you want to see the change? sort of take place?

B. Dave Walters : 26:36

What are some decent movies and TV would be nice. I mean, historically, it's all been kind of corny and everything like Hercules and Xena which don't get me wrong. I loved Hercules and Xena but you know, more more Game of Thrones ish content were sick because that was the genius in the Marvel movies. They could have made them all goofy and silly and they didn't. They made them like they made Like the heroes were fighting for something serious. I would like to see that happen. Content wise. Also, it's great to see this geek Renaissance come about where it's cool to be a geek. I very much came up in the era that that was not the case. You know? Oh, to me, like, oh, okay, and everybody likes the things I have. I've loved all along great cool, because it's what's valuable and useful. I would just like to I would just like to see that continue to expand and just see people give it a shot. I mean, even if you're curious if you're even remotely curious, get some friends together, roll some dice and have a good time. Don't don't stress about it don't agonise over it just the easiest way I tell people to get into a game. And it doesn't matter if it's d&d, if it's vampire, if it's whatever system it is. Pick your favourite movie that's the closest to it. So if you're like well, I really like that Lord of the Rings. Cool. Who's your favourite character? I really like Legolas. Great. You're an elven Ranger dope. Now we're in the game. You know? You wake up in the village and you hear a knock at the door. What would you like to do? Well, I go into the door. When you open it, no one's there. Oh, well, I look around. Well, now you're playing, you know, see you're in it. It's that simple. And you can do it with anything. So give it a shot. And if you don't know how to start, honestly, with anything I've said, If you have more questions, my dams are open on Twitter so you can just shoot me a message and I'll help you out.

Snyder’s Return : 28:31

Well, you drove me and I want to know knocked on the door now. Today me in such a way that it is magical. And again, drawing people in and I think acceptance is a big part just just accepting each each other and that it's it is a game and you can have fun with it. And as you say, find a common reference point. You can work from that. Everybody can sort of understand it. And so roll with definitely.

B. Dave Walters : 29:02

Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's it's it's it's it's difficult to as an adult, especially sometimes even as a kid but as an adult to just give yourself permission to play, to give yourself permission to be silly to give yourself permission to fail at something. It's, it's, it's fine. And oftentimes, those are the best. The Times that the best stories come out of it, because I will tell you that again, I really do not want to ruin how we're live frontier ended, the show's astonishing, and you should watch it. I will just say, before my incredible hole in one happens, I very much thought I had failed utterly, like, I thought I'd waited this entire weekend to essentially get in here and get killed immediately. You know, just like Well, okay, great, awesome. And you can like see it on my face that I'm like, Oh, right. Okay. Yeah. And then something fantastic happens. So you just just roll with it, you know, just roll with it and enjoy it and you will find out so much about yourself. I'm a fairly introspective person and but I still found out things about playing these roles that I that I did that kind of keep ending up in roughly the same positions in games with roughly the same kind of character like I kind of always ended up being the party face the talker, you know, I always ended up being the diplomat. And unless I consciously play a character who is not that I it's still happens because you know, that's that's I start you start bumping up the parameters of you and your personality and consciousness. And only then can you consciously exceed those things and become somebody else on demand, which is surprisingly liberating.

Snyder’s Return : 30:52

That's fair enough. And that sort of leads me into sort of a follow on question, which is what's been the biggest influence on your sort dming storytelling style or even your character play style, what sort of where do you draw your inspiration from you mentioned being introspective?

B. Dave Walters : 31:07

Um, I don't know where I arrived at this realisation but I say it quite often a dungeon master storyteller, you know, whatever the nomenclature of the system job is to elicit an emotional reaction. If your character's if your players are laughing or crying, if they're terrified if they're enraged, whatever they're feeling if they're feeling something, you're doing your job correctly, your only enemy is math. If there's zoning out and on their phone are not paying attention, which by the way, as an aside, pro tip you have it within your rights to ban phones at your table storytellers. You don't have to let you don't have to allow it. But you know that that is your job to allow people to feel like Their actions or their inactions have an impact in the things they do or don't do matter and that they are at cause in the narrative, because a lot of times in life, we feel like we don't matter. And what we do don't matter. And in these games, that is the gift is that it does. And your job as a storyteller is to put people in those positions where they can, they can have that and they can play in that sandbox. And that may mean you have this elaborate murder mystery, concocted, and they decide they want to go play with the farmer's pigs for three hours. But if your players giggling and having a great time, let them man let them you know, let them in, then hook it back in when you can, because this week, the reason why these relationships it's like stay so strong, like I played World of Warcraft very seriously for years. When I got friends from the guild that are like real friends, like we know everything about each other. And have never been in the same room together, then the the bombs of that friendship was the common experiences that we shared together like struggling during those raids and things like that and fighting and scraping that makes something happen. And it's the same with your d&d group, if you've been lucky enough to have a group you played with for any time, you've all got those stories of the time that you know, you brought down the ogre. By putting the immovable rod on his forehead, or the one shot the dragon with the arrow of slaying the arrow slaying story is super true, by the way that happened in one of my games, or you know, any of that. And those are the things that will stick with you forever. And that's the joy of this medium that delivers in a way that no other medium does. In your job, a storyteller is to the best of your ability to facilitate the chances for that to happen. But although I guess, question your question was What is my influence for that? Sorry, I didn't mean interrupt. I just

Snyder’s Return : 33:58

you carry on please, please.

B. Dave Walters : 34:00

It's a I am first and foremost a storyteller and I have been for many years and I've looked into very carefully what makes stories work. Why do things resonate? Why does that you know, Jung's concept of individuation and the archetypes you know, Joseph Campbell with the hero's journey, why does that matter to us so much? That was my, my, my influence the fact that Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, Aragorn, Neo, they're all the same character. It's telling the same story. And so understanding that that's what people are craving on a subconscious level wanting to give them that at the table. That's my influence.

Snyder’s Return : 34:42

Yeah, I hadn't maybe I hadn't thought about it in that way before, and it's definitely something I'll be taken away from this interview. So thank you for that. Thank you for that. I knew I knew I'd learned a lot. And I just wasn't expecting it to be to be that so thank you during the bottom of my My dm got my

B. Dave Walters : 35:03

Thank you. Yes, that's what a no, please go ahead. Go ahead. Well, I was

Snyder’s Return : 35:10

I was gonna say, yeah, we've spoken about the systems and your influences there and you've dedicated it seemingly all of your time. We spoke briefly about before about getting rest. And so you sort of dedicate your time to the entertainment of others and bringing people into this world and sort of time with your friends and things. Who if you're able to say, Is there anyone you thought? Yes, I really have to collaborate with this person or work with this system or, you know, is there anything like that you thought to yourself, I'm looking at long term now. Can I get this worked out?

B. Dave Walters : 35:49

Ah, this is gonna sound more vain than I mean it too. I do not mean that. I mean dead serious. I've been lucky enough to dislike I know everybody in this space. I've I've, I've played with everybody, you know. Now, you I just shot we shot Pirates of Leviathan with Mercer and marisha you know that's launching in two weeks relative to now I've gotten to play with that brand wall Matthew Lillard Joe manganiello. You know, Chris Perkins, Brinley Mulligan in Please don't take that list is exhaustive if I didn't say your name, it's not that I don't respect your time or your talent, you know, it's just that I've been, again, fortunate to get to kind of the top of this, you know, unique niche, this unique subculture. So anyone I want access to I've kind of got that being said that what my ambition now is transitioning into more of my own original content. I'm very happy Being grateful to be telling the stories that I'm telling. But I want to do more of the building of my own unique worlds, you know, and allowing people to come play in my sandbox is the thing that I wanted. Don't get me wrong. I'll be telling DND stories and vampire stories as long as anybody wants to listen to me talk about them. But yeah, that's, that's, that's the next the next step for me, is more more completely original content.

Snyder’s Return : 37:31

Well, that's definitely something that I'll be looking out for. And I'm sure many others will certainly be doing so as well, your influence, shall we say? As you mentioned, you play with effectively the who's who with respect to tabletop role playing games and systems and you're able to sort of mix and match and take influences and put bring to the table. So many different sorts of skills and scenarios and things that something that you You've created from your mind and your heart would would surely be a joy to play. A bit emotional.

B. Dave Walters : 38:10

Thank you, sir. Thank you. I'm like, Hey, don't Don't worry, I still have plenty of opportunities to let you down.

Snyder’s Return : 38:20

It's okay to fail. I think we've learned from this so far. It's okay

B. Dave Walters : 38:24

to fall seven times is to rise eight. Yep, life begins today.

Snyder’s Return : 38:29

I was often I often still get told it's not how we fail. It's how we recover so much in the same vein, much in the same vein.

B. Dave Walters : 38:36

Well, you know, if the risk of waxing overly philosophical I may I'm in everything for a reason person. And if you're gonna do that, you got to be in everything for a reason person even when things don't go your way. And I can look back over my life, it's so many things that I thought were just crushing defeats, that still just lead directly to something else. dope, you know? So it's and when things don't when things don't work out, I don't really like linger too long on the disappointment of it, I just keep rolling to the next thing. But that's also part of the reason why I work so hard is I realised these opportunities are just that they're just opportunities, and they will be what I make them. So I try and make the most of them.

Snyder’s Return : 39:20

Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I appreciate the fact you took the opportunity to talk to me and my opportunity to talk to you so I'm definitely pouncing on those opportunities where they come so I know where you're coming from there. You mentioned briefly live and rolling on through things. One is that you do away from the game table.

B. Dave Walters : 39:40

You know, again, um, somebody asked me about this yesterday, they were like, what are you doing your free time? I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about. Because I've been lucky that and I know I keep using that word lucky and fortunate and blessed and all but there's no other way to to describe it. Because yes, it is true. I work Really, really, really, really hard. But lots of people work hard. That doesn't mean you're gonna make it, you know, like, like people digging ditches or working hard, like me effort in and of itself. While a vital component is not, you know, the component is that you do need to be in the right place the right time. And all you can do is try and facilitate things in such a way that you will be prepared when the time comes like there's Abraham Lincoln quote that I'm paraphrasing that I will prepare myself continuously and eventually my chance will come. So, since my vocation is stuff that I would do for fun anyway, a lot of times I am still doing a lot of these things. When I get to the point that I need to step away from a sec for a second and this is this is always a risk for anyone who is self employed doing anything. We know when you go to work. It's easy to know when you start and stop When you're self employed, the line becomes very blurry. And you have to give yourself permission to stop and do nothing. My I enjoy hanging out with my kids. Of course, they're my girls are both super dope. I like talking to them. And, you know, like go go getting ice cream and like that sort of thing is they're getting older. They're nine and 12 now and you know, we have conversations and talk about stuff, that's great. And also just getting caught up on TV movies, you know, allowing myself to get lost in someone else's world. is the thing I do because a lot of times I don't have time to stay caught up on things like I used to, because you know, I'm grinding 24 seven, or I'm grinding like 20 slash six. You know, like, like, right now, I'm neck deep in Lovecraft country, which is, you know, terrifying and I hate it. And because I don't like her and I wouldn't watch it except I have to watch it because everybody thinks I will. So I just like what undercover Her peeking between my eyes every episode of Lovecraft country. Yeah, things of that nature like, like going in partaking in something like that is what I it. But but even so in its own way to me that's all still involved I'm still just paying attention to how the story is being told what's moving me what's working, what's not working, so I can have an informed opinion to you to better facilitate what I do. It's weird. I don't know I have this like, Techno monastic existence, I suppose. where everything's the devotional.

Snyder’s Return : 42:40

Your life sounds a lot more tiring the mind does most of the time. So I've full credit for everything you do. And we've touched on a lot of topics and various parts of your personal life, professional life and things like that. Is there anything we haven't covered so far that you would like to bring to prominence something that a topic maybe that you would like? Bring to the fore.

B. Dave Walters : 43:01

Um, yes, this in. I'm gonna try to be nuanced in what I'm saying here. Because if I if I'm not careful, sometimes people get upset with me this time right now of quarantine. And God willing, my friend you're listening to this a year or two from now and you know you're free and easy and walking down the street doing whatever you want. But you know, as of the time of this right, this recording, we were still mostly locked down. It will let me qualify this a little bit more. This is an extremely difficult time. For some people. It is a catastrophic time for many people. It is an uncharacteristically and unusually difficult time for all people. However, I will point out two things to you. Once the world restarts, you will miss the simplicity of this time when you Have to go back out and sit in rush hour and sit and stupid board meetings, and may only have an hour to yourself to go to lunch and all of that and have everything measured out again, when the office lifeworld restarts, you will miss this time, the simplicity of this time. And to a certain extent, I don't know that is ever going to go back to exactly what it was because the faces of remote work has never been very much proven. But more of it will come back, you will miss the simplicity of this time. The second thing you will never be any easier. It will never never be any easier than it is right now to do that thing that you have in your mind and in your heart that you've wanted to do to write that book. Write that screenplay, write that song, start that stream like it will never be any easier than right now. So the only thing that every human being is equal in his time. We all have 168 hours in a week. You me Oprah Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk 168 hours in a week. That's it. So there is time to do anything that you want with planning. It may not be enough time in a day, it may not be enough time in a week, but in a month, two months, three months, you can make literally anything happen and it's never going to be any easier than now. Now, let me issue a disclaimer there. Because sometimes people hear this and they take from it, that they should feel bad that they're not being ultra productive during this time and that they're not out here doing 75 things like me, and maybe they are just laying on the couch watching Netflix. Look, that is fine. The human race has never experienced anything like this. We've experienced pandemics and quarantines but never on a scale where the entire world was affected at once. And yet we were also intricately connected that we knew every single terrible data point from every single place. No one can tell you what is an appropriate way for you to be dealing with this for your own health and emotional and mental sanity and if that is sitting on the couch eating ice cream watching Netflix then please, by all means, do it. I'm just saying somewhere in there, if in between Are you still watching, if you just scribble down a sentence, one sentence a day, it will add up and you will have something because the time is going to pass whether or not you make the most of it. So just try to do what you can without making yourself wrong. If you need a minute, take a minute if you need a day, take a day if you need a week, take a week. But just keep that in the back of your mind that thing you want to do start chipping away at it now you will be glad you did.

Snyder’s Return : 46:38

I 100% support this message. And totally sure I was gonna follow that because that was wonderful and inspiring. Definitely. And I hadn't thought about quantifying a weekend hours and that kind of scares me somewhat. But thank you, thank you. Could you remind everybody where they can find you and your content and the The project should revolve with please

B. Dave Walters : 47:01

man I'm little literally everywhere I'm somewhere seven days a week Twitter is the best place at beat a Walters. It's just cuz I'm always tweeting on there what it is that I'm doing in a delightful mix of a cat memes and d&d jokes and social activism. And again, if you hear this before the eighth or the ninth of September, the we're still raising funds for dear America from a black guy. That is, and that is going to happen that is going to see the light of day so otherwise, yeah, just follow me wherever and just tune in. We'll have a good time. And thank you for having me. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me.

Snyder’s Return : 47:42

I was gonna say I have had a wonderful time. It's been educational, entertaining and inspiring and only in a short space of time, which I've chipped out your week now. So don't hold that against me. Never. But it's been an absolute pleasure. I'd love to have you back on the show in the future. Maybe a few personal projects start to come to fruition or something else of interest comes up. I'll definitely like to speak to you again if that's if that's a possibility.

B. Dave Walters : 48:09

Yeah, that'd be fantastic. Hey, this, just just got it got to schedule it, you know? And hey, honestly, like real talk, we, you know, you hit me up like a month ago. And I was like, oh, where do I have a free hour in September. But, you know, that's what it took to make it happen, though.

Snyder’s Return : 48:28

Better patience and taking the opportunities and with this where we are today, so just I'm just one of those many proofs that it works I suppose.

B. Dave Walters : 48:36

Exactly. In you know, again, for for you listening, thank you for taking the time to listen, you could be doing anything and I don't know where you are. Maybe you are in the office or you're out taking a walk or something like that. But the number one thing I would like to leave you with is that thing that you're thinking about doing do it. Everything about streaming, getting your friends together, playing a game, writing a book, just do it. Do it, stop thinking about it, do it, do it, do it, do it. Do it, do it. Well.

Snyder’s Return : 49:03

Well, I'll leave that there. Thank you very much for your time. And I hope we'll speak again soon. Thanks for listening. If you'd like to learn more about the show, then go to WWW dot Snyder's return.squarespace.com. Alternatively, you can find us over on Twitter at Return Snyder. We have a link tree link in the description of this episode. And if you want to support us, come and join us over on Patreon and we also have a Discord server. Please leave us a review because we'd love to learn how to improve the channel and provide better content alpha for those who are listening until we until we speak again. Thank you Transcribed by https://otter.ai