Tryp, a Newborn Hive Mind - Containing Multitudes with Wes Ascolese (The Wildsea)

Characters Without Stories

Wes Ascolese brings Trypoxylus "Tryp" to the table. Tryp is a newborn hive mind formed from a group of Japanese stag beetles looking to learn about the world they are seeing with new eyes.
Wes and I discuss how bugs think, trying to build a unified identity, and discovering yourself through your characters.
This character is built for The Wildsea by Felix Isaacs: https://myth.works/collections/the-wildsea-homepage
Wes Ascolese is a leftist TTRPG collector and enthusiast, amateur bookbinder, and obsessive knowledge seeker. He co-wrote Beyond Deep, an adventure for Mörk Borg, with Christopher Koger, which you can find at Exalted Funderal: https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/beyond-deep-pdf
You can find Wes at:
X: https://x.com/WesAscolese
Instagram: https://instagram.com/atomicwessels

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Cover art by The Curiographer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecuriographer

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Thanks for listening, and may all your characters find their stories!

Chapters

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Trypoxylus (00:01:51)

3. About The Wildsea (00:03:49)

4. Choose your hive (00:08:02)

5. Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump (00:09:34)

6. How does a hive mind think? (00:12:24)

7. Not a species, an approach (00:15:09)

8. Why shaped like human? (00:18:28)

9. A carapace of carapaces (00:20:37)

10. I can be more than a bunch of bugs (00:22:25)

11. I don't want to make a ghost mad (00:26:57)

12. No Rolodexes of characters (00:32:20)

13. Narrative advantages (00:36:01)

14. Flaws are my strength (00:38:35)

15. Caveat caveat (00:41:46)

16. Be soft, but be ready (00:44:49)

17. The documentary A Bug's Life (00:49:41)

18. Do you love or hate being alone? (00:53:24)

19. Outro (00:54:07)