Today’s ingredient: The dead are consuming the living. Why and how? Let’s find out! Fear the Con 2024’s Kickstarter can be found here. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne ..read more

* (0:29) In defense of technology at the gaming table. Caleb’s setup with Owlbear Rodeo. * (5:13) Dan’s Lion King sing-a-long and Wayne’s Ghostbusters game. * (6:27) The deeper pool of online players, including AIs. Remoting in a missing player for an in-person game. * (14:04) Working distance and distraction into the game. * (17:54) Digital storage and organization. The wonder of CTRL-F. * (25:21) Minimalization of the gaming experience. * (30:01) Dodging some issues by allowing only one person to have technology. The visual obstruction created by laptops and such. * (41:01) Getting digital a ..read more

I decided to skip over the Iron GM and go for a Tungsten GM. The ingredient? All broadcasts cease because something won’t let them get through. What’s the game plot? Also, the Fear the Con 2024 Kickstarter is now live here! Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne ..read more

* (0:30) Dan runs a game a bit too literally. * (4:12) The intersection of technology and roleplaying in a way that isn’t required by the game. * (7:32) Why multimedia doesn’t pay-off the way it does in other forms of storytelling. * (13:36) The prep time technology adds, and the stability it takes away. * (15:59) The time spent digging up the right asset on-the-spot. * (20:52) The physical space taken up by technology. Playing “follow the leader” at a subconscious level. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne ..read more

* (0:29) Why talk about intelligence? The Why Files episode about Cicada 3301. * (9:24) A game takes an unhelpfully long break, only to be replaced by another RPG. * (12:44) The lack of a bottomless “buffet of ideas” in a closed setting. * (14:24) Use minimal starting information to give you room to work. * (18:12) How to run a school (everyone go play Persona 5). * (24:48) Create a wide variety of NPCs and give them their own lives. * (30:38) Keeping the party together, even if it doesn’t quite make sense. * (31:57) PC-specific NPCs, so you know the players are bought it. Hosts: Dan, Mary, Wa ..read more

* (0:22) Picking out the point we became curmudgeons and what exactly that means. * (4:48) Being too set in our ways. * (11:19) The self-destruction that comes with stagnation. * (21:32) Wii have a solution. * (24:32) Ducking new games while at a convention. Playing The Quiet Year on an airplane. * (32:57) The role of pragmatism. Why expand your horizons when no one lets you go there, anyway? * (38:43) There’s always going to be something wrong. * (41:09) A lesson learned from The Why Files. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Wayne ..read more

* (0:29) Thanks to Eric Van Note for Swole Mole! * (3:15) The value of terrible GMing. * (8:42) Everyone is their own most inept critic. Sojourn Volume 2. * (15:28) The worst possible outcome: something being forgettable. * (22:20) Asking Doug to grade his own game. * (25:35) The value of creating art, simply for the act of creation. * (37:04) A few too many contacts in someone’s eyes. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne ..read more

* (0:29) Dan prefers affiliated groups, Wayne does not. * (2:15) Cohesion, identity, and help. * (9:35) Affiliations you start with as opposed to those you pick up along the way. * (11:56) The party’s direction and motivation. Affiliating with an ideal. * (20:23) Affiliations create an obvious pool of NPC relationships. * (25:40) External versus internal affiliations, and how they’re not mutually exclusive. * (32:06) Taking extreme positions just to highlight the topic. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Julia, Wayne ..read more

* (0:28) An update on the Actual Play. * (4:48) The InSpectres RPG (at least temporarily back in print!) and our AP interlude using its rules. * (8:09) Why play InSpectres as an interlude to the main campaign? Apparently only Dan has heard of Michelle Jenneke. * (12:58) Plus an extra player. * (16:10) The, “yes and,” style of gaming. * (21:31) Assisting new players when they’re stuck. * (26:24) Seeing roleplaying games as a starting point, not a finished product. * (33:43) It’s not just a game; it’s on the mics. * (39:19) No takebacks! Hosts: Dan, Mary, Wayne ..read more

* (0:28) Things are getting set for Fear the Con! An intro to RPGs game is available for newcomers. * (2:03) A shared Minecraft server. You can find more information on Discord. * (5:52) Realigning your game with a mid-campaign session zero. Special thanks to Gaming with Gage. * (8:46) Making the case to have one. * (12:59) Remembering the times we did this during the Skies of Glass campaign. * (16:38) Reusing or reviewing the exact same work you did in session zero. * (23:15) Being too specific or too general. Hosts: Dan, Mary, Wayne ..read more