On:
In: Podcast Episode
With: 15 Comments

The time of judgment is upon us. Tom and I judge a few games, a D&D mockumentary and several bad GM habits. The Assemblage of the Crystal Sphere is a indie comedy about a RPG group about to complete a 5 year campaign. Tom looks at Cthulhutech, a game of animu giant robots fighting monsters from the cthulhu mythos in the future! I talk about Paranoia XP, the newest version of the classic sci fi comedy RPG, where happiness is mandatory and commie mutant traitors lurk around every corner. We then judge a few bad GM habits, namely wasting the players’ time and hyper-adversarial GMing. Of course, there’s a new (horribly offensive) letter from Tom and a listener anecdote.

The New World Campaign Primer Ransom: For fans of the New World 4E D&D campaign, I’m starting up a ransom for the New World Campaign Primer. If the ransom is met, I will write it up and release it as a freely available PDF. Check out the page for more info on what will be contained in the Primer.

Motor Home from Hell: Buy a copy of my feature length horror comedy movie, Motor Home from Hell for only $12.50. Select Podcast Fan option when purchasing for an autographed RPPR postcard with a unique message from Tom and I or Mystery Grab Bag for an assortment of random goodies.

Shout outs:

  • Mount and Blade: A badass indie computer RPG. Archers. Mercenary swordsmen and calvary. Pillage the village and besiege the castles. That’s how you roll in Mount and Blade.
  • Silent Hunter 4: A submarine simulator that involves trigonometry. That’s a sure sign of FUN!
  • Red Rock West: A western noir movie with Dennis Hopper as a hitman with low self esteem and Nicholas Cage as a drifter looking for work. But don’t worry, Cage actually acts well! Worth a watch.


Also I have judged the old forums to be inadequate so I have created new forums. Check out these threads:

Music: The Judgment by David Cyr.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:15:14 — 43.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

On:
In: Podcast Episode
With: 9 Comments

Synopsis: Every gamer has their own expectations at the gaming table. Most of the time, everyone has similar enough expectations that they can all enjoy the same game but this isn’t always the case. How do you deal with people who seem to have mutually exclusive expectations of a RPG? Ultra realism or cinematic action? High fantasy or hard sci fi? We discuss how to collaborate and compromise so that the game can reach a suitable middle ground. We discuss the five hot spots where expectations are frequently violated: genre, style, violence level, maturity level and consistency in the game. Plus, a letter from Tom to Splynncryth the alien intelligence from Rifts, anecdotes and shout outs:

Shout outs:

  • Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The classic regency romance novel, with new scenes of zombie mayhem. Can Mr. Darcy find love in a zombie apocalypse?
  • Root of All Evil: A Lewis Black Comedy Central series about pop culture and evil.
  • Armored Trains: A book about the use of armored trains in war, especially WW1 and WW2, with lots of great pictures. What’s not to like?
  • Look Around You: A BBC parody of educational TV. The Water and Sulfur episodes are hilarious.
  • Lovecraft is Missing: A horror/pulp webcomic about H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

Music: Wagering Lights by Venn & Euler.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:24 — 35.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS

On:
In: Podcast Episode
With: 6 Comments

Synopsis: Open-ended or Sandbox games can be extremely fun but it requires a lot of work on the part of both the GM and the players. Our friends over at the Bearswarm recorded an episode about sandbox games recently but we thought we would give it a shot (and neither of us has listened to it yet). Also, we have four anecdotes in this episode, including the legend of the nautical druid – written by a player from a D&D game I ran a few years back. Don’t miss it!

Shout Outs:

Midnight Meat Train: A crazy horror movie based on a Clive Barker story directed by a Japanese guy. Starring Vinnie Jones as a killer.
Survive Style 5: A Japanese movie featuring Vinnie Jones as a hitman. It’s sureal and awesome.
Fall of Cthulhu: A cthulhu mythos type godwar comic book. Fun stuff. Cthulhu vs Nodens vs Nyarlathotep.
Asian Horror Movies: A website featuring Asian horror movies for free – streaming online. I recommend Noroi.
Open Grave: A great new WOTC 4E D&D book about the undead.
In Search of Adventure: I wrote one of the adventures, a Lovecraftian dungeon crawl using 4E rules.

Music: Giant Enemy Crab remix

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:26 — 32.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS