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I recorded a panel discussion of Eclipse Phase designers Rob Boyle and Adam Jury as they discussed their current plans for the transhuman sci-fi horror RPG. In this discussion, they go over planned releases, their business model and the themes behind Eclipse Phase. If you’re curious about what’s in store for Firewall and the rest of transhumanity, this would be a good listen.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:23 — 22.6MB)

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Zombies of the World is now available in print, PDF and Kindle format!

My book, Road Trip, has been nominated for an Ennie!

Synopsis: Bildungsroman is a fancy way of describing the ‘youth to adulthood’ genre – stories like “to Kill a Mockingbird” where the character grows from a child to become an adult or closer to an adult. Role playing games are often like these stories – characters grow from being relatively weak and naive to eventually becoming epic badasses of destiny. However, many game systems do not encourage character growth – advancement is slow, ponderous and mechanically difficult. Furthermore, most campaigns are relatively short – interrupted or abandoned for myriad reasons. If you want players to grow at a faster pace, what should you do? How is mechanical growth different from role playing growth? Tom and I discuss these issues and more. Plus, instead of a letter, Tom and I read an excerpt from the infamous rpg.net review of FATAL. It’s definitely NSFW.

Shout outs

Promo: Explodey File podcast. 

Song: Growing up and Getting out by Adam Boucher.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:13:08 — 50.3MB)

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oh 80s cyberpunk, you will always have a place in my heart

Synopsis: Science fiction is an under appreciated genre in role playing games. Fantasy (Dungeons and Dragons) and horror (World of Darkness) dominate RPGs and most of the popular sci-fi games out there aren’t really science fiction or are horribly anachronistic. Tom and I discuss the state of science fiction and how it is different than fantasy or horror. As the literature of ideas, sci-fi should play differently than other genres. Everything from thematic content to the design of the game should be affected. We also have a letter from Tom, shout outs, an anecdote and reader letters.

Shout outs:

Music: Science Fiction by the Cobra Dukes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:49:21 — 75.1MB)

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