This year’s Gencon was so great, we will have to do two episodes to cover it all. In this episode, we bring RPPR regular Caleb to discuss his first impressions of the con and the games he ran and played in. We all talk about the newest games we picked up and Tom discusses the game he ran and other things he did.

I also interviewed George Strayton, creator of The Secret Fire, a new fantasy RPG. It’s a short interview but I added in place of Tom’s letter. He discusses the design philosophy behind the game, his background as a screenwriter and more.

Shout outs

Panopticon: The newest Eclipse Phase supplement.
Zombie Spaceship Wasteland: A hilarious book by Patton Oswalt.
Old School Hack: Awesome free rules-light RPG and gold Ennie winner.
Delta Green Gencon Panel: Listen to the informative Delta Green/Unspeakable Oath panel recorded at this Gencon.
Cthulhu Invictus: Cthulhu in ancient Rome. A winning combination!

Song: Zombie by Anssi 8000 and Maria Stereo

Watch Zombies of the World episode 1: Migration and learn how it was made on the ZOTW blog.

If you want to contribute art for the Lemurian Ruins – email rpprpodcast@gmail.com.

Synopsis: Game balance is a tricky thing. While in some cases, it’s easy to spot an unbalanced system like Palladium or Synnibarr but other times, a game’s imbalances won’t be revealed until you’ve played it for a while. So what do you when you find out that the game you’re playing is unbalanced? We discuss how to deal with these situations. It’s possible to change systems, house rule it so that it’s balanced or use the social contract to keep things fair. Also instead of a letter, Tom talks about having a cyst cut out of him. It’s really gross (NSFW link do not click this)

Shout outs:

  • Linotype: An upcoming documentary about the linotype machine.
  • Tucker and Dale vs Evil: Very funny horror-comedy about college students vs. hapless hillbillies.
  • Rubber: A movie about a psychic killer tire. Why is this great? No reason.
  • Hobo with a Shotgun: Rutger Hauer murders bad guys with a shotgun. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT
  • Mortal Kombat 9: Old school controls with brand new graphics.
  • The Unspeakable Oath: The best Call of Cthulhu magazine in this universe (or any other for that matter)
  • Spirit of Truth/Redemption: A Mass Effect fanfic that Tom really enjoyed.
  • Mafia 2: It’s like a mob movie but you get to shoot the guys.
  • Dread: Unique horror RPG with a unusual conflict resolution mechanic…
  • Magicka Vietnam: wizards with AK-47s mowing down goblin and orc hordes. Fun times.

Music: Our Life Our Rules by Moral Decline