Topics

1

General Chaos / Interview with Larry Kenney on Rag-NERD-rok

« on: July 17, 2012, 08:29:23 PM »

Hey all! Just wanted to share something really cool that we did over at Rag-NERD-rok. Last weekend, we recorded a Skype interview with voice actor and radio personality Larry Kenney, known to geek children of the '80s as Lion-O from ThunderCats and Bluegrass from Silverhawks. We talked about his career in radio, voice acting, and what it was like to work on ThunderCats, new and original. He even gave us a "ThunderCats HO!" at the end.

If any of this piques your interest, you can check out the episode here.

(Fun fact that didn't come up at all during the interview: Larry Kenney is the father of comedy demigoddess and alum of The State, Viva Variety and Reno 911! Kerri Kenney. Before we did our research for the interview, I did not know this.)

2

Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Episode 40: First Time GMing

« on: January 22, 2010, 03:12:53 AM »

Just wanted to congratulate you guys on another great show. I really like the episodes where you bring in special guest speakers, especially when Cody is among them. (I had to go back and listen to The Bad Player episode again just so I could laugh at Cody's "THE WITCHBLADE!" story a second time.) I thought it was really interesting to hear from Aaron after running his first series of successful games, as well as the other veteran GMs in the crew. I'd definitely recommend this episode to new GMs who want to get a feel for how to run a good game.

On another note, I can't believe Tom started running games when he was eight! I kinda wish I had been there for the TMNT Terminator crossover. I could see eight year-old me really enjoying that one. Just another reason I belong to the Tom Church Fanclub, I guess.

Looking forward to the next episode, as always.

3

RPGs / CoC Keeper Screen Help

« on: September 23, 2009, 02:49:12 AM »

Howdy, folks! This message goes out to all you Call of Cthulhu Keepers out there in Internetland...

First, a little background:

So, after listening to Tom's World War II CoC Actual Play, along with the equally awesome World War I scenario "Dig to Victory!," I decided to go out and buy myself a copy of CoC 6th Ed. At this point, I've read through most of the book and I've started to prepare some notes on a scenario I'd like to run with my friends, something that wraps up neatly, but is still loaded with hooks that could allow it to turn into a chronicle if they enjoy it. I like the game enough that I even considered buying a Keeper's Screen--that is, until I did some research and found out that the 6th Ed. screens are very expensive and very poorly printed. Granted, I could get along without one easily enough, but where would the fun be in that? ;-) My girlfriend suggested that I make my own screen out of affordable materials, which is what I decided to do.

A few years ago, the two of us put together a custom screen for oWoD Mage when a friend of ours who worked at Home Depot at the time came into an extremely large piece of free plywood, enough for each of us to make an eight-panel Storyteller's screen and still have panels left over. For the CoC screen, we decided to use Masonite board (which is dirt cheap) bound together with intertwining gold ribbons. The inner faces of the screen will be Prussian blue edged in gold paint, with the charts and Keeper info printed on sepia paper. The outer faces are going to feature a reproduction / extension of the artwork on the cover of the book done in oils, and the first and last panels will be bound in scaly black leather that we fished out of a Wal-Mart bargain bin for $2.00. She's already embroidered "Call of Cthulhu" in gold thread on the leather piece that will eventually be the front cover, and it looks awesome. When it's completed, hopefully it will look like an old leather-bound tome when it's folded, one that opens to reveal the secrets of the Keeper's Lore within.

Deciding on the content of the Mage screen was easy because I had a copy of the 2nd Ed. Storyteller's screen that I scanned and Photoshopped into something that looked better with the motifs of our custom screen. Being as it is that I've never seen an actual CoC screen, and that I have only a newcomer's grasp of the rules (as I have not yet run a game), I thought it might be prudent to ask those who have run CoC before what information it might be helpful to have on hand during a game. If you were designing your own CoC Keeper's screen, what would you put on it?

Keep in mind, I'm more than happy to take the time to reformat or condense some of the more long-winded stuff (such as the Spot Rules for Combat / Firearms) into charts or shorthand, and I've got plenty of free time to kill on this project. I also have plenty of space, as this is going to end up being a six panel screen.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!