In this episode, Tom and I more or less interview each other about our habits as players. Find out what can truly surprise Tom in a game or what my favorite character type is. If you want to get an idea of how to improve your game, think about how you play, what works and what doesn’t work. Also, to make up for the recent lack of content, we’ve made this episode nearly 90 minutes long. Tom has an improvised Letter, plus two new anecdotes and more.

Our favorite RPPR forums threads:

Shout Outs

  • Kenzer Company: Congratulations on issue 150 of Knights of the Dinner Table!
  • T-Rex Cafe: A dinosaur themed restaurant in Kansas City.
  • Dungeon Crawl: I’ve mentioned it before, but the new version is even better. And more addicting if that’s possible.
  • A Wee Bit of Revolution: Craig Ferguson stand up comedy. It’s funny.
  • Rifftrax: The new Twilight Rifftrax is hysterical. You must watch it.
  • Zombietown USA: Zombies in small town America. Also dual statted for Autoduel!
  • Fans, Friends and Follwers: A great book with advice on how to use the Internet to build a creative career.
  • Friday Night Firefight: Cyberpunk combat system. No pansy roleplaying. Just hardcore 80s style combat rules.

Music: There is no I in team but there is a me by Western Civ.

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.

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