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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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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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:28 — 47.0MB)

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