We’re back, we’re 50, and we’re drinking boxed wine! We finally jump into 2010, recording at DundraCon 34 with fantastic guests Chris Pramas, Nicole Lindroos, Kenneth Hite, and Bruce Harlick. Discussion covers the convention, Green Ronin’s new Dragon Age boxed set, licensing, Champions for Hero 6th, Day After Ragnorak, and so much more.

Chris and Brian return with a long discussion on Fantasy Flight Games new Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition box, a too short review of Diaspora (that didn’t get put off to another episode), and a brief bit about Trail of Cthulhu.

We’re back with Chris and Brian chatting some general gaming news and a couple of reviews.  Discussion covers “everything’s coming up Cthulhu“, new books out on the market – including Rogue Trader rpg, Our Ladies of Sorrow, Council of Thieves: the Sixfold Trial, and Pathfinder – and reviews of Chronica Feudalis and Thousand Suns: Foundation Transmissions.

Hosts: Chris Hanrahan and Brian Isikoff.

New Web Site Thanks

1:16 – Thanks go out to Adam Jury on the new web site.
2:19 – Finn developed the 2d6 Feet logo a couple years ago.

The Stars Are Right for Cthulhu Gaming

2:50 – Brian mentions how there are a lot of new Cthulhu-related materials out now.
5:36 – Brian picked up the Our “Ladies of Sorrow” Call of Cthulhu supplement.
6:07 – *SPOILER ALERT* for Our “Ladies of Sorrow”.
6:21 – Spoiler End.
6:52 – Discussion of the benefits and issues with Cthulhu in a modern setting.
8:57 – Discussion of Realms of Cthulhu [for Savage Worlds], and how you toggle pulp/grittiness for physical and mental activities seperately.
10:00 – Discussion of the nature of Cthulhu adventures.
11:10 – Summarizing how now is the time for Cthulhu gaming, and discussion of the Chaosium license.

Other New Unread Products

14:40 – Brian lists the stack of books he needs to read through: Rogue Trader, Eclipse Phase, Karatis, City of Thieves [for Earthdawn], and Vox.
16:24 – Talk of Mist Robed Gate, its knife, and its ritualized mechanics.

Pathfinder Products

17:50 – Discussion of the adventure “Council of Thieves” [for Pathfinder] where the characters are involved in a theatrical play.
22:33 – Discussion of the look of the Pathfinder core rules.
24:10 – First impressions while flipping through the Pathfinder Bestiary.
25:40 – Chris thinks there’s so many fantasy options today, you just have to pick one and stick with it.
26:05 – Brian gives some praise for the Bestiary, then general discussion of Pathfinder.

Brian Reviews: Chronica Feudalis RPG

28:35 – Chronica Feudalis takes place in an non-magical imagined Medieval Europe. Brian gives basic book details.
29:35 – Brian worried that the in-character presentation would be a barrier, but it was unfounded.
33:15 – Brian describes the system (resembling a combination of Fate, Dogs in the Vineyard and other systems).
37:22 – Aspects, and the new “Endure” Aspect action.
39:00 – The wound system.
40:14 – Gives several political backdrops.
41:04 – Brian really likes the system.
41:56 – Discussion of using it in other settings (including Harn and Ars Magica), and dealing with superhuman/magic issues.
43:00 – Magic issues lead back into Aspect discussion.
44:55 – Brian gives his final opinions on the book.

BBQ and Foodie Fans Derail

46:30 – The guys talk barbeque and Chris Bennett for a bit.

Brian Reviews: “Foundation Transmissions”, supplement for the Thousand Suns RPG

47:59 – Thousand Suns is a sci-fi game written by James Maliszewski who also runs the blog Grognardia.
49:03 – Digression into the Traveller conceit that the PCs are aging dudes.
50:04 – Brian briefly talks about “Transmissions from Piper” then on to “Foundation Transmissions”.
51:55 – Brian covers each chapter of the Table of Contents.
54:52 – Brian gives his final opinions on the book.

Board Games

57:41 – Chris mentions Essen is in swing and board gamers should check out http://boardgamegeek.com and board game podcasts for info on the latest news (Stronghold and Dungeonlord are getting buzz)

Episode 50?

58:40 – The guys consider how to properly handle their upcoming 50th podcast.

LINKS IN ORDER OF REFERENCE

Eclipse Phase RPG | http://www.eclipsephase.com/
Shadowrun 20th Edition RPG | http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/2010/02/shadowrun-20th-anniversary-limited-edition/
Call of Cthulhu RPG (Chaosium) | http://www.chaosium.com/
Delta Green RPG | http://tccorp.com/pagan/
Realms of Cthulhu setting for Savage Worlds | http://realityblurs.com/wordpress/?page_id=911
Savage Worlds RPG | http://www.peginc.com/games.html
Our Ladies of Sorrow adventure | http://www.miskatonicriverpress.com/products/sorrows.shtml
Trail of Cthulhu RPG | http://www.pelgranepress.com/trail/
Arkham Horror board game | http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=6
Stars Are Right card game | http://www.sjgames.com/starsareright/
Call of Cthulhu card game | http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=11
CthulhuTech RPG | http://www.cthulhutech.com/
Basic Roleplaying System RPG | http://catalog.chaosium.com/index.php?cPath=37&osCsid=2e157306a7b88195707d595b07f5f975
Rogue Trader RPG | http://fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=78
Kratas, City of Thieves supplement for Earthdawn | http://www.redbrick-limited.com/cms/index.php?categoryid=67&book_id=38
Vox RPG | http://www.aeforge.com/vox/
Mist Robed Gate RPG | http://summerbird.wordpress.com/the-mist-robed-gate/
Council of Thieves adventure for Pathfinder | http://paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath/councilOfThieves
Pathfinder RPG | http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/pathfinder/pathfinderRPG
Dungeons and Dragons 4e RPG | http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome
Pathfinder Bestiary supplement | http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/pathfinder/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8auu
Fantasycraft RPG | http://www.crafty-games.com/node/348
Chronica Feudalis RPG | http://chronicafeudalis.com/
Harn RPG | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A2rn
Ars Magica RPG | http://www.atlas-games.com/arm5/index.php
Spirit of the Century RPG | http://www.evilhat.com/home/sotc/
Diaspora RPG | http://www.vsca.ca/Diaspora/
Starblazer Adventures RPG | http://www.cubicle-7.com/starblazer.htm
Foundation Transmissions supplement for Thousand Suns | http://12-degrees.net/foundation-transmissions/
Transmissions from Piper supplement for Thousand Suns | http://12-degrees.net/transmissions-from-piper/
Thousand Suns RPG | http://12-degrees.net/thousand-suns/
Traveller RPG | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_(role-playing_game)
Grognardia blog | http://grognardia.blogspot.com/
Spiel board game convention in Essen, Germany | http://www.merz-verlag.com/spiel/e000.php4
Board Game Geek site | http://boardgamegeek.com
Stronghold board game | http://www.portalpublishing.eu/products/board-games/stronghold/
Dungeon Lords board game | http://www.zmangames.com/

Endgame Minicon | http://endgameoakland.com/minicon/
Chris Hanrahan on Twitter | http://twitter.com/chrishanrahan
Endgame Oakland on Twitter | http://twitter.com/EndGameOakland

Chris and Brian return with a new episode to match the new show website.  Discussion covers various industry trends and rants, the recent EndGame minicon, Brian’s SotC game “With the Band“, GM prep revisited and a review of MWP’s Supernatural rpg.

And…..we are back! It’s been a buncha time since the last show, and we even talk a bit about that as part of the Episode. We have liner notes coming, but wanted to get the show up and out there ASAP. Thanks to “Mr. Bennett” for being a guest one more time. Hope you enjoy!

Hosts Chris Hanrahan (CH), Brian Isikoff, with Mister Chris Bennet (CB) as guest star.

——

Go Play Northwest

01:45 — Go Play Northwest, Seattle: Chris Bennet talks about this game event with a lot of designers and people interested in trying something new and playtesting. He mentions some attendees: Jason Morningstar (Fiasco), Matt Wilson (PTA 3.0, Galactic), John Harper (Danger Patrol, Lady Blackbird), Ben Robbins (Microscope).

04:19 — CB says the indie community has started creating 8-page or so self-contained free PDFs of a game with pre-gens and an adventure that’s perfect for a con.

05:09 — CB ran a version of Twilight 2000 with Lady Blackbird rules.

05:41 — Norwegian Style: CB talks about a book called “Norwegian Style” which is not what it sounds like to Brian, but rather an anothology of around 18 Norwegian roleplaying games.

08:30 — CH is horrified by the phrase “Roleplaying Poem” and asks for a definition (a 1-page RPGish short-form experience in 15 minutes).

10:11 — CB continues about Go Play Northwest and a home-made feel. Discusses an “Mystery Puzzle” game by Jackson Tegu.

12:14 — CB explains the “Mystery Puzzle” concept.

13:08 — Discussion of Mathew Kline, Chris Bennett’s biotch, at Go Play Northwest.

15:11 — Swords and Wizardy and Fight On: CB talks about it being run at GPNW by Willhelm.

16:14 — Talk about small events that focus purely on the gaming experience, versus large events like GenCon with non-gaming “distractions”.

——

Experimental Sales Methods

22:10 — Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design: Brian discusses their “patron model”. Brian’s signed up for the Halls of the Mountain King project. Mentions Steam & Brass as well.

25:44 — Discussion of the “Ransom model”, used successfully by Reign and attempted by Chill 3rd ed.

26:53 — Brian returns the discussion to Open Design’s top-tier quality. Mentions Tales of Zobek and Wrath of the River God.

——

8th Anniversary Party / Aaron’s Farewell

27:39 — CH thanks everyone for coming. Discussion of how the event was very hard emotionally for long-time customers and staff.

29:02 — Mention of how Mordheim players have been playing at Endgame for two years with killer terrain.

29:30 — One of the best attended parties but it was essentially to say goodbye to Aaron, the father of Endgame.

29:48 — CH and Brian discuss how rough it was, and reminiscing Endgame history.

31:23 — CH throws thanks to industry folks who sent swag for the party.

32:26 — CH talks about the difficult business void Aaron leaves behind because of his extensive knowledge.

34:55 — CH talks about how awesome it is to have Chris Ruggerio step up and be a part of Endgame full-time.

36:16 — Brian says eight years is an impressive age for a game store, especially in the Bay Area.

36:53 — Brian shares with everyone how he became a Endgame fixture.

38:42 — CB shares how he found Endgame.

39:33 — CB explains how Endgame’s open attitude of promoting gaming despite games sales elsewhere helps made Endgame the premiere store it is.

40:41 — CH is flabbergasted by game stores that exclude paying customers who simply make a purchase at other stores.

42:02 — Brian shares one of his favorite Endgame moments.

——

GM Preparation

43:54 — CB burns CH’s GM prep.

44:28 — CH points out no human can match Brian’s RPG reading volume.

45:06 — Discussion of Brian’s GM preparation.

46:13 — He prefers games without too much crunch/detail.

46:49 — He likes a good elevator pitch.

46:53 — He prefers the GM/players format, despite good GMless experiences.

47:15 — Brian listens to players as they build characters for their desires.

48:14 — Brian draws inspiration from everyday life, Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies example.

48:59 — More on Brian’s GM preparation.

50:25 — CB discusses how he learned to do less GM preparation despite being a control freak. Three ways to get information from his players:

51:41 — 1) Take 5 minutes to talk to the players about their characters, look for conflict.

52:21 — 2) Ask players and/or prep hooks beforehand so there an immediate conflict at the start of the game.

53:58 — 3) Ask the players beforehand and afterward what they’re interested in. Ask for color or an idea for a scene. Keep the ideas not used.

56:01 — CH asks everyone at the table what their character is feeling and how he is demonstrating it.

57:10 — Brian loves how the games he plays has the players’ interests explicit on the character sheet.

——

Social Contract

59:29 — CH had a talk with his players about the social contract of the game, despite being seven months in.

59:36 — He also has his players write a recap from their character’s point of view, too remember events and get insight for ideas.

01:00:05 — His social contract talk was about magic items, which resulted in the players giving him lists of items they want to see that have stories behind them.

——

Why No Go Play Bay Area?

01:03:12 — CH says the Bay Area has one of the densest populations of gamers in the country, so he and CB discuss why there’s no Go Play Bay Area.

01:07:06 — CB says the main reason for a lack of a Go Play Bay Area is that the Endgame Minicons fill the niche. The guys discuss this.

01:09:40 — Brian agrees the Minicons have a high percentage of storytelling games and smaller games, and don’t tend to see the games played at bigger cons, like D&D.

01:11:00 — CB mentions Camp Nerdly and how they get together for a different reason.

LINKS IN ORDER OF REFERENCE

Go Play Northwest http://goplaynw.wetpaint.com/

Prime Time Adventures (PTA) http://www.dog-eared-designs.com/games.html

Danger Patrol Alpha http://mightyatom.blogspot.com/2009/07/danger-patrol-alpha-playtest.html

Microscope http://www.lamemage.com/blog/index.php/87/what-is-microscope/

Fiasco http://www.bullypulpitgames.com/games/index.php?game=fiasco

Lady Blackbird http://www.onesevendesign.com/ladyblackbird/

Twilight 2000 (GDW) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_2000

Norwegian Style [book] http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/norwegian-style/5140294

Norwegian Style [blog] http://norwegianstyle.wordpress.com/

Swords and Wizardry (Mythmere Games) http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/

Fight On Magazine http://www.fightonmagazine.com/

Dungeons and Dragons (WotC) http://www.wizards.com/DnD/

Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design [site] http://www.wolfgangbaur.com/

Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design [blog] http://open-design.livejournal.com/

Halls of the Mountain King (Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design) http://www.wolfgangbaur.com/projects/Halls_of_the_Mountain_King.php

Steam & Brass (Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design) http://www.wolfgangbaur.com/projects/Steam_Brass.php

Reign http://www.gregstolze.com/reign/

Chill 3rd Ed. http://www.chillrpg.com/

Tales of Zobek (Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design) http://wolfgangbaur.com/projects/Tales_of_Zobeck.php

Wrath of the River King (Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design) http://wolfgangbaur.com/projects/Wrath_of_the_River_King.php

EndGame Mini-Con http://www.endgameoakland.com/minicon/index.html

Mordheim http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?community=&catId=cat200208&categoryId=1100010&aId=5300009&_requestid=185795

Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies (Evil Hat Productions) http://www.7skies.net/

Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium) http://catalog.chaosium.com/index.php?cPath=41&osCsid=d9a92a4a357eb66d70612d48136b4cbf

Spirit of the Century (Evil Hat) http://www.evilhat.com/home/sotc/

Camp Nerdly http://www.campnerdly.org/

01:37 — Brian discusses being on Ron and Veronica’s The Game’s the Thing podcast while at RandomCon.
Once again, we return to the Brian and Chris show! Thanks to David Steiger for the awesome liner notes!

06:55 — Brian’s experience at RandomCon.
09:07 — Brian played Savage Worlds twice, one was the Runepunk setting.
09:55 — Met one of the artists behind http://www.facebook.com/l/;MonsterCommute.com a funny steampunk comic.
10:10 — Met Eric Torres, producer and an artist of the just released Iconica, a strategy battle card game, with epic fantasy vector art.
11:35 — So RandomCon was a fun first-con experience for Brian and others because they focused on gaming.
12:12 — Chris says the benefit of small cons is the lack of distractions from actual gaming, such as at Gencon. But likes Origins.
13:20 — The EndGame Minicons: “White Hot Super-Nova Fun”(TM) … But no guarantees!
14:00 — Brian forgot how fun Savage Worlds is. Chris says it sells but wishes it got played more at the store. Hint hint Minicon GMs!
14:39 — Mention of the release of Ken Hite’s new Savage Worlds setting, The Day After Ragnarok.
15:04 — Chris talks about working with Fred Hicks on rebooting Fred’s podcast That’s How We Roll, with a retailer/publisher slant.
15:29 — Talk of PDF models, and how Rogue Games’ Richard Iorio and James Maliszewski (Grognardia blogger) jumped onto Evil Hat’s “Buy a Hardcopy, Get a Free PDF” model.
16:30 — Sad departure of Aaron and a big Endgame Anniversary party on August 1st. Big secret swag promised!
18:05 — Chris Ruggerio coming on as a full-time owner.
19:00 — Brian and Chris reminisce about Aaron and the good old days.
21:35 — Good Omens Minicon coming July 18th (as a canned food drive), with a lottery system Chris doesn’t quite understand.
23:29 — Chris perceived a Kublacon decline in sales/attendance in the bad economy. Leads into some unnamed cons (not Kublacon!) and less-than-stellar customer service and less-than-stellar customers.
28:25 — Brian says if someone really helps you out positively at a con, TELL somebody.
32:18 — Chris gives some love to Dundracon as a vendor, saying the free vendor breakfast is a nice touch. Podcast then derails further, involving a sushi chef, no less.
34:43 — Chris talks about running the heck out of D&D and GM prep work process. His well-oiled preparation machine now only takes about 15min prep for four hours of gaming, saying premade tools are a big time saver.

REVIEWS
47:45 — Swords and Wizardry by Mythmere Games: Brian reviews the hardcover “Zero-Ed” retro-clone RPG. Chris mentions Lulu’s production quality is better.
50:15 — The game’s interesting 3rd party publishing license.
51:22 — Swords and Wizardry Monster Book: Brian reviews the hardcover fan/community effort.
53:13 — Knockspell #2: Brian reviews an 86 page fanzine also by Mythmere Games about old school fantasy gaming.
55:26 — Fight On: a similar fanzine, now up to issue #5.
57:03 — Reminder Swords and Wizardry is in print but not distribution, but there might be copies at GenCon. A mention that retro-clone Labyrinth Lord is in distribution. Also, OSRIC, an AD&D 1st Ed clone, is now in print via Lulu.
58:00 — Spellcraft and Swordplay by Elf Lair Games (Jason Bays): Brian reviews another “old school” retro-clone RPG, this based on Chainmail.

04:28 — Talk about the lively underground “old school” gaming community. Mention of new edition of Microlite 74.
08:35 — On board games, Chris mentions the Space Alert just came in and Dominion is getting an expansion at Origins and in stores in July.
08:54 — The RPG “Penny for Your Thoughts” by Paul Tevis is coming soon. Paul will be at the July 18th Minicon for signing.
10:27 — Mention that Chris Hanrahan and EndGame Oakland are on http://twitter.com.

LINKS IN ORDER OF REFERENCE

RandomCon 2009 http://www.randomcon.org/
The Game’s the Thing podcast http://www.thegamesthething.com/index.php?post_id=479492
Savage Worlds — Pinnacle Entertainment Group http://www.peginc.com/games.html
RunePunk — Reality Blurs http://realityblurs.com/wordpress/?page_id=13
MonsterCommute.com http://www.monstercommute.com/
Iconica card game — The World of Rynaga (Eric Torres) http://www.rynaga.com/?page_id=1343
RandomCon 2009 http://www.randomcon.org/
Origins Game Fair http://www.originsgamefair.com/
Endgame Minicon http://endgameoakland.com/minicon/
Savage Worlds — Pinnacle Entertainment Group http://www.peginc.com/games.html
The Day After Ragnarok — Atomic Overmind Press (Ken Hite) http://atomicovermind.com/blog/?page_id=339
That’s How We Roll podcast http://thatshowweroll.libsyn.com/
Evil Hat Productions http://www.evilhat.com/home/
Rogue Games http://www.rogue-games.net/
Grognardia blog http://grognardia.blogspot.com/
Good Omens Minicon 3 http://www.goodomensgames.com/index.php/con/
Kublacon http://www.kublacon.com/
Dundracon http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.dundracon.com/
Dungeons and Dragons 4e — Wizards of the Coast http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome
Swords and Wizardry — Mythmere Games http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/
Swords and Wizardry Monster Book — Mythmere Games http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/?page_id=12
Knockspell fanzine — Mythmere Games http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/?page_id=10
Fight On fanzine http://www.fightonmagazine.com/
Labyrinth Lord — Goblinoid Games (Daniel Proctor) http://www.goblinoidgames.com/
OSRIC — Stuart Marshall http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/osric/
Spellcraft and Swordplay — Elf Lair Games (Jason Bays) http://stores.lulu.com/elflairgames
Microlite 74 http://www.retroroleplaying.com/content/microlite74
Space Alert board game — Rio Grande Games (Vlaada Chvatil) http://www.riograndegames.com/games.html?id=311
Dominion board game — Rio Grande Games (Donald X. Vaccarino) http://www.riograndegames.com/games.html?id=278
Penny For Your Thoughts — Evil Hat (Paul Tevis) http://www.orphicinstitute.com/
Chris Hanrahan on Twitter http://twitter.com/chrishanrahan
Endgame Oakland on Twitter http://twitter.com/EndGameOakland

Here we are. The second part of Episode 44, and a WHOLE lotta madness.

We wanna thank David Steiger once again for some SUPEr spiff liner notes!

01:47 — Brian reviews Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies by Chad Underkoffler.
19:14 — Brian reviews another PDQ game, Jaws of the Six Sepents by Tim Gray.
22:33 — Chris R talks about playing Mouseguard for the first time.
26:01 — Chris R discusses playing an ongoing Godlike campaign, and GM Mike Montessa’s insane preparedness.
32:58 — Chris screams “WHOAAAAAA!” loudly.
33:03 — Godlike discussion continues.
36:07 — Chris talks about running and playing lots of D&D4e, mentioning his 5yr old son’s character “Hitterman”.
38:18 — The Eberron setting is coming out for D&D4e in June-August, a Players Guide and a Campaign Guide.
38:47 — Chris played the War of the Ring miniatures game.
41:48 — Chris played Dominion, mentioning a full-set expansion coming in June.
42:28 — Brian mentions played a game of Wild Talents at the Endgame Minicon.
42:34 — Brian and Chris realize they didn’t do a recorded Minicon episode.
43:16 — Talk about the March Minicon.
43:53 — Mention of Paul Tevis and his upcoming Penny For Your Thoughts game.
44:16 — Next Minicon is July 18th, run by the Good Omens guys as a food drive.
45:26 — Chris and Chris R are going to Origins.
46:00 — Brian is off to Randomcon, a new con in Pheonix.
46:32 — He signed up for Hellfrost using Savage Worlds.
46:42 — Brian explains how Randomcon’s online registration beats all other major regional cons in the Bay area.

LINKS IN ORDER OF REFERENCE

Swashbuckers of the Seven Skies — Atomic Sock Monkey / Evil Hat
Jaws of the Six Sepents — Silver Branch Games
Mouse Guard — Burning Wheel
Godlike — Arc Dream Publishing
Dungeons & Dragons 4e — Wizards of the Coast
Eberron D&D campaign setting — Wizards of the Coast
War of the Ring miniatures game — Games Workshop
Dominion – Rio Grande Games
Wild Talents — Arc Dream Publishing
Good Omens
Origins Game Fair
RandomCon 2009
Hellfrost — Triple Ace Games
Savage Worlds — Pinnacle Entetainment Group

Hey everyone, we are back, with our good friend and total Grognard, Chris Ruggerio. This one went long, so we broke it up into two parts. A super special shout-out to David Steiger for doing these fine liner notes you see here!

Enjoy the show!

0:58 Hosts Chris Hanrahan and Brian Isikoff welcome non-Chris-Bennet guest Chris Ruggerio
1:33 The guys discuss Wizards of the Coast’s controversial halting of all PDF sales of all of their products.
2:47 Brian’s diplomatic and tactful opinion as a consumer.
4:00 Chris’ theory
5:39 Evil Hat’s PDF philosophy
6:49 Discussion on how PDFs aren’t lost retail opportunities, they are potential marketing opportunities.
17:03 GAMA Trade Show
17:13 Chris didn’t hear much news from the show aside from…
17:44 Arcane Legions, a semi-collectible miniatures game from Wells Expeditions, the founders of WizKids.
20:05 The guys discuss the lack of GAMA reporting or news.
21:52 But it’s all Brians’s fault, somehow.
22:45 GAMA news on Flames of War by Battlefront: a new prototype-tank supplement called Mid War Monsters.
25:48 Brian goes grognard over Lock and Load Publishing’s products, particularly the World at War series.
42:55 Brian and Chris R return to Flames of War products with an in-depth discussion.

LINKS IN ORDER OF REFERENCE

Evil Hat’s PDF guarantee
Arcane Legions
Catalyst Game Labs
Ogrecave’s coverage of the GAMA
Boots and Saddles

Flames of War:
– Mid War Monsters
– Afrika book
– River of Heroes
– Partisans and Polizei
– Wargames Illustrated

Lock and Load Publishing:
– Blood and Bridges
– Eisenbach Gap
– Death of the 1st Panzer
– Operation Garbo
– Untold Stories
– Gamers Guide
– Line of Fire magazine
– Corps Command: Totensonntag
– White Star Rising
– Forgotten Heroes Viet Nam
– All Things Zombie

We finish out our Dundracon coverage with the back half of our discussion with Ken Hite and Bruce Harlick. In this half, we discuss Ken’s Adventures into Darkness, super heroes of the Golden Age, Ken’s Day After Ragnarok, Wild Talents, Dresden Files Chicago, Summerland and more.

More DundraCon podcasting madness … recorded on 2/15/09, Brian and Chris sit down – post dinner – with world famous returning guests Kenneth Hite and Bruce Harlick.  Discussion ran about an hour and a half, so we’re posting it in two parts.  In the first half, we chat DDC experiences, large format games, and Mutant City Blues.  

Live (or not) from DundraCon 33 –  we sat down with Stephen Chenault of Troll Lord Games and returning guest Bruce Harlick. We talk about some of TLG’s upcoming products, the Castles & Crusades line, the upcoming children’s game The Harvesters, boxed set madness, and a good bit of old school gaming.

We return in a post Minicon / pre DundraCon frenzy with press-ganged guests Ryan Macklin (of the Master Plan podcast, and The Internet) and Bruce Harlick.  No game designers were hurt (much) in the recording.  We chat recent play experiences, D&D / gaming with kids, Dresden Files playtest, and more.

Liner Notes (written by, uh, guest writer Adam Jury. Feel the love, friends …) :

0-30 seconds-ish: Man, they play this song every time, don’t they?

30 seconds to 1:30: Holy crap, it’s Ryan Macklin and Bruce Harlick! Brian and Chris are around, too.

1:30-10:00: They jump right into the most recent EndGame MiniCon, and the next one is on 3/28! Chris played Solipsist, enjoyed it, but wasn’t really sure he grokked it. Is Chris ever going to let the special guests talk?

10:00-17:00: Spirit of the Century talk, with a crazy-fun mad science game. Brian ran another SotC at the MiniCon, too, the second one a more straight-up pulp game. Straight up? Nevermind, there were raptors and a dragon/pterodactyl-thing, too. At about 14:00, Brian talks some good stuff about GMing SotC and similar games that are more player-driven than other RPGs

17:00-24:00: D&D. Bruce talks about why he’s playing D&D4, Dragon, Dungeon, and the new D&D Character Generator. Chris jumps in with his experiences from his current undead campaign.

24:00-32:00: About this point we hit a discussion of “Epic” level play in D&D3, and that transitions over to a discussion about MMOs, WoW and Everquest, and then back to Epic level gaming and bringing MMO tropes into roleplaying. Also, some thoughts about roleplaying in D&D4 and how much it’s encouraged in the books.

32:00–35:00: Chris’ five-year-old is playing D&D. His character is a Dwarf fighter named “Hitterman.” He’s learning some [bad] tactics and will soon replace Brian on the show. But not as sound-editor. Still Brian’s job.

35:00–44:30: More games for kids, games to teach math, recommended games for young players [Monster Island comes up], how to manage running games for smaller kids.

44:30–48:00: Moving on from kids, to new gamers and demo games in general. “Let the Wookie win!”

48:00-50:00: What’s Ryan excited about? 4e, until he got too busy, but now he’s too busy working to get excited about playing. “Sucker,” sez Chris.

50:00-52:00: What’s Bruce excited about? Some sort of campaign he’s playing with some work-friends in a homebrew setting, and he’s about to join a 4e game, too. The 3.5 game he’s DMing is just about coming to and end, too. He’s also playing and enjoying the BSG board game, after a couple plays.

52:00-63:30: Dresden Files RPG! Ryan sez that they’re cranking it out, but they don’t want to “turn vaporware into crapware.” That’s a freakin’ great line. Lenny Balsera used to drunk-dial Ryan for game design advice.

63:30-68:30: Brian reviews Classic BattleTech Record Sheets: 3039 and Feral Cities for Shadowrun.

68:30: Bruce pimps City of Heroes! They’re adding some features that allows players to create and publisher their own missions, which sounds really cool.

70:00: Ryan pimps GameCryer.com, a new review site. He’s going to start doing video reviews on it. And of course, he has his own podcast, Master Plan.

Here we are, back after a long winters hibernation with our 40th episode. The first 12 mins of this show should features the radioactive Chris Bennett.  But it doesn’t it.  We removed it, as he was using his iPhone to attract aliens, and it made for some interesting interference on the recording. Other than that, this episode is identical to Episode 40.  Really.

Here we are, back after a long winter’s hibernation with our 40th episode. The first 12 mins of this show features the radioactive Chris Bennett. Seems he was using his iPhone to attract aliens, and it made for some interesting interference on the recording. We have made a second file with this portion cut out if you can’t stand it. (Sorry Chris). After we discuss Mouseguard with Chris, we spend some time recapping 2008. We try and cover the topic pretty broadly, but break it into the major categories. We round the whole thing out with a mini review of Wasabi. We look forward to 41!

We’re back in the studio, chatting with returning guest Paul Tevis.  Topics include Paul’s made-for-gaming house, One Bad Egg, Spirit of the Century meets Wilderness of Mirrors, and more.  No liner notes this time, but we promise to be back with Episode 40 soon enough.

We find time at Pacificon to chat with Ken Hite and Good Omens GM Sean Knittner, and chat about Sean’s My Life with Joker game, Ken’s myriad of projects, impressions of Pacific and Gencon, and more.  Now with less food and more live studio audience!  

Liner Notes

[0:36] Introductions

[6:35] Sean’s “My Life with Joker” game

[18:08] Ken Hite’s GenCon experience

[26:12] Ken Hite / Andy Hopp’s “Where the Deep Ones Are”

[28:07] Ken’s “Tour de Lovecraft”

[32:30] “Out of the Box” returns at IPR

[35:07] Ken’s upcoming Savage Worlds book

[39:08] The Dresden Files rpg

[48:05] Casey Jones is Dead

[50:47] Recent acquisitions

[59:50] We wrap-up the show

Chris Hanrahan and Chris Ruggerio sit down to discuss their trip to Gencon 2008. The show swings a little wide at times (then again, when doesn’t it) and you get to hear about all manners of food, gaming, hatred of United Airlines, people we met and Battletech (sweet, sweet Battletech.)

Liner Notes[0:37] Intros! We Went to gencon, and yeah…United Sucks.
[5:15] A first timers perspective from Chris R, with a helpful smattering of second timers perspective from Chris H
[11:25] Miniatures at Gencon – Everything from Battletech to ZombieSmith’s Quar.
[19:25] Two fanboys rave about Catalyst Game Labs
[22:00] The Big Battletech Secret
[26:15] Boardgames! We get into Memoir ‘44, Battlelore, and maybe even some other stuff. (We love Memoir though)
[30:15] I forgot the damn Fluxx, United Sucks and Fantasy Flight Games
[34:40] Back to Ticket to Ride
[35:30] Asmodee, WTF, seriously?
[39:20] Role-Playing with even more Fanboy love.
[45:30] Video Games Live and a general catch-all for things we forgot.
[50:00] Final wrap up (lies!) Congrats to Paul, Hal and Michelle! And a general HUZZAH for podcasting at Gencon.
[54:04] World of Warcraft CMG and a bit of nonsense about collectible games in general.
[57:30] Done for reals.

Links
Green Ronin
Catalyst Game Labs
Zombismith
Formula D
Zombie Pandemic
This Just in From Gencon
Thanks to our hosts for both the Podcast AND the Aggressive Hospitality Suite: Gamers with Jobs

Lacking GenCon tickets and vacation time, Brian sits down with game designers Chris Bennett and Bruce Harlick. We discover Brian’s kitchen is somewhat echoey, and  chat some computer game / rpg industry connections, The Believers short form rpg, Microlite20, retrogaming, Fred Hicks, taco trucks and more.

Liner Notes

[0:37] Introductions

[6:15] Player Types and DMG 4th ed

[13:50] Bennett’s “The Believers” game and play 

[21:26] GoPlay NorthWest Ad Hoc Bennett-style

[30:30] Pacificon, Microlite20 and Retrogaming

[42:23] Everyone loves Carl Rigney

[43:00] The Fred Hicks (and Julian Murdoch) Experience

[49:23] “Unbalanced encounters” and the art of running away

[1:05:27] Foodies and Gamers

[1:10:30] We wrap up

Links

The Believers

The Role-Playing Poem Competition

Con Report from MiniGPNW/HarperCon

Quick Primer for Old School Gaming

Pacificon 8/29 – 9/1/08

RetroRoleplaying.com

Our 2 year anniversary.  We chat about Good Omens Games, WH40k 5th edition, Days of Wonder, plenty of D&D 4th edition play experience, and more with a few shout-outs along the way.

Liner Notes

[0:37]  Intro 

[3:00] Good Omens Games 

[8:56] WH40K 5th and trends in minigames

[26:20] The GSL revisited

[36:51] Days of Wonder distribution

[42:53] World of Warcraft adventure game 

[46:10] Don’t Rest Your Head actual play

[49:25] Chris’ D&D 4th start and Back Story

[53:59] Brian’s D&D 4th experiences

[1:02:53] Sins & Virtues cards by Sinister Games

[1:06:01] Fred Hicks and Julian Murdoch at EndGame on 8/6

[1:07:02] We exit – stage right

We’re back with another episode, spending some time talking about the newly minted D&D 4th edition and it’s corresponding license, the GSL, along with some chatter about Traveller play and Free RPG Day.

Liner Notes

[0:37] Intro 

[2:03] So … D&D 4th Edition 

[36:08] The GSL 

[55:32] Traveller Actual Play

[1:03:18] Traveller and Thousand Suns revisited

[1:07:36] Free RPG Day

[1:12:30] Last Thoughts and We’re Out  

Brian and Chris sit down to ramble … er, discuss all manner of games with returning guest Chris Bennett.  We talk about the upcoming (and now seen) D&D 4th ed, Go Play NorthWest 2008, Battletech, Burning Wheel play, Thousand Suns / Traveller play, and round out with a review of Mongoose’s new edition of Traveller.

Here is a Time Line! (Thanks Valandil!)
00:00:36……Welcoming Chris Bennett
00:01:40……D&D4 – and Endgame midnight release event — Chris Hanrahan
00:03:22……D&D4 – game play discussion — Chris Bennett
00:05:07……D&D4 – manuals PDF leak / presales date sales — Chris Hanrahan
00:08:48……D&D4 – positive reactions
00:10:50……D&D4 – game play descriptions
00:16:04……D&D4 – More positive reaction to modern design — Chris Bennett
00:17:00……D&D4 – as a big version of “Red Box D&D” — Chris Hanrahan
00:17:40……D&D4 – skills and Star Wars Saga
00:19:52……D&D4 – upcoming releases — Chris Hanrahan
00:20:31……D&D4 – structure and freedom
00:22:09……Go Play Northwest — Chris Bennett
00:24:44……Go Play Northwest – games run – Dogs in the Vineyard, Don’t Rest Your Head, Perfect – Joe McDonald?, Geiger Counter, Prime Time Adventures, D&D — Chris Bennett
00:26:18……Prime Time Adventures – play report — Chris Bennett
00:27:08……Monsignor(sp?) 1244 – play report — Chris Bennett
00:31:01……”Amazing” Mountain Witch – play report — Chris Bennett
00:38:33……Catalyst Battletech Technical Readout 3075 — Chris Hanrahan
00:42:57……Battletech – novels coming — Chris Hanrahan
00:44:03……Burning Wheel – play report — Chris Bennett
00:49:52……Thousand Suns – play report (via Classic Traveller adventure “Shadows” SPOILERS) – Brian Isikoff
00:56:40……Mongoose Traveller – review — Brian Isikoff
01:07:51……Wrap-up

A joint episode with “That’s How We Roll”, Chris Hanrahan and Fred Hicks talk GTS at, well, GTS.  Live and unplugged.

Chris and Brian return to the studio.  We discuss recent play, including some Dogs in the Vineyard, In a Wicked Age, and SotC Shadowrun; industry news, a review of Thousand Suns and more. No food, and please forgive the extra-long pause around the 37 minute mark.

Liner Notes
[0:36] Intro
[2:05] Recent Play
[14:40] Dark Heresy news
[17:26] Paizo / Pathfinder
[28:13] D&D 4th / D&D minis
[32:57] Industry Supply Stuff
[37:50] SotC Shadowrun play
[44:23] Dogs in the Vineyard play
[52:18] In a Wicked Age play
[59:23] Thousand Suns rpg review
[1:08:32] We wrap it up

We’re back with a GM round-table episode.  Brian and Bay Area GMs Bob Kuzmeski and Sean Schoonmaker discuss experiences of GMing Dark Heresy at DunDraCon 32 and running good demo games in general.

Liner Notes
[0:37]  Intro
[1:09] Dark Heresy: the GM experience
[30:08] Running Demo Games
[46:49] Good night

Ken Hite returns to the show to discuss DunDraCon 32 and his recent projects with dinner companions Brian and Chris Stand-in, John Polack. We discuss the DDC 32 experience, along with Ken’s projects, including Trail of Cthulhu, Adventures into Darkness, and Where the Deep Ones Are.

Liner Notes
[0:36] Introductions
[2:05] Dinner at Le Cheval
[4:01] DunDraCon 32 impressions
[27:20] Ken’s Trail of Cthulhu
[37:34] Ken’s Adventures into Darkness
[40:39] Ken’s Other Projects
[45:43] Champions and Hero Games news
[56:43] Brian’s Dealer Room Loot
[1:06:16] Last Thoughts

We’re back with our first episode of 2008, leading off with a long discussion on the latest D&D 4th edition new. We then chatter about Worlds Days of Wonder, preparing for convention season, preview the upcoming Sons of Liberty and In a Wicked Age rpgs, and review Names and Savage Worlds: EX among other commentary.

Liner Notes
[0:37]  Intro
[1:14] D&D 4th Edition SRD and OGL chat
[26:36] Days of Wonder State of BattleLore
[29:48] Preparing for Convention Season
[42:14] Brian’s pile of backlogged reading
[43:30] Sons of Liberty and In a Wicked Age preorders
[47:21] Race for the Galaxies, Lego and Brick Wars
[50:31] Review: Names – the Story Games Name Project
[55:39] Review: Savage Worlds Explorer’s Edition
[1:04:46] We Wrap Up

Just in time for your New Year’s listening – our last episode of 2007. We close out the year with long look at the newly announcing D&D 4th edition product line, take a look at 2007 in review in the worlds of rpg, minis and board gaming, and present reviews of the Battlestar Galactica rpg and the soon-to-be released Dark Heresy (WH40K rpg).

Liner notes
Intro [0:37]
D&D 4th edition chat [1:20]
2007 in review[13:35]
Review: Battlestar Galactica rpg [42:33]
Review: Dark Heresy rpg [53:15]
Parting Words for 2007 [1:07:03]

Fred Hicks, of Evil Hat Productions and IPR, invades our studio to present the Neck Stabbing Episode.  We chat with Fred on the history of Evil Hat, Spirt of the Century, Dresden Files, the upcoming Swashbuckers of the Seven Skies (Underkoffler) and Do (Solis), Retailer / Publisher feedback and more. 

Back with more Season 2 goodness. We cover a wide range of gaming topics, including some industry news, thoughts on maps, Halloween themed games, Freeport and Mutants & Masterminds new releases.

Liner Notes
Introductions [0:36]
Retraction re: Savage Worlds XE [0:56]
Dreamblade goes away [1:59]
WH40K Apocalypse [7:28]
The Robotech RPG [11:02]
Goodman Games and Maps [13:30]
Apologists, Personal Investment and Ramblings [22:49]
Halloween-themed games [26:46]
Pirate’s Guide to Freeport [38:18]
More True 20 goodness [44:00]
M&M Paragons [45:35]
Recent Play: Battletech [49:25]
Recent Play: 10 Days in Asia [51:49]
Recent Play: Qwirkle [52:43]
Recent Play: Risk 2210 [49:42]
Recent Play: The Kingdom of Loathing [55:36]
Chris gets a Wii [56:56]
The EndGame 6th Anniversary and the Oct MiniCon [58:57]
We say Good Night [1:00:54]

Links
Savage Worlds
Dreamblade
Robotech RPG from Palladium Books
Arkham Horror
Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Last Night on Earth
Dread
Fear Itself
Esoterrorists
Pirate’s Guide to Freeport
Paragons for Mutants & Masterminds
Classic Battletech
10 Days in Asia
Qwirkle
Risk 2210
The Kingdom of Loathing

We chat with Games Workshop Account Rep Travis Farber. We talk about changes in Games Workshop, retail / trade account management, and more. Plus – the secret lives of GW Reps! Discussion of playtests of S-G Thou Art But a Warrior and Grey Ranks, and assorted gaming.

Liner Notes
Introductions [0:36]
Game Workshop [1:35]
Secret Lives of GW Account Reps [28:16]
Camp Nerdly [28:48]
Thou Art But A Warrior playtest [38:16]
Grey Ranks playtest [42:17]
Misc. Excitement [47:29]
GW Foundation paints [50:42]
Gift of Earth Kublacon game[53:23]
Wrap Up and Good Night [57:33]

Links
Games Workshop
Camp Nerdly
Thou Art But A Warrior by Ann Kreider
Polaris by Tao Games
Grey Ranks by Bully Pulpit Games
A Gift of Earth
Kublacon

We’re back from our summer break with Season 2, flying casual and somewhat overwhelmed with the post Gencon flood of gaming stuff. Brian and Chris get together in the studio for the first time in nearly ten weeks and cover a wide variety of new games, gaming play, system free games, the small press price point, and some ashcans.

Retraction: Our comments about the numbers on Pinnacle Entertainment’s Savage Worlds Explorer Edition were off. As it turns out, they have plenty in stock and the issues retailers are having are because Distributors have severely underestimated demand, not Pinnacle. Our apologies!

Liner Notes
Introductions [0:36]
Swimming the Post Gencon Flood [1:18]
White Wolf Stuff [3:19]
Witch Hunter [7:36]
Savage Worlds Explorer Edition [8:47]
Battlelore [10:00]
Tannhauser [11:39]
EG Launch Party and Classic Battletech [16:35]
Shadowrun [27:57]
D&D 4th Edition Commentary [37:48]
Pathfinder [41:10]
Systemless Stuff [46:53]
Small Press Price Point [51:28]
Ashcans: 44 and Galactic [55:35]
Last news and Good Night [59:40]

Links
Changeling: The Lost
Scion
Pinnacle Entertainment
Witch Hunter: The Invisible World
Battlelore
Tannhauser
Catalyst Games Lab
Classic Battletech
Shadowrun RPG
Godzilla Gaming podcast
Pathfinder
Freeport
Wildcards
Cumberland Games & Diversions
44 – A Game of Automatic Fear
The Ashcan Front

Recorded at Origins, Chris meets with some folks from Catalyst Game Labs – Adam Jury and David Stansel-Garner. Plenty of talk about Catalyst – how they got started, and plans and upcoming releases for the Classic Battletech and Shadowrun licenses.

Liner Notes
Introductions [0:36]
Catalyst Begins! [3:56]
Classic Battletech [7:31]
Shadowrun [21:01]
Printed / At Press [25:59]
Origins Impressions [28:37]
Shout Outs! [31:24]
Exits and Good Night [32:14]

Links
Catalyst Game Labs
Classic Battletech
Shadowrun RPG

Updated: 7/23/07 by Chris -

An Assassin from the new CBT Starter Box Set (Painted by Chris Ruggiero): Old Crows Mercenary Co. – T Company

A Hunchback from the new CBT Starter Box Set (Painted by me!): Davion – 1st Armored Calvery

As part of the “Conventions Isikoff Didn’t Attend” series, Brian talks to returning guest and game designer Chris Bennett about Go Play North West, Reign, Burning Wheel, Galactic, game design, the Game Chef 2007 contest, and food.

Liner Notes

Introductions [0:36]
Go Play Northwest! [1:11]
The Reign rpg [4:10]
Burning Wheel [9:18]
Primetime Adventures [12:45]
Galactic playtest [15:17]
The Princes’ Kindom [17:40]
Shout Outs! [18:47]
Game Design(ers) [21:21]
Game Chef 2007 [26:50]
Technomancer Press [35:47]
Talking Food [37:09]
Coming Attractions and Goodnight [40:11]

Links

Go Play Northwest!
Greg Stolze’s Reign
Arc Dream Publishing (Godlike and Wild Talents)
Burning Wheel
Dog-eared Designs (Primetime Adventures and upcoming Galactic)
CRN Games (The Princes’ Kingdom)
Play First
Game Chef
National Novel Writing Month
Worldwide Adventure Writing Month
Technomancer Press
B Restaurant
Lynn & Lu’s Escapade Cafe
Bay Wolf
Elysian Brewing Company
Espresso Vivace Roasteria

A round-table discussion recorded live at Origins 2007. Chris Hanrahan, Paul Tevis, Ken Hite, and Fred Hicks crack open some booze and discuss the show experience, games that caught their eyes, the Luke Crane Origins Award re-enactment, 80s Gay Werewolf Porn, Jungle Adventure! and more.

Liner Notes

Pop The Cork: Introductions [0:36]
Food and Wine: Burgundy Room [2:24]
The Origins Experience [3:47]
Burning Empires Origins Award [5:00]
What Ken Saw [8:30]
Aces & Eights [10:49]
Witch Hunter: the Invisible World [13:48]
IPR Booth Experiences [19:45]
Chris talks Battletech [21:45]
Ken Buys some Books [24:42]
Paul Plays Games [29:10]
More Food [32:40]
Fred Plays some Games [34:08]
Terror Works and Con events [38:40]
More Convention Thoughts [49:10]
Goodbyes and Good night [53:03]

Link

Have Games, Will Travel 
Ken Hite’s “Out of the Box”
Evil Hat Productions 
Origins International Game Expo
Burgundy Room
Indie Press Revolution
Carry, a game about war 
Aces & Eights
Witch Hunter: the Invisible World
Catalyst Game Labs 
Our Voice Mail # for the Show: 510-931-6249

We spend an entire episode chatting Star Wars gaming to celebrate the whole 30th anniversary along with the recent releases of Star Wars Saga Edition and Pocket Models. Perhaps our geekiest episode evar.

Liner Notes

Introductions [0:36]
Star Wars Roleplaying History [1:58]
Review: Star Wars Saga Edition [8:08]
Review: Star Wars Pocket Models [19:24]
Star Wars Miniatures [27:17]
Star Wars – With Other Systems [33:19]
We Exit – Like Dorks [39:06]

Links

Star Wars Saga Edition
Star Wars Pocket Models from Wizkids
Star Wars Miniatures from WotC
All Systems Lead to Star Wars discussion on RPG.net
GMSarli Games for non-random Star Wars miniature packs
Star Wars RPG – WEG edition (out of print)
Our Voice Mail # for the Show: 510-931-6249

Brennan Taylor of Galileo Games joins us to talk about his game, Mortal Coil. We chat game design, some Indie Press Rev, and spring into diverse topics like Chris’ rant about WotC and actual play for Dust Devils.

Liner Notes

Introductions [0:36]
Mortal Coil [3:40]
Game Design Process [12:56]
How We Came to Live Here [24:50]
Jennifer Rodger’s Art as Setting in MC [28:36]
WotC, Book Trade, Retail, and Customers [30:32]
Dust Devils play results [40:09]
BattleLore: AP and Call to Arms [44:38]
Wings of War Minis [46:24]
BattleTech House Davion [47:29]
More Shout outs, Thanks and Good Evening [48:19]

Links

Galileo Games
Jennifer Rodgers – Illustrator
Indie Press Revolution
Mortal Coil wiki at RandomWiki
Atlas Games
Chimera Creative’s Dust Devils
BattleLore
Wings of War
BattleTech
The 2d6 Feet Cafe Press store

We cover both miniature games and rpgs in Episode 17, starting with thoughts on a recent GW phone call, AT-43 experiences, GURPS supplements, and three RPG-related reviews.

Liner Notes

Introductions [0:36]
The GW Phone Call [0:45]
AT-43 actual play [5:55]
GURPS supplements [14:05]
Review: Dust Devils [18:02]
Review: Urban Legends [23:29]
Review: Critical Hit Deck [28:57]
Shout outs, Thanks and Good Night [33:28]

Links

Games Workshop
Forge World
Looney Labs
Godzilla Gaming Podcast
Rackham’s AT-43
Steve Jackson Games
Chimera Creative’s Dust Devils
White Wolf’s Urban Legends
Paizo’s Critical Hit Deck
Combat Commander: Europe

We talk with returning guest Chris Pramas, of Green Ronin Publishing, on an array of topics, including Green Ronin news, the business of D&D 4th edition, rpg publishing models and Dungeon and Dragon magazines. We round out with three fly-by reviews of Scion, Nine Worlds, and Beast Hunters.

Liner Notes

Introductions [0:36]
Green Ronin News [1:13]
Recent Play [10:17]
Speculating D&D 4e [15:02]
Dungeon & Dragon mags online [29:00]
Review – Scion [46:00]
Review – Nine Worlds [54:50]
Review – Beast Hunters [58:00]
More Upcoming Stuff and Good Night [1:01:50]

Links

Green Ronin
Ars Magica
Scion: Hero
Nine Worlds
Beast Hunters

We chat a range of topics, including proactive players, social contracts, the business end of D&D 4th edition, and three completely unrelated reviews.

Liner Notes

Introduction [0:36]
Recent Play [0:51]
Player Proactivity and Social Contracts [5:20]
The Riddle of D&D 4th ed [14:49]
Review – M&M Beginner’s Guide [27:03]
Review – Play Dirty [34:17]
Review – Victory at Sea [40:52]
Upcoming Stuff and Good Night [48:57]

Links

Memoir ‘44
Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett’s Write Freely class
Mutants & Masterminds Beginner’s Guide
John Wick’s Play Dirty
Victory at Sea
GHQ miniatures

We’re back in Episode 14 with talk about roleplaying, ranging from one-shots and con games, the Myth of Game Support, and a review of Seven Leages. Stops along the way include shout-outs, prepainted minis, and Flames of War.

Liner Notes

Introduction [0:39]
Recent Play, Cons, and One-Shots [1:37]
Chris’ Inner Grognard [11:52]
Reaper and D&D Minis [16:42]
The Myth of Game Support [20:15]
Seven Leagues review [29:51]
Thanks to the Listeners [38:14]
Exit, Stage Right [40:19]

Note: thanks to the game’s author, we have the weblink to the actual 7L game website. The site has a link to the charsheet and a sizable demo kit.

Links

EndGame April 7 MiniCon
Reaper Miniatures
Seven Leagues

In lucky Episode 13, we talk a bunch of miniatures games with Chris Ruggiero, the EG Flames of War guru and all around nice guy. Conversation covers recent play (Spirit of the Century, Wushu, and Mountain Witch), Flames of War 15mm WWII minis, Infinity – the science-fiction skirmish game, and rounds out with some WH40k chatter.

Liner Notes

Introduction [0:40]
Recent Play [1:19]
Flames of War [9:57]
Infinity [23:23]
WH40k thoughts [36:50]
Exit, and Good Night [49:23]

Links

Spirit of the Century
Wushu
The Mountain Witch
Godzilla Gaming Podcast
Flames of War
Flames of War D-Day book
Infinity the game
EndGame
WorldWorks Games terrain
Warhammer 40K
Dakka Dakka

Brian chats with gaming luminary Kenneth Hite and replacement Chris “Not-rahan” Bennett. We discuss the recent DunDraCon 31, more improv and rpgs, post-game analysis, Brian’s crazy large convention game, and Kenneth’s upcoming projects Trail of Cthulhu and others. Plus shout-outs for plenty of upcoming Conventions.

Liner Notes

Introduction [0:39]
DunDraCon 31 [1:46]
Chris’ Improv Experiences [18:06]
Debrief Sessions [33:15]
Brian DDC Game [43:08]
Kenneth Hite’s Recent Projects [54:07]
Last Thoughts [1:14:20]

Links

Kenneth Hite’s Out of the Box
Esoterrorists and Gumshoe
Spirit of the Century
“Walls Crumble, Honor Endures”
DunDraCon
KublaCon
ConQuest SF
ConQuest Sacramento
Ronin Arts
Pyramid Magazine On-line
Origins
GenCon Indy
Pan Theater (Improv by the People for the People)

We once again join forces with Paul Tevis of “Have Games, Will Travel” for another combined episode. We do some postmortem on the EndGame minicon, talk about Player Responsibility, Improv, GMless games, the upcoming Strategicon, and other crazy ideas.

Liner Notes

Introduction [0:38]
MiniCon discussion [1:07]
Player Involvement and Responsibility [11:06]
Improv Classes and Gaming [23:43]
Paul’s Wildest Tangent – GMless games [29:57]
Younger Players [42:50]
We wander [48:08]
Strategicon [51:11]
DarkCon [53:50]
We say Goodnight [54:44]

Links

Spirit of the Century
Best Friends
Mountain Witch
Voice of the Revolution
Combat Commander
Life Hacks
Polaris
Shab Al Hiri Roach
My Life With Master
Universalis
shock: social science fiction
Push: New Thinking About Roleplaying
Survey Monkey
Faery’s Tale
The Princes’ Kingdom
Strategicon
DarkCon
Have Games, Will Travel

We emerge from the Holiday Season, over-stuffed on booze, rich food, and games. This episode, we cover 2006 in review, BattleLore, Spirit of the Century, and some Dogs in the Vineyard play. And Chris repeatedly springs random questions on his co-producer, damnit.

Liner Notes

Introduction [0:38]
2006 in Review [1:32]
Chris’ Podcast Indulgence [3:30]
MiniCons and Mixing it up [4:40]
Brian’s Fudge indulgence [7:38]
Scheduling Low Note [16:14]
Sooo Much Product [17:29]
Push vol 1 [18:10]
Favorite Product of 2006 [21:27]
BatteLore [24:32]
Spirit of the Century review [38:44]
Dogs in the Vineyard play report [51:52]
Heading to DarkCon [1:04:20]
Good Night and Happy 2007 [1:05:35]

Links

Paul Tevis
OgreCave
Godzilla Gaming Podcast
Fell Calls
True 20
Fudge
Push
Now Playing
Cray Canyon Cold Snap
BattleLore
Evil Hat’s Spirit of the Century and Don’t Rest Your Head
BattleTech
Dogs in the Vineyard
Hero’s Banner
DarkCon

An audio greeting card.

Wishing everyone Season’s Greetings, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year.  See you in 2007!