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Special guest GM Tim Saucer joins Andy and Chris to discuss the ins and outs of handling inventory, equipment, and encumbrance in roleplaying games. Plus, the gang puts together a special bonus Thanksgiving-themed random table, in case you need some holiday inspiration!

Brace yourselves for a big episode! Chris talks about his experience running a Halloween scenario for two very different groups of players. And then, to cap off the first “season” of the podcast, Andy and Chris brainstorm a new Table of Topics!

All all GMs are wont to do, Chris and Andy continue to break their self-imposed rules and make yet another d6 table on air. This time it’s all about fixing broken control panels on space ships. After that they talk about Andy’s upcoming Aliens inspired game and recap Chris’ halloween one shot. d6 table for … Continue reading "Episode 49 – Broken Control Panels, Aliens, and Spoopy Sitcom Recaps"

Chris and Andy break all the rules in a special episode centered around Halloween gaming. Listen as we create a d6 table you can roll on to see what scary things are happening in this warehouse (you needed one of those, right?), and then move on to discuss a unique Halloween game that Chris is … Continue reading "Episode 48 — Scary Warehouses, 90s Sitcoms, and Halloween One-shots"

Listen as Ryan Gough teaches Andy and Chris all about a game played by millions of people that they barely understand. For regular listeners this one is a bit far afield from what we normally do, but we thought it’d be fun to discuss on air. Hope you enjoy it! Extra special thanks to Ryan … Continue reading "Episode 47 – A Different Kind of Fantasy Gaming"

Do you build encounters and adventures in such a way that players have lots of opportunity to show off their character’s abilities, powers, and personality? Andy and Chris discuss!

Tom Knauss of Frog God Games joins us to discuss the new Lost Lands: Tehuatl Kickstarter. We enjoy an in-depth talk about the process of creating a Mesoamerica-themed setting book, then launch into this episode’s topic: how you care for your physical game books. Note: the sound quality for this episode isn’t up to our … Continue reading "Episode 45 — Tom Knauss, Tehuatl Kickstarter, and the Care and Feeding of Your Game Books"

This week Christopher Becker came on to talk about running set-piece encounters. Those points in your game where you take some special care to prepare. Do you break out special terrain or miniatures? Do you prepare a big speech for the BBEG to deliver? Do you treat every moment as a set-piece lovingly created for … Continue reading "Episode 44 — How Do You Prepare Set-piece Encounters?"

Do you share your GMing secrets with players after each adventure? Or do you hang on to them in hopes of re-purposing them? With Chris back at the helm as co-host, we follow this topic into some unexpected places, including the merits of re-running adventures and the importance of information asymmetry in RPGs.

What’s the key to making NPCs who are memorable, interesting, and possibly even beloved by the players? Chris, Andy, and John discuss. And as a bonus, Andy breaks out a brand-new GM challenge for his co-hosts. Listen and judge their on-the-spot GMing decisions!