The Splatbook

This week John and Kyle take a deep dive into Free League publishing's Year Zero SRD. Kyle goes full professor on John, and then they talk about Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Free League - Year Zero SRDA Theory of FunFATE: The Secrets of CatsThe Splatphone!Roll For TopicMap Crow YouTubeMap Crow Patreon

Kyle tells John about a programming project he designed for his students, and what he hopes they will learn from it: When acquiring new skills, you have to get comfortable sucking at them at first.  John says he has always struggled with this, and somehow does not say the phrase "learn to play tennis with a wooden racket" even though this was the right episode to say it.One of Kyle's game experiments - MethrisThe Splatphone!Roll For TopicMap Crow YouTubeMap Crow Patreon

John and Kyle dig into one of their favorite OSR modules: Winter's Daughter by Gavin NormanOld School EssentialsWinter's DaughterHall of the Blood KingThe Splatphone!Roll For TopicMap Crow YouTubeMap Crow Patreon

Kyle and John talk about the Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure Sailors on the Starless Sea and ask: "Why is it so dang good?" They also answer a listener's question left via the Splatphone! Hang around for the cut-bitlets to hear  in-depth discussion of Kyle's new cat.Dungeon Crawl ClassicsSailors on the Starless SeaRemembering Jim HallowayThe Splatphone!Roll For TopicMap Crow YouTubeMap Crow Patreon

What is that ringing sound!? Could it be... THE SPLATPHONE! Listener Jake recorded some thoughts on melancholy in RPGs. This prompted John and Kyle to enter the Swamp of Sadness, and discuss the topic through the lens of the film The Neverending Story.The Splatphone!The Fall of MagicWolves of GodPolarisDelta GreenThe Fall of Delta GreenRoll For TopicMap Crow YouTubeMap Crow Patreon

Kyle and John take a break from talking about favorite media to give some tips on doing NPC and characters voices. Or maybe they just needed an excuse to be silly? Noisy Person CardsThe Between and Brindlewood BayBeyond the Darkened ThresholdOrcs with normal voicesRoll For TopicMap Crow YouTubeMap Crow Patreon

Roll for Topic's own Andy Rau joins Kyle and John to talk about the first book of the Dark Tower series: The Gunslinger. Will the podcast survive this titanic show down?The GunslingerRoll For TopicMap Crow YouTubeMap Crow Patreon

Kyle finally tricks John into talking about the story The Fortress Unvanquishable, save for Sacnoth. After many attempts, John learns how to pronounce Tharagavverug and Wong Bongerok. Kyle compares the story to the Legend of Zelda, and points out that Leothric teaming up with Tharagavverug  is kinda like  Spiderman teaming up with Venom. Spoiler: We love this story. The Fortress Unvanquishable, save for SacnothRoll For TopicMap Crow YouTubeMap Crow Patreon

John and Kyle wrap up 2022 with a discussion of what they are grateful for, what they learned, and what they are looking forward to in 2023. And then they sing!Dungeon23Vaesen RPG SubredditRoll For TopicMap Crow YouTubeMap Crow Patreon

This week Kyle and John tackle two excellent articles from the OSR Canon. Kyle realizes that John is old enough to have played D&D when the OSR style was just called... playing D&D. John gets cranky, and Kyle calms him down. Pleasures of the OSR: Secrecy and DiscoveryEpisode 126 – Pleasures of the OSR: Secrecy and Discovery, by Ben L.The Ogre and the Golden BirdEpisode 19 – The Ogre and the Golden Bird by Patrick StewartRoll For TopicMap Crow YouTubeMap Crow Patreon