017 Alignment In Fantasy RPGs

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We talk about alignment, primarily in D&D/fantasy roleplaying games. How do you handle alignment in your game?

Intro including music

Announcements

Sean submitted event for GaryCon.com in March. Running One Minute to Midnight, a Spycraft d20 scenario.

Brett will be at EverCon.org next weekend and is all set to go.

Random Encounter – messages from audience via email, G+ community or Twitter

Had a few folks chime in on G+ and the website about props.

Josh W. writes: I’m enjoying the podcast and I see that iTunes has episodes 7-16 available. What does a guy need to do to hear the first six episodes?

Two little bits of feedback:
1) the intro and outro music is time consuming and I find I skip it pretty much every time. I want to listen to B & S bs about gaming, not some music track.
2) I grew up in northern Minnesota and I’m digging the slight north woods accents that come through, particularly while Brett talks about hunting.

Topics of Discussion – Alignment

  • D&D
  • Other systems
  • What does it help with?
  • What does it get in the way of?
  • How “strong” do you use alignments in your games?
  • Adventurers are insane…

Die Roll – 2-4 misc points we want to bring up at end of cast. Should be short and sweet, could be a plug, something to check out, etc. Limited time to spout off.

Brett

  • Got my copy of Hobbit Tales – think I’ll bring it to EverCon and give it a try if I have time (Cubicle 7 Entertainment makes it)
  • Got a new (used) vehicle and a free iPad Air with it so now my youngest son has an iPad and the first new thing he asked for was a copy of the OSRIC rules

Sean

Closing/outro

016 Props in Roleplaying Games

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Props in roleplaying games, it may take work but it can add more to your game. Oh! And it doesn’t have to be something the GM offers!

Episode 16 Show Outline

Intro including music

Announcements

Hope those out there that celebrated Xmas had a  good time with family and friends – and happy upcoming New Year!

A big “We still love ya!” goes out for Moe and Wayne 🙂

Random Encounter – messages from audience via email, G+ community or Twitter

Email from Scott W. regarding episode 15 – ScifiThe best question you can ask your group of players for this is how does sound work in space, star wars or firefly?. That we’ll help all of the rest of the decisions.

Sponsor

Greyed Out Productions – Order a dice bag from Greyedout Productions, use promo code GamingandBS to receive 10% off your order!

Topics of Discussion – Props and Gaming

Old Wookie, smoothest spirits you'll ever find this side of Kessel
Old Wookie, smoothest spirits you’ll ever find this side of Kessel

Do you use them?

  • Sean
  • Brett – not often

What games do they work best with?

  • One-shot or Con games
  • Investigative
  • Modern
  • Sci-fi
  • Other?

Where have you seen them work the best and what made them work?

  • Sean – Mark’s hand made tome of his world, Old Wookie, Spacer Tape, item cards?
  • Brett – Lenny makes awesome props that always fit the adventure – Lenny just got the Horror on the Orient Express special ed from Chaosium (190+ pages of handouts)

What are the potential pitfalls to props?

  • Distraction
  • Incomplete or inaccurate data gathered
  • Need the players to be observant and not the characters

Die Roll

Brett

  1. Kids asked to try OSRIC for our home game – they got to fight an otyugh and deal with rot grubs and then sort out how to get the magic item they detected at the bottom of the creature’s lair.
  2. Getting things set for my EverCon game challenge – gonna make a few props
  3. Read through the PHB and MM for 5e and I really enjoy the tone and approach.  Looking forward to trying it out.

Sean

  1. Star Wars RPG revised, expanded and updated weighs in at 506 pages of SW RPG goodness! http://waveyourgeekflag.blogspot.com/2014/11/star-wars-roleplaying-game-revised.html ,
  2. Star Trek 3 to drop July 8, 2016 coincides with 50 yr anniversary of original trek. http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/23/7443063/stark-trek-3-release-date-july-2016 ,

Closing/outro

Spacer Tape

015 Scifi Roleplaying Games

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Scifi rpgs, is space handled like Firefly or Star Wars? We talk about the challenges of a scifi game. Hard science and how ‘crazy’ do you get when you offer a scifi rpg to your players?

Episode 15 Show Outline

Intro

Announcements

Random Encounter – messages from audience via email, G+ community or Twitter

Phil Vecchionne, blogger at Gnome Stew, Engine Publishing – contributor for both  Eureka: 501 Dramatic Plots to Inspire Game Masters and Masks: 1000 Memorable NPCs For Any Role Playing Game. In 2012 I released my first solo book: Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Master’s Guide To Session Prep, weighs in on Episode 12’s – Game Balance: http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/the-real-issues-with-encounter-balance/

Email from Austin

Hey guys, I was thinking, over the last few episodes there has been a lot of talk of stuff like Evercon where it’s run by younger gamers, and a few times Brett has talked about running for his kids. I’d be interested to hear you guys talk a bit about the ways gaming has and is changing through it’s new gamers, and what has changed, for better or worse for people trying to get into the hobby. Thanks, Austin

Sponsor

Greyedout Productions – Get yourself a dice bag from Greyedout Productions, use promo code: GamingandBS to receive 10% off your order

Topics of Discussion

  1. Picking up our discussion on sci-fi rpgs
    1. define – Star Wars is not scifi? what makes an rpg scifi?
    2. popularity – fantasy seems to be big in rpg’s why not scifi?
    3. expectations – transhuman, what is possible? what is too crazy?
    4. munsters can be tricky, fascinating
  2. Popular scifi rpgs
    1. Stars Without Number
    2. GURPS Transhuman Space
    3. Last Parsec – Savage Worlds
    4. Traveller – original and Mongoose
    5. Eclipse Phase
    6. Star Trek
    7. Serenity/Firefly ?
    8. Star Frontiers
    9. Gamma World
    10. Ashen Stars

 

Die Roll 

Brett

  1. Holiday games – as in having holidays in your game world
  2. My kids love NPCs
  3. Happy holidays to folks

Sean

  1. Theories on Time Travel & Wormholes http://www.space.com/28000-physicist-kip-thorne-wildest-theories.html
  2. Black Hole comparison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgNDao7m41M

 

Closing/outro

Did we miss a scifi game? Have you run scifi rpg? Let us know which one and how you run it!  via email [email protected] or call 929.BIG.DICE

Leave us a review on iTunes. It helps garner some exposure within the store, and would greatly appreciate it.