Casting Shadows Podcast

Episode 28: In Defense of the Mook, Minion, and Fodder for Cannons (Pulp RPGs)

Summary

With specific examples from and focus on Mythras, Ubiquity, and FFG/Edge Star Wars, this episode goes into some justifications for Mook rules in RPGs. What are they for? How can they differ from game to game? Why do some gamers dislike them?

This topic was released simultaneously on the Casting Shadows YouTube channel where it is a part of three ongoing series on playing the three systems in question, as well as continuing the general theme of In-Character As-Character play, particularly with regard to preparation for improvisation.

We hear from Jason of the Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast in this episode. You can find his show at the link below.

⁠Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast

If you prefer to watch this as a video instead, the link is below.

In Defense of the Mook, Minion, and Fodder for Cannons (Pulp RPGs)

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Episode 27: Putting the Pulp in our RPGs

Summary

Featuring calls from Menion aka Rob from Confessions of a Wee Tim’rous Bushi, Joe Richter of Hindsightless, and Jason of the Nerds RPG Variety Cast, we expand the conversation about pulps and pulp games to address the questions of how some example systems can affect pulp play, group size for fun and pulpiness, and PCs of unequal capabilities. I hope you will join in on the discussion as despite the length of this episode there is still more to dig into~

Links

Menion’s ⁠Confessions of a Wee Tim’rous Bushi

Joe’s ⁠Hindsightless

Jason’s ⁠Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast

Blog Articles Referenced in this Post or Relevant to it:

Imbalance Principle ⁠The Imbalance Principle | Casting Shadows (castingshadowsblog.com)⁠

The Imbalance Principle

⁠Snap, Crackle, and Pulp | Casting Shadows (castingshadowsblog.com)⁠

Snap, Crackle, and Pulp

⁠The 2-Hour Fuse: How NOT to run Pulp Adventures | Casting Shadows (castingshadowsblog.com)⁠

The 2-Hour Fuse: How NOT to run Pulp Adventures

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Episode 26: Pulps, Pulp RPGs, and Me

Summary

Inspired initially by discussions in my Saturday Alternators Book Club for RPG players, then finally and fruitfully inspired into actual production by Menion aka Rob of Confessions of a Wee Tim’rous Bushi and his callers and guests, this episode explores thoughts on pulp heroic characters and explores some of my connections with these stories in life and gaming.

What pulps were “my” pulps? Aren’t pulps problematic? Aren’t pulp characters set and unchanging (and by extension unrelatable, uninteresting, and unbelievable)? Can such characters be presented in RPG terms? What is the point of playing such characters? Sound interesting? Then please strap in: this turned out to be a long one… go figure.

PODCASTS mentioned in this episode:

Confessions of a Wee Tim’rous Bushi

LINKS:

Casting Shadows blog

Runeslinger’s YouTube Channel

Nostalgia Ventures

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Episode 25: Alien, Encouragement, and Immersion ~ Oh My!

Summary

Please join me as I navigate three very different topics with the help of some kind callers. This episode features calls from hosts of The GMologist Presents, Hindsightless, Spikepit, and Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast podcasts. Karl, Joe, Colin, and Jason were kind enough to listen to one or more episodes of this podcast and have called in to give depth and meaning to the conversation. Links to those shows are below.

Topic One: Difference between Cinematic and Campaign Modes in Free League’s Alien RPG

Topic Two: RPGaDay Call-ins

Topic Three: Immersion, call-ins, and commentary

LINKS:

Casting Shadows blog

Runeslinger’s YouTube Channel

PODCASTS mentioned or calling in to this episode:

Spikepit

Hindsightless

Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast

The GMologist Presents

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Episode 24: Shipmans, Skorkowskys, and Nerds ~ Oh my!

Summary

Sections include notes on my guest appearance on Roundtable Roulette with host Craig Shipman and fellow guest Seth Skorkowsky, thoughts about the next ⁠RPGaDay⁠ (2022), more on our ongoing but sometimes interrupted Alien Campaign, and a special focus on the once-again recent and always interesting topic: immersion thanks to an interesting series of observations and call-ins appearing on the Nerds’ RPG Variety Cast.

Additional Links:

Alien Actual Play

Third Floor Wars

Modern Mythos

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Episode 22: Musical Cues in Preparation for Improvisation

Summary

Music can be a useful tool when playing an RPG, but in my experience, I have found it to be even more useful in preparation for play. In this episode, I survey some of the ways I have found to aid my preparation for improvisation with music and playlists. We also touch on, thanks to the interest of The GMologist Presents and Hindsightless podcasts, the use of the incredible Operation: Mindcrime in these pursuits.

At the bottom of this page, I have placed a BONUS EPISODE where we go into specifics about the use of Mindcrime in play in my World of Darkness days~

Part 1 – Context of using music for Improvisation and Example 1: character playlists

Part 2 – Example 2: Using Operation: Mindcrime by Queensryche on the metalevel for preparation and reference in play

Part 3 – Using variations, covers, and remakes and Example 3: Tom Waits songs to inspire an NPC

Further Example Playlists:

Tom Waits: Delta Green – tRUST

Icecream Man – God’s Away on Business – Murder in the Red Barn – What’s he Building? – 16 shells from a 30.06

Tragically Hip: Delta Green – Seasons of Deepening Dismay

She Didn’t Know – 38 Years Old – Little Bones – Locked in the Trunk of a Car – Nautical Disaster

Various Artists (re: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds)

Dimensional Shambles – Red Right Hand covers, variations, and remakes

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Episode 21: Three Favored Systems – A Contest

Summary

Originally Published: February 23, 2022 at 8:27 PM

The blame for this episode rests squarely on the shoulders of Jason of the Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast. If you have not yet given him your thoughts on this matter, please do so now:

Contest Link

⁠Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast⁠ ⁠Voice Mail link to Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast⁠

Links from this Episode:

System 1 ⁠System Details⁠ ⁠Campaign Recap⁠ ⁠Actual Play Series⁠

System 2 ⁠System Details⁠ ⁠Numerous Actual Play Series⁠ (some with annotations)

System 3 ⁠Actual Play Series⁠ (with annotations)

Additional Links:

The Written Blog: ⁠Casting Shadows⁠

The tie-in post for this episode: ⁠Three Favored Systems? A Contest~⁠

The YouTube Channel: ⁠Runeslinger

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Episode 20: Sky Riders and the Silent Outpost – A Venus Chronicles Serial

Summary

This Actual Play session was run as an interlude during our time playing the ‘What Comes Home to Roost‘ campaign as Colonial Marines for Free League’s Alien RPG. It was also around the time that I started putting together the 7-part series of blog posts and podcast episodes on preparation for improvisation that comprise Episodes 13-19 on this site.

This session demonstrates a different example of the use of improvisation toward a specific genre and player-experience goal for atmosphere and context, but unlike our goals for Alien, this is high adventure pulp heroics in an implausible sword and planet setting of super-science and derring-do. Some of the techniques are similar, some are identical, and some are divergent from what we have discussed in the series so far.

This session uses one of our favorite systems (Ubiquity) to support a setting of my own invention. This was our second foray into my version of Venus that never was, but should have been. I hope that you enjoy it~

If you would like to watch this on ⁠YouTube⁠ rather than just listen to it, the link is:

⁠Sky Riders and the Silent Outpost⁠

If you would like the watch the original session:

⁠Sky Riders and the Mist Pirates of Venus⁠

If you would like to listen to the podcast version of the first session, with its commentary on our play, that is Episode 6 of this podcast.

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Episode 19: Alien RPG – Alienating the Alien

Summary

Part 7: Alienating the Alien… What are some of the elements of Free League’s Alien RPG that I find most useful? This episode looks at three: Abstract processing for Detailed outcomes, Conversational Gamespeak, and Layered Consequences.

This series of blog, vlog, and pod episodes will explore ⁠Alien the Roleplaying Game⁠ by Free League from the perspective of preparation for horror and improvisation within the framework of Campaign Mode for Colonial Marines.

Read the blog post for this episode!

Additional Links: Alien the Roleplaying Game – ⁠Rules and Actual Play

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