GM Advice – Casting Shadows Podcast

Episode 72: A Friendly, Conversation about Natural-Feeling Characters~

Summary

Published: February 19, 2026

In this installment of the Friendly Conversations about RPGs series, I am joined by Erik Schmidt of the Setting First YouTube Channel, Blog, and Discord (Links Below). Our topic for this discussion is the interplay of setting, character, and player perspective to help foster characters which feel believable and lead players toward play that feels natural and grounded in that setting. If you enjoy where this conversation goes and how it gets there, I encourage you to take a look at Erik’s channel and follow the link to the Setting First Discord (if Discord survives its own shenanigans).

As usual with this series, it also has a YouTube video version which is annotated extensively to share further detail, explanation, subtext, and context.

Some Relevant Links from ⁠ @SettingFirstRPG ⁠ :

Language!

Trust!

Topical Links from our Discussion:

“Immersion?”

Playing “In-Character”

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CONTACT ME:

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Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 71: A Friendly, Conversation about Characters and Social Inequality (Rank)~

Summary

Published: February 9, 2026

Recorded on January 28, 2026, this is a 1:1 conversation with Scott Welker, long-time gamer and successful game designer, and most importantly for this video: 30 years of experience in the Navy working his way up to the top of the Enlisted ranks. With titles based in Savage Worlds, D20, Year Zero, and soon a system of his own making. Scott is one half of @ThievesGuildGamingOfficial. Our conversation is an examination of concerns with representing rank and social differences in RPGs, things to consider when making them a part of play, perspectives to view rank from, and some suggestions for making it seem real enough to satisfy the needs of your group. Scott has written a game for Savage Worlds called Task Force Raven which puts the players in the roles of Tier 1 Operators and that plays its own role in our discussion. We do not discuss his Year Zero cyberpunk release, Neon Blood, but it too has fertile ground for including this sort of play. Neon Blood can be found ⁠here ⁠in an OSR version, and ⁠here ⁠for its YZE version.

NOTE: This episode has two appendices dryly sharing the details, key points, and observations which my videos put onscreen. If you prefer to get these in their original context and for a shorter run-time, you can watch the full conversation, with its load of onscreen annotations, notes, and links on YouTube:

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Useful links:

Thieves Guild Games on DTRPG, has a public beta of their new OPENSIX system and are looking for feedback. As a system, it is directly relevant to this discussion. The game is currently PWYW and can be found here:

⁠https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/524225/opensix-zero-edition-take-back-your-imagination⁠

First in a series of videos on Scott’s first game, OS+R ⁠https://youtu.be/HaDi13UM21Y?si=dgRGHBnLRIDw6brd⁠

Scott and I discuss the film: Zero Charisma⁠

https://www.youtube.com/live/dVXKIX78DIQ?si=oeIvKiePEcTp_WMI⁠

My follow-up:

⁠https://youtu.be/X2TCg2cl9aI?si=PS_sEUrfL2wKmxYi⁠

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CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 67: Biting Bullets (with Jason Hobbs)

Summary

Published: December 6, 2025

For this episode, I am joined by the host of the seemingly lapsed Hobbs and Friends, and the sadly sporadic Random Screed, by the Mr. Hobbs of Mr. Hobbs’ Gamerhood: Jason Hobbs. He and I dive into some core elements of his recent foray into game writing with his release ‘Bite the Bullet‘ which you can obtain PWYW on itch.io or DriveThruRPG. The game, a western-themed RPG based on Into the Odd, puts a tight focus on who the character is and what they will do to get what they want. We dig into that, and some of the approaches we might take to playing it in this discussion.

You can watch and listen, rather than just listen to this episode as a video podcast directly on Spotify, and on YouTube.

Relevant Links:

⁠Random Screed⁠

⁠Nerds RPG Variety Cast⁠

⁠Roleplay Rescue⁠

⁠Godless⁠

⁠Cole & Hitch Series⁠

⁠Spenser⁠

⁠Spenser for Hire⁠

A relevant post from the Casting Shadows blog might be of interest to some who come to watch or listen to this episode. It was entitled, The Thrill of Victory, and the Agony of Conversation.

The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Conversation

CONTACT:

Leave a voice message via ⁠SpeakPipe⁠

⁠Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 66: A Friendly yet Impossible chat (with RPG Sean)

Summary

Published: October 26, 2025

THIS IS THE FULL, UNABRIDGED CONVERSATION.

Sean Kelley now host of the ⁠ @RPGSean ⁠ channel joins me for a natural discussion of seemingly tough topic: long-form and campaign play of cosmic horror RPGs. Drawing on experiences in our own play, using our own material, and such fantastic and lengthy campaigns as Impossible Landscapes and Masks of Nyarlathotep, we cruise through some core ideas, some foundational practices, and some notions of goal-setting, which might help alleviate some of that sense of impossibility~

Podcasts Mentioned in this Discussion:

Gaming and BS Podcast

⁠GM Mastermind

GoBag Podcast

Casting Shadows Podcast

Nerds RPG Variety Cast

Noteworthy Products mentioned herein:

Call of Cthulhu – ⁠https://www.chaosium.com/call-of-cthulhu-rpg/⁠

Masks of Nyarlathotep

Delta Green – ⁠https://shop.arcdream.com/⁠

Impossible Landscapes

The Annotated King in Yellow

Actual Play Playlists mentioned as examples:

Impossible Landscapes

⁠

Turn of a New Leaf

Notes:

An abridged but helpfully annotated version of this conversation with Sean is also available on my YouTube channel. The link to that episode is here:

CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 57: On #RPGaDAY2024 Week 1 and Ubiquity’s Great Campaign

Summary

Published: August 2, 2024

In the first segment of this episode I quickly share some of my responses to the first week of #RPGaDAY2024 prompts. Later in the week ahead, I will be sharing cool prompts from other folk that I have found out there on the Internet.

The second segment explores the structure and some suggestions for running The Great Campaign from ⁠Triple Ace Games ⁠for their Leagues of Adventure line using the Ubiquity Roleplaying System.

The third segment is a quick overview of Ubiquity for those hearing about it for the first time.

Products or Shows mentioned in this Episode:

⁠The GMologist Presents⁠

⁠The Great Campaign (PDF, PoD)

NOTES:

#RPGaDAY2024 infographics are available at ⁠⁠AUTOCRATIK: Announcing #RPGaDAY2024 for August⁠

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CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 53: On Accommodating Imagination with Roleplay Rescue

Summary

Published: April 12, 2024

In this conversation with Roleplay Rescue‘s host and seeker of immersive and engaging play, Che Webster, we discuss some blog posts about techniques that Che is starting to use to get more of what he wants from play. As that quest is near and dear to my heart, I thought others might resonate with it as well. We talk about making room for imagination, facilitating a more active stance in our imaginations, and consider how we speak to one another when we play.

Podcasts mentioned in the episode:

⁠Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast⁠

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CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

For TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook: @Runeslinger

Episode 52: Imagination Calls

Summary

Published: April 7, 2024

This episode responds to listener calls dating back over the last two episodes of the podcast and continuing the exploration of imagination, memory, and attention as valuable parts of RPG play. Thanks go out to Jason Connerly, Spencer/FreeThrall, and Jean-Francois ‘SameOldJi’ St-Onge for the calls and the interaction~

Podcasts mentioned in the episode:

⁠Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast⁠

⁠Keep off the Borderlands⁠

⁠SameOldJi – An RPG Catharsis ⁠

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CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

For TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook: @Runeslinger

Episode 48: On Mentors and Peers in RPG Learning

Summary

Published: November 28, 2023

Che Webster of Roleplay Rescue, leader of a school RPG club, was kind enough to return to the podcast for another exploratory conversation about learning and guiding others in their learning of RPGs.

Comments, Call-Ins, Opinions, and References in this episode

⁠Podcast – Roleplay Rescue’s Blog

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CONTACT ME:

[1] ⁠Send a voice message to CastingShadowsPodcast (speakpipe.com)⁠

[2] Find me on Discord, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube @Runeslinger

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Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

Episode 41: On Taming a Lethal Conflict Inside Old and New School D&D (with Umbramancer)

Summary

Published: July 28, 2023

This episode has quite a title, doesn’t it? It’s not hyperbole, but you may have to check out Umbramancer’s series on YouTube for the complete picture from a D&D perspective. With luck, and your kindness, the parts in this episode will make sense.

SEGMENTS:

[1] an exploratory conversation about lethality as a feature versus story as a feature. Eloy Cintron, known on YouTube as Umbramancer, shares his practical application of all of my theory talk to D&D as we explore the metric by which he assessed my ideas on Layers of and Approaches to Play: Dungeon Crawl Mode vs Story Mode in Dungeons & Dragons.

[2] Calls for greater context from Jason Connerley and Che Webster

[3] How to get involved in the discussion

REFERENCES IN THIS EPISODE:

[1] People and Podcasts of the Internet: Roleplay Rescue Podcast and Blog, The Nerds RPG Variety Cast, Keep off the Borderlands, Random Screed

[2] The Elusive Shift: How Role-Playing Games Forged Their Identity (Game Histories) Jon Peterson

[3] Umbramancer YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@umbramancer5466

[4] Perspectives on Play by FreeThrall The Stochasium | Substack

[5] dungeon crawl mode versus story mode a video by @Umbramancer on YouTube

[6] #RPGaDay2023

NEXT EPISODE: It is time to talk about a lot of the varied “immersions”

Remember!

#RPGaDay2023 is on its way. Check the Autocratik blog by David Chapman or my Casting Shadows blog for all the details! Also, check out this fantastic warm-up contest by Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast as we wait for August to arrive!

CONTACT ME:

[1] ⁠Send a voice message to CastingShadowsPodcast (speakpipe.com)⁠

[2] Find me on Discord, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube @Runeslinger

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Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord