Group Management – Casting Shadows Podcast

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

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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 65: On Memory and RPGs (with Arcane Alienist)

Summary

Published: October 19, 2025

This is an OctOSR-adjacent episode. Thanks go out to BJ Boyd, the Arcane Alienist, for being a guest on this episode to help frame and execute a discussion on the nature of memory and some key ways it can affect our play and understanding of RPGs. You can find BJ’s podcast at the link below:

⁠The Arcane Alienist⁠

LINKS relevant to this episode:

⁠Things Gamers Say…⁠

⁠Things Gamers Imagine…⁠

⁠On the Caller in Early RPGs⁠

An interesting and relevant link suggested by Jason Connerley of the Nerds RPG Variety Cast comes from SpectreVision Radio:

⁠Episode 6: Dungeons & Dragons, or the Reality of Illusions

CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 64: Is Immersion Impossible? A Friendly, Abridged Discussion~

Summary

Published: October 6, 2025

This is an abridged version of a long overdue conversation with Scott Welker, long-time gamer and successful game designer with titles based in Savage Worlds, D20, Year Zero, and soon a system of his own making. Scott is one half of Thieves Guild Gaming. Our conversation is a full on, open-minded examination about focused attention in RPGs – otherwise known colloquially but ambiguously and unhelpfully as “immersion.”

You can watch the full conversation, with its load of annotations and notes, on YouTube:

⁠

Scott likes to say “Immersion is impossible!” We get into what he means by that. I, as you know, Dear Listener, like to say that immersion, like so many other things, is frequently misunderstood. We get into that, too. For added value, one way we explore the topic is through Scott’s games and how they were written.

Useful links:

Thieves Guild Games on DTRPG, has just launched 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

Scott’s recent video on Autotelic Engagement: ⁠https://youtu.be/qHVyFOYRPgo?si=Lcuf10VFaZfFaT2v⁠

Blog post summarizing my basic theory of “immersion”

On Immersion and Engagement in RPG Play ⁠

A recent video from James Bacon modelled on the above post and exploring the points raised by Scott can be found here:

⁠

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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 60: On Mystery and Horror Roleplaying with TrilltheDM

Summary

Published: September 29, 2024

This nearly 90-minute conversation was made possible by the open-minded attitude of TrilltheDM, the interest of MercuriousAulicus and Black Lodge Games, and I suppose, the letter X. In it, we discuss Trill’s recent video: Mastering Player Choice in Mystery and Horror RPGs and take it further than the original 10-minute runtime would allow, dive into its specific context, and in general have an enjoyable and interesting discussion.

You can find the original video at this link:

⁠Mastering Player Choice in Mystery & Horror RPGs (youtube.com)⁠ This episode appears in its uncut, video form on my YouTube channel and is also re-distributed there in this audio-only version.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:

⁠Mastering Player Choice in Mystery & Horror RPGs – YouTube⁠

The Imagination series on the Casting Shadows Podcast

⁠Sandboxes

⁠⁠Layers and Vectors of Play

⁠⁠Immersion and Engagement⁠

⁠On Immersion⁠⁠

On Attention⁠⁠

Imagination and Preparation

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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