This episode includes a call from Jason Connerley in regard to Episode 65 with the Arcane Alienist, about RPGs and memory, and then sets the Wayback Machine for 2010 and a fresh look at an old post called By any other name~ and the town that got away.
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.
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~
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:
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:
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.
This episode takes us on a semi-farcical journey into language and imagery to talk about the very necessary nature a lack of meaning and import can have to immersive and engaging in-character play.
Links to the callers featured in this episode can be found below. This episode features calls from Sameoldji (link to his eponymous podcast can be found below), Jason Connerly formely of Nerd’s RPG Variety Cast (link to his now complete library of podcast episodes can be found below), and Che Webster of the now intentionally intermittent Roleplay Rescue podcast (link provided below).
Topics in this episode are the ongoing YouTube actual play series being run on my channel, and two different points about my recent conversation with Daniel Jones of Primeval Fantasy (link below) from the previous episode.
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.
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~
Casting Shadows Podcast 