Roleplaying Games – 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”

⁠_______

CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

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:

⁠

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

⁠

_______

CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 69: On the Idea of a Better Game

Summary

Published: December 20, 2025

This episode is another review of a post from the ⁠Casting Shadows blog⁠, though this time the Wayback Machine is just taking us five short years (and a few decades of observation and experience) into the past. This time we look at a post based on the increasingly narrowing rhetoric around the technique of the Session 0 which tries to restore the balance required in that technique for long-term play.

This time, the full post is presented before I get into any commentary from the present of the time of recording. Among the things in that commentary is a link to an earlier video on the same theme, but slightly different topic. It is linked below and is called Theories & Practices. It’s almost a rant. One of two I may have recorded in all my time sharing RPG ideas.

LINKS:

⁠A friend of the show, Patrick Mullen, on his Processing GURPS blog has recently referenced the Can I make my game better? post in a post of his own about his process of setting up a new campaign. I think we need many such examples of the great variety of approaches and needs we gamers have and so I share the link here:

⁠Zero Hour⁠

⁠Theories & Practices ⁠video mentioned in the episode. This video was recorded in 2014 in response to an uptick in extreme views in the regular cyclical confrontation between preferences between ‘Just play!’ and ‘Elitist Theory instead of play!’

⁠⁠⁠

⁠Can I make my game better?⁠⁠⁠⁠ blog post on Casting Shadows

Can I make my game better?

CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 68: On What Might Be in a Name

Summary

Published: December 13, 2025

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.

LINKS:

⁠Weird Studies Podcast⁠ Homepage

–⁠Episode on Dungeons & Dragons, or the Reality of Illusions⁠

⁠Nerds RPG Variety Cast⁠

⁠Arcane Alienist Podcast⁠

⁠By Any Other Name⁠ blog post on Casting Shadows

By any other name~

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:

⁠

_______

CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 62: On Interruptions, Others’ Topics, and Basic Roleplaying

Summary

Published: July 27, 2025

This episode possibly resumes more regular releases of the podcast while sharing thoughts on some topics I have missed recently and on that gem of a system, Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying.

You can read the written post on this topic as well!

Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying

_______

CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 61: Call of Cthulhu Campaign Recap 1

Summary

Published: April 8, 2025

Is Hindsightless THE most sporadic podcast on the Internet? I am not sure, this one must surely qualify for something in that category.

NOTE: This episode is available as a video on Spotify and as audio on other distributors. The specific recap portion of the video has been subtitled for your convenience.

I have been putting up in-depth videos on the YouTube channel lately about the nature of RPGs, so this weekend, with my thin strips of free time, I grilled up a recap as a sort of celebration of the great play I have been enjoying with Call of Cthulhu for the past year and a half, and as a possible on-ramp to getting into or at least enjoying the campaign vicariously, for those who don’t enjoy YouTube. It was fun for me to go over our calendar of dates and events and spin that into a sort of StoryTime for the Casting Shadows Podcast. I hope you enjoy it, too. It is also available in written form if you would prefer to read it.

Call of Cthulhu Immersive Sandbox Campaign Recap and Reflection ~ 1

Recommendation!

If you are curious about a great exploration of Chainmail in the context of playing it as the wargame it began life as, rather then the product shoehorned into OD&D, please consider checking out the Diegetic Advancement podcast.

_______

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

_______

CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 59: #RPGaDAY2024 Week 2 Highlights + Mordavia

Summary

Published: August 12, 2024

This episode is in three segments. The first presents links and reactions to just a few of the cool posts I have seen in response to the 2nd week of #RPGaDAY2024. This is part of a series for each week of the event. If you have suggestions for great posts, send me a message with the links! The second segment offers some tantalizing morsels stolen from the freshly unearthed Mordavia: Land of Horror supplement for Leagues of Adventure, Leagues of Gothic Horror, and Leagues of Cthulhu by Triple Ace Games. The final segment runs roughshod over my own responses to the #RPGaDAY2024 prompts in unseemly haste!

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:

⁠⁠Autocratik Blog⁠

⁠Halls of the Nephilim⁠

⁠Mordavia on DriveThruRPG

NOTES:

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

_______

CONTACT ME:

Send in a voice message via Speakpipe!

Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

@Runeslinger for YouTube, TwiXter, BlueSky, and Facebook

Episode 58: Sharing some #RPGaDAY2024 Posts that I enjoyed: Week 1

Summary

Published: August 5, 2024

This episode presents links and reactions to just a few of the cool posts I have seen in response to the first week of #RPGaDAY2024. This is intended to be the first of a series for each week of the event. If you have suggestions for great posts, send me a message with the links!

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:

⁠Autocratik Blog⁠

⁠Nerds’ RPG Variety Cast⁠

⁠Stochastic Agency⁠

⁠JDRD30⁠

⁠Pink Phantom Podcast⁠

⁠Mirke the Meek Podcast⁠

⁠Dungeon Tutor⁠

⁠Dekahedron’s Joseph Gill⁠

⁠Nolinquisitor Channel⁠

⁠Creative Play and Podcast Network⁠

⁠Miskatonic Playhouse Channel⁠