RPG Characters – Casting Shadows Podcast

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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Ubiquity Roleplaying Games Discord

Episode 9: Corruption and ‘You’

Summary

Based loosely on a blog post from November of 2010 called Corruption – the other white meat, this episode explores notions of character change, largely through the example of moral corruption. The concept is connected to games like Pendragon, the old World of Darkness series (particularly Vampire and Wraith), and to Leagues of Gothic Horror and its meaner cousin Leagues of Cthulhu. This episode builds on notions expressed in the preceding two episodes (Episode 7: On Facilitating Fear and Episode 8: Can I Play SANs Madness…?)

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Episode 8: Can I Play SANs Madness?

Summary

Not all games choose to reinforce frightening or horrific elements with mechanisms of play. In some games, to do so would interfere with the smooth operation of both system and player imagination of the characters appropriate to the fiction such games produce. Some games, however, can be enhanced with the inclusion, from a roleplaying perspective, of such fears and how the characters face them. With a brief look at Leagues of Gothic Horror and Leagues of Cthulhu for contrast, this 8th episode of the Casting Shadows podcast takes a deep look at the characters of Triple Ace Games’ All for One: Regime Diabolique and the role fear and horror can have on play~

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Episode 4: On Cracking Open the Skull of Evil

Summary

This practical post of three specific tips for villains in an RPG was originally posted in response to a blog Carnival prompt on ‘How to think like a villain.’ Using examples from Actual Play which are accessible on the written blog, this post lays out simple means of getting into the heads of characters in your setting and seeing where that takes you in terms of villainy~

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