In 1987, I was playing a lot of Car Wars. I was also dreaming of writing role-playing games. I found an address in the back of one of the books and sent off a letter. A few weeks later, I received a packet. I was 13 years old. Recently cleaning out boxes from my childhood, […]
Game designer Randy Angle drops in on the podcast. We discuss video game design and RPG game design. Randy’s long career in game design provides ample stories and great information about RPGs, gamemastering, and more. Randy also shares how his Star Trek video game influenced the TV show. Randy Angle Games and Links Visit Randy’s
Podcast host, writer Glenn McDorman joins me on the podcast today. We discuss how speculative fiction makes us better RPG gamemasters and people. Plus, we talk about his many podcasts: The Gene Wolfe Literary Podcast, Elder Sign: A Weird Fiction Podcast, Lower Decks: A Star Trek Podcast, Hanging Out With the Dream King: A Neil
Raised on D&D podcast host, Nick Cardarelli joins me for a discussion of playing D&D with your kids. We talk about gamemaster advice when running RPGs with kids. We talk about why gaming with your kids can be very important for creating memories and connections. Nick offers his advice for handling violence when playing with
Tristan Zimmerman returns to the podcast to discuss how to use real history in your tabletop role-playing game campaigns. We talk about The Year Without a Summer when a volcano changed the climate of nearly the entire world. We tackle castles and seek to make them fun again. Then we discuss gaming in Peter Pan’s
Starfinder developer Jason Tondro drops in on the podcast today. The discussion ranges from gamemaster advice to poor heroes and rich heroes in tabletop role-playing games and movies. We also talk about the Starfinder Adventure Path Fly Free or Die and how working-class heroes tackle space adventures. Jason Tondro Links Learn more about Jason Tondro
Ty Rucker from Crypt Monkey Games returns as we explore the wasteland once again. Our post-apocalyptic movie geek out continues from 1987. We cover obscure movies and popular ones, but all of them deal with the end of the world. The Blood of Heroes created a sport called Jugger. Escape from L.A. gave us Kurt
Keith R. A. DeCandido is the author of more than 50 novels. He has written for series like Star Trek, Stargate, Farscape, Andromeda, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and more. Keith joins me on the podcast today to discuss writing, storytelling, our favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, and more. Also, we touch on his
The host of the Making a Monster podcast Lucas Zellers joins me on the podcast today. We discuss his monster’s first approach to running tabletop role-playing games. We learn how Lucas began playing D&D and we get into his ideas for running one-shot adventures. We delve into monsters and why as humans we are fascinated
Cat Tobin, co-owner and CEO of Pelgrane Press, returns to the podcast. We discuss the future of tabletop role-playing games as an industry and as a hobby. The conversation delves into the phenomenon of watching people play TTRPGs online. Cat also lets us know how Pelgrane Press is handling the changing nature of the RPG
New York Times bestselling author Philip Athans visits the podcast today. We have a wide-ranging discussion that includes Phil’s career, his time editing and writing D&D novels, how he began playing Dungeons and Dragons, gamemaster advice, writing monsters in RPGs and fiction, the history of TSR and Wizards of the Coast, Lovecraft’s fiction, and what
My collection of FFG Star Wars Character sheets! Let me be clear. I love Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars RPG. As of writing, I have only been able to play a few times, but I had an absolute blast. Also, I love character sheets. I enjoy making characters and exploring the best layout of character
Chris O’Neill from 9th Level Games joins me on the podcast today. We discuss Chris’ history playing tabletop RPGs and the various games he has played. The conversation moves into 9th Level’s RPGs and his preferences in RPG design. Chris gives us some excellent gamemaster advice and we talk about unchanging heroes. 9th Level Games
Cut down gamemaster prep time with D100 random tables. Use these random tables to enhance your RPG campaigns and have more fun at the gaming table. For use with any fantasy TTRPG like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, 13th Age, and more. Playing Tabletop RPGs Solo The random tables found in these books are essential to
Archeologist and tabletop role-playing game designer Scott Smallwood joins me on the podcast today. We learn about Scott’s history with TTRPGS as well as his day job as an archeologist. We discuss how cultural respect informs his RPG adventure design and why he doesn’t like the term “race.” The conversation covers a variety of RPGs
