Grant and Peter discuss Peter’s new job, Grant’s new hobby, and the impact those sorts of life changes and callings can change the inner lives of your characters, how they can be reflected (or not) mechanically, and how they can affect the way your game progresses.
Links:
One Shot’s Tenra Bansho Zero (episode 1)
Bob Ross Official YouTube Channel
Scripture: 2 Samuel 5:5-8, Matthew 4:18-22
The Bioshock Infinite video game opens with you taking on the role of Booker Dewitt, a psuedo-noir style detective swimming in gambling debts and alcohol. Looking at the note that put him where he finds himself, his role is clear. Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt. He… Continue reading
Former Methodist minister and current Wizards of the Coast writer James Wyatt joins us to talk about designing pantheons for fantasy settings! James is a long-time D&D writer with a multitude of major credits, and he’s currently writing for the Magic: the Gathering creative team. That experience shows in this conversation, which covers the qualities of well-designed pantheons, their essential natures, and a multitude of design details relevant to your campaign world. We also talk about Shadows Over Innistrad and “The Lunarch Inquisition“, James’s recent story set there;
Grant and Peter discuss the root causes of some common GM problems such as over- or under- prepping, de-protagonizing, and issues with detail and offer their advice on how to address them.
Scripture: Proverbs 28:16, 2 Timothy 2:2
During a lull in my college studies, I found myself wandering through the recommended titles Amazon. It brought me to a book called Bushido: Way of the Samurai, claiming to be the first English translation of the Hagakure. I jumped on it immediately. I have no idea whether or not this is… Continue reading
Author and game designer Greg Stolze joins Grant and Peter to talk about Unknown Armies 3rd Edition, its Kickstarter, some of his other work, and personal-scale horror stories! We spend a lot of time talking about Unknown Armies—practically the whole episode, really—and Greg had plenty to say about personal horror and how Unknown Armies reflects that. In particular, we talk about how this sort of horror differs from the “cosmic horror” currently in vogue; how relationships can matter more in personal horror; stress and horror; and more. Enjoy!
Mentioned in this episode:
Not much in the way of news this week, so Grant and Peter get almost straight into the topic: diaspora, the scattering of a people from a common homeland and their desire to return. We discuss what, exactly makes a diaspora and how it can be used for world and character building.
Links:
Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff #129
Scripture: 2 Chronicles 36:20, Psalm 147:2-4, John 7:33-36,
Last year we unveiled our first major fundraiser event. The goal was to help raise some of the funds we needed to produce materials, travel to churches, go to conventions, and all the hundreds of little things that make InnRoads Ministries’ work happen. As it was our first event of… Continue reading
Grant’s second child is here and everybody is doing well!
Grant and Peter discuss some recent news, including Gamerati’s taking over of RPGpodcasts.com (a very good thing) and the upcoming Tavern Con and Electric City Comic Con, then get down to discussing the main topic: fear in RPGs. A lot of gaming groups have trouble handling fear in-game. Grant and Peter discuss some common reasons for the trouble and offer a number of potential solutions.
Links:
Tavern Con (no official link yet)
Grant and Peter break down the various advantages and challenges of using mechanical morality systems in your game and also dig into the reasons why such systems exist in the first place. In addition, we plug Tavern Con, Innroads Ministries in general and The MacGuffin Factory in particular, and Electric City Comic Con.
Links:
Tavern Con (no official link yet)
