Author: Mike Perna

It’s a short episode this week—Grant, Peter, and Branden recorded it just before Christmas—but we make the most of our time! First up, we plug Sojourn Volume 2 (remember, Peter’s published in here again, along with many of our Booter friends), and we have officially finished up our fundraiser for The Bodhana Group. Then we get down to it with Scripture and a back-and-forth about making holiday-themed games successful. Referenced works: A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.

Scripture: Isaiah 9:6,

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Every year, I and countless other people make New Year’s Resolutions. And every year, most of us break most of them. The reasons vary, but most resolutions do not survive the year. That leads a lot of folks of a sensible but perhaps a little cynical bent to deride the practice as worthless or just a source of disappointment.

I disagree; I think the practice, even, perhaps especially, given the ephemeral nature of the resolutions is valuable.

For one thing, failed resolutions can be a convenient reminder that even the most sensible of us can’t always predict how things will turn out. It can be a good hedge against Pride to realize that we didn’t accomplish something we wanted to as long as we don’t fall into the trap of self-loathing about it. That same reminder of our own finite and fallible nature, especially so closely placed to Christmas, can help drive home just what a wonderful thing it is that God loves us and chose to walk among us in hu […]

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Our Virtues & Vices series concludes with a look at humility! Peter’s published again in Sojourn Volume 2 and our fundraiser for The Bodhana Group is nearly wrapped up, and well past its goal! There’s also an ongoing discussion we’d like you participate in—essentially, we’re looking for suggestions and improvements for the coming year. After all that, we talk over humility in characters and at the gaming table, and conclude with a special thank-you to our listeners and wishes for a merry Christmas and an awesome New Year.

Scripture:

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Normally at this point, you’d get 700-1000 words of my musing about gaming, Christianity, introvertedness, or something else that touches on the podcast’s topic stable here. But it’s the holidays, and I work in retail, and therefore I’ve been reduced to a shambling Christmas zombie. So instead of a blog post, I offer the following holiday wishes.

To our Christian listeners: Merry Christmas! I hope the joy of the season and the love of both Christ and your loved ones are with you.

To our non-Christian listeners who celebrate another seasonal holiday: Happy Holidays! As you celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, or whatever other winter holiday you choose, I hope the time is enjoyable and meaningful.

To everyone who uses the Gregorian calendar: Happy New Year! We’re planning another live episode for the 8th of January—our annual r […]

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It’s only Grant and Peter this episode, as we head into the final pair in our Virtues & Vices series! First, we talk about our ongoing (and quickly wrapping up) fundraiser for The Bodhana Group, and give Innroads Ministries some much-deserved plugs as well. Then we explore what C.S. Lewis called “the complete anti-God state of mind”—Pride. Some theological and practical definitions of pride get discussed before we explore pride as a character trait, and its manifestation at the gaming table.

Also mentioned in this episode: Episode 33 of Saving the Game, “Our Origin Stories (with Mike Perna)”;

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The meme of “murder hobos” has been a prevalent one in gaming discussion lately. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it’s exactly what it sounds like: PCs that wander around killing stuff, often seemingly for its own sake. Violence has been part of RPGs from the beginning; after all, Gygax and Arneson came out of the tabletop wargaming scene when they created D&D back in the 1970s.

Furthermore, even if Gygax and Arneson had come from more of a dramatic tradition rather than a tactical one, violence would be in there. Shakespeare and the Greek plays are full of bloodshed and mayhem. People have been fighting and killing each other, and for that matter, everything that moves, for ages.

I still can’t help but wonder if we’ve put just a little too much emphasis on participating in it in the RPG world. Our recent discussion about nonviolent conflict has been sharing an orbit in my mind with This War of Mine, a game about surviv […]

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Devon Kelley from the Shark Bone Podcast joins Grant, Peter and Branden in a discussion of one of Devon’s favorite RPG topics: Non-violent conflict resolution! Devon plugs a game of his own—Threshold: Tragic Superheroes, available through DriveThruRPG—and we plug our ongoing holiday fundraiser for The Bodhana Group. Then we dive (har har—you’re welcome, Devon) into our scripture and our topic. We discuss why non-combat conflict resolution is often overlooked in RPGs; why it’s important; how to encourage it, as a player and as a GM; and plenty of real-world examples of this sort of play.

Scripture:[…]

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“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:24-25

I’ve made no secret to anyone who knows me (or anyone who listens to the podcast) that I sit on the “introvert” side of the introvert-extrovert spectrum. It may come off as odd or even inaccurate to some, because my job is fairly asocial. I work in shipping and receiving, and for most of the year, I am a one-man department. Because of this, unlike a lot of introverts, I still have some social energy left in the evenings because my work doesn’t drain it away, so friends often see a fairly […]

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