Category: Podcast

Award-winning author and game designer Kenneth Hite joins Grant, Peter and Branden for a discussion of horror games and stories, just in time for Halloween! Check out Ken’s own podcast, Ken And Robin Talk About Stuff, and keep an eye out for The Dracula Dossier, a really neat project he’ll be Kickstarting soon. We also plug our upcoming charity drive for The Bodhana Group and our store.

After our Scripture readings, we talk with Ken about the fun of horror stories; running a good horror game; types of horror; creating the right amount of fear and horror in games; and writing and playing horror as a […]

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Peter and Branden are back to talk about trustworthiness! First, a reminder about our upcoming LIVE recording of Episode 50, and an account of Save Against Fear 2014 from Branden. Then, we get down to the business of trust. We talk about why players don’t trust NPCs; how to convince players that their characters should trust a given NPC; how to indicate that a character isn’t trustworthy; and what to do when a player character can’t be trusted. Enjoy!

Scripture:Proverbs 10:9, Luke 16:10

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Grant, Peter and Branden are back with thoughts on monsters! Our brief news segment discusses our new online store (go buy a shirt or a mug, they’re awesome), a plug for the LIVE episode we’ll record Oct. 16th, and some comments on our completed backlog and our Facebook, Google+ and Twitter feeds. Then we get down to business and talk about monsters (reprising the topic for Crossover Nexus #2, which Peter appeared on.) Why are stories about monsters interesting? What makes particular monsters interesting? How can we and should we use monsters in our games and stories? And what are our […]

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Grant’s back, and there’s so much news! Our official store is open, Peter’s getting published again, Branden has a job, and our live Q&A episode is coming up. And all that’s before we get into our main topic, Kindness. After defining kindness and discussing its nature as a virtue, we dive headlong into its in-game uses and role as a storytelling trope. Finally, we wrap up with a discussion of kindness at the gaming table.

Scripture: Micah 6:8, Ezekiel 36:26, Matthew 25:34-40,

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BIG NEWS: Branden will be a Save Against Fear 2014! If you’re not familiar with SAFe and The Bodhana Group, take a listen to Episode 25, “Therapeutic Roleplaying (with Jack Berkenstock)”.

This should be our last bonus episode for a bit—Grant will be back next episode—but Peter and Branden wanted to take some of the work we’ve done in our Science of Storytelling series and apply it to a real campaign pitch, with multiple demands from virtual players (all played by Peter) and Branden as the GM. Enjoy!

Scripture: 

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