Category: Saving The Game

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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Peter and Branden take a break from the usual episode sequence to talk about their story and game ideas that haven’t made it to the table yet! We also plug Save Against Fear 2014, in Lancaster, PA, September 12-14. (Branden might actually be able to go!)

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 1:9

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Branden and Peter continue our Virtues & Vices series with a discussion of Envy! BIG news first, though: Episode 50 will be recorded LIVE, with an ongoing listener Q&A during the episode! Also, Grant’s working on t-shirts and other STG products. Then we talk about Envy: The Christian definition of it, why it’s a capital vice, using it in games and stories, and dealing with it at the table.

Scripture: Genesis 4:2-10, Exodus 20:17, Proverbs 14:30, 

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Peter and Branden will be holding down the next couple of episodes—Grant’s got some medical issues and can’t podcast for a while. But we’ve got extra STG-related content to make up for it! Peter was on Episode 2 of the Crossover Nexus roundtable podcast (as was Mike Perna of Game Store Prophets), so give that a listen too. We also have a new logo, courtesy of Ruben at 3d6 Design; it looks awesome, so thanks very much, Ruben!

After that news (and a little bit more), we get down to business: Talking about oaths and vows in games. We define oaths, vows and pledges; discuss the dangers of vows; and then explore the gaming and roleplaying opportunities such promises provide us as GMs and players.

Scripture:

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Peter was at Fear the Con 7 when we recorded this one, but that’s okay—Ed Healy, founder of Gamerati and co-host of Atomic Array, joined Grant and Branden as a guest host this episode! After a few preliminaries we got into a fairly broad topic that Ed wanted to talk about: Unity vs. uniformity, or handling a table (and other social groups) full of different people without squashing individuality. It turned into a lot of fun and covered a wide range of examples and issues! We also talked briefly about Stephen Weese’s excellent book God Loves The Freaks. Thanks for join […]

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Grant, Peter, and Branden are back at it! In news: Branden’s read a book, Peter preemptively thanks everyone for an amazing time at Fear the Con, and Grant tries really hard not to make jokes about the episode number (and encourages everyone to read The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy instead.) Then we hit our main topic: Blessings and curses. We talk about what they are (and aren’t); how they appear in Scripture and the history of Christianity; how they’re often used in RPGs; and how to use them in interesting ways. Enjoy!

Scripture: 

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Professor Branden schools Peter and Grant on some traditional lists of archetypal stories! We start things off with a reminder that Peter will be at Fear the Con 7 from June 12th to June 14th (find him there and say ‘hello’!), and a mention of our appearance on Game Store Prophets #74, “Tearing The Veil Of Familiarity”. Then we dive right in with Booker’s seven story archetypes, Polti’s Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations, and Snyder’s ten basic movie plots. Oh, and somewhere along the way Grant plugs

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