* (1:40) Be sure to check out the two Gen Con podcasts we participated in: Chris and Wayne on the Pulp Gamer Media Network live recording and Dan’s talk with the Amorphous Blobcast.

* (3:07) Cape Rust did a very kind review of our show in addition to great articles he’s written on gaming in the military (part 1 and part 2), LARPing (part 1 and part 2), and other subjects for Geek Life.

* (4:04) The Gamer Image Game.  Does your geek self-image line up with how you actually spend your time and money?  And if not, why not?

* (18:07) Why Pat and Dan have no sympathy for people with hard to pronounce names.

* (19:10) Puzzles and riddles in roleplaying games.  How to design, integrate, and present them to the players while avoiding the common sources of frustration.

Hosts: Dan, Johann, Pat, Wayne

* (3:44) The value of art, entertainment, and ideas on the internet.  Why free may not always be the best price.  Tracy’s plan for nurturing new authors in this environment.  As a side note, Wayne’s serial fiction is being released weekly on the Skies of Glass website.

* (14:34) Tracy’s experience of co-authoring with his wife.  The importance of a continual feedback loop in the creative process.  The struggles of writing and the joys of having written.

* (19:43) The Dragonlance movie.  Watching other people take over your creative properties, and the “original bad deal” that gets you published.

* (25:17) Whether Tracy ever plans to do anything more that’s directly in the RPG market.  His new book series, starting with Song of the Dragon.

* (29:20) What’s up with the dragons?  That question leads into a discussion on the monomyth, cognitive dissonance, and the human penchant for narrative.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

Guest: Tracy Hickman

Don’t forget to get signed up for the special offer of Dragon’s Bard using the discount code found here!  This offer is only open through September 15th.

* (3:41) The story of how Tracy’s wife and a missed ride got him into gaming.

* (8:25) The current trend in complexity and execution of roleplaying games.  Be sure to check out both X-treme Dungeon Mastery and Killer Breakfast.

* (27:41) Raising his son in the hobby, and the experience of co-writing X-treme Dungeon Mastery with him.

* (30:56) The strangest places he’s seen his own material, and the unique relationship between an author and reader.

* (36:52) The impact of social networking and new media on the publishing industry.  Be sure to check out Dragon’s Bard, and if you want the discount he’s offering our listeners, you’ll need to take the coupon code from here and place your order right here.  The revised deadline for orders is September 15th, so be sure to get yours in soon!

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

Guest: Tracy Hickman

We hope you’ll join us for the second half of the interview next week in which we talk more about new media, Dragonlance (including the movie), community building, Tracy’s upcoming projects, and more!

* (1:48) Gen Con coverage is available on our blog.  Quite a few videos are already out, and more are still being prepped for release over the coming days.

* (2:29) Dealing with unexpected player actions that aren’t covered by the rules.  Designing a meaningful outcome that’s fair to the player without breaking the game.

* (18:00) Handling travel in a roleplaying game.  Taking advantage of time and distance to keep the game interesting without bogging down the pace.  Whether to use random encounter charts, and if so, how to get the most out of them.  We’d like to thank Josheva for sending this one in!

Hosts: Chris, Dan, Johann, Pat, Wayne

* (1:53) Canadian police cracking down on G20 protesters bust an Amtgard LARPer and give us a new idea for a weapon.  You can read the article on The Globe and Mail.

* (9:02) Chris has the opportunity to do a news story on gaming and finds out he just might be a LARPophobe. You can watch the bit he did for D&D’s 30th anniversary here.

* (18:56) Playing characters that are socially excluded from the game’s setting due to race, species, religion, legal status, etc.  How to use them to make a game feel more believable without letting them completely gum up the narrative.

* (51:22)  What we have in mind for episode 200 and why it may take a while to produce.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (1:11) The TOFTBCH network is still open for sign-ups and available for anyone with some free time during the con.

* (2:49) Getting Pat to talk.

* (8:38) Pat on GM favoritism.

* (18:15) Adaptions into roleplaying games.

* (31:00) Getting cheated out of results.

* (41:34) No one takes Wayne’s characters seriously.

* (52:08) Mispronouncing words and other geek hypocrisy.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (1:11) Wayne’s Skies of Glass fiction.

* (5:06) There’s no point without progress?

* (22:20) Revitalizing your old ideas.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (5:49) Where’s my support group?

* (11:21) Gen Con 2010 draws near.  Be sure to get signed up for the TOFTBCH network and join in on the fun!

* (14:00) Cigars and the Kellums that send them.

* (15:47) Class-based versus class-less RPG systems.

* (35:16) Familiars, pets, and other animal NPCs.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (1:47) A big thanks to the companies that supported Raina’s Wings with prizes.  You can find the list of those folks here.

* (3:08) Hat day on Fear the Boot…?

* (5:05) Chris finds a gaming group using a flyer and a website.

* (20:33) Representing characters with epic backgrounds within a balanced party or rules system.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (1:42) Using models on the cheap.

* (4:55) RPGs make failure fun!

* (12:31) The difficulty of telling a good gaming story.

* (22:39) An exercise in applying our own advice by adapting characters to keep the party together.  Dave’s picture summary can be found here.

* (48:46) The joys of playing an evil group.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Dave, Pat, Wayne

* (1:16) Wayne visits the Superman festival.

* (6:25) Adventure Week, as brought to you by Dice, Food, and Lodging.

* (12:12) This versus that.

* (13:53) The benefits and problems of remote gaming.  You can find the tools we mentioned here: MapTool, Skype, Ventrilo.  The play-by-post section of our forum can be found here.

* (49:01) Using remote play to supplement a face-to-face game.

* (57:33) The answer to life’s most pressing question.  If you’re interested in following our Twitter nonsense, you can do so here.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Pat, Wayne

20:20

* (1:48) The FtB: Night of Carnage.

* (6:54) Planning for Gen Con 2010.  If you want to join the TOFTBCH network, be sure to sign up here.

* (9:30) Chad was using what…?

* (11:42) Setting your game up for success.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (0:07) Chad’s dad and 24.

* (12:16) The TOFTBCH network is back for Gen Con 2010!  If you want to be involved (and believe me, you do) be sure to sign up here.

* (16:41) Con Planner is now open for use by other conventions!  You can see the list of features in development on the About page.

* (19:10) A bunch of stuff about Dr. Who.  For anyone that’s interested, here’s Haunted St. Louis and Haunted Missouri.

* (41:40) A near miss on an actual RPG topic leads to a discussion about pets and their rare involvement in RPG sessions.  The website I mentioned is Dog Breed Info.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (1:18) Some minor changes to our website.

* (4:52) Board game meetups.

* (18:03) Why our RPG campaigns keep dying.

* (20:53) Chad’s bravery with D&D, the discrete tasks of GMing, and implied setting.  You can find the d20 SRD here.

* (30:22) The process of selecting the setting, system, and length for a new role playing campaign.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (1:21) Innovation vs evolution, growing the hobby, and trying new things.  The article mentioned is located here.

* (31:51) Keeping the game alive between sittings, using the principles of an alternate reality game.

Hosts: Chris, Dan, Ed, Pat, Wayne

* (4:10) Raina’s Wings is still going on with prize support provided by Arc Dream, DriveThru, and Polymancer.  Make your donations here, and be sure to either leave a comment with your donation or let Necronomitron know who you are.

* (5:20) Last call on the Blood Bowl league!  You have about 24 hours to get signed up on our forums!

* (5:35) You can find details about FtB: Night of Carnage here.

* (6:40) The state of Fear the Boot’s creative projects.

* (8:36) When the playground is weirder than you remember.  You can find the plot synopsis for The Tin Woodman of Oz here.

* (25:03) Throwing down the gauntlet to Postcards from the Dungeon.

* (25:16) Applying subtlety, peculiarity, and horror to a roleplaying game.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Johann, Pat, Wayne

* (9:00) We’re delaying the start of the Blood Bowl league by two weeks.  You can still get signed up here.

* (9:35) Fear the Boot is teaming up with Postcards from the Dungeon.

* (11:45) Chris vs the sprinkler.

* (17:35) TOFTBCHes will be back at Gen Con 2010!  More information coming soon.

* (18:18) A placeholder for future debate on indie games.

* (30:35) Keeping your Game Master energized.

Hosts: Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

Guest: Fred Hicks

* (3:15) Raina’s Wings is continuing as a contest with prize support provided by Arc Dream, DriveThru, and Polymancer.  Make your donations here, and be sure to either leave a comment with your donation or let Necronomitron know who you are.

* (4:24) The Blood Bowl league is still forming, and you can find details on our forums.

* (4:49) Mikey Mason coming soon to a YouTube near you…tube.

* (5:40) Thanking Derek.

* (7:33) Movie trailers, comic book adaptations, and The Prisoner remake.

* (11:26) Fear the Boot’s 2010 film picks.  If you’re interest in the trailers, here are the links: Iron Man 2, Kick-Ass, The Losers, The Expendables, Toy Story 3, The Last Airbender, Voyage of the Dawntreader (no trailer yet), Inception, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

* (31:07) Lying to your players.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

Guest: Eddy Webb

* (3:39) If you’re interested in joining our Blood Bowl leagues, you can find details on our forums.

* (6:31) Jonathan and the gamer cop.

* (12:53) RPG holidays.

* (25:27) Developing relationships between PCs and NPCs.

* (53:05) Developing relationships between NPCs and NPCs.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (3:48) You can still donate to Raina’s Wings!

* (4:37) Decorating your ultimate geek house.  You can see the mentioned dungeon house here.

* (19:04) Building meaningful PC romance and other relationships in an RPG.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (0:30) Introducing Dave.

* (2:26) A restaurant run by firefighters.

* (7:04) How Dave is the unnamed topic of so many Fear the Boot episodes.

* (14:14) Gaming with your boss.

* (18:06) The relationship between war-gaming and roleplaying.

* (21:44) Adding roleplaying to a war-game.

* (37:42) Using war-games to resolve elements of a roleplaying game.

* (44:22) Managing expectations when approaching a new game.

* (46:58) The subconscious creep of roleplaying into a war-game.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dave, Pat, Wayne

* (4:18) If you’re coming in on the Wednesday before Fear the Con, we’ll be having an impromptu social gathering at Maryland Yards at 7:00pm, just down the street from the hotel.

* (6:30) Chris and the scooter store.

* (7:22) Keeping emotions in check during a game.

* (31:38) A brief review of Pat and Chris’ “storytelling”.

* (33:00) Preparing to attend and survive a convention.

Hosts: Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (4:04) The new emotion: Muscle March.

* (7:14) Fear the Fruit is still going strong.

* (9:22) The sorts of dice you own and how you carry them.

* (30:13) Doom has been wrought upon our household.

* (31:13) Character creation tips from our newer hosts.

* (49:45) Techniques to help ensure you won’t hate your character later.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

Guest: Matt Vancil

* (2:13) When passing notes during the game goes too far.

* (12:44) Controlling the temptation to eat.

* (23:40) Fear the Fruit reminder!

* (23:57) Losing weight when you already exercise and can’t control what food is around.

* (36:31) Portion control and finding diet food with flavor.

* (49:24) Exercising with a minor physical disability.

* (51:23) The importance of a social support structure.

* (52:47) Reiterating our disclaimer.

* (53:31) How gaming itself can be good for your health.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (2:17) Ira Glass on overcoming creative perfectionism.

* (5:06) Keeping dice in the roleplaying continuity.

* (9:21) Pat’s pickled pigs feet…?

* (10:44) Health advice disclaimer.  You can find the organization Chris is certified with here.

* (15:26) Improving what you eat at the gaming table, with tangents on peer support, calorie counting, and making sustainable changes.

* (39:10) Picking the right exercises for you and integrating them into your life.

* (48:49) Chad’s pep talk and a story about Tex.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (1:35) Get your health questions to Chris for episode 180!

* (2:09) A big thanks to Totten for the pizza.

* (3:10) DriveThruRPG is running a charity through Doctors Without Borders for medical relief in Haiti.  You can make the donation here and see what RPG products that donation will get you here.

* (6:59) D&D gets banned from prisons.

* (15:02) Fear the Boot fans in prison…?

* (17:17) You are wrong to enjoy certain things.

* (20:26) Overcoming perfectionism as a GM or player.

* (42:12) Fear the Con 3.

* (43:23) Why don’t players trust their GMs more?

Hosts: Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (4:07) Fear the Con 3!

* (4:43) Soliciting questions for the upcoming episode on gamer health.

* (7:05) How Chad keeps his incidental GM decisions straight without notes.

* (17:08) Preparing the right amount of notes.

* (18:12) Notes and improv for a game’s opening scene.

* (24:02) Using the conclusion of one session to help kick off the next one.

* (26:18) How notes (or improv) affect the GM’s game style.

* (28:38) Crossing styles.

* (31:52) Getting back to the structure of game notes.

* (35:51) Notes don’t need to be a script.

* (42:10) The notes you take during the game.  You can create a free Wiki here.

* (48:52) The “what’s really going on” document.

* (50:55) An example from our current game.

* (54:45) Notes kept by the players.

* (57:59) Background notes on your own character.

* (1:00:03) Noticing your ruts.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (1:15) Dan’s rant on impassible terrain.

* (7:13) How Pat made Chad and Dan proud with his first MMO.

* (9:19) The GM and player toolbox.

* (11:29) The moment of zen.

* (15:56) Taking a week off.

* (17:47) Useful lists.

* (19:50) The double-edged sword of an internet-ready laptop.

* (22:06) The role of the toolbox in the game.

* (23:35) The players don’t know what you don’t know.

* (27:36) Taking on-going notes.

* (28:23) Preparation prior to the game.

* (30:25) Player character motivations, observations, and side projects.

* (31:47) Borrowing ideas from fiction and real life.

* (34:28) Internal roleplay and contingency plans.

* (38:13) Drawing from the larger community of roleplayers.

* (39:23) Putting yourself in the spotlight and carrying the right attitude.

* (41:22) The cheap and simple supplies.

* (44:05) Tracking the scene.

* (48:20) Tools for helping you get in character and stay in character.

* (53:36) Tracking initiative.

* (56:11) A cheat sheet of player character names.

* (57:13) Players taking notes.

* (1:01:17) Podcasts, blogs, and gaming magazines.

* (1:04:04) A rules cheat sheet.

* (1:07:41) Robertson Games’ dungeon room design contest.

* Dan’s surprise can be found here.  And just in case they changed it, I archived a screenshot of it here.  Journalist + Google image search = pure win.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (1:56) Why you don’t want to miss the Wing Night beforehand.

* (2:40) Some highlights for people that aren’t going to the con.  If you want to help promote the con, you can find a Fear the Con 3 flyer here.

* (5:08) Sign-up and find information at http://www.fearthecon.com or http://www.conplanner.com.

* (8:05) Con Planner’s privacy policy.

* (9:15) We’re at a new hotel this year.

* (9:50) Ticketing details.

* (11:57) Fear the Fruit.

* (12:48) A call for Game Masters!

* (15:03) The roommate thread and carpooling thread.

* (16:01) Mikey Mason and the game lending library.

* (17:32) Our vendor will be back.  You can post requests for him here.  You can find Geeky Clean here.

* (19:05) A call to our fellow podcasters.

* (21:38) Come for the con, stay for the caves.

* (1:44) Thanking our secret Santas.  Legos, Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress, Master of the Game, and SPANC.

* (8:40) Swapping games to expose people to new material.

* (10:53) The original Fear the Boot logo.

* (11:36) Setting up this episode and the next one.

* (12:04) Leadership and structure in a roleplaying game party.

* (13:59) How leadership helps the Game Master.

* (14:59) Players that reject any form of authority.

* (19:30) Picking the right player to be in charge.

* (23:42) Keeping leadership from becoming a railroad.

* (27:32) Making an ever-present NPC leader work.

* (35:26) Dealing with the guy that will not tolerate any structure in the party.

* (38:41) When having a boss is too close to real life.

* (42:13) The role of a GM when players are doing sidebar RP.

* (44:34) The GM shouldn’t kill the moment.

* (47:17) How the GM can profit from what he overhears.

* (48:18) Dealing with bored players outside of the RP sidebar.

* (50:55) GMs not being overly helpful.

* (55:35) Intrusion by other player characters.

* (59:53) Player etiquette.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* (2:22) Fear the Boot made it to 175.

* (3:19) Fear the Con 3 online ticketing and sign-up will be live on January 1st.

* (6:06) Chad has a sexy voice?

* (7:16) John’s current gaming situation.  You can find MapTools here.

* (9:48) Why John hates player characters.

* (11:25) A quick gaming story to explain an example.

* (13:32) Why GMs often make better players.

* (18:01) People that refuse to GM even once.

* (25:49) Players that lobby for power without conceding anything to the GM.

* (32:35) TPKs, challenge, and losing characters.

* (36:33) Why John loves PCs, starting with those that latch onto plot elements.

* (39:46) PCs who roleplaying in a meaningful manner.

* (45:53) PCs with connection to the setting help make the game more engaging.

* (48:54) Dan bitches about Chris.

* (57:05) When Dan loves his players most.

* (1:01:36) Upcoming topics for the next couple of shows.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Pat, Wayne

* (4:57) The additional costs associated with LARP.

* (8:27) Setting and time periods.

* (12:08) Where someone looking to join the hobby should start.

* (21:55) LARP as an educational tool.

* (22:40) Rule 7.

* (24:03) Trying new systems and more thoughts on finding a group.

* (25:01) Character death.

Hosts: Dan, James, Michael, Nathanael, Wayne

* (1:45) Fear the Con 3 sign-up is coming very soon.

* (2:20) Introducing our guests.

* (5:05) What separates LARP from tabletop RPGs?

* (10:32) The negative image of LARPers.  The infamous Lightningt Bolt video.

* (17:07) The seemingly insular nature of the LARP community.

* (28:03) Flirting, physical contact, and other boundaries.

* (31:38) The flow of LARP as compared to a tabletop RPG.  You can see the Oak Island Mystery videos here: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.

* (36:08) The role of NPCs in LARP.

* (39:45) Character advancement and player attachment.

* (43:48) Representing magic.

* (45:11) Honor and honesty in sparring.

Our guests were also kind enough to provide links to the Amtgard and Insurrection LARP systems.

Hosts: Dan, James, Michael, Nathanael, Wayne

* (2:13) A childhood full of toys.

* (11:51) The limited release of The Road.

* (14:36) Predictions on the future of  media distribution.

* (28:55) Picking the right resources for a brand new GM and gaming group.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* Dan is answering his Fear the Boot email account again. Let’s see how long that lasts.

* Fear the Fruit is back at Fear the Con 3. You can find information on how to make a donation here.

* Revisiting old campaigns.

* Mikey Mason’s beer sites are Good Beer Show and Beer Safari. The two non-bitter beers we took to are New Glarus Belgian Red and Schlafly #15.

* Where theater practices and roleplaying overlap (and don’t).

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Mikey, Pat, Wayne

* Checking in on how Wayne’s Mutants & Masterminds game went.

* Getting your players unstuck.

* Bickering about bards.  If you don’t have a 3.5 rulebook handy, you can follow along here.  If you’re interested in entering Critical Press Media’s bard contest, you can find details on their site.

* The reciprocal relationship between tabletop roleplaying games and video games.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* Chad makes a special presentation.  You can find the RPG swap thread on our forum.  Be sure to check out Atomic Robo!  The story of Steve Jackson getting in trouble with the government can be read here.

* Running a roleplaying game system or setting for the first time,

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* Keeping your players focused on the game and stopping the table talk.

* Getting your players to be more proactive about roleplaying.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* Our struggles with miniature war games.

* Keeping roleplaying alive in combat.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* The odd obscurity of (or at least our ignorance regarding) LARPing rulebooks.  You can find the Fallout LARP pictures here.

* The effect of minis on tabletop roleplaying games.  In case you’re not familiar with the annoying Wilhelm Scream, here’s a compilation of them.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* Fear the Con 3 has dates!  March 11, 2010 for Wing Night, March 12 – 13 for the con, March 14 – 17 for additional social events.

* The City of Villains supergroup on Pinnacle server is still going strong.  Free account reactivation and double XP this weekend.

* What makes a game system a LARP?

* Why we won’t try to define the terms RPG or LARP.

* Recovering momentum in a dying campaign.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* Why the website has been coming and going.

* Fear the Con 3. After recording this episode, we got the location reserved and dates locked down.

* The history and meaning of names.

* Video game length.

* Superstition and mythology in fantasy roleplaying games.

* Psychoanalyzing Pat.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Wayne

Guests: Jim Pinto

* Happy birthday to Chris!

* Pat finds Devil Cremes.

* Sherlock Holmes, the upcoming movie, and reimagining popular stories.

* Old games that we miss…!?

* The creep of roleplaying elements into non-roleplaying games.

* Failures of outreach in geekdom.

* Bringing roleplaying games into the mainstream.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* Nerd d**k waving.

* The soda map.

* Chad’s Fear the Con 3 blog.

* Bookstores and bookstoring.

* Character advancement and atrophy.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* What is your favorite word?  Super Troopers meow clip.

* This is Chris’ 50th episode!

* Pocket gaming books.

* One-shot roleplaying games.

* Special thanks to Zircher for the Baron’s reply tagged at the end of the episode!

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

* Comic books, trade paperbacks, and graphic novels. Wayne provided links to The Boys and an online “pull” service.

* An apology to Rhiannon.

* Acclimating a new player to the roleplaying hobby.

* Julie Hussey’s Power 16 II acceptance speech.

Hosts: Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne

We dined on chili concocted by Martian Bob himself, and tasted a variety of micro brews scrounged up (and some brewed by) Killercheesewedge. Plenty of gamer talk abounded, as ‘Return of the Jedi’ played on Spike TV in the background. Of course, we paused to listen to Admiral Ackbar shout, “It’s a trap!”

Photos below, as well as a brief audio commentary by Chad & John on their journey up (Dan will be uploading this).

Tomorrow the coverage begins in earnest, so keep checking back for more updates daily.

Some photos of the gathering here. Expect more tomorrow.

* Gencon is upon us!  If you haven’t already, get signed up for the guerrilla events.

* Be sure to subscribe to the Fear the Boot and TOFtBCH Twitter feeds.

* Rolling dice versus roleplaying social skills.

* Could there be a future without mainstream gaming?

* City of Villains guild.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* Battletech’s 25th anniversary and the unseen ‘Mechs.

* Sign-up continues for our Gencon guerrilla event network!

* A big thanks to Kellum.

* Midnight RPG movie.

* The Ghostbusters video game and never-made movie sequel.

* Overall balance in a roleplaying game.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* Power 16 II final battle this week!

* Numbering churches and banks.  (Note from Dan: I checked the ending credits of Contra and realized I had games mixed up.  It was from the credits of Mega Man 3.  It’s around 2:20 on that clip.)

* Urban legends.

* City of Villains guild on the Pinnacle server.  It’s NOT a FtB sponsored guild, but a lot of us have joined it.  We have a dedicated forum area, and you can find the client download here.

* Players that refuse to learn the rules of an RPG.

* Game completionism.

* Questioning magic user balance in RPGs and video games.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John

* The new Mechwarrior game.  After watching the trailer, seeing the restored “unseen” ‘Mechs and flavor they’re going for, Dan retracts his initial disdain.

* Our hope for a new Crimson Skies video game.

* Deciding what’s worth tracking in a roleplaying game.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* This week, the Power 16 II enters the finals for the Denny’s League.

* If you’ve enjoyed Skullossus’ bracketology art, check out his comic, The Princess Planet.

* Sign-up continues for our Gencon guerrilla event network!

* Chris wins an Edward R. Murrow award!  You can watch his entry here.

* A debate on the usefulness of utility spells.

* Pocket Tanks.

* Dealing with the first game in a campaign.

* Melodies of Life.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* Be sure to get signed up for our Gencon guerilla event list.

* Chad’s random aside on industrial music.

* Five upcoming movies we’re looking forward to: Surrogates, 9, District 9, Zombieland, Where the Wild Things Are.

* Epic player quests.

Hosts: Chris, Chad, Dan, John, Pat

* Power 16 II rolls on!  This week is the second round of the Denny’s League.

* Can’t Stop the Serenity charity.

* Some mathematical facts about 153.

* Reverse picture-preview episode.  The 10 pictures forum users submitted to inspire this episode can be found here.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Pat

* Power 16 II, round 2 of the Shadowrun League. Get your votes in! You can find the on-going bracketology thread here.

* When is it too soon?

* Handling failure as a Game Master.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* Wii Fit.

* Chad gets screwed by another video game.

* Breaking the fourth wall of electronic games.  You can see Project NATAL here and Milo here.

* Player Character failure in roleplaying games.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* The Power 16 2 begins today!  The first round of competition within the Shadowrun League will run for a week or two.  Get your votes in here! Remember that we’re giving away Catalyst gift cards, so if you want to enter for those, be sure to leave your name and email address at the end of the poll.

* Aliens in television and movies.

* Humans and colonization in science fiction.

* Changing character traits mid-game.

* Over-discussing your game.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* Fear the Boot TOFtBCHes at Gencon!  If you want to be a part of the action, get signed up!

* Power 16 II, starting next episode!

* Television ratings, cancellations, and DVRs.

* Adding depth to your player character.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Fear the Boot float trip and camping trip June 5th – 7th.  You can find the Facebook event page here and forum thread here.

* Fear the Boot TOFtBCHes at Gencon!  If you want to be a part of the action, get signed up!

* Mistrust at the gaming table.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* If you register for the forums and don’t get your confirmation email, send a message to the General Mailbox with your forum user name.  Don’t expect a confirmation email from us, since that will probably be blocked as well!  Just keep checking back over the next day or two.

* Fear the Boot float trip and camping trip June 5th – 7th.  You can find the Facebook event page here and forum thread here.

* Fear the Boot TOFtBCHes at Gencon!  If you want to be a part of the action, get signed up!

* The things being a long-time gamer have taught us.

* Dungeon building part 2.  We mentioned a few resources I’ll provide links to…

• dungeon tile sets
• How to Host a Dungeon
• Dwarven Forge
• Dundjinni
• Dwarf Fortress map archive
• Reaper minis
• World Works

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* “Dan’s not quite long enough” is in its last week!  To make your donation to March of Dimes’ Raina’s Wings charity, do so here.  You can see Chad bald on our forums.

* Skies of Glass comic artist search!   The character document is here.  Send submissions or questions to skiesofglass@gmail.com.

* Discerning when it’s close-mindedness versus the right time to say, “No.”

* Dungeon building (first half of discussion).  Next week we’ll be back to talk about history, ecology, traps, tools, and tricks!

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Skies of Glass comic artist search!   The character document is here.  Send submissions or questions to skiesofglass@gmail.com.

* Concepts we all understand but can’t quite define.

* Broadening Dan’s horizons.

* How to overcome the roadblocks to running a super hero game.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Fear the Boot community’s Neverwinter Nights mod.

* We discuss a commentary by Isaac Asimov on whether “true” science fiction can ever sell in a mass market.

* Why Dan struggles constructing super hero campaigns.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Things that wouldn’t work as roleplaying games.  Apparently clips of The Letter People aren’t hard to find.

* Playing animals or anthropomorphic animals in a roleplaying game.  You can see a picture of the guy that inspired this show on our forums.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Chris introduces his son’s friends to D&D.

* We ponder why video games aren’t held to the same product standards common to every other industry.

* Roleplaying with your kids.  The toy company Pat mentions is Schleich (WARNING: this site plays music when you open it).  The roleplaying game Chad keeps referring to is QAGS.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Fear the Boot will soon be joining the Pulp Gamer network.

* Introducing Darren Lacoste, winner of Mayfair’s Catan tournament.

* Gamers as an underserved demographic.

* Expanding the appeal of gaming.

* Areas we’d like to see focus on the gaming demographic, and what we can do to help make that happen.

* A look at what’s coming up at Mayfair Games.

Hosts: Dan, Derek, Don, Larry, Kim

NOTE: While I was on this trip, I also guest hosted episodes on some other shows you might want to check out:

• Kore News – Episode 75
• Kore News – Episode 76
• Pulp Gamer, Out of Character – Episode 72

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat

Guests: Trampas Whiteman

* Playing villainous characters.

* Adding cults to your roleplaying game.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Preparing a con game.  Really good advice, presented with really questionable sound quality.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat…and a whole lot of con attendees

* You can find addresses and maps for the convention center, wing night location, hotel, and (I hope) Watchmen theater in this DOC or PDF.

* If you’re looking for rides, car pooling, or hotel roommates,  go here.

* You can find details on the con shirts in this thread.

* World Wide Wing Night will be at Syberg’s on Dorsett, 7:00pm – Midnight on Thursday, March 5th.

* We’ll keep you guys posted on the Watchmen viewing.

* You can find information on Chad’s cigar even on the forums.

* Remembering the importance of player contribution to an RPG’s unfolding story.

* Fear the Con!  You can see Dave’s account of the pirate ship building on his blog.

* Getting over the GM jitters.

* Handling a group where the players have mixed RPG experience levels.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat

* RPGs in a bad economy.

* Shepherding your off-topic players.

* Know when it’s time to end your campaign.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* The real reason we play MMOs and the lack of innovation in the industry.

* Media companies don’t realize what year it is.

* Are RPG companies adapating to meet changing consumption patterns?

* War Pig Radio.  You can find the update on its status here.

* RPG Countdown.

Hosts: Dan, Ed, John, Pat

* Heroes of Lesser Earth.

* Fear the Boot’s Twitter feed can be found here.

* Game Master handouts and other visual aids for players.

* Tangible goodies that sometimes ship with video games and roleplaying games.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Some events going on outside of Fear the Con: a wing night on Thursday, March 5th and a Watchmen viewing on Friday, March 6th.

* A possible Rifts movie?  If you want to join the letter campaign, you can find details here.  If you hadn’t heard about the Uwe Boll / Blizzard conversation, read on.

* Gryphcon in Ontario, Canada.

* From RPG magazines to the internet: how gamer interactions have changed.

* Running roleplaying games on holidays.

* Revealing information in your RPG without feeding your players the plot.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan

* What the small RPG publishers have (and don’t have) in common with small movie studios.

* What art form are RPGs most like to you?

* Getting your players to roleplay.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Pirates of the Cursed Sea.  I found some pictures of a play area similar to the one I saw at Gencon.

* Fear the Con 2.  You can buy your ticket, see the games, and sign up to play on the website.  The comedian Chad mentioned is Mikey Mason.

* Pacing a game so it doesn’t drag on too long or conclude too quickly.

* A round-robin game idea.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat

* Fear the Con 2!  You can find more information on the forum or the con’s website.

* Getting more in-character and how it helps or hurts a game.  You can find the movie of James Earl Jones counting to 10 here.

* People you would love to LARP with.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

We promise episode 131 will be full of ponies and rainbows.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* Fear the Con’s hotel block is now ready for reservations.  You can find details on the con’s website.  If you’re looking to share rooms or rides, you can find classifieds on our forum.  We’re also pleased to welcome comedian Mikey Mason as an addition to this year’s offerings.

* Julie (that’s Mrs. Hussey) comes on to talk about the Battletech love letters.

* The size and shape of roleplaying game books.

* PDFs as a revenue stream and publishing method.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, David, Ed, Julie

* If you’re interested in playing Warhammer Online, join us on the Order side, Monolith server.  You can find more information on the forums.

* Tuning your GameDAR to find your fellow nerds.  The song Chris referenced is Hail to the Geek by Deaf Pedestrians.

* The virtues and follies of the DM screen.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan

(FIXED!  The right episode is up now.)

* Voting on the GM profile entries has ended.  Congratulations to Keith for winning!

* Fear the Con 2 is ready for your sign-up!

* Some tips for cheating the game, which leads into a discussion about how we would each deal with such antics at our own gaming tables.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Keep on emailing your game-breaking tips to Dan.  Next episode, we’ll read off the schemes everyone has for screwing with various systems.

* Fear the Con 2 registration is now up!  Be sure to get a ticket, and if you’re interested in running a game, send an email to Chad.  It’s two days of gaming you don’t want to miss.

* Allowing only the GM to possess and roll dice.

* Playing an RPG with only one or two players.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* Introducicng our guest hosts, Andy and Arthur.  If you can’t remember their forum titles, here’s a little mnemonic: Andy sounds like “sandy,” and he’s SandPunk.  Arthur is the name of a king, and he’s Noble Bear.

* A preview of the forum card game, made entirely by listeners and forum users.  If you want to learn more or offer your own contributions, be sure to visit the forum thread!  If you can help these guys get this printed as a playing card game, please send a PM on the forum to SandPunk and NobleBear, or send an email to Dan.

* Last week of voting for the GM profiles!  Be sure to cast your vote.

* The start of our new endeavor: Help Your Fellow Players Screw the Game!  Keep the tips short, tell us the game it’s for, and tell me how to pronounce your name.  In case you’re curious, the monster we couldn’t remember is the Bodak.

* Keeping your players immersed in the game, even when they catch you off guard.  If you’ve never heard the gazebo story, you can find the anecdote of Eric & the Dread Gazebo reprinted online.

Hosts: Andy, Arthur, Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* Kobold Quarterly’s place among gaming magazines.

* Game days versus major cons.  You can find information on the Emerald City Game Fest here.

* A shout-out to Heath White and Shawn (or Sean or however you spell his name).

* Marketing and promoting a roleplaying game.  If you’ve never heard of the Pareto Principle, you can learn more here.  And you can find Marketing Over Coffee here.

Hosts: Dan, Ed, Tex

* Chris and his photon torpedo.

* John’s confession.

* Tom Bombadil and other things regarding Lord of the Rings.

* Chris gets a gaming date.

* Playing music while you game.

* Player-characters as adversaries.  You can learn about the etymology of MacGuffin here and here.  Searching around more, I learned the original term for this sort of plot device: weenie.   I’m not sure I want an RPG plot about chasing the bad guy’s weenie.

* Strange things we’ve seen kill games.

* Coming soon to Fear the Boot: WIN CHRIS’ BATTLETECH ROMANCE LETTER!!!

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* You can find the thread on the forum card game here.

* If you send us email from a Yahoo address, be sure to watch your Bulk folder!

* Chris Engler’s show, Wapcaplets, can be found here.

* Pat’s Blow Pop as an object lesson for RPG mechanics.

* Having players use temporary characters in a roleplaying game.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* World Wide Wing Night 5!  You can find information about the St. Louis and other locations here!

* Fear the Con 2 information can be found at http://www.fearthecon.com or http://www.warhorn.net/fearthecon.  If you’re looking for a ride to Fear the Con 2, check out the carpool thread here.

* Be sure to check out our new blog here!

* Reasons for and against updating your gaming library.  We present both sides of the argument, so if you think we’re only for or against, be sure to listen through the end of the episode!

* Shout-out to the d21 Gaming site regarding World Wide Wing Night!

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Fear the Con 2 on March 6th and 7th!  What details we have can be found on the Warhorn site or our forums.

* Our new blog is up at http://www.feartheboot.com/ftb.  Or just click the “Fear the Boot” link on our homepage.

* Upcoming Skies of Glass web comic.

* Selecting and managing leaders in your roleplaying game party.

* Why John is so old and Pat is so quiet.

* How education affects your roleplaying.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Pat

* The Warhammer Online guild is going strong.  You can find the details here.

* World Wide Wing Night 5.  You can find details here.

* Email addresses for all hosts are back.

* This is the last week for the GM profiles!  Be sure to get yours in!

* Why is self-destruction a constant in all of John’s characters?

* Fear the Con 2 is set to go!  It’s on for March 6th and 7th.  Same location.  Expect the sign-up site and other details in the near future. If you want to volunteer or just sound-off on the con planning, visit the forums here.

* Why we create characters the way we do.

* How the visual element of a movie can affect your experience of a book.  I managed to track down the Harry Potter audio spoof John was talking about.  WARNING!!! This is extremely not safe for work!!!  Click here at your own risk.  The Harry Potter 6 trailer, however, is perfectly safe.

* GM-assigned roles or character concepts

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Pat

* The Seinfeld/Microsoft commercials.

* Our Warhammer Online guild is doing unexpectedly well!  Join us on
the Order side of the Thorgrim server.  More information can be found here.

* Character, role, and personality archetypes.

* Implied archetypes we’ve only seen once.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* World Wide Wing Night 5 on Saturday, November 8th is coming up soon.  You can find details here.

* Our Warhammer Online guild is doing unexpectedly well!  Join us on the Order side of the Thorgrim server.  More information can be found here.

* What percentage of roleplaying books you own have you actually read?

* Should players be familiar with the games they’re playing or expected to do any work outside of the game?

* Getting out of your character ruts and separating your own traits from those of your character.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* Will we outgrow roleplaying games?

* The episode 115 tutorials are NOT available on CD.  We’re having problems getting CafePress to process the sound files properly.  However, if you want to create your own CD, we’ve compiled the MP3 files in a CD-ready format (intro music removed, etc) in a zip file that you can download here.

* World Wide Wing Night 5 on Saturday, November 8th (not 18th) is coming up soon.  You can find details here.

* We’ve started a Warhammer Online guild, Order side, on the Thorgrim server.  You can find details on our forums.

* Chris pulls out Pulp Dungeons from the gamer closet.

* GM profile for Dan.

* Don’t forget to send in your GM profiles!

* Easing new players into the hobby.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* GM profile for Chris.

* Introducing non-gamers to the RPG hobby.  The FAQ we mention for dealing with religious objections to roleplaying games can be found here.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat

* A big thanks to our Gencon TOFTBCHes!

* GM profile for Pat.

* Send us your GM profile!  If you need to convert your recording format, you can do it here.

* Upcoming episodes for non-gamer outreach.

* Running world campaigns in your roleplaying game.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat

* What we’ll do differently next year.  You can find information on True Dungeon here.

* We answer audience questions live.  Questions came from…

Ethan
Itamar from Hamishakia
Andrew
Andy from Amorphous Blob
Bill from Dragonlance Canticle
Dave from The 2 Half-Squads
Dick (?) (I couldn’t quite make out his name on the recording.)
Will (The “gaming group” picutre in Shadowrun 2nd Edition is on page 194.)
Jason
Mack from Dice Like Thunder
Kyle from Animalcast
Jeremiah
Ed

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, and about 60 of our listeners.

I’d also like to give a big thanks to ZeikeCopperEyes for all of his hard work in making this happen!

* Shout-outs to Cigar_smkr and Jlhburnett of Hex Games.

* Check out the new forums here.

* One last time: here’s our schedule for Gencon 2008!  And our social gathering details have been fixed here.

* The page Chris will be using to blog his Gencon experience is this one.

* GM profile for John.  If you’re interested in reading The Monkey’s Paw, you can find it here.

* A call for your GM profiles.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat

* Our events at Gencon.  You can still find the link for the FtB social gathering here and the general list of all podcasting events here.

* Why a horse swarm is far scarier than a bear swarm.

* GM profiles for Matt and Rob.

* Setting and knowing the goals of player characters in your roleplaying game.

* Conducting a revolt against a player in your RPG.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Matt, Rob

* Back Seat Producers can be found here.

Hosts: Dan, John, Luke, Matt

* We’ll be doing several panels and a live recording at Gencon.  Be sure to check out the schedule here.

* We’re still planning our social gathering for the Thursday of Gencon.  Details here.

* A brief introduction of Pat.

* A profile of Chad’s GMing techniques.

* Conducting a player revolt against the Game Master.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Pat

* Don’t forget to let us know if you’ll be stopping by our gathering at Gencon!

* A copy of Earthshaker! gets us talking about anachronism and genre-mixing in RPGs.

* Identifying and remedying boring Game Masters.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John

* The new portal is still on its way and should be up soon.

* If you’re going to be at Gencon, there’s a get-together for FtB listeners being planned.  Be sure to stop by the forum thread and be counted so we can get a venue of the appropriate size.

* John’s acceptance speech from the Robin D. Laws award can be found here.

* Back into the gamer’s closet.  This time around we discuss Run out the Guns, the Battletech Centers, and Star Ace.

* How to draw out shy players and get them more involved in your roleplaying game.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John

* The dark history of Dan, Tex, and Chris.

* Crappy Kahlua and high quality water.

* If you’re playing Age of Conan, stop by and check out our guild!  You can find details here.

* A big thanks to forum user, CigarSmoker, for the cigars he’s been sending us!

* How do you handle permanent character death in a roleplaying game that allows for so many ways to come back from the dead?

* OBJECTION!

* How should the availability of resurrections affect an RPG setting and its population?

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John

* A shout-out to Halbert for giving Dan a code for an item in Age of Conan!

* How our review show won’t be a review show.  If you want to start getting ready for that show, the first two topics we’ll be discussing are Frank Miller’s graphic novel, Dark Knight Returns, and the RPG, Justifiers.  (Our forum user, JamsTheHobbit, provided us with a link to a Savage Worlds conversion you can find here.)

* Running a roleplaying game with young children present.  The foam dice Dan describes are item #10966 in this catalog.

* Introducing older children to the RPG hobby.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John

* Join Phil in developing his sci-fi setting, Red Earth Saga.

* An in-depth explanation of Fear the Boot’s future.

* BATMAN!

* Dan and the great Lord of the Rings movie marathon escape.

* Incorporating side games into a roleplaying game.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Phil

* Some changes coming to Fear the Boot.

* John’s first brush with D&D 4th edition.  You can find the Reaper Mini site Dan mentioned here.

* Roleplaying games that are old, obscure, or simply never played.

* How to create conflict amongst your player-characters in an RPG.  Yes, you read that right!

Hosts: Chris, Dan, John

* “Choose your own adventure” books that play like RPGs.

* The rational place for gamer shame.  (For anyone that’s confused by Chad’s use of the word, “hoosier,” it’s local slang that has nothing to do with Indiana University athletics.)

* If you’re interested in joining our Age of Conan guild, you can find all of the information here.

* Deciding on — and handling — the amount of party in-fighting you want in your roleplaying game.

Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan

* Fear the Boot has started an Age of Conan guild, House Nachash, on the Stormrage server.  You can find more information here.

* This episode brought to you by Gorkamorka!  The forum user, that is, not the game.

* Can you change power-gamers into roleplayers?

* What we hate about higher education.

* Adding spice to the backstory of an RPG’s setting.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Matt

Hosts: Dan, John, Luke, Matt

Guests: Luke Crane

Hosts: Dan, John, Luke, Matt

Guests: Luke Crane

WARNING: This version of the interview contains uncensored language.  If you wish to get a “clean” version of the interview, it is available on the feed.

* Don’t forget Diecon, particularly if you’re into Warmachine.

* The end of Living Greyhawk and start of Living Forgotten Realms.

* Playing a robot in a roleplaying game.

* Comparing point-buy and random rolling for RPG character creation.

* What gets us to keep playing a video game.

* Balancing adversity and challenge in a game.

Hosts: Dan, John, Luke, Matt

* A big thanks to James, Christopher, and all the folks at I-Con!  Also, congratulations to Christopher for his impending fatherhood.

* Converting Adam into the gaming fold, and what kept him from trying out gaming sooner.

* A shout-out from Matt to the folks of MidSouthCon.

* Players that are a destructive influence to your roleplaying game.

* Game Masters that control their players by simply blocking their progress in an RPG.

* Fear the Boot’s Age of Conan guild.

* Don’t forget to send your episode 100 questions to Dan or Luke!

Hosts: Chris, Dan, John, Luke, Matt

* If you’re in the St. Louis area or interested in Warmachine, don’t miss Diecon at the end of May!

* This past week, Dan was a guest host on two shows.  The first is the Gamer Traveler episode in which Dan discusses his cruise.  The second is Kore News with Walt Snider.  If you’d like to discuss the topics on Walt’s show, be sure to visit his forum!

* Karla talks about how many chairs have been destroyed in this house, and Luke recants.

* Drawing your players into the start of a roleplaying game campaign.

* Designing races for your RPG.  And don’t miss this segment’s objection!

Hosts: Dan, John, Karla (briefly), Luke, Matt, Tex

Hosts: Dan, Luke, Matt

Guests: Erik Mona

* Dan and John will be in New York this weekend for I-Con 27!  While there, Fear the Boot will be receiving the Robin D. Laws Award for Excellence in Gaming.

* If you’re in the St. Louis area or a big WarMachine fan, please stop by Diecon in late May.

* If you’re interested in helping start a con in or around Richmond, VA, please check out this site!

* Trampas reviewed Fear the Con in episode 13 of Dragonlance Canticle.

* Be sure to check out Chris Engler’s new podcast, Wapcaplets!

* How to handle uncomfortable social situations when hosting a game.

* Tips for running an epic-level roleplaying game.

Hosts: Dan, Luke, Matt

* If you sent Dan any emails between March 17th and March 20th, please send them again.

* If you’d like to see our first Skies of Glass review, you can find it on RPG Realms in their entry for March 19, 2008.

* We’re working on a dedicated host to improve website performance.

* White Wolf’s Graduate Your Game initiative.

* Settings that have been designed to work with a variety of RPG systems.

* Using external inspiration to assist with character creation.

Hosts: Dan, John, Luke, Tex

* Skies of Glass, Tier 1, is now available in the Resources section of our site.

* Kerrigan, Conan, and Luke’s crappy gaming PC.  You can find Tara Strong’s credits on IMDB.

* Do people take gaming too seriously?

* A more detailed look at board games.  You can find more info on Atomic Earth here.

Hosts: Dan, John, Luke, Matt

* Skies of Glass, Tier 1, will be released as a PDF document when the next episode drops.

* Ah, the Dragonlance episode.  Be sure to check out Trampas’ podcast, Dragonlance Canticle.

* We would like to thank the following folks for supporting Fear the Con…

* Our Flickr account can be found at http://www.flickr.com/groups/feartheboot/.

* What we learned from running this con.  We think this information could help out anyone that’s interested in running a con or just curious what goes on behind the scenes.

Hosts: Dan, John, Luke, Matt

* An FtB commentary track you can play along with Dragonlance: Dragons of the Autumn Twilight.

* Fear the Con on March 8th!  Don’t forget World Wide Wing Night at Side Pockets the Friday before, eye exams from Luke the Sunday after, and Fear the Froot during the event.

* D&D isn’t an RPG…?

* Yet another game derailed by a failure of the group template.  We also offer some advice on meshing subplots with your main plot.

* Converting settings across or into rules systems.  If you want to see the picture of Chad we mention, the original (potentially not safe for work) is here.  The modified picture (safe for work) is here.

Hosts: Dan, Luke, Matt

* BJ’s Liquo store…?

* How Valentine’s Day has destroyed this episode.

* Fear the Con on March 8th!  Don’t forget World Wide Wing Night at Side Pockets the Friday before, eye exams from Luke the Sunday after, and Fear the Froot during the event.

* The Hobbit and other classic books.

* The evolution of arcade games and how that got us thinking about the evolution of roleplaying games.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Matt

* Contrary to what Luke thinks, Furreals are not sexual.

* Fear the Boot PSA #2.  Here is the relevant link.

* Join us for Fear the Con on March 8th!  Don’t forget to donate to Tony Mast’s Fear the Froot.  And we hope you’ll join us for World Wide Wing Night the Friday night before the con and the eye exams at Meyer Eye Care the Sunday after the con.

* The Warhammer 40,000 RPG.

* Joseph Campbell’s “hero’s journey” and its relevance to running a roleplaying game.  Since Tex did so much research, we’ll provide a short bibliography of his sources…

http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00800/journey.htm
http://www.jcf.org/about_jc.php
https://www.mauiwriters.com/mwconline/transcripts/SW_Vogler_Writers_Journey.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero’s_Journey#.22The_Hero.27s_Journey.22
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell
http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html

Hosts: Dan, Luke, Matt, Tex

* Skyrocket reminds us of a major perk of the FLGS: the dice bin.

* Is it possible to cheat in dice rolling with pure physics?

* Fear the Con is still coming up on March 8th, and don’t forget Tony Mast’s Fear the Froot effort!  Please send an email to Luke if you’re interested in volunteering to help out at the con.

* A shout-out to Lee.

* The Fear the Boot hoodies from Geeklabel.

* Is gaming without gaming still enjoyable?

* Roleplaying games where character creation is more interesting than the game itself.  The Hero Game 5th Edition ballistic test can be found here.

* RPGs that use GM fiat to make decisions instead of dice.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Luke, Matt, Tex

* Skiing.
* Luke’s musical aspirations.
* Fear the Con.
* Fear the Froot, sponsored by Tony Mast.
* Cartoons.
* Comic books.
* A little bit on the future of Fear the Boot.

Hosts: Chad, Luke, Tex

* D&D 4th edition modules.

* Historical accuracy in gaming.

* Dialog in your roleplaying game.  The accent CDs from Pulp Gamer can be found here and here.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Luke, Tex

* If you want a Fear the Boot hoodie, you can find them here.  Be sure to type “feartheboot” (without the quotes) in the coupon field.  This offer may be for a limited time only, so if you want it, get it fast!

* Luke’s Chromehounds group, Iron Tyrants.  Friends lists for PS3, Xbox Live, and Wii.

* Dealing with “that one player” in your roleplaying game.

* Dan’s bad gaming story…finally.

* Fear the Boot on Fanboy Smackdown doing an episode about Top Gun.  FAIR WARNING!  This episode was done at Gencon before we made our promise to lay off certain kinds of language and insulting certain people groups.

* Friendly local gaming stores.

Hosts: Adam, Dan, John, Luke, Tex

* Who the girls love in the sci-fi/fantasy world.

* Conventions, Renaissance Fairs, etc.

* Ice-O-Hedron gaming con in Toronto.

* Fear the Con‘s masquerade.

* Movies they’d love to see made.

Hosts: Becky, Katie, Karla, Melina…and Phil

* Dan’s New Years resolution.

* Christmas stories.

* Animals, familiars, and mounts in a roleplaying game.

* Designing and running factions in your RPG.

* Phil’s podcast at http://www.insert-coinlive.com.

Hosts: Adam, Dan, John, Luke

* Adam loses his World of Warcraft account.

* A Fear the Con update.

* December is out to destroy your games.

* Running a holiday-themed game. And, sadly, I found the Christmas in the Stars song John alluded to.  After that, go listen to Chewbacca sing Silent Night.

* The list of top 10 aphrodisiacs.

* Adam tries to defend Sliders and Dragonball Z.

* Our experiences with Magic: The Gathering.

* Our favorite ladies from science fiction TV and movies, followed by our favorites from video games.

* My Enormous Penis by Da Vinci’s Notebook.

Hosts: Adam, Dan, John, Luke