The way we’re going to address this is by returning Fear the Boot to the description it’s carried in the RSS feed since Episode 1.

Fear the Boot is an irreverent, round table discussion of tabletop role playing games. In this weekly show we debate game-related issues, offer advice for improving your game, and poke fun at the hobby. Our cast changes a little from show to show, but we always assemble a group of dynamic individuals with divergent views, guaranteeing you will hear several perspectives on everything we discuss.

For each show, we will have 3 – 5 hosts present, drawn from the list given above.  That flexibility accomplishes two things.  First, we can make sure we’ve tapped the hosts with the most interest or expertise on a given subject.  Second, it allows the remaining hosts to take some weeks off to spend with family or pursue other projects, such as Fear the Con, Skies of Glass, Epoch of Rysos, and Bloodmoon Goblins.

I don’t expect this change to have any significant impact on the show.  All of the hosts will still be appearing on the show and active on the forums.  However, I wanted to explain in advance why the staffing will shift in seemingly random fashion from week to week.

http://thisjustinfromgencon.com/2011/10/02/tjigencon2011-bonuswrapup/

This will have absolutely no impact on the podcast itself, as those files are served by LibSyn.  However, when we flip the switch, it can take a day or two for your internet provider to pick up the fact that our forums, blog, email, etc, is now at a new address.  I’ll try to provide 24 hours notice when that’s about to occur, but if you can’t get to our site, just keep trying every so often until we appear again.

Also, we will be migrating all data along with the site.  So no blog posts, forum posts, user accounts, Con Planner entries, etc, will be lost.

Let me be as straightforward as I can.  While this money is going to be used to finish the product — he’s not just pocketing it — this isn’t a charity.  You’re not curing cancer, saving babies, or feeding remote villages.  However, he’s a great guy working on a product that will make life a little brighter for geeks like us, based on the comedy act he does free of charge at the con every year.  And in case you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, you will get something in return based on the amount you pledge, so it’s not just a donation.

If you’re interested in helping Mikey out, please do so here!  As for Fear the Boot, we’ve made our own pledge, we’ll mention it once on the show (probably episode 229), and then we’ll get back to raising money for stuff that really is curing cancer, saving babies, and feeding remote villages.

2. Since I’ll need to print the game sign-up sheets with some time to spare, any changes made on Con Planner must be in by the end of Wednesday night.  All changes made on Thursday or Friday will not be accounted for.  If you need to change anything about an activity, please either get it in before Wednesday night or simply wait until the con and do it on the registration papers there.

3. If you’re coming for the pre-con tourism, don’t forget to either PM your cell phone number to ZeikeCopperEyes on the forums or keep an eye on our Twitter feed.  Those are your two best resources for getting linked up with the group.

4. Since I’m entering into a week of pre-con activities, last minute prep, and finally hosting the convention itself, I will be out of contact until next Sunday.  If you need anything dealt with immediately, please send me a PM on the forums.  That’s the only form of communication I’ll be checking with any regularity.

We’ll be back on our normal schedule next week!  I also have a Fear en Route file from Wayne which I’ll try to post tonight or tomorrow to at least have something on the feed for this week.

The company that first owned the game, Sabertooth Games, did actually go under and the game was bought by Fantasy Flight Games.  After a number of overpowered sets and promotional cards, players started to leave the game.  When they decided to make seven sets illegal in the Standard format, most players stopped buying the cards.  Fantasy Flight Games decided to end the game.  However Fantasy Flight Games is still very much in business and I do appreciate their board games.  They just were not equipped for the trading card game market.

Around January 2010, a local game store down in Texas decided to buy the license for the game.  The owners were very much fans of the game and saw its potential in the right hands.  When they [bought the game], they determined that the focus should be on the players.  We have already had several polls about formats and banned cards and errata to cards.

Even in this short time, they had a new set ready to go.  It is their own intellectual property, since they cannot yet afford to buy the rights to use popular figures from Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, Tekken, etc.  They only were able to get the license to the mechanics of the game.  The older cards that include these familiar properties can still be used (Soul Calibur IV and Tekken can still be played in Standard).  But it may be a couple of years before they can afford these other licenses.

To build a deck for sanctioned tournament play, a player must choose an existing character that is included in the released sets.  They come with their own powers.  The rest is how you stated it.  Now there is a caveat.  In non-sanctioned play, you can use cards of your own making.  Although please support the developer by buying sanctioned sets.  But you can develop, say Batman, with his own powers and play with your friends.  When Fantasy Flight Games stopped supporting the game, our play group decided to make our own set (attacks, assets, foundations) with us as character cards.  It was a lot of fun to do and to play.  Our characters were totally overpowered, but it was still cool.

I just wanted to add one more thing.  They have a thing called, “The Coolest Prize in Gaming”.  Winners of nationals and worlds standard tournaments get to make themselves as character cards that are tournament legal.  I have also seen store groups be able to make tournament legal assets.  It is a really cool concept.  While cash is not awarded to winners, these prizes are definitely worth the price of playing.  Also the removal of cash has also made this a really great, fun player base to with which to play.  I have not encountered the cut throat player that I have seen, even in low level tournaments [of other games].

Also if anyone has questions about the game, they can reach me at liendolf@gmail.com.  I really want to be an ambassador for it and make it prosper.

If you’re not signed up to come yet, you can find the convention site at http://www.fearthecon.com.

A century or two before the game began, human technology could only provide FTL travel along certain paths.  A ship full of 50,000 cryogenically stored colonists fell off one of those paths and was stranded.  Realizing they would be stuck there for an extremely long time — and likely never be found at all given the vastness of space — the crew of the ship responsible for these colonists was left to panic.

Some of them lived out their lives normally and died when supplies ran out.  Some killed themselves.  But a few dozen traded places with colonists.  They dumped one body per crewman that opted into this plan, placing themselves in the chambers instead, hoping to be revived one day.

Along come the PCs in an age when humanity has more sophisticated FTL travel, and for reasons I won’t get into (that would be a novel-length gaming story), they discover this ship.  When they start thawing out the thousands of colonists, they realize that a few dozen were ship crew living in cryo chambers that were labeled for other people.  And in some cases the family members of the “murdered” were still among the living colonists.

However, this ship was sitting outside of claimed territory when the event happened, so technically no law was broken.  And with the ship’s Captain dead a century ago, there was no one left with legal authority to rule on their actions.

After being thawed, the crewman begged the players to take them back to Republic space so they could live out their lives there and escape the potentially-vengeful colonists.

So what do you do with these guys?  Kill them?  Turn them over to the colonists who don’t technically have any legal authority over them?  Turn them over to a Republic that has no legal authority over this event either?  Take pity on them as people that did a selfish — but perhaps understandable — act of desperation and take them back home?  Impress them into service in your own ship’s crew so you can exact punishment?

The diversity of character perspectives on life, death, and self-preservation clashed wonderfully in this situation.  And it also played out on some personal level.  As the characters discussed it, the players put themselves in the shoes of both the colonists and crewmen, wondering what they would do in the same situation.

In case you’re curious, the crewmen ended up being turned over to the colonists for judgment by the colony’s governor.  He chose to show them mercy of sorts, forcing them to roll up their sleeves, living a hard life on this new world alongside the rest of the colonists as a form of penance.

I will have this week’s episode edited and posted later tonight, so the feed should be update on major aggregators a full day before the site goes offline.  Also, the MP3 files are stored on another server and will remain available for download during that time.  All that will go offline is features like the forum and blog.

* All times are in U.S. Central.

First, I want to thank Cape Rust for the very generous review of our show posted over on Geek Life!  Check out that article and his other stuff when you get a chance.  Among topics he’s tackled is a great series on gaming life in the military (part 1 and part 2).

Second, the dates for Fear the Con 4 have been locked in.  Wing Night is on Thursday, March 17th, 2011.  The con itself will be on Friday, March 18th and Saturday, March 19th.  Much more follow, and I look forward to seeing you there!

First, I’d like to thank the TOFTBCHes. Those guys do an incredible amount of work making reservations, putting together the contact lists, and sending out the text messages that make the events possible. They put in a lot of hard work, and I am in their debt for the service they provide to the community.

I’d like to thank the community for being such excellent, supportive individuals. Not only did a good number of people turn out to our events, but I was yet again amazed at the quality of people that comprise this community.

Last but not least, I’d like to thank Tim and a second donor (I believe wanted to remain anonymous) for generously giving us tickets to True Dungeon. It was an absolutely incredible experience that has to be seen to be fully appreciated. I wish we could have filmed some of the puzzles and monsters, but they don’t allow cameras in there.

It was a great con, and I look forward to posting the rest of the interviews and then making early reservations for Fear the Con 4.

1. What does TOFTBCH stand for?

It’s an abbreviation for “The Official Fear the Boot Communication Hub”.

2. What is the TOFTBCH network?

When at Gen Con, many people find they have empty spots in their schedule or maybe just preferring being around friends than strangers.  Or maybe they came pretty much alone and are looking for a welcoming group they can fall right in with and immediately make some new friends.  The TOFTBCH network was created to fill that need.

A group of outstanding volunteers take the cell phone numbers of anyone interested in joining the network.  When someone wants to kick off a game or social event, they simply inform one of the TOFTBCHes who will then blast it out to everyone on the network.  If you can make it, great.  If not, you’re still free to join us at later events.

3. How do I use the TOFTBCH network?

You can create an account for free on Con Planner, after which you can create an attendee for the Gen Con 2010 event.  If you go that route, be sure to provide your cell phone number in your account profile so they know how to reach you.  Alternately, you can send a private message via the forum to ZeikeCopperEyes, Necronomitron, or Aaron Stack, providing them with your name and cell phone number.

During the convention, if you want to run an event, just let them know so they can pass it along to the network.  If you want to attend an event, just wait for the message and stop by wherever we’re gathered.

4. What sorts of things do you do?

Pretty much anything you would expect: pick-up games, grabbing meals, going out for drinks, checking out the main convention hall, or just enjoying the company of good folks.

5. Is it too late to get signed up?

No, there’s still a little time!  I don’t know exactly what their plans are, but I’m sure they’ll be updating the list for at least a little while longer.  If you want to sign up, do it today!

I’d also like to take the time to highlight the RPG companies that sponsored this event with prize support. They’ve demonstrated their interest in supporting this cause, and I hope you’ll consider them when making your future RPG purchases.  I will list them below in alphabetical order.

1. Arc Dream – This publisher produces the critically-acclaimed roleplaying games Monsters and Other Childish Things, Wild Talents: Roleplaying in a World Gone Mad, and the classic World War II superhero game GODLIKE: Superhero Roleplaying in a World on Fire. They also work with Pagan Publishing to develop for the award-winning Delta Green game line and Cthulhu mythos magazine The Unspeakable Oath.
2. Bards and Sages – RPG publisher, writing resource, and writing competition sponsor, Bards and Sages supported our efforts by donating copies of the exceptionally modular and flexible Karma Roleplaying System.
3. Crafty Games – Crafty joined the fray by offering copies of the sleek, mix-and-max Fantasy Craft system for developing highly customized fantasy settings and campaigns.
4. DriveThruRPG – Your one-stop-shop for RPG downloads for an incredible variety of games, DriveThruRPG was extremely supportive of the charity drive, fixing us up with products from many of the publishers listed here.
5. Fat Dragon Games – Producers of great fantasy terrain and building models, Fat Dragon offered free copies of their DRAGONSHIRE: Deluxe Edition product featuring an easy-to-make collection of roads, bridges, and buildings to enhance your tabletop game.
6. Pinnacle Entertainment – Publishers of the well-known Savage Worlds system, Pinnacle put up copies of their Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion, packed with hundreds of items, monsters, and spells to help you flesh out your savaged fantasy campaign.
7. Polymancer Studios – Polymancer weighed in with subscriptions to Polymancer Magazine — an RPG resource packed with columns, articles, ready-to-play adventures, cartoons, and fiction — and the short fiction anthology magazine, Polygraff.
8. Reality Blurs – Last but not at all least, Reality Blurs generously donated copies of their excellent Savage Worlds setting book for Cthulhu campaigns, Realms of Cthulhu.

There is some limited cursing in the videos, so use discretion about when/where you play them.

Also, if you’re not already a member of the Fear the Boot or Fear the Con groups on Facebook, now’s a great chance to fix that!

Also, I promise that more audio and video from our own crew is on the way. It just may be a little slow in coming, because we’re still conducting the after-con tourism events. So stay tuned!

Mikey Mason makes Chris’ dream come true.

I’m really tired, and it’s really late, but expect more videos to follow over the coming days!

- create an attendee
- pay for your ticket
- create games
- join games
- leave games
- remove games you were running
- remove an attendee that can no longer make it

…then it must be done by tomorrow (Tuesday, March 9th) at 2:00pm Central time.

FYI, people are absolutely welcome to attend the con as walk-ins, join games, create games, etc! They’ll just need to take care of that on location during the con itself. All we’re cutting off is changes made through the registration website.

2. Remember that you can print a copy of your con schedule!  Login on Con Planner, pick “Schedules” from the left-hand menu, and then click “Printer Friendly Schedule”.  If you’re running a game, the description will be replaced by a snapshot of the signed-up players.  Just keep in mind that a schedule is only as accurate as the moment it was printed, so print it off as close to departure as you can.

3. New events are still getting added, so if you’ve just been lurking — or you don’t feel comfortable being an alternate — take another look at what’s out there!

If you won’t be at the con, it’s not too late to change your mind!  But if that’s just plain not possible, we’re still planning some video blogging to help get you guys in on the fun.

They’re only running this event through the end of the month, so if you’re interested, be sure to get out there soon!

To deal with that, I switched us over to PowerPress. The transition seems to have gone smoothly, but if you notice anything strange on your podcatcher over the next few days, please let me know.

Also, our RSS feed has gotten too large for most aggregators to handle it anymore. iTunes is truncating it and BluBrry won’t even process it. To deal with that, I’ve had to set our feeds to only show the 100 most recent entries. Shouldn’t be a problem unless you’re way back in our catalog of shows. I’m annoyed I had to do this, but the technology isn’t giving me much of a choice.

1. It has very explicit language and covers very explicit topics.

2. Race, religion, and politics are all fair game for discussion.

3. This particular episode runs over three hours in length.

So if it breaks pretty much every rule FtB has, why am I pointing you that way?  Because if you’re not easily offended, there’s some stuff in there you might be interested in.  We talk quite a bit about the making of Fear the Boot — including where it’s been, where it’s headed, the hosting mix, what you can expect from Fear the Con 3, what’s happened to Skies of Glass, and some breaking news on previously unannounced projects we’re about to release.

If you want to skip most of the off-topic conversation and just hear the distilled FtB content, skip forward to 1:35:40.  If not, set aside a large block of time and enjoy the whole episode.

Also, our rules have not changed!  If you want to post comments/questions here or on the forums, that’s fine as long as it conforms to our normal rules.  This is not an excuse to bring politics, religion, or any other drama over here!  Also, they have their own forums, but if you post over there please be a good ambassador for the show and respect their rules as well.

With all that out of the way, you can find the episode here.

However, there’s been a negative side effect: many legitimate users aren’t getting their confirmation emails.

If you’ve signed up for our forums and have not received your confirmation email, please use the contact form on this site.  Send an email to the General Mailbox with your forum user name, and we’ll get you activated immediately.

http://www.feartheboot.com/external/FearTheCon1_interviews.zip

ENnie voting is now live!  Please get out there and vote!

http://www.enworld.org/ennies/voting.php

http://gggc.blogspot.com/

If you’re interested in hearing the conversation, you can find the MP3 at this location.

http://www.fistfullofcomics.com/podcasts/FFoCandFtBinterviewWoWccg.mp3

A big thanks to FFoC for inviting me!  Hopefully we’ll be doing more interviews like this in the future.

http://genconlive.dragonslanding.com/

If you want to hear our brief and tragic take on Gencon, scroll down right here to episode 14.

Though this is ultimately beyond my direct control, I still apologize for the inconvenience or annoyance this is causing our listeners.

If you lost your user account due to this rollback, I hope you’ll come back and join us a second time!