* (0:29) Switching to a bucket list of what we want to play.
* (1:30) Wayne wants to play Dresden Files.
* (4:13) Dan still wants to play an Injustice game.
* (6:11) Mary wants to play a necromancer.
* (9:05) Doug wants to play Stargate (or something like it).
* (10:18) Wayne wants a settlement building game. Rebuild 3 demands FTB-9000 compliance!
* (14:38) Dan wants to play ourselves. The End of the World.
* (18:08) Mary wants to play multiple characters.
* (22:25) Doug wants to play Greek mythology.
* (26:00) Wayne wants to play a Sliders game with plenty of alternate history.
* (28:50) Dan wants to play Battletech (plus Mechwarrior).
* (30:17) Mary wants to play a group of paladins (with strong nods to David Eddings’ The Elenium).
* (35:37) Doug wants to play assistants to Cold War spies.
Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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* (0:29) The bucket list of games we want to run.
* (1:31) Doug’s long-term campaign.
* (3:10) Wayne’s Fallout: St. Louis game.
* (7:03) Dan’s Battletech: Silver Scorpions game. A Fabian war.
* (9:37) Mary’s Castle Ravenloft / Curse of Strahd game.
* (12:41) Doug’s western game.
* (14:58) Wayne’s campaign based on The Quiet Year. Decuma and Home.
* (18:57) Dan’s Hunter game. Dayshift, watchable on Netflix. Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation.
* (22:39) Mary’s Mummy game. Spirit of the Century.
* (25:40) Doug’s Midgard campaign.
* (26:51) Whatever Wayne backed last on Kickstarter. Right now, that’s Planet of the Apes.
* (29:47) Dan’s Battletech: Solaris VII game.
* (33:36) Mary’s Oregon Trail (with dragons).
Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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* (0:30) An old Apple //c computer and early computer RPGs.
* (4:16) Transitioning from video games into tabletop RPGs.
* (9:44) The expectations players bring from a video game to pen-and-paper games.
* (12:41) The tyranny of choice brought on by a lack of a character-driven path.
* (18:05) A lack of clear and connected outcomes.
* (19:50) Mixing new and veteran players.
* (26:13) Expanding intra-party roleplaying.
* (28:39) Asking why someone wanted to make the jump.
* (35:06) Trying to translate one medium into another.
Hosts: Caleb, Dan, Doug, Mary
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* (0:29) What is your goal for the first session of a game?
* (2:10) Who are these characters really?
* (6:08) When the person you wanted to be isn’t who you became.
* (11:34) A buffet of NPCs.
* (16:14) Keeping the first session low pressure and shorter length.
* (20:33) The social leader of the group.
* (25:30) The flexibility in session one. Using the first game as a test of session zero.
* (33:43) Testing the waters as the Game Master.
* (37:09) Using rules and rolls a bit more than you otherwise would.
Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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* (0:23) Prompts and prepositions. The clockwork circus is coming to town!
* (1:40) Wayne’s circus in space.
* (4:13) Mary’s circus on the frontier.
* (7:53) Doug’s carnival of nightmares.
* (8:41) Dan’s carnival of hope.
* (13:10) Celestial crystals that grant power.
* (14:05) Mary’s crystal preppers.
* (16:08) Dan’s crystal entanglement.
* (19:45) Wayne’s crystal invasion.
* (24:57) Doug’s crystal gift.
* (27:05) A whole lot of tests, quandaries, and Faustian deals.
Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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* (0:29) Fear the Con has funded and the sign-up site is live! We hope to see you Thursday, June 20th to Saturday, June 22nd.
* (1:58) Getting back to what you love, inspired by Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing.
* (5:16) The tyranny of compromise.
* (9:54) Wanting the GM to build the world instead of “yes-and” player input.
* (15:43) Why Wayne discarded some ideas he was excited about.
* (19:06) The passion for sharing stories.
* (22:06) Watching players engage with obstacles and NPCs.
* (26:06) Hopeful or despondent?
Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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* (0:29) Wayne has a problem: the Wardens from Dresden Files. Coming up with too many excuses for why powerful organizations don’t care about the characters’ problems.
* (7:14) Session Zero can help…or maybe not.
* (10:29) There’s always someone bigger, and maybe your allies lack what you need.
* (14:42) What if the characters are the backup? Or maybe they’re starting to get a reputation.
* (17:41) Not letting it become a chip on the GM’s shoulder. Players that hamstring themselves.
* (23:45) The assistance not being what the players expected.
* (27:54) Falling back to the mature answer.
Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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* (0:30) What steps do we take to bring a character to life?
* (1:49) Ask what’s important.
* (6:53) Seeing the good and bad in a single trait.
* (8:06) Doug’s personality triangle model.
* (10:54) Demonstrating character quirks.
* (16:34) Making characters that both have and express personal growth.
* (18:57) Taking a hobby, off-topic skill, or development path. Keeping your character in continuity.
* (23:11) Practicing a character.
* (29:43) Developing your idea in other creative media, but consider leaving a gap before the game begins.
* (35:35) The last few days of the Fear the Con 2024 Kickstarter!
Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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Today’s ingredient: The dead are consuming the living. Why and how? Let’s find out!
Fear the Con 2024’s Kickstarter can be found here.
Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
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* (0:29) In defense of technology at the gaming table. Caleb’s setup with Owlbear Rodeo.
* (5:13) Dan’s Lion King sing-a-long and Wayne’s Ghostbusters game.
* (6:27) The deeper pool of online players, including AIs. Remoting in a missing player for an in-person game.
* (14:04) Working distance and distraction into the game.
* (17:54) Digital storage and organization. The wonder of CTRL-F.
* (25:21) Minimalization of the gaming experience.
* (30:01) Dodging some issues by allowing only one person to have technology. The visual obstruction created by laptops and such.
* (41:01) Getting digital audio to work for you.
* (45:00) Balancing it all out. Advantages, disadvantages, familiarity, and the passage of time.
Hosts: Caleb, Dan, Mary, Wayne
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