* (0:54) A possible online convention in place of this year’s Fear the Con. You can place your vote and find out more on Discord.
* (5:07) An episode of Gamers Table inspires a topic (special thanks to Gaming with Gage).
* (15:17) Whether to keep an NPC or remove them.
* (20:35) Keeping the NPC in the periphery
* (26:53) Leveraging an NPC’s ties to other characters.
* (34:10) Camp followers.
* (37:34) The right way to dispose of an NPC.
* (41:21) Tying an NPC to the plot.
* (47:19) When adopting NPCs goes wrong.
Hosts: Caleb, Chad, Dan, Wayne
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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* (0:28) Secretary Chad brings a glorious gift.
* (3:50) Give a backstory the GM can use.
* (5:47) Be open to the GM’s input on your character.
* (12:06) Learn something about the rules.
* (17:18) Bring something to the table.
* (22:30) Put away your electronics and don’t make me repeat myself.
* (27:44) Try to engage.
* (39:20) Humor me.
* (42:10) Don’t be a speed bump.
* (49:31) Be creative.
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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* (0:29) Wayne learns object permanence.
* (2:14) A player gets voted off the island.
* (9:12) Not invested in the game or not invested in the group?
* (12:16) Picking the kicker.
* (22:40) Evaluating how the person responds to getting kicked.
* (35:29) Along came an X-card.
* (58:07) Final judgment.
Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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* (0:28) The Itty Bitty Writing Space Kickstarter.
* (3:47) A topic from Wendell on our Discord server.
* (4:49) Playing to genre, themes, and moods.
* (12:59) Hijacking the experience everyone signed up for.
* (18:54) The distinction between assenting to a social contract and losing agency. The Richard Pryor game.
* (23:26) Why one person may be playing out of sync.
* (31:06) When the contract turns into a railroad.
* (32:56) The limited recourse available when someone breaks the contract.
* (42:10) Freedom within limits.
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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* (0:22) Catching up with how Chad’s campaign ended.
* (1:43) The steps taken to set the mood.
* (11:08) Pacing of the game.
* (15:36) Resolving the prophecies.
* (19:37) How the players helped the Game Master.
* (24:32) The things that went wrong. What Dan called “anticlimax” is more accurately “dénouement.”
* (31:33) A brick-wall ending.
* (40:38) What went right.
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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* (0:28) Let’s hear it for Devastator!
* (1:23) An update on Fear the Con.
* (3:30) Game scheduling falls apart one session before the finale.
* (12:35) Recovering the game by bringing immediate intensity.
* (17:12) Shaping the real-world environment to set a mood.
* (22:46) Playing side content.
* (36:43) Controlling the recap.
* (47:27) The players’ role in helping.
* (1:02:47) Fear the Boot and Gamers Table Destiny 2 clan.
Hosts: Caleb, Chad, Dan, Wayne
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android |
* (0:28) Finally all the way home!
* (0:48) The Actual Play actor’s studio.
* (3:33) Dan’s PCs are becoming more like NPCs.
* (11:34) Not giving up your own enjoyment. Misreading the situation.
* (17:27) Being a codependent player.
* (21:09) Strategies for helping the GM with your PC. Reading the GM.
* (30:39) Not dominating the game.
* (39:43) Playing NPCs as PCs. The appeal of Fat Tony.
* (47:29) Do bad PCs make good NPCs?
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Julia, Wayne
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android |
* (0:28) Right place, wrong room.
* (1:23) Playing the hatred between two player-characters.
* (6:18) You aren’t a victim of your character.
* (10:04) Enemy Mine and Hell in the Pacific.
* (14:34) Programming a path to peace.
* (20:01) Giving the conflict boundaries without erasing its relevance.
* (31:36) Not all wounds have to be healed. Metering conflict in the meta-game.
* (39:57) Someone can’t cook.
* (46:22) Accepting defeat to keep the conflict from derailing the game.
* (48:04) Having a final fallback for when it all goes wrong.
* (56:00) Fear the Boot and Gamers Table Destiny 2 clan.
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android |
* (0:28) Recording at Julia’s.
* (1:36) Fear the Boot and Gamers Table Destiny 2 clan.
* (2:58) A fond farewell to Don Dehm of Pulp Gamer.
* (4:23) Wemic shoes, doo doo doo doo doo doo.
* (11:02) Dividing the hobby in an implausible way.
* (13:18) The value to the Game Master of players being in-character.
* (20:42) Letting a game descend into total silliness.
* (22:16) Flipping the narrative: The consistency players expect.
* (31:17) Remediating the situation in-character. Explaining the swimsuit episode.
* (34:02) Addressing things at the meta-game level.
* (38:48) Player awareness of what the Game Master is doing.
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Julia
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android |
* (0:33) A bottle of bourbon and a letter from the Hellhounds.
* (8:11) Brodeur wants to blossom, plus something about Jenna von Oÿ.
* (9:13) Discord and the things we won’t do for you. A big shout-out to David for joining the hobby. starting a group, and then starting his own podcast, Next Generation Game Masters.
* (14:30) Chad is Gandhi. Eric from Gamers Table is running a Twitch show, Luncheon Crawl, for his game prep.
* (20:53) Making it through an RPG session when you aren’t feeling it.
* (23:04) Just muscle (march) through. Gaming as an escape, burden, or obligation.
* (31:12) Setting the right expectations for yourself.
* (38:51) Communicating how you’re doing and what you need.
* (44:43) Testing the mood with some marketing tricks.
* (55:39) An exercise in adapting to a player’s mood.
Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android |
