* (0:28) Developing a GMing style.
* (2:38) Defining “GMing style,” as it will be used in this show.
* (9:19) Laura, as a GM who is running her formative games.
* (12:10) Picking up helpful ideas from other GMs without losing your own style. Sticking with it.
* (18:43) Struggling with a sense of detachment from the game, due to the number of things a GM has to keep track of.
* (35:12) The influence of experienced GMs. Ignoring absolute advice, and how “Show, Don’t Tell” is political propaganda.
* (45:00) After running about 10 games, what has Laura found didn’t work?
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Laura
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* (0:28) How this topic may tie into the next campaign in our actual play.
* (7:47) The particular struggle over captain, as opposed to any other position on the bridge.
* (9:21) The attractive folly of choosing a reluctant leader.
* (17:00) The difference between trying to shoehorn in the wrong player versus the wrong character.
* (26:03) Getting the right player and the right character.
* (30:40) “A captain makes my participation pointless.”
* (31:08) What a good captain looks like. Servant leadership. The power of a title.
* (40:17) A trio of real-world examples. (That was supposed to be True Dungeon, not Real Dungeon.)
* (59:42) One body, many parts.
* (1:02:26) Letting people find their roles naturally, during the course of the game.
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne
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* (0:28) Have a game! And an online calendar.
* (3:09) When one player asks for a very specific game.
* (9:08) Determining exactly what they want from this game. Yes, Chad, Green Squadron really does exist.
* (11:18) Does the rest of the group want to participate in this game?
* (12:40) An intentionally difficult example with Unicron. Restraining yourself as the subject-matter expert.
* (18:32) Asking the requester to give spotlight to the other players while limiting their own.
* (29:54) Now you have to sell it!
* (31:17) Switching back to Green Squadron, which presents a different set of problems and opportunities.
* (36:53) The value of a beloved but unremarkable character.
* (40:47) Not abusing meta-game knowledge.
* (50:13) Be prepared to concede as much as you’re asking for. Self-inflicted insignificance.
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne
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* (0:24) Introducing Zylo and reintroducing Chris.
* (0:49) A brief history of Fear the Conline.
* (3:42) The dual novelty of running a con game and online game.
* (7:10) Position the screen below the camera.
* (9:02) Allowing for early communication between the GMs and players.
* (11:52) The promotional video Zylo made. Allowing time to setup the expected game-play tools.
* (19:07) The degree to which an online con feels like a regular con.
* (27:58) The length of game slots.
* (33:27) Issues with communication and coordination. Timezones.
* (42:10) Panels, seminars, and streaming events.
* (46:00) A roundup of final thoughts. Fear the Boot’s Discord server.
Hosts: Chris, Dale, Laura, Wayne, Zylo
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* (0:29) Are there TWO soulless gingers on the show!?
* (4:03) Minnesotans and their grey ducks.
* (6:03) Lura explains her tarot deck and witchery.
* (14:37) A reading for Gnarl. The Shadowscapes deck.
* (26:22) A reading to give Wayne game advice. When are the pancakes coming in the mail?
* (39:30) A reading on Dan’s love life. The Enneagram personality test.
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Laura, Wayne
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* (0:29) Bad Brodeur gets bashful. Lura and finding God’s love in F7.
* (8:13) Dan prepares to run a West Marches game. You can find our prior episodes on West Marches here and here.
* (11:02) The fresh perspective children and new gamers bring to the table.
* (21:31) Working player-to-GM collaboration into a setting-driven game. Worldographer by Inkwell Ideas.
* (29:05) Growing your GMing skills by limiting your rating.
* (46:26) Collaborating with parents to build the boundaries of the game.
* (51:54) West Marches: After Dark. Maintaining continuity after a more adult session.
* (55:47) Increasing the disconnect between the game and real-life horrors.
Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Laura
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* (0:37) Wayne has to rather abruptly put his Dresden Files game on hold.
* (10:46) The added difficulty of an ending you couldn’t plan for.
* (11:47) Remembering where you left off. Taking a record of what both the GM and players remember and care about.
* (24:13) Using audio instead of written notes.
* (27:03) Finding game-oriented activities you can do in the interim.
* (31:05) Using game-related prose.
* (38:20) Time jump? Or pick up where the last game left off?
* (44:30) Pacing yourself and picking the best ideas.
* (49:55) Fear the Con Online, coming up on June 19th – 20th. The promo video can be found here and the signup site can be found here.
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Laura, Wayne
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* (0:29) Unplugged cables and the ever-moving studio.
* (4:20) The cost of a press pass.
* (6:10) The hardest thing to do in a horror game.
* (10:35) The lack of numinous fear. When Pat was prepared to kill us all.
* (23:01) Cutting away reality to nurture a new kind of fear.
* (26:17) Displacing tension into the place of fear. Keith Curtis’ alien puppet.
* (33:32) Starting with control of the gaming environment.
* (37:10) Not taking this as license to terrorize or traumatize the non-consenting.
* (38:31) Misdirecting so the familiar feels unfamiliar.
* (43:49) Keeping the pacing up and downtime down.
* (49:59) Fear the Con Online, coming up on June 19th – 20th. The promo video can be found here and the signup site can be found here.
Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Laura, Wayne
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* (0:18) Gen Con was cancelled after this episode was recorded but before it was released.
* (1:14) Fear the Con Online, coming up on June 19th – 20th. The promo video can be found here and the signup site can be found here.
* (2:35) Brodeur got some inside info regarding Gen Con. The article he wrote prior to getting this info can be found here.
* (4:46) The letter from Gen Con to key vendors.
* (8:02) Fear the Boot makes the call!
* (16:40) Critiquing the questions that were asked.
* (22:10) Defending the questions that were asked.
The artist we were partnered with for Wizard World can be found on Facebook here. WARNING: The art displayed on his Facebook page is technically SFW, but it’s very risque.
* (37:39) The general vacuum of information in the RPG industry.
* (39:48) Juxtaposing how the Opera Theatre St. Louis handled a similar situation.
* (52:41) Cats, weed, and the moral dimension of COVID.
Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Laura
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* (0:29) Fear the Con Online, coming up on June 19th – 20th. The promo video can be found here and the signup site can be found here.
* (7:41) Fear the Con 2021 has been locked in for June 25th – 26th, 2021.
* (9:39) A question about henchmen, courtesy of Jesse Sierke. Setting some boundaries on the discussion.
* (12:56) How many is too many, particularly if you’re not trying to run an empire-building or administrative game?
* (15:35) Making it the burden of the player that brought in all of the NPCs.
* (18:58) When players treat the NPCs as a valueless resource. Abstracting a group of NPCs into a single, collective unit.
* (28:42) Tracking social transactions.
* (37:17) Making the players explain why they need hirelings to begin with.
* (41:03) The role of the party should always eclipse the role of the henchmen.
Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Laura, Wayne
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