Fear the Boot, RPG Podcast

* (1:02) FLASH!, an anthology that includes Dan and several booters. You can get a copy on Amazon. * (2:20) Dan was a guest on The Greatest Show. You can see the video here or grab an audio version here. * (3:32) Playing characters that suck at their jobs. * (16:20) Portraying inter-factional politics in a roleplaying game. The Skies of Glass Actual Play. * (18:33) Defining who the factions are and what they want. * (20:31) Setting the constraints of the political game. Rules, reality, or requisites.  Silent Memories. * (28:55) Avoiding the politics of pleasing a single person. * (33:57) Outsourcing the factions to other GMs. * (35:08) Revealing the politics to the player-characters. * (37:12) The outsider’s perspective. * (45:11) The insider’s perspective. * (48:58) Players who need to feel they’re making the morally correct choice. Hosts: Chad, Dan, and Wayne

* (0:32) Making up reasons for why Wayne couldn’t make it. * (1:45) Brodeur and the Marilith: A Dramatic Reading, coming soon. * (3:29) Trying to win over the group when you have a different plan. Just charge in! * (8:32) Playing the social dynamics around the table. * (19:24) Handling the issue character-to-character, whether through RP or in-game abilities. * (30:14) When the other plan is genuinely bad. * (36:55) Winning over the Game Master. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan

* (0:29) Wayne goes to Washington D.C. * (1:48) Monotonal cities. The public service of preempting nerd rage. * (4:59) The setting has its own story. The Delmar Divide. * (16:47) Whether a city was planned, and how. Heavy zoning versus integrated spaces. * (24:30) The role of geography, trade, and time. * (39:11) Brodeur explains how to survive an apocalypse. Nine meals from anarchy. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:49) Life problems interfering with our recording schedule. * (1:47) Chad’s latest garage sale find, and why Brodeur is banned from garage sales. * (4:57) The first D&D video game Chad bought, Shadow Sorcerer. * (9:12) A quick history of the relationship between tabletop roleplaying games and video games. The second D&D video game Chad grabbed, Secret of the Silver Blades. * (15:31) The third video game, Curse of the Azure Bonds. The original novel, Azure Bonds, and its subsequent module, also called Curse of the Azure Bonds. * (18:43) The puzzle wheels and game aids used as copy protection on the games. * (23:21) The not-so-new idea of transferring your characters between a video game and its sequel. The segregation of software stores. * (27:23) Parts of the Forgotten Realms they said they’d never develop…and then did. Keef the Thief. * (33:36) Bringing Alias to a new generation. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan

* (0:35) Hiccups in the release schedule. * (1:14) Enigma, Transcendentalism, and living in the moment. Or having sex in High School. Finding social and psychological freedom in a roleplaying game. * (7:37) Progression that has only limited impact on game mechanics. * (18:47) An illustration from Left 4 Dead 2. * (23:11) Finding the best of both worlds. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan

* (0:30) Brodeur’s psychiatrist. Unfiltered Brodeur at the negative level. * (4:04) Sacrifice in a roleplaying game. Giving up something you want to make the game better. The D&D Actual Play. * (12:16) What constitutes sacrifice. * (18:00) Sacrifice versus beneficial trade-off. The story of Wesley Autrey. * (34:59) The confusingly mixed bag of altruism. “That’s not love; it’s commerce.” * (39:17) Game Masters making sacrifice hurt. * (47:43) Some people try to save a cat from the Matrix. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan

* (0:29) Episode 9 of the Skies of Glass Actual Play. * (1:06) Murder versus killing. * (14:03) The power of a personal reaction apart from a character reaction. * (16:45) Doing something in-character that sets back the party but adds to the quality of the game. * (27:17) Setting up Chad’s character, the lies, and coming clean. * (32:07) How coming clean hurt the character but helped the group’s enjoyment of the game. * (46:51) Playing for the enjoyment of the players, not the characters. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:30) Welcoming George to the show. * (0:52) Fear the Boot’s Actual Plays are now on YouTube. * (2:26) An overview and history of Gen Con. True Dungeon. * (12:46) Spectacle and socialization over product. How Gen Con compares to San Diego Comic Con. * (18:16) How growth is changing things. * (25:48) The ten-year cycles of RPGs, and the role of products at the con. Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, George, John, Wayne

* (0:29) Robots having ghosts and facial hair. Brodeur threw GoBots at people. * (9:16) Thanks to Stephen Brown for giving us the name of the show with plant brains driving vehicles: Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors. The toy Dan owned was K.O. Kruiser. * (10:53) The Autobot Matrix of Leadership gets around. * (14:11) Predictions about the McGregor-Mayweather fight, recorded before the event, that turned out to be entirely wrong. * (15:50) Observation of the eclipse, noticing the things other people don’t, and how that helps scene-setting in an RPG. * (27:15) Giving setting personality. * (42:09) Grabbing too many—or the wrong—details. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:29) Welcoming Ryan to the show. His Fear the Con game based on Happy Birthday, Robot. * (3:25) Reading the table for emotional effect. * (10:29) Empty space with context. * (18:45) Plot hooks for the PCs, created by the GM instead of the player. * (27:42) Creating hooks through new items, NPCs, and meaning. * (30:25) Along came a spider. * (44:31) Ryan’s GMing advice in four sentences. Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Julia, Ryan

* (0:28) Lighter rules keeping players from second-guessing their choices. * (12:16) Passing notes during an RPG. Its capacity to rob mature players of part of the game. * (16:07) Third person omniscience to set things right. * (24:38) Revealing the notes at the end of the session. * (29:06) The truth always comes out, anyway. Separating player reaction from character reaction. Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Wayne

WARNING: The discussion in the early part of this show is rather crass. If you don’t want to hear that, skip to 7:08. * (0:32) Why we’re on a second take. * (1:23) The pre-recorded Actual Play is now on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or via its raw RSS feed. * (3:35) Dan fixed the Patreon episode prices. * (4:52) Brodeur goes off the ranch. * (7:08) Maintaining the tension when the players know the outcome of a game plot. The streaming AP on our Twitch feed. Metal Gear Solid as a metaphor for our tabletop roleplaying game. * (12:31) Serial fiction and pen names. * (19:06) Taking these concepts back to a D&D game with known gives. * (22:34) Who’s responsible for keeping up the tension? * (27:39) Focusing on the facts the players don’t know and the choices they haven’t made. The importance of well-developed elements in the setting. * (34:43) Not abusing known information in the meta-game. The players’ burden. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan

* (0:28) The Skies of Glass AP is out. * (2:36) Our other AP on Twitch. * (5:46) Brodeur’s new coworker. * (9:19) Timing the ending moment of the game. An unintended murder. * (17:16) The opposite extreme: letting a scene overstay its welcome. * (22:40) The difference between a cliffhanger and an abrupt ending. Advice on recovering the momentum. * (36:29) Envisioning a more satisfying ending and why one may not exist. * (39:28) Distilling advice. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan

* (0:28) Excuse our mess. We’re heading to see Pat at the hospital because of medical complications, and a dog is sleeping on the recording table. Things will be back to normal next week. SIDE NOTE: The most recent update on Pat’s condition can be found here. * (1:01) Having expectations (or a lack thereof) about death in an RPG. * (5:01) Duty, obligation, and the specter of death in a Star Wars game. * (12:13) Being OK with character death, despite having not contemplated it up to that point. Consequence vs cheating. * (19:43) Time travel within games. Hosts: Dan, Karla, Wayne Guest Host: Gizmo

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