Fear the Boot, RPG Podcast

* (0:36) A second take, and why Brodeur’s wife just might be OK with bigamy. Star wipe. * (4:07) Pat’s new refrigerator. Dan’s plan to conquer Narnia and install Beth as queen. * (8:23) Today’s Topic: Terrible segues. Brodeur’s seat just might be up for the taking. * (10:29) Controlling your players via consequences. The concern that the logical consequence may derail the game or distress the player. * (13:27) Games that specifically accommodate consequences, whether through setting or rules. * (16:31) Strategy 1: Managing expectations before the game starts or as a particular action is being declared. * (19:51) Strategy 2: Backing off to calm down when emotional investment has gotten too high. * (23:38) Strategy 3: Preparing a mechanism for when it all goes wrong. * (28:08) Strategy 4: Let’s make a deal. * (30:54) Strategy 5: Handle it at the plot level, apart from the players. * (38:58) Strategy 6: Roleplaying the consequence in a way that involves all of the players. * (43:45) Fear the Con X signup rolls on! You can PM Adam here and Derek here. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:27) Just Dan and Karla! Well, and the pets. * (1:04) Big Bang Theory. The clip Dan mentioned (WARNING: Yelling and NSFW language.) * (4:57) Celebrity gossip. The names Dan was looking for are Paul Blackthorne (Quentin Lance), Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen / Green Arrow), and John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn). * (8:50) The increased representation of women in the gaming demographic, but the enduring presence of the reluctant gamers we’d like to bring into the hobby. * (14:20) Karla’s first impression of gaming, and what got her to try it. Roleplaying as a spectator sport. Finite choices to avoid overwhelming someone with choice. * (21:08) The difference between knowing what to do and how to do it. The value of familiarity with the source material. Assistance with character creation. * (31:32) Recognizing personality traits that may make the potential gamer reluctant. Hosts: Dan, Karla

* (0:35) Introducing James McClure of the Talking Tabletop podcast. You can find his two-part interview with Dan here and here, and his episodes with Chris here and here. * (5:16) The Satanic Panic Kickstarter. The Dark Dungeons tract. A quick look at the game’s mechanic and the intended danger of being too successful. * (11:10) The “four spoke” mechanic. * (16:03) Why Jim chose to make a game about this particular topic. Steve Jackson Games got raided by the Secret Service and then got taken to court. * (24:27) What’s in this book? * (28:15) What Jim would like to contribute to the roleplaying hobby. * (35:31) The Satanic Panic actual play recordings. * (37:47) Why the book doesn’t include any real history of these events. Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Chris, Wayne Guests: James McClure

* (1:45) Reviewing the situation with Sara’s self-actualized character. * (6:29) How Wayne handled the situation by finding what Sara cares about instead of just looking at what the character cares about. Comparing it to what bothers an actor versus the character they’re playing. * (22:13) Finding the point between the character and player, and using that to add emotion to the game. * (24:26) Keeping the momentum. * (28:20) The importance of giving rough bits of story an upbeat. * (39:24) Observing the player for clues about how to handle a character. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:27) Chad sits up. John is the youngest old man. * (3:45) Fear the Boot’s early episode on RPG predictions. Mad milk and other inanities. * (10:35) What will roleplaying look like in a generation? Harold Camping and taking a knee. * (18:02) First prediction: Gatekeepers of quality, whether brand or editorial. * (27:17) Second prediction: The changing role of technology in storytelling. * (35:40) Third prediction: D&D will have a changing place in the hobby. Dan also hates Shakespeare. * (54:49) In closing: What do you think? * (55:23) Fear the Con X! Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan

* (0:30) Brodeur’s perspective on Valentine’s Day. The value of unexpected gifts. * (12:39) Some perspective on failure, but also why it’s not today’s topic. * (16:16) The value of playing a character that has social needs. An example from a Dresden game. * (29:17) How imperfections contribute to the social bonds of most higher animals, including humans. How the lack of such connections affects a game. * (44:38) Game Masters not taking advantages of these needs or not even touching them at all. * (51:39) A call for GMs at Fear the Con X! Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan

* (0:31) Welcoming back Chris, Julia, and Pat. * (1:32) Thanking John Ely for Pugmire and Chris Ings for an outstanding coloring book. The coming war between Corgi and Pug owners. * (8:19) Movie scenes that disturbed us as children. Sharing a Coke with the princess from Neverending Story. * (17:48) People stepping on each other’s toes in Julia’s game. Keeping to your role. * (24:15) Whether Pathfinder may be the wrong game for this particular group. * (26:30) Picking a good first game for new roleplayers. * (31:53) Back to whether this group is even playing the right game. * (34:31) Throwing tons of dice as a way of breaking the spirit of a system. * (42:38) Sending a message through sabotage. Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Julie, Pat

* (0:29) Gnarl’s commentary on a sourcebook for gnolls in 5th edition D&D gets taken a bit too seriously. * (8:41) Dan’s house, Chad’s faux passport, a Twitter poll about homebrewing, roleplaying about roleplaying, and the creativity of gamers. * (18:23) The revenge of the gamification of gaming. The original episode on the topic. Duolingo and Habitica. * (25:53) Explaining what it means to gamify a game. Rare Elements Foundry (which was mistakenly called Rare Earth in the show) and Oriental Trading. * (32:59) When positive incentive is preferable to negative confrontation. * (46:13) Boiling down the advice and annoyance. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (1:03) A shout-out to Richard Thomas and Aaron Sturgill. Fear the Con X, AcadeCon, and a total breakdown in communication. * (4:27) Brodeur gets jealous and Dan throws shade at Gamerstable. * (12:27) Brodeur gets on Facebook, and Dan starts the Doomsday Clock. * (25:49) Pete’s start in RPGs, condescension from RIFTS, and a GM on the railroad. * (37:52) Wayne’s go-to generic game. * (38:51) The therapeutic value of roleplaying games. The Bodhana Group. Dreamchaser’s dream mechanic as a metaphor for approaching life goals (Kickstarter link, Imagining Games site). * (52:46) Developing a character’s past, present, and future. The Logan trailer as an exercise in game arc design. Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Pete, Wayne

* (0:33) A natural first question presents itself. Magic by Mick Smiley. The story of Pete and Brodeur’s love. * (8:44) Imagining Games and the Dreamchaser Kickstarter. Pete was previously mentioned in Episode 418. * (9:30) The end as the beginning. The dream and milestone mechanic in Dreamchaser. * (16:12) A sample dream and set of milestones to demonstrate how they work. * (20:33) The value of focusing on story before setting. * (24:45) What has Pete learned from running this? What does this book give us? What’s the game system like? * (31:18) The duration of a Dreamchaser game. * (37:53) The belief mechanic and how it relates to dreams and milestones. * (47:25) Designing a game’s story like a movie trailer. * (50:20) Some examples from games that have been run during the play test. * (59:56) How strangely well Dreamchaser would work for Mystery Men. Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Wayne Guests: Pete

* (0:47) An update on Pat. The GoFundMe page to help him and Beth with medical costs. You can follow his status on Caring Bridge. * (4:05) Sugar-free candy, bloopers, and Wayne’s butt…? * (13:45) Prophecy and otherwise letting PCs see the future. * (17:22) Letting the prediction be only a possible future. * (21:00) Keeping the predictions vague. * (22:16) The “problem” of player agency. * (25:12) Removing the PCs from the equation. * (26:35) Sensing present situations instead of future events. * (28:53) Scaling the time between prediction and fulfillment. * (37:53) The consequences of trying to change the future. * (43:35) Deferring to the GM so they can play to things they control. * (48:08) Leaving the prediction neither fulfilled nor contradicted. * (56:10) Fulfilling the prediction “in medias res”. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:35) False alarm on Dan’s interview on Talking Tabletop, but it’s out now (part 1 and part 2). * (2:06) Chad’s unexpected take on Alien: Covenant. The increasing social ubiquity of science fiction. The Fault in Our Mars. Laurell K. Hamilton plugs Fear the Con X. * (17:19) A Thai-rade and the importance of ordering spiciness correctly. White people mild. * (25:29) Adapting existing roleplaying games to things they were never meant to accommodate. Blades in the Dark to Rogue One or Star Wars Rebels. Dresden Files RPG to a far-future homebrew. * (32:34) Not getting lost in the weeds. Recognizing the broad-strokes that fit your needs. * (39:24) Recognizing what a game wasn’t meant to illustrate. Hosts: Chad, Dan

* (0:27) The German-language podcast, Eskapodcast. * (2:17) Dan’s idea about “cabinet GMing” that Brodeur, Scott, and the Germans are trying to steal. Having other GMs handle the actions of major NPCs to keep their actions independent and unpredictable. * (12:27) Today’s topic: VaMinion steals Dan’s idea, which was stolen from Wayne, which was stolen from Scott. Shielding a character from certain risks by virtue of who or what they are. The prior discussion on the X card can be found on this episode and across several pages of the accompanying forum discussion. * (18:47) Why the group template may not help you dodge this issue. * (24:10) Laundering real social issues through fictional elements. * (27:17) Does the dog die? * (31:14) Some approaches for dealing with this. Pregame conversation. Dry-run scenes. Simply not allowing it. * (42:37) The zero session, and surviving the cemetery gates. Life changes during the game. Hosts: Broduer, Dan, Wayne

* (0:22) Warning: Content is out of order, like Witcher novels or Firefly. * (1:12) Magic button of Annihilation: What Christmas song would you obliterate? * (7:18) Brodeur hates Trans Siberian Orchestra. Dan’s ghetto heart isn’t satisfied. * (10:20) Dan’s exotic pets: An otter! * (13:40) Dan’s defense of broadening the definition of “pet animals”, but first some important caveats. * (19:43) The difference between tame and domesticated animals. A lion showing affection to its rescuer. Dogs seeking help from humans when wolves don’t (experiment 1, experiment 2). * (27:47) The value of interaction with exotic animals. Dan’s pet spider, Hermine (nee Herman). Click beetles. * (41:32) Brodeur goes too far. Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Wayne

* (0:18) Dan and Chad were quoting Still Talkin (NSFW language warning). * (2:19) Music you listen to at the most formative moments of your life. Jidenna’s Long Live the Chief and Method Man’s Bulletproof Love. * (9:29) Del the Funky Homosapien. Alex Trebek’s comments on nerdcore and the response song, Who is Alex Trebek? * (17:48) Dan and Chad pick their top three. Afrika Bambaataa. DJ Kool’s Let Me Clear My Throat. Alphabet Aerobics and Chemical Calisthenics. * (26:08) Brodeur makes his picks. Pop Goes the Weasel by 3rd Bass. * (30:34) The use of personae and backstory in hip-hop. Hosts: Broduer, Chad, Dan