Gatecrasher Podcast

Join us for this special mini-episode in which David shares an insight gleaned from reading a 33-year-old defunct game magazine, leading to a (hopefully) insightful conversation about the differences between the gaming culture of the early 90s and today, and why this podcast exists in the first place. Journeys magazine: https://dmmagazine.blogspot.com/2017/03/journeys-official-magazine-of-dangerous.html  Dungeon Musings actual-play channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DungeonMusings  Gatecrasher Discord: https://discord.gg/nAPGhTZdZ9 

It's the final episode of our World of Darkness series, and the final episode of Season 2! We welcome back friend of the show Rainy to tackle a plethora of topics and a listener query all related to this darkest of all worlds. Stay tuned to the end for a very special announcement! Full Metal RPG talks Crimson Gutter: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/177-vampire-the-masquerade-6-year-retrospective/id1069070790?i=1000663732958 The Good Friends of Jackson Elias talk Mage: The Awakening: https://blasphemoustomes.com/2017/07/04/episode-108-the-good-friends-look-for-the-magic-in-mage-the-awakening/  Have you played Mummy: The Resurrected? Hop on our Discord to keep the conversation going! https://discord.gg/bynGKAqy2j

We welcome the one and only Brendan Carrion, long-time podcaster and Vampire player, to talk all things World of Darkness! Hop on our Discord to keep the conversation going! https://discord.gg/bynGKAqy2j

As part of our continuing coverage of the World of Darkness, we hone in on Vampire: The Masquerade—what makes it cool, some of our favorite bits of lore, and how the setting and system combine to evoke a game of personal horror. Big thanks to Rainy for tackling the readings this series! Check out a two-part Vampire actual-play for an example of game play: https://www.patreon.com/posts/winds-of-change-109591611 https://www.patreon.com/posts/109591780  And be sure to hop on our Discord to keep the conversation going! https://discord.gg/bynGKAqy2j

We're wrapping up Season 2 with a deep, deep dive into the IP juggernaut known as the World of Darkness! By necessity, we mostly focus on the world and history of the various Vampire RPGs, but hopefully give you, dear listener, a taste of the truly wild variety of game settings (and systems!) that exist under the umbrella of the WoD. Our most challenging topic yet! Big thanks to Rainy for tackling the readings this series! Check out a two-part Vampire actual-play for an example of game play: https://www.patreon.com/posts/winds-of-change-109591611 https://www.patreon.com/posts/109591780  Still want more? Here are a couple of the 30- to 45-minute lore dives we mention in the episode: https://youtu.be/0h1U-_JFAS8?si=-D_c38JL_L2vTOGJ https://youtu.be/hYjLXeXJJ8s?si=nqDT8904xPHUfO8B  Hop on our Discord! https://discord.gg/bynGKAqy2j

It's another one-shot System Spotlight! This time, David talks about his on-again, off-again love affair with GURPS, and why you might want to check it out for yourself! Small correction: It looks like SJG is slowly rolling out color versions of their POD supplements. Hurray! “Is GURPS a Dead System?” https://youtu.be/w1eWjj04anE “Why GURPS is Great… and Why It Needs a 5th Edition” https://youtu.be/ZYqOYwQuON0  How to Be a GURPS GM: https://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/howtobeagurpsgm/   https://www.patreon.com/GatecrasherPod

We're getting set to drop the final system spotlight of Season 2 (World of Darkness!), but first a minisode, if you will, talking about ACTION INTERNATIONAL, a game co-created by our very own David Larkins. Hear what makes this homage to 80s martial arts action movies special, and head on over to Kickstarter and back it if it sounds like your kind of action! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/action-intl/action-international-the-80s-martial-arts-action-ttrpg Intro music: "Eighties Action" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

David and Kenny sit down to discuss what constitutes the "xenomorph" genre in media and games, and take a quasi-informed look at other RPGs inhabiting that space (pun intended).

Podcaster, gamer extraordinaire, and friend of the show Rainy joins us for a discussion on why she loves the Alien RPG, as well as her perspectives on the game both as a player and Game Mother.

We continue our deep dive on the Alien RPG from Free League, and branch out into discussing the Year Zero Engine in general (and Kenny's opinions on it), the Alien universe as a setting (and David's thoughts on how it compares to The Expanse), and much more! Novum's Alien Companion Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjju9VFeAgs  Original Alien audience reaction to the chestburster scene: https://www.reddit.com/r/LV426/comments/a2ewdn/a_test_audiences_reaction_to_the_chestburster/  Thanks to Desiree Valdez for being our reader this series!

Come aboard the Nostromo and blast off for the cold void of space as we begin our extended journey into the worlds of Free League's Alien RPG! This time, Kenny is taking the role of MU-TH-UR, and in this episode we focus on what makes the game so cool, and why it's one of Kenny's favorite iterations of the Year Zero Engine.   Thanks to Desiree Valdez for being our reader this series!

For the final installment of our Fall of Cthulhu series, we take a look at HP Lovecraft as builder of worlds—how does he compare to the works of JRR Tolkien? What differentiates Lovecraftian world-building, and how can you use it in your games? Our episode discussing Tolkien world-builder: https://gatecrasher.podbean.com/e/0102-gaming-with-grandpa-tolkien/ Shout-outs: The HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast https://www.hppodcraft.com/ Voluminous https://www.hplhs.org/voluminous.php Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/GatecrasherPod

For this month's interview, we welcome Chaosium's cartographer extraordinaire, Matt Ryan! Matt got his break working on Berlin: The Wicked City, and has gone on to contribute to many books across Chaosium's broad catalogue, but he keeps coming back to Cthulhu.   We talk about art and the creative process, saying yes first and figuring out the rest afterwards, tattoos, music, and how all of it ties into the Mythos.   Join us for this fun and freewheeling chat and get to know Matt!

We continue our deep dive on Call of Cthulhu, talking about character creation and how to prep, play, and run a campaign! Thanks again to Bridgett Jeffries for being our reader this month!

We return to the fœtid waters sloshing at the feet of centuried R'lyeh to once again tackle the eldritch horror known as the Call of Cthulhu RPG. We devoted but one episode to this, one of our all-time favorite systems, back in Season One. This time around, we're doing a full deep-dive, spending the month of October discussing the great-grandpappy of all horror RPGs. Come with us...if you dare! Special thanks to this month's reader, Bridgett Jeffries!

For our last entry in "Arthurian August" (even though it's September now), we go live to answer questions from listeners! Big thanks to friend of the show, Des, for moderating.

For our "Arthurian August" spotlight on Pendragon, we figured we'd invite on one of the game's biggest boosters, legendary game designer John Wick! Join David and Kenny for a fun and lively discussion of why John loves Pendragon so much, and how it's influenced his own game design.

We continue our deep dive on Pendragon, looking at the history of the game, its mechanics and how they evolved, character creation, and tips for running! Thanks once again to the magnificent Lynne Hardy for adding her voice talents to our readings. Really classes up the joint, don't you think? Perceval le Gallois Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnf2-YjBLRA 

We're back! And with a kinda-new format! For this new season of Gatecrasher, we'll be focusing on our favorite RPG systems over the course of four episodes each. These are system deep-dives, with advice on running and playing, interviews with fans and creators of the games, and an audience Q&A to wrap it all up. For this inaugural series, what better system to focus on than one that is near and dear to our hearts: Pendragon! Big thanks to special guest Lynne Hardy for the fantastic readings!

We're back! (Almost.) Next week we're kicking off a new season of Gatecrasher, and we're switching feeds. Point your podcatcher towards https://feed.podbean.com/gatecrasher/feed.xml. And if you don't want to wait a week, head over to Patreon for early access to our first episode of the season! https://www.patreon.com/GatecrasherPod