Epic Adventure

Welcome to You Heard it Here Last.We are going to start this week with some good news for D&D 5E, or at least for the Dungeon Dudes.https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-dungeon-dudes-notch-up-another-million-dollar-kickstarter.703873/Unless you have been living under a rock you heard that Cynthia Williams the president of WOTC has resigned.https://www.enworld.org/threads/wotc-president-cynthia-williams-resigns.703723/Finally, Steve Jackson Games, a game company near and dear to my heart, that’s right my first email address was at io.com, just released their stakeholder report for 2023 and it’s “mehh”https://www.enworld.org/threads/steve-jackson-games-releases-stakeholder-report-for-2023.703757/ Well, there you have it, everything we’ve got at “you heard it here last”. Tune in in a couple of weeks for more news you’ve already heard.

For me it started with Blade Runner. I remember being blown away by the majestic sweeping images while Vangelis played in the background. It was that mixture of noir and sci-fi, dark tech and it just oozed attitude.Snow Crash was next, the 1992 novel that really opened my eyes to the full cyberpunk experience. Ghost in the Shell, Altered Carbon, Akira, Battle Angel Alita, the Matrix and more recently Kacey Ezell’s Second Chance Angel rounded out my hard drive.As for roleplaying I played in a short lived GURPS Cyberpunk campaign, and while I enjoyed it, I felt like it was missing something. Something that didn’t quite connect what was in my head to the game we were playing. So, a couple of years ago when Mike asked if I was interested in playing Cyberpunk Red I jumped at the chance. It was fun and I had a good time, but to be honest, it was missing something. That same something that was missing the first time I gave it a go. The cyberpunk in my head just wasn’t jiving with the cyberpunk in the game.Then, at the urging of Mike and Christina I downloaded Cyberpunk 2077. And that was it. What I had been missing in those games is what I found in 2077. The world of cyberpunk. The world your characters lived in. In the table top attempts, the story took front row to the world, but for cyberpunk to really flourish the world has to take priority over the story. What is it to be human? What is it to truly live?After a few hours of 2077 I hit Mike back up.“So, I would love to play more cyberpunk, especially in the 2077 world.”His response was “Well, I’m working on it”And here we are. We thought this would be a perfect opportunity to talk more Cyberpunk while getting a behind the scenes look at how Mike goes about building a campaign.Mike, I described what I was always chasing in cyberpunk. What about you? What draws you to cyberpunk?

On this episode of You Heard it Here Last, Mike and I talk TTRPG sales and the new Fallout TV Show.

Preparing to run a new game can be daunting. A game master must design the world the players will be adventuring in. They will need to create a compelling story, a reason to adventure. They will need to fill their new world with set pieces, action, and amazing locals. Finally, they will need a villain, a character that will compel the players to risk their own lives to stop it’s evil machinations.As game masters we often find ourselves excited for the first night of the campaign. The scene is set and everything is ready to go.Then the players make their first moves.“Let’s stop by the blacksmiths shop before we go, to see what they’ve got.”“Uh ok, lets see…the blacksmiths shop, got it. You see the blacksmith working behind a forge.”“Cool, what do they look like…Are they young or old? Do they look like they know what they are doing? Hey excuse me! How long have you been working iron in this town? Do you live above the forge? Have you ever seen a shield like the one I’m carrying?”And, all that hard work sits unused in the notebook while you have to create an NPC on the fly.The Non Player Character is one of the most important aspects of any roleplaying game, but it’s the one we typically spend the least time creating. Good NPCs will make an adventure, while bad ones can derail things faster than you can image.A great example of this just happened in our groups Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign. In the opening session I introduced Lt. Poole to the players, specifically one player character Dr. Lillian McKay. Dr. McKay was a pathologist working at the hospital so it only made sense that she would be familiar with some of the NYPD Homicide detectives. With an Appearance Score of 85 it also tracked that the overworked, out of shape, rumpled detective would have a little bit of a crush on the pretty doctor. So while the Lt. would intimidate everyone else, he would probably over share a little with Dr. McKay. Bring her some coffee and bagels, while dropping off confidential police files, checking up on her occasionally just to make sure she was ok.When I killed him in a very brutal manner, I could see the player visibly get a little angry, and that’s when I knew I had pulled it off.It did piss you off a little didn’t it Christina?[Kick to Christina]Today Christina and I are going to talk about creating compelling Non Player Characters and give you some tips and tricks to do this quickly and on the fly.So, Christina, How do you like to start creating your NPCs?

On this episode of You Heard it Here Last, Mike and I talk about Chaosium's contest and the upcoming Fallout TV show.

I can remember it like it was yesterday. October, 1976, Sunday night, 7pm.I was already dressed for bed and I settled down in front of the TV.“When you wish upon a star” played from the speakers and the opening credits of “The Wonderful World of Disney” played across the screen. This was a normal Sunday night for me and it is the reason I am a huge Kurt Russell fan to this day.But this night of television was going to be very different.This night was going to change me forever.The music swelled and the screen was filled with stage curtains in blue, lights like waves splashed over the opening credits as the title card “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” played across the screen.That movie started my love of Science Fiction. The next day I checked out the Jules Verne book from the library and when I finished that, I went back for more. The Journey to the Center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon, Mysterious Island, and Around the World in Eighty Days just to name a few.Since then, Science Fiction has been my go-to when I am reading, watching TV or films, and gaming.The Science Fiction Genre has been described as the “Literature of Ideas” and it’s one of the most versatile and expansive genres in existence. From the fantasy landscapes of J.R,R, Tolkien, to the time travelling HG Wells, to the Ringworlds of Larry Niven and the depths of the human mind from Neil Stephenson, Sci-Fi can do it all.On this episode Christina, Mike and I are going to talk about the Sci-Fi genre and how to bring it to life in your roleplaying games.Christina, do you remember your first exposure to Sci-Fi?

This week we talk about Larian Studios announcing that they will not be making any more Baldar's Gate 3 Content and Converse jumping on board the D&D train.

Roll for Initiative!To some, it’s the purpose of the entire game. To others it’s the moment of dread.We have talked about the history of roll playing games before, growing out of the wargaming simulations of the 60’s and early 70’s.Wargaming Simulations, you know … Combat.So, the early roleplaying games focused heavily around combat. The game mechanics were designed to encourage and promote combat. Kill monsters, get experience points. That can be a lot of fun and many people are drawn to roleplaying games for the combat.Decades ago, I remember our party stumbled across a group of Lizard Men escorting a Hag. Before we knew it, we were rolling for initiative. Six hours later we finally put the last monster down having lost two of our own in the process.It was a blast, and exhausting.But today, the roleplaying experience is much different.Today games tend to have a heavier focus on narrative and storytelling. You are just as likely to spend six hours at a ball, dancing and drinking while trying to convince a local lord to join your cause as you are duking it out with the Lizard folk.Combat has morphed from the reason to play the game to just another element in the game. A six-hour combat slog is just as likely to see your players headed home, bored and not interested in returning as it is to excite them.Balancing combat with the rest of the gaming experience is critical.On this episode Christina, Mike and I are going to talk about running combat in roleplaying games and give you some tips and tricks to keep the action flowing and make sure everyone stays involved.Christina, while my early gaming experience was very combat heavy, yours was a little different, wasn’t it?

First up on You Heard It Here Last we have a very cool announcement. Modiphious games has picked up the license to create the Discworld Roleplaying game. We haven’t seen a Discworld rpg since the late 90’s with Steve Jackson Games. Christina, what do you think about Modiphious picking up Discworld?https://www.polygon.com/tabletop-games/24084600/discworld-tabletop-rpg-board-game-modiphiusNext on our list is a new RPG news site called Rascal. Rascal is a brand-new RPG news site. It’s independent, a little alternative, and definitely rogue. Mike, have you had a chance to check this out and if so, what do you think?https://www.rascal.news/That’s it for this episode of You Heard It Here Last. Catch you next time.

“[Sam] fell and came heavily on his hands, which sank deep into sticky ooze, so that his face was brought close to the surface of the dark mere. There was a faint hiss, and a noisome smell went up, the lights flickered and danced and swirled. For a moment the water below him looked like some window, glazed with grimy glass, through which he was peering. Wrenching his hands out of the bog, he sprang back with a cry. ‘There are dead things, dead faces in the water,’ he said with horror. ‘Dead faces!’”This excerpt is from JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. I know that’s probably obvious to most of our listeners but what likely isn’t obvious is the above passages reference. While Tolkien might have been spinning a fantastical yarn about a fantasy conflict, what he was really writing about was his experiences in World War 1 and the above passage clearly refers to the Battle of the Somme one of the deadliest battles in all of human history.Typical table top roleplaying leans heavily into the war and military genre, but over the years that DNA has been lost and today’s gamers miss some tremendous opportunities to bring to life amazing games by going back to the roots of roleplaying and really diving into those military and war tropes.On this episode Mike and I are going talk about the military genre and ways to bring those roleplaying ideas into your games.Mike, I know you are a massive Tolkien fan. Were you aware of the huge influence of World War 1 on his writings when you started reading Tolkien?Typical War Tropes to add to your games.Battle Scenes and Action:  Describe the bigger battles, what’s going on across the battlefield. Sweeping descriptions between rounds.Historical Context: Strive to accurately depict the historical context, settings, and details of these wars. Draw from real world battles for your fantasy fights.Character Portrayals: For an NPC death to be meaningful you have to get to know him first so that when a player puts their hand in a pile of goo that was once their comrades face it will mean something.Camaraderie and Relationships: Down time should be special and allow for building relationships with NPCs and other players. Loners don’t last in war.Anti-War Themes: There are great opportunities to dive into things like conscientious objectors and pacifists. Showing the horrors of war can make for great roleplaying opportunities.Leadership and Command: You can play the hapless soldier forced to take orders or even the commanding general sending troops to their deaths. There is a lot of leeway here.Home Front and Civilian Perspectives: focus on the experiences of civilians affected by war, including the challenges of living in war-torn areas, dealing with displacement, and the emotional toll on families. Down time at the village should reflect how a community runs during conflict. Business as usual can be very jarring to a solder or adventure fresh from the battle.Post-War Consequences: Some war movies delve into the aftermath of conflict, depicting the challenges of rebuilding societies, addressing trauma, and reconciling the effects of war on a personal and societal level. Reconstruction era was one of the most contentious and heartbreaking times in American history. Tremendous opportunities in a long campaign.Visual Realism: War movies often strive for visual realism, using detailed sets, accurate uniforms, weapons, and equipment to provide an authentic portrayal of the historical period and conflict. Do your research.Patriotism and National Identity: Some war films highlight themes of patriotism, sacrifice, and national identity, exploring how individuals come together to defend their countries during times of crisis. The key is to always give them something to fight for.

On this episode of you heard it here last we have a couple of tidbits to discuss.First, foundry VTT has officially partnered with Wizards of the Coast to offer D&D 5e. That’s interesting? Mike, you are a big Foundry fan…thoughts?https://foundryvtt.com/article/dungeons-dragons-arrives/The next piece of news is the canceling of Joe Mangenellos live action Dragon Lance series. He has been teasing it for over a year, but now it’s officially dead with Hasbros sale of dots One Entertainment arm to Lionsgate. Christina, were you a fan of Dragonlance?https://www.polygon.com/24066458/dragonlance-tv-show-dead-joe-manganiello-margaret-weis

S2 EA How to Manage your GM“Dude, I am so sorry you gotta work for that guy. He is the worst.”“It’s not that bad. Actually, we get along really well, and he’s the first boss who’s ever actually listened to my suggestions.”I think we have all found ourselves at one time or another dealing with a boss or manager that for some reason things just didn’t click. We will often blame them and fail to see that it takes two to tango.When you dig into it, usually the issues are combinations of personalities, motivations, communication styles, and sometimes luck.Now we roleplay for fun, so we never find ourselves sitting down at a gaming table and quickly realizing that for some reason we just aren’t working well with the GM?Sorry, I should have given you the sarcasm alert.We have all found ourselves at a gaming table where we struggled getting along with other players and occasionally the GM. I have found this is especially likely when we are already friends with the GM.Learning how to manage your game master is a critical skill for good gaming tables and it’s not nearly as difficult as you might think. Practicing good communication skills and a few of these simple tricks can go a long way to greatly improving your game sessions.Christina, have you ever had to manage one of your GMs?Points:Show up ready to play (be on time, have equipment {pen, paper, dice, character sheet})Know the basic rules (you don’t have to know them all, just the basics like dice mechanics)Know the rules that apply to your character (very important in crunchy games)Introduce yourself to other players, Don’t make the GM do all the social work.Let the Good Job’s flow. Congratulate other players and the GM on good ideas and challengesDon’t be sneaky. (Explain your complicated plan to the GM including the overall goals)Don’t argue at the table. (Never argue at the table. Argue after the game session in private)Support the GM Decisions and encourage the other players to support the decisions as well.Take Notes!Remember Rule 0 (The GM has final say)Help the GM look up rules, but don’t read them out loud, use page numbers.Pay attention to how the GM communicates. Don’t interrupt a speech!Provide feedback (remember constructive criticism, always end on a positive)Share the costs (books, snacks, software, etc)

You Heard it Here Last[Insert Intro]Recently D&D Beyond released 2023 Unrolled: A Look Back at a Year of Adventure this article breaks down the stats from users of D&D Beyond in 2023. The results are interesting especially if you enjoy data. Mike and I love data.https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1648-2023-unrolled-a-look-back-at-a-year-of-adventure#SpeciesHere are a few that jumped out at me. Average Age of Character Created = 28, Most Popular Species = Human (beating the elf by almost 200K), and the Most Popular Class = Fighter.Let’s just say I would have lost the bet. This really surprised me. What about you Mike?[Kick to Mike]Wrapping up something Christina and I talked about a couple of weeks ago. Evil Genius Games settled their lawsuit with Netflix. But we are still not getting a Rebel Moon TTRPG. https://www.enworld.org/threads/evil-genius-games-and-netflix-settle-rebel-moon-ttrpg-lawsuit.702261/The following is a joint statement prepared by us and Netflix relating to the recently resolved litigation between us.  “The parties are pleased that they were able to amicably resolve this dispute. Netflix thanks Evil Genius for their hard work and professionalism.”  We will not be releasing a Rebel Moon game, but stay tuned for more amazing Cinematic Adventures and an upcoming sci-fi project. And thank you again for your amazing support!What’s that mean Mike?

PacingMy player characters entered the room and the Evil Wizard rose from the throne.“How dare you interrupt my plans” he snarled.Everyone roll for initiative.This was supposed to be the crowning battle in the adventure. An incredible, nail-biting conflict where anything could happen.It turned into a 6-hour slog and by the end, half of the players had bailed for a variety of reasons.Or should I say one reason.They got bored.A challenge game masters face is keeping the game interesting, moving forward, and keeping players involved. It is more commonly referred by its movie and novel counterpart.Pacing.Narrative pacingis the speed at which a story unfolds. Pacing can be thought of as the tempo of a narrative. Narrative pacing may result in a story being called slow or fast-paced.Just because a story is slow doesn’t mean it’s bad and just because a story is fast doesn’t mean it’s good. So, when we talk about good pacing you have to keep it in context.Is the game designed to be an Action Adventure? If so, it better move along quickly.Is the game designed as an Exploration story? We can take our time.Is the game a Thriller with lots of roleplaying? Well then, turtles are going to win that race.Since pacing is such a huge challenge for game masters Christina and I are going to talk about it’s importance and give you some tips and tricks to make sure your games a paced properly.Christina have you ever had problems with pacing in one of your adventures?Pacing Tips:1.      Pacing should match the game style. Action = Fast Paced, Combat = Fast Paced, Thriller = slow paced, Investigation = slow paced, Horror = slow paced.2.      Pacing is subjective and based on feeling. So use your body language to trick the players.3.      Character interaction slows things down. Encourage that when appropriate and discourage when you need the pace to pick up.4.      Know your session length and watch the clock. Each game session should have a bit of action, a bit of suspense, and a bit of character interaction.5.      Watch your players. If they look bored, they are bored. Pick up the pace.6.      Clocks are great for picking up the pace.7.      Social events are perfect for slowing things down.8.      Don’t be afraid to ditch the rules. Rules heavy games kill pace. Specifically Initiative. Initiative is the death of pace.9.      Avoid 3rd act resolutions for every side plot. Resolutions bring the game to a halt and then you have to ramp up tension and momentum again. 10.  The short and long rest mechanic in D&D is the worst thing to ever happen to a roleplaying game. The greatest pacing killer of all time.11.  When the roleplaying gets repetitive it’s time to shake things up. 12.  If you are running an action-oriented game then cut to the next scene quickly. Describe in less then a minute how the players have moved from one scene to the next and then turn it on again.13.  In fast paced games avoid description and use tropes. In slow paced games like thriller and horror take the time to set the scene including in depth descriptions. Use all of the senses.14.  All games should build throughout the episode. End on a high point, never a low point or it will feel like the game has fizzled out. We want them eager to come back next week and play. This is why the cliffhanger was developed.15.  When creating an adventure make sure that each scene propels the plot in some way. 

Latest news from around the world of table top roleplaying. On this episode, Mike and I talk WOTC and AI Art.

I love historical roleplaying games.Ok, maybe not straight up historical games, but I love games that take place in a world not too different from our own. I like to be able to use real pictures, real maps, real places, and in some instances real people to flesh out my games.My fantasy games tend to be low magic with the Vandals facing the Romans. I love Call of Cthulhu for its basis on our own world. Sci-fi games just build on tech we have now.And then there is age of sail. I love that period in time where swords and pistols share space. Where man has conquered the vast ocean and cultures collide. Where piracy is at its height.That was running through my mind as I strolled the convention floor at Origins last year. I was looking for a pirate game, one that was more historically based then some of the fantastical stuff I was seeing. That’s when I stumbled upon it.Pirate Borg. A pirate game based in the Caribbean, but taking all of the crazy horror elements of Mork Borg. It had a quick and easy game system, naval combat rules, and some really cool artwork. I picked up a copy and wasn’t disappointed.Limithron is the company that created Pirate Borg and Luke Stratton is the man behind Limithron.Luke has a fascinating background, from musician to event technician to artist and game designer he has brought that diverse background into Limithron and the results are truly fantastic. I had the pleasure of spending some time talking to Luke about Pirates, Pirate Borg, AI art, and his upcoming releases.https://www.limithron.com/

Welcome to Epic Adventure’s You Heard it Here Last.We find ourselves talking about gaming news before we record the podcast. Who did what, Who is making what, who screwed what up, so we decided to start recording these little news discussions and sprinkling them in with our regular episodes.So here we go, just chatting about gaming news that caught our attention. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/gamemaker-accuses-netflix-stealing-ideas-rebel-moon-franchise-1235603686/https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/pathfinder-humble-bundle-offers-exciting-dd-alternative-for-2024-2452732/

Anticipation is the excitement you feel waiting for something you know is going to happen.As we kick off the new year, I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk about anticipation, and particularly those things that we are looking forward to in 2024.Games, books, movies, events, conventions and really anything that gets us excited.But before I put Mike and Christina on the spot lets take a quick look back at 2023. Oddfish Games launched Radiance though a very successful Kickstarter, GenCon Blew up, and the Epic Adventure Podcast went from discussions after gaming sessions to a real thing. I’m not sure any of us would have predicted those events, but sense we didn’t do a podcast to hold us accountable after the fact, we are safe to claim we saw it coming. This time it’s going to be a little different. This time you will be able to look back and see if we got anything right.So, Mike, Looking ahead at 2024, what’s one thing you are excited about on the horizon?

Downtime is that nebulous period between game sessions where the characters have an opportunity to pursue long term goals or simply handle a little organization, rest, and repair before the next big adventure.Players can use the downtime by announcing what their character will be doing over the next couple of weeks. Anything from buying equipment, crafting magic items, fighting in the arena, building a castle, or getting sloppy drunk at the local inn is possible. The game master rolls some dice and tells the players the outcomes of their characters actions. Weeks go by in minutes.Everyone ready to get back to the adventure?Cool.And back into the dungeon we go.Over the years downtime has evolved to a full set of rules in D&D 5e. But that wasn’t always the case.In Gary Gygax’s original rules for dungeon and dragons everything happened in real time. Including the time between games. If your group got together on Sunday afternoon and began exploring the dungeon, they had better come to a good stopping point before calling it a night because if a week of real time passes before the gang can get back together again then a week of game time passes in the campaign world.Minute for minute, hour for hour, day for day.Personally, I love that idea. It’s often called persistent roleplaying and is most commonly found in Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games such as Everquest, Lord of the Rings Online, and Star Wars The Old Republic. But you can do the same thing with your table top games.By utilizing concepts like play by post, emails, discord and other online tools the game doesn’t have to stop when the players call it a night. All of the traditional downtime activity can occur, but in a more fluid roleplaying sense. Instead of rolling a dice to see if the Paladin started his new church use discord to play out the relevant planning, conversations, and problems that arise during the week. When the players come back together for the game, they will have a rich history to share with each other, improving roleplaying all around.Does this take work. Sure it does. The game master will have to be available to read the messages and respond in kind. The players will need to responsive to the questions and interaction created by the game master. But really you are only talking about an extra 20 minutes or so a day to have a persistent and ongoing world to adventure in. Instead of turning downtime into a series of random rolls we allow are characters to live and populate the adventure world we have created. This doesn’t eliminate the concept of downtime, on the contrary it elevates it to a whole new level.Because everyone needs downtime.As a matter of fact, Mike, Christina, and I need some Downtime ourselves. With the holiday season upon us it seems like a perfect opportunity for some downtime. We are going to take December off and level up.In January we will be back with all new episodes for Season 2 of Epic Adventure.And Mike, Christina, and I will be sporting new level 2 characters with a better THACO and maybe even a +1 quip here or there.We look forward to seeing you in January.Until then, Have an Epic Adventure.

“When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. Then it happens we were in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets killed it's bad business to let the killer get away with it. It's bad all around-bad for that one organization, bad for every detective everywhere.”If you are familiar with that little snippet of dialogue then we can be friends.That’s from the Maltese Falcon, a 1930’s detective novel by Dashell Hammett. I was first introduced to the genre by the movie of the same name staring Humphry Bogart. I was entranced with the dark setting, the smokey atmosphere and the snappy dialogue. To this day the movie poster of the Maltese Falcon hangs in my living room.After that fateful meeting I devoured everything noir and mystery I could get my hands on. Dashell Hammett was always my first, and Sam Spade has always been my favorite detective but with one sentence Raymond Chandler won the prize.“I'm killing time and it's dying hard.”For some of you out there you don’t go for that tough guy writing. You might prefer John McDonalds Travis Mcgee, or Gregory McDonalds Fletch. You might love Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, or maybe your go for the more modern detective like Micheal Connolly’s Bosch or Lee Child’s Reacher.No matter your favorite there is no denying the pull and allure of the mystery genre and there is no denying the impact bringing elements of the mystery genre into your roleplaying games. In this episode Christina and I are going to talk about the mystery genre and how to include it into your games.  Christina, who is your favorite detective and why?