GamingPerspectives

     Jolene was looking online at RPG topics and came across a confession by a new GM.  This novice GM was running their first campaign which they had been running with new players for nine months.  There was a point in the game were a character would have been killed but the GM pulled their punch.  The character did not suffer a death.  Even though there had been a Session Zero where the GM had discussed that Death of Characters was indeed possible.        But when the time came that a character could die the GM decided that they could not do it.  Saul and Jolene discuss this topic of the GM killing off characters and reasons it should or shouldn't happen.          Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Smack Rabbit, song Killer Part-Time     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0      https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

          A question was asked about what are some things that you found in one RPG that as a GM would Steal to use in all  other RPGs that you run.  Saul and Jolene each thought abou the topic and they each found something that they really liked that they believed could be "easily" used in a variety of RPGs.  Saul made a short list of mechanics and ideas that he would use in RPGs he would run.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Schizophonic, song Stolen By the Store     Available from Tribeofnoise.com      Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

          A listener was thinking about some games he played with a particular GM, who took a few minutes after the game asking how the session went.  So this listener asked what would be the best way or some hints as to asking for feedback right after the session ends.         Saul and Jolene discussed how this immediate feedback would be good or bad.  As a GM that run games at Game Cons he is usually asked to run game multiple times since the number of seat at the game are limited and convention games can fill up pretty quickly.  So in order to make his adventures better he has asked feedback from players.   Some worked and some actually worked.          Saul and Jolene talked about how right after the game could get better feedback about the game session since the game is still "fresh" in the minds of the players.  There is a problem with this immediate feedback as some players may act like a deer caught in headlights.         Saul and Jolene talk about getting the most of feedback immediately after the game and some tips and tricks to get the best feedback from players that just played in your game session.          Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones          Music by Incognito Souls, song Get It Together, off the album Ten From                              Within          Available from Tribeofnoise.com          Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0              https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     A listener asked what we thought were some good Non D&D published campaigns?  Saul questioned what makes a good, quality and fun campaign.  Saul's criteria was the same if it was you home campaign but in a published one it is essential that the criteria that Saul sets out is met.  There are many campaigns out that that would meet these elements so Saul picked the ones he liked the best or has had the most experience in playing or running the games.        Saul comes up with 3 things every campaign must meet.  Saul then discusses with Jolene,  what published campaigns meet this criteria for Saul.  Some of them should be of no surprise for those who have been in the RPG gaming hobby for a while since Saul decides to talk about some older campaigns that have been around more than 30 years.  The rest the Saul included are more contemporary.           Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Willard Mellow, song The Beginning,  off the album Back to the Roots     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

          A listener asked about a good RPG to run a Monster of the Week game.  Saul came up what criteria would make a good Monster of the Week game.  From ease of rules, types of character and other factors.            Then Saul and Jolene talked about what games would make it easy to run a Monster of the Week game.  Saul's list comes from game created in the 1990's, 2000's, 2010's and even very recent game published.       Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Smakabbrit, song Monster's Playground     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0      https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     A listener asks about getting a RPG off the Shelf of Shame and on the the table to play.   This is a problem that inflicts both RPG gamer and board gamer as both groups have this problem.  Both have games that have not hit the game table and for many a gamer this is a terrible source of frustration.  Saul has a lot of shelves that contain RPG games.  It has been a source of consternation for him and has made it a goal to get as many of those RPGs of Shame on the game table.      There are certain steps you can take to try and get those games on the table.  Saul and Jolene go over those steps and talk about they work and how they may help make your Shelf of Shame a bit lighter.            Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones+       Music by Hansen Chat,  song Dancing on the Table     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

          Saul was at Kubla Autumn a new game con taking place over Veteran's Day which is celebrated here in the U.S. on November 11th.  Right when he got there he sat in a seminar the dealt with the future of boardgames. In that seminar they talked about Cozy games.  Saul immediately thought of Cozy RPGs.  Saul noticed a lot of RPGs that would fit under this genre.  He talked to Jolene about it and discussed the subject.       This episode is the result of that conversation.  Saul list five RPGs that he thought would fit under the genre of Cozy.   His criteria was not always correct and indeed some of those discussed may not fit in Saul's Cozy criteria.  After the episode Saul has noticed another "cozy" game on Kickstarter called Riverbank.        Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones      Music by Al Pegon, song Five O'Clock Tea,  off the album Bad One T    Available from Tribeofnoise.com    Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     In the long time that Saul has been playing RPGs, there has been some instances where players did some weird things.  At least unexpected things that he saw as both a GM and a Player.  Saul remembers a couple instances where players acting strange may have caused problems in the session.   Jolene relates a story she read online about a player who indeed acted strange for no logical reason that Saul and Jolene did not understand.         What causes players to act in a strange way?  Saul proposes some ideas as to what would make a player to do strange things in a roleplaying game.  From stealing for other character to trying to fight other player's character in a session.  Sometimes players demand that other players act or play in a certain way.   As a GM it is very important to understand why players are acting in a way that could cause problems in a gaming group.          Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Kramer Guy, song Strange Surf     Available from Tribeofnoise.com    Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

          In this Episode Saul and Jolene discuss why some GMs do not like running Intellectual Property games.  Those are games based on books, Tv shows, or movies.  Whether its Conan, Star Wars, Star Trek of hundreds of other RPGs that are based on others creative works some GMs shy away from running these games for specific reasons.        Saul as usual goes to the way back machine and discusses his brushes with working on games that were based on others Intellectual Property.   From the first foray into running a shared campaign in the World of Greyhawk and later Forgotten Realms Saul talks about the ease and difficulty about taking on running an "IP RPG.        Lastly Saul and Jolene discuss why they like playing RPGs based on Intellectual Properties.  Whether it was Conan, Star Trek or Dresden Files they discuss what they like about playing in those created worlds or universes.  They also discuss the genuine fun that players have when they get to play a RPG in their favorite IP.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Lyrics Girl, song Intellectual Love,  off the album Acid Planet     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

     Saul is slowly recovering from heart valve surgery but Jolene and Saul are back to recording episodes.  This episode comes from a Reddit post about a GM that needs to run a game with no prep for 1st time players with only a 2 hour window.  Though many answers were the names of games that people suggested Saul took a different angle.       Saul was thinking what the GM had to think about the game they decided to run.  From the system, to the adventure, to the GM's comfort in running the game.   Also there was what are the expectations of the players.  Where and how did they get interested?  Do they know that there are more RPGs than just D&D?      Saul and Jolene discuss these ideas for this episode.      Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Dixon, song In No Time Soon,  off the album In No Time Soon     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

    *SPECIAL NOTE* Saul and Jolene would like apologize for the lack of epidodes for the past Month.   This was due to Saul having to have heart valve replacement surgery.  Saul is recovering and Jolene is taking care of him.  Saul and Jolene would like to thank all the listeners for their support of their podcast.           The latest episode concerns Starter Box Sets.  What a good starter set should have in the box and why.  Starter Sets have changed from the days of the D&D Blue Box Set.   After their brief discussion Saul lists 3 Stater Sets are to him are what starter sets should strive to be.    Listen to hear what 3 starrter sets really appealed to Saul and why.             Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Sam Gallager, song Starter,  off the album Night Music     Available from Tribeofnoise.com    Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

When you are creating an adventure or a complete RPG for public consumption one thing you really need as a creator is Feedback.  From one shot adventures, longer adventures, campaigns you need feedback to hone your creation to make it as best as it can be.   Good Feedback is essential to making your creation to be as successful as it can be.  With self publishing become a large part of TTRPGs, you as a creator need good feedback on your creation.        A key to good feedback is asking the right type of questions for your project.  Answers to the questions that you include in your feedback questionnaire are what will make your TTRPG project better.   Saul and Jolene discuss the difference between questions for the type of project you are making.  Questions for an adventure will differ greatly from questions that you would ask if your project was a full fledged RPG.     Episode notes: Saul says that he started running games at conventions in 1985 but it was 1995.        It was Panny and Aled creators of Salvage Union who ran their games at UK gaming conventions                                     and online.              Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Nathan Brumley, song The Games That Play Us,  off the album Shay Watson     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

     Saul was reading a Reddit and came across a post asking if people used maps or visual aids in their roleplaying games.  The poster also stated that they only used a while board and magnitized tokens in his sessions.  The OP then asked if you do use maps or visual aids how integral are they to your game.        Saul and Jolene have played and ran games where lots of maps or visual aids were used and game where nothing was used during the game.  Saul and Jolene discussed why this was and they decided it was a good topic for an episode.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by The Legend of Wolf,  song Crossing the Map,  off the album L:issle     Available from Tribeofnoise.com   Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Saul read an article about a couple of RPGs that had elimnated the Iconic Mechanic of Rolling to Hit.  Saul mentioned the idea to Jolene.  Jolene had a lot of questions about the whole idea and how it would work.   Jolene's questions were why, how and would it be fun?         It was a good discussion so they decided to do an episode on the subject.  The big game on the list is a new game coming out in the near future by Matt Colville now called Draw Steel.  There is a link at the bottom of these show notes.            Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones Here is a link to Matt Colville's preorder:     https://mcdm-rpg.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders     Music by Riff Master, song Rolling with Thunder,  off the album Enter the Realm     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     Hey there Listeners,  Happy New Year!  Saul and Jolene were reminicing some of the more memorable times of their games. Jolene mentioned the times that they came across some very powerful creatures, Dragons were high on the list from game of D&D to Shadowrun.  Other powerful beings were giants, demigods and gods.  Saul and Jolene discussed what made those moment memorable and how and why they interacted with the Player Characters.        Saul discussed how in the first 30 years of this GMing he did not use powerful beings in his campaigns, especially gods in his campaigns.  He regulated them to the same bin as Spell Components.  It was only after running the published campaign Storm King's Thunder that Saul really started using powerful beings as encounters in his campaigns.            Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Jay Van Ijzer, song Demigods    Available from Tribeofnoise.com    Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

It is the New Year and as we look forward to 2025 EN Publishing asks what New RPGs we are looking forward to the New Year.  Saul choose his top three and discusses some of the games that made the list.  Saul noticed quite a few games are getting a 2nd edition and other are being resurrected from the way back machine and are getting a new edition thanks in no small part due to Kickstarter and other crowd funding platforms.      As we enter the New Year we would wish everyone a better 2025 than we had in 2024.  Play some games and have fun.  And a big Thank you all for Listening to our humble podcast.      Happy New Year Everyone!    Saul and Jolene      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by  A to the G, song By New Year's Day     Available from Tribeofnoise.com   Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

There was a post on Reddit about how RPGers read rulebooks for new RPGs before they ran a session.  The answers at first were vey like minded.  People stating that they read the rulebook completely.  From reading it once to reading the rulebook from cover to cover multple times.        Saul was a bit shocked at reading these posts since he had never read a RPG Rulebook that way.  As Saul read more he found posts more aligned with his style of reading a rulebook.  If you consider jumping from section to section.   Jolene and Saul discussed this topic and decided it was a good one for an episode.      We are well into the Holiday Season and we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Everyone!           Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Tobin James,  song Rules of the Road     Available from Tribeofnoise.com    Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     Saul was reading Reddit posts and came across a post about players playing themselves too much in RPGs.  There was quite a bit of a discussion and most respondents said they didn't play themselves at all because they didn't want to play their boring lives.      Saul on the other hand thought that he had for most of his RPG life had played himself or an aspect of his personality in the game.  Usually a one dimensional character.  As Saul got older he started to branch out and play characters that were totally different than himself.        Thank you all for listening as we start to close out 2024 and head into the New Year!      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Claudio Souza Mattes, song Adapt Yourself, off the album Rewind      Available from Tribeofnoise.com      Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0      https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

     Jolene was looking online and found a person who was asking for help.  They had never GMed a RPG and they only had two players.  The person was asking if there were any games that were made for one GM and two players.  Jolene asked Saul about this and after a brief discussion they decided to do an episode on the subject.      Jolene and Saul have an episode dealing with single player games, one Saul remembered was Ghost Dog which is a RPG based on the movie of the same title.  It is a RPG where the player is an assassin that lives by a code.  Since that episode Saul has run a few games with very low player count.  Hence the new episode dealing with Low Player Count.               Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Lead to Gold, song Less is More,  off the album 10 Minutes with LTG     Available from Tribeofnoise.com   Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

         A listener and friend asked Saul and Jolene about a question his daughter had asked him.  The questions was, "Should a GM change a dungeon campaign after the players make characters that can see in the dark."  The GM designed the dungeon with the idea of limited visibility of the characters due to it being pitch black in the dungeon.  Slightly upset at the characters the GM decided to change the dungeon.  Is it okay for the GM to change the adventure after devulging information of the game?      Saul and Jolene both discuss the implications of changing the adventure due to the players action in making their characters.  Is the GM being petty? What would the players think of having their characters possibly nerfted? Listen and find out what Saul and Jolene think about this situation.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Sounds Hilarious, song Changing!, off the album Make Money with Music     Available from Tribeofnoise.com    Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

     In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk about making a RPG from a computer game.  This was from a question that Saul read online about a father that wanted to make a RPG for his kids that played Destiny 2.  Saul thought he recognized the game and even thought he had the older computer game but he was thinking of Mass Effect 2.  Still Jolene and Saul discussed the trials and tribulations of making your own RPG.        It has been Saul's belief that making your own game would be a big work and time investment.  But a few years ago he saw the show Carnival Row.  He even downloaded a free version that used the Cypher System from Monte Cook Games.  It had a lot of the lore and art from the show but Saul didn't like the Cypher System for this game.  He set to port it to Free Leagues Year Zero Engine.  This was before Free League put out their SRD or their version of the OGL.         And just a couple of months ago Saul wrote up another game based on Year Zero about cuddly animals going on adventures in the spirit of The Wind the the Willows, Watership Down,  Books by Brian Jacques.  Saul wrote it in one day and with a bit of adjustments he made a playable game where he ran two separate adventures.      So it can be done.  Saul and Jolene also talk about writing a RPG with a big IP and whether its worth trying to publish such a RPG game.            Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Soul Understated, song Gonna Make It,  off the album Unreleased      Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     Saul was looking at Reddit and found a post about how the person didn't like playing "Lighter" RPGs because they were more work for him in roleplaying than a crunchier systems like Pathfinder.  Others also agreed and added comments about why they didn't like RPGs.        Saul and Jolene have tried a few "Light RPGs".  Games like Kobolds Ate My Baby, Sleepaway Camp, The Quiet Year, Tales From the Loop and others.      Listen to hear what Saul and Jolene have to say on the subject.            Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Frenz, song The Light     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/   

          Saul and Jolene decided to ask a question of their gaming friends, Felipe, Cipriano and Michael,  "Why do you still game after playing for so long."   Saul has been gaming with Felipe, his brother, since 1978, with Cipriano right after that and Michael since Junior High.  Though some of them had some short stints of not playing here or there,  Saul and his friends are still playing RPGs today.  So why do they still want to play? Listen and find out.           Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music Bruce Zim, song Friends Forever     Available from Tribeofnoise.com   Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

      This episode comes from Jolene surfing the internets and finding a post on Reddit.  She mentioned it to Saul and they talked about this idea.  Saul remembered that at some Convention Games a few GM's did this to get the players ready to enter the world of the game,  break the ice between players and do some information dissemination.                 Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Shirley Jones, song Questions,  off the album Black Cat Blues     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0      https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

          A question was floating around in social media and on Reddit, that if you only had three RPGs to play for the rest of your life which ones would they be.  Saul was intrigued of whittling down all his favorite RPGs down to three that he would play forever if he had only three to play.   Saul and Jolene discussed it a bit and though Jolene didn't like the idea of paring down the RPGs she liked to just three though she reluctantly did come up with a final 3.            Saul was a bit more manic and he listed his favorite systems of about 20 games and game systems.  From classics RPGs like D&D(all played editions) Traveller, Space Opera Stalking the Night Fantastic and other 80's RPGs.  Also included on his list was his 90's RPGs like Dark Conspiracy, Feng Shui, Hero, and many more.  Then the more modern games of the 2000s.  D&D 3rd Ed., Spirit of the Century, Warhammer 40k RPGs, Cortex Classic RPGs and more.         Saul was finally able to get down to the final 5 favorite game systems which is a bit like cheating since you can play various setting and genres.  So prepare to get angry, disappointed or delighted by the games chosen.       Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Sharon C, song Forever,  off the album Calling You     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0      https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

      Since Jolene and Saul have been playing various RPGs they have been discussing what they liked and did not like about the RPGs.  One thing they zeroed in on was combat in the different RPGs.  It also made Saul think about some game mechanics he had seen from some pretty old games like Space Opera, TOP Secret SI and many others.         Saul and Jolene discussed how each game dealt with Combat Mechanics.  Some of them they liked others not so much.  This epiosde was born out of the discussion of what combat mechanics they liked those games.           Thank you all for Listening                 Web Art by Jim Foster         Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Brian Cho, song Prepare For Combat.     Available from Tribeofnoise.com  Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     There have been times that a certain player at your table took charge of the table or maybe was the leader at the table.  Heck back in the ole Days, there was a player who was, "the Caller".  It was their job to talk to the GM and tell the GM what the players were doing.  It was a way to speed up game play.  Saul once played in a game where they took this idea to heart and only The Caller would talk to the GM. The Caller could even countermand what the player had told the Caller what they wanted to do.  Needless to say Saul never went back to the game club.         Games these days have become more collaborative, there is more player agency.  There is also the idea of making sure all players get in on the fun.  Making sure all players have input in the game at your table.  This has been called sharing the Spotlight.  Where every player and their character gets a chance to shine.  But what if a player is taking more than their share of the Spotlight.        Saul and Jolene discussed why this happens and what can be done about it after reading a reddit post by a new GM having this problem.  After a lengthy discussion, Saul and Jolene decided to do an episode on Stealing the Spotlight.            Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Tanay Jackson, song In the SpotLight,  off the album Tanay     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

        Saul and Jolene recieved an email from a listener Morgan who had some suggestion for episode topics.  Thanks Morgan!  One of the topics was Time Travel RPGs.  Saul and Jolene thought it was a good topic and discussed several TV shows that had time travel episodes or where about time travel.   They came up with way too many shows to discuss, so Saul picked his top 4 shows.         Then the discussion began about what if any RPGs were about time travel.  Saul looked on RPG.net and was surprised at the number of RPGs published in this genre.  Saul played in one time travel game called Time Watch by Kevin Kulp.  Saul and Jolene had to discuss Jolene's favorite shows, Star Trek and Dr. Who both of which have RPGs.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Julian Child's Band, song Time Machine,  off the album Opus     Available from Tribeofnoise.com    Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     In this episode Saul and Jolene interview David Gabriel of Producer of Kublacon Conventions.  Kublacon is the SF Bay Area Largest gaming convention that takes place over Memorial Weekend.  But this year they are putting on Kublacon Fall Veteran's Weekend.  It will be the first year this event is happening.  So if you want to ease your way into a Kublacon, this is the way to do it.  The following prices have a Tabletop events fees of a couple dollars.  A Weekend Pass is 40 bucks for the whole Friday to Monday convention.  GMs only have to run a four hour game and they get a GM pass for 16 dollars and those in the Military and Veterans get for basically free plus the service feel for Tabletop Events website.        Saul and Jolene have been attending  Kublacon since 2001 the first year they put it on and it has only grown and grown from a few hundred attendees to over 3,600 attendees post Covid.  Those are some impressive numbers.  Saul and Jolene talked to David about his gaming roots and how he became involved in putting on one of the best game cons around.  With the amount of work that it takes to put on a show is this caliber and size, why put on another show?        If at all interested in attending or helping put on Kublacon Fall follow the following link to get all the information you need to volunteer or attend the show.    https://kublacon.com/           Thank you all for Listening          Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones

          Saul and Jolene were discussing mystery shows and came across a reddit post.  The post was from a GM complaining about how his players are not getting all his clues that would point the PCs toward the Big Bad Guy.  The GM was lamenting how much work he had been doing on the campaign.  The GM had made maps, developed numerous NPCs, many of which had informaton that they could give the PCs only if they questions those NPCs.       Many others posted some advice about what may be going on but most of the advice feel on deaf ears as the posting GM insisted that the players were the confused ones.      Jolene and Saul started talking about his post and the GM who was really perturbed at the players who were not "figuring out" the plot of the campaign.   Saul knew exactly what was going on since he had been in the shoes of that GM.  Saul and Jolene discuss what could be done to prevent from becoming that type of GM.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Solxis, song Confused Life,  off the album Dance, Dance, Dance.     Available from Tribeofnoise.com   Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

     Saul and Jolene were talking about long campaigns.  The discussion lead to games were character played gernerations of a character.   I was thinking how many generations one could play and what RPGs make it part of their system or setting.      The first game that came to mind was Pendragon.  A friend of mine ran the Great Pendragon Campaign for some fellow gamers.  That GM runs games where "Death is On the Table" according to him.  Which to me means he is a no holds barred GM and if the dice goes against the players he does not pull any punches.  He even posted the games online.  I also talked to a player in that game that was on his 5th character due to his very heroic play style.          Jolene asked if D&D could be a generational game and I thought well I am sure it could be.  Other games had rules to play generations of a character.  Some games neither Saul or Jolene had ever heard of them but sounded interesting.  Thus this episode was born.              Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music Burn Down the Charade, song Lost Generation, off the album              Revelations  and Revolutions     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     Bonus Episode, an interview of Dave and Matthew from the Effekt of podcast.  Saul and Jolene interview the very likeable chaps from the UK.  Not only do they have a very successful podcast called the Effekt podcast which mainly deals with Swedish RPGs but they discuss all kinds of RPG topics.   They also have been working on a gritty, Western RPG called Tales of the Old West using a version of Free League's Year Zero system.  Their Kickstarter will launch in early September.     They have a very well done quickstart guide they call their Quick Draw guide.  You can find it here:     https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/480951/tales-of-the-old-west-quickdraw     Please check out their KS pre-launch page to sign up to get notified as soon as the Kickstarter launches in early September.     Here is the Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/effekt/tales-of-the-old-west      If you want to check out the Actual Play of Tales of the Old West: https://www.effektap.org/       For the regular Effekt podcast here is the link: https://www.effektpodcast.org/      As Always Thanks for Listening     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones  

         Saul and Jolene were discussing the Sanity stat in CoC and if any other RPGs used some sort of Sanity stat in games.       That lead to Saul and Jolene to think of other games where the mental conditon of the character was kept track.     What seemed like would be a short list of games became longer and longer.  It seemed that quite a few games     included a way of determining the mental state of the character.          This surprised both Saul and Jolene.  They game used many different ways of decribing and dealing with the     mental state of the character but depending on the genre and emphasis of game.  Saul and Jolene decided to     devote an episode to the subject.        Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Nick Andrew, song Sanity     Available from Tribeofnoise.com  Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     This episode came about when Saul was reading Reddit Posts and came across the question of what was more important in a RPG, Mechanics or Setting.  Saul noticed many posts that sided with the idea that it was "mechanics" that was more important one of the two.  A few chose setting but they were largely outnumbered by those that thought mechanics were  more important in RPGs.      Saul brought this up with Jolene and after a lengthy discussion they decided to do an episode on this subject.           Thank you all for Listening            Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones           Music by Reno Project,  song System.       Available from Tribeofnoise.com       Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0       https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Jolene read a post from a father of three young daughters who he wanted to run a roleplaying game for but one daughter was very adverse to combat and violence.  Jolene talked to Saul about the post and they discussed the various games they had run for very young and new RPGers.   When their son was young, Saul regularly ran games at local con for kids.  From D&D to Gamma World,  Saul ran "kids" games at con for several years.  Jolene has run games for her son and his friends at home.  She also has run games at local Northern California game cons.          Though Saul ran more traditional RPGs for Kids at local Cons he has toned down the violence and used alternatives to combat in many of his kids and adult games.  From their discussion of how they ran games for kids and the Reddit Posting dad's predicament they decided to do an episode on the subject.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Roland Zimmerman, song  Peacable Milieu     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

     Saul and Jolene have run and been in various RPGs where planning took place from the simple to the complex.   Saul and Jolene were talking about why certain RPG games, adventures and players tend make plans to deal with situations in RPGs.      From games like Shandowrun and Cyberpunk to good ole D&D gamers make plans.  Some games players are just inclined to make complex plans such as Shadowrun, Twilight 2000 and others.  These games where players plan also tend to be very lethal.  After their discussion Saul and Jolene decided to do this episode.           Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones       Music by Max Miecchi, song Plan B, off the album Album d Max     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

          Saul and Jolene were talking about the various Science Fiction RPGs that they had played and GMed.  Saul was talking about his favorite ones and asked Jolene about her favorite Sci-Fi Rpg.  They discussed how the different rules worked for and against liking the various Science Fiction themed RPGs.       After a while Saul decided to take notes and suggested doing an episode on the Best Sci-Fi RPG.  Though they can only mention and discuss a few of the Science Fiction themed RPGs published they try to cover a vast array of Sci-Fi RPGs.  You may or may not be surprised by what Saul and Jolene say is the best Sci-Fi RPG game.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Joseph Kimbrell, song Jupiter     Available from Tribeofnoise.com   Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

          Some RPGs try to mimic things in the real world, things from movies books,  and even things that the author remembers.  These things are then added to their RPG as an in game mechanic that really sets that RPG apart from other games.  Saul and Jolene discuss their favorite game mechanics that really make the RPG stand out.            Saul and Jolene discuss Traveller, The One Ring, Tales From the Loop and others in this discussion that was started due to a Reddit post.  Saul really likes the ones listed where Jolene is a little more discerning in the mechanics and how much they contribute to the RPG experience.      EDIT note.  While discussing The One Ring,  Saul refers to Shadow and Heart mechanic, but the two stats are Shadow and Hope.   Which makes even more sense in terms.       Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Kid Attractions, song Mechanical Bull Sale     Available from Tribeofnoise.com   Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

          Jolene came across a post on Reddit of a new GM asked a question about how emotionally invested other GMs are in their creations for their games.  From NPCs, to actual towns and villages do GMs care about Towns and it's inhabitants.         Saul and Jolene discuss how those people who are younger and newer to RPGs can have a different view of how to play an RPG than older gamers.  Viewing actual plays of RPGs have had large impact in new people coming to the RPG hobby.  Not only that they have come into the hobby with a different perspectives than old gamers that came from the War Game or Miniatures Hobby.         Saul and Jolene discuss how it is important that players have investment in the game and in their characters to give a better RPG experience at the table.  Those games are more fun, have a deeper impact on the players, create lasting memories and overall increase the enjoyment of the RPG session or campaign.       Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Backyard Dreaming,  song Emotional Connection     Available from Tribeofnoise.com   Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

A popular way to start out an adventure or campaign is "in media res".   Though most RPG games start off with a common scene of the Tavern or Pub.   This in the beginning type of start is what most gamers know.  Another way is to put the characters in a stressfull situcation from the beginning.  One common way of doing this is the "your all in prison" beginning.         Now this beginning can be very displeasing to most players.  Especially if the players do not know that this is the way the game is going to start.  This may turn off players getting into the game.   Saul has been in a number of games where the GM starts the game with character in prison or in bondage.  Saul uses a couple of examples of this happening and how the games went.       Jolene is much more suspicious of GMs starting their games in this manner.  Saul agrees that this requires a lot of trust in the players of their GMs.       Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Keith Hiemericks, song Folsom Prison Blues.     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0         https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

       The idea of cursed items comes from the very beginnings of RPGs.  Even the Original D&D had a list of cursed items that you could give away to the characters in their treasure loot.   The question is why would a character ever take something that is cursed.  From simple to powerful items many players are willing to risk the chances of touching or using a cursed item because of some perceived benefit for their character.       Saul and Jolene discuss cursed items from the games they played and ones he read about on the internet.  And how cursed items are not only for fantasy games.         Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Chris Munro, song The Curse     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/  

       Saul and Jolene were talking about when at a RPG table session, sometimes the group goes off the rails.  Not in game but at the actual game table.  Non game side discussions, players looking at their phones, players joking around out of character and many other things that players can do to disrupt a RPG session.      If you GM for any length of time this will probably happen to you as a GM or even see this as a player.  You might even be the player causing the table disruption.   Saul and Jolene discussed why this happens and what the GM can do to mitigate this from happening at your RPG table.      Saul and Jolene remember how excited kids(Saul's son and his friends ages 10-13) ,  adults joking around out of game egging each other on disrupting the flow and breaking immersion at the game table.  Saul and Jolene discuss these situations and others and how the GM and even a player stepped up and stopped this from continuing.    These things can happen and it is usually up the the GM to Control the RPG Table.   It was a lively discussion so Saul and Jolene decided to do an episode on the subject.        Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones       Music by Candy Ace, song, He's in Control    Available from Tribeofnoise.com    Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0         https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/  

          Saul and Jolene were thinking about the rules about who goes first in RPGs.  It was a lively discussion where we talked about several different games and how they dealt with initiative.   Saul and Jolene talked about it at length and decided it was a good topic for an episode the podcast.           Saul and Jolene discuss initiative system from the ole Dungeons and Dragons to Feng Shui, to Champions, Dark Conspiracy and others.  All of them handling the subject differently and Saul and Jolene discuss why RPG creators develop unique systems to see who acts first in their RPG.         As always,   Thank you all for Listening          Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Mo Body, song First Step,  off the album 2 Step     Available from Tribeofnoise.com  Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

          In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about traveling mechanics.  Many RPGs have rules on how to deal with traveling in their games.   Some games have very detailed rules while some might not even cover traveling in their games.  Fifth Edition D&D have some rules but they seem more like guidelines than actual rules.  These ideas are covered in the Gamemasters Guild.          Another fantasy rpg that has a bit more detailed rules is Dragonbane.   Exploring and searching are a big part of the Dragonbane and because of this the ruleset has specific rules on how it should be handled.   They even have charts which if you have listened to this podcast she loves charts(sarcasm)          In another fantasy RPG, The One Ring traveling has very detailed and specific rules for traveling in the world of Middle-Earth.  This is where the Journey is just as important as the Destination.   Due to the world of Middle-Earth's  being touched by Evil, traveling is very dangerous.  Which is why the traveling mechanic of The One Ring is so detailed.     Other games discussed are Shadowrun, Feng Shui, Liminal, Star Wars and Star Trek.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Ed Napoli, song Traveling Through Large Mountains     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

    In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss the difference and problems that arise from the difference between Player and Character knowledge.  Depending on the genre and the player ,  players are going to push the limit of what a character can know.  But there are times when a character will have be more knowledgable than the player does.       Saul and Jolene cite several examples on how a player espoused their character's knowledge on certain subjects.  In one example the character was successful and play continued in another an argument followed and the game session ended early.     Saul and Jolene also discuss what to do when these issues come up as a player and as a GM.      Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Samson, song Towers of Knowledge     Available from Tribeofnoise.com Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

       In this Episode Saul and Jolene discuss making connections between characters.  Saul remembers the ole days when the only connection you needed or wanted was the love of killing monsters and taking their stuff.   Things have progressed to tell more meaningful stories than when Saul was a kid.  A way of doing that is to have connections between players that gives them a more meaningful reason for characters, of any genre, to go adventuring.      How do you make these "Connections" between players.   An increasing number of new RPGs  rules during character creation where connections between characters are made.  There are various ways of making connections between player's charactes.  Saul and Jolene discuss how connections impact the games you play at your rpg table.         Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Rad Hat Thomas, song Connections,  off the album I Only Have Eyes For You     Available from Tribeofnoise.com    Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

         In this Episode Saul and Jolene discuss overpowered or broken elements of a RPG.  Sometimes its a skill, a spell, a feat, a rule or a myrid of different things that can be either be misinterpreted or written too vague or not written well.       Saul and Jolene both recount experiences read from online posts and personal experiences when players and GMs might have made an error when reading or creating a character or item.       When this happens it can unbalance the party, lead to boredom and generally some people not having fun at the game table.  Saul and Jolene then discuss what players and GMs can do to remedy the situation.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by P. Bailey, song What's it Going to Be,  off the album The Singles Disc 2     Available from Tribeofnoise.com  Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0      https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

         Saul was thinking what were some themes or genres that RPGs have a hard time capturing the feeling or thrill of playing.  Jolene had a difficult time wondering what Saul was even talking about but after a while she realized the concept Saul was trying to explain.  One example was Sports.  A Sports themed  RPG  that wasn't  a  miniature game or boardgame desguised as a RPG.       That discussion is what lead to this episode.  So is there anything subject, theme or genre that RPGs are not good at?      If you have any comments, questions or topics you would like Saul and Jolene to discuss please email them at  Gamingperspectives.com@gmail.com      Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by Alazarin, song Sports Model,  off the album It's Music Jim, Just Not as We Know It.     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0     https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Saul and Jolene were  talking about how people "backtrack" or take their turn over in boardgames, they take their turn and then change their minds and redo their turn.   Saul and Jolene discused  how it seems like a bad idea.   This act of "backtracking" can frustrate other players but what about in an RPGs?             The idea of backtracking an action or a scene in a RPG is usually contemplated by a GM who feels bad or remorse about how things worked out.  So they "backtrack" the play.  Why would a GM do this and what are some of the pitfall for the GM and their players when this happens?     Thank you all for listening.      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones       Music by Deus King, song Back Again,  off the album There's Nothing Impossible     Available from Tribeofnoise.com     Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0          https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

          In this Episode Saul and Jolene answer a question proposed by listener Mike.  He asked about maps.  How much detail do you share with players when you give them a map.   Saul and Jolene thought it was a good question to make an episode.  Along with maps, Saul thought about how much  general information do you share with players.           Saul asked how much should you share with the players?  Does what the character "knows" determine the amount of detail in Maps and Info?       Jolene remembered a couple situations where placing or drawing a map gave more information than what just was on the map.  One was in a D&D game another was in a Feng Shui game.  Saul was the GM of both and realized that just by placing a map or drawing out a map or situation on a battlemat "tells" the players of a possible encounter.     Thank you all for Listening      Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones         Music by Chiba,  song Maps of the Sky     Available from Tribeofnoise.com      Used Under the Creative Commons License 4.0      https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

What are things that influence what your play style in RPGs.   Saul and Jolene discuss a couple of things that might influence the way you play your character.  Saul admits that for about 20 years, Saul played variations of his own personality and not really trying to Role play an aspect of himself.        As usual Saul strays from the subject by talking about two of his all time favorite RPGs, the One Ring and Shadowrun 5th edition, and Jolene brings him back to the subject at hand though Saul was using those two games as examples of how a game would influence play style.       Thank you all for Listening         Web Art by Jim Foster      Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones     Music by P. Bailey, song What's it Going to Be,  off the album The Singles Disc 2     Available from Tribeofnoise.com    Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0      https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/