Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff

Beloved Patreon backer beckons us to the Gaming Hut seeking tips on keeping PC hope alive when the bad guys run the authorities. In the Tradecraft Hut estimable backer Scify wants to know if DOGE has been cutting funding for CIA front operations. Urban cows are just the beginning as the Food Hut looks at […]

Much has changed since our last anniversary episode, but one thing that remains the same is our dedication to celebratory LIGHTNING ROUND!!! questions from our beloved Patreon backers. In quick startling fashion we dispatch inquiries, most not lists, favorites, or lists of favorites, concerning tabletop games, time travel, food & drink, spy stories and horror […]

The Gaming Hut finds reasons for player characters to show mercy toward defeated opponents. Hoaxing is usually a white collar crime. Not so, as the Crime Blotter explores, in the case of Mark Hofmann, whose production of forged Church of Latter Day Saints historical documents escalated to murder. The first installment of the Stock Character […]

In Among My Many Hats, Robin tells all about Page Turners, his game of dramatic interaction for one player and one game moderator, in which he is joined as a scenario writer by Sarah Saltiel, Ruth Tillman, and Wade Rockett. Beloved Patreon backer Michael David Jr. draws us into the Mythos Hut to cross Silver […]

For the first time at THE KRAKEN, the legendary Gaming Retreat held in the remote yet cozy environs of the Schloss Neuhausen in what used to be Prussia, Ken and Robin talk live to a group of rapt attendees. After nerdtroping Stalin and an alien invasion, we field questions on German cuisine, the economics of […]

Sometimes you want to let the player characters stand back and let more capable parties mop up the threat. The Gaming Hut finds ways to keep that exciting and suspenseful. The History Hut profiles Milton Bradley, the person behind the famous game company. Beloved Patreon backer beckons us to the Narrative Hut to consider whether […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at that essential tool in the GM's arsenal, the ability to bend world logic toward the fun. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Eric Park, the Cartography Hut looks at the alleged travels and maps of Nicolo Zeno. The Food Hut studies a cake of mythic import Henri […]

The Gaming Hut situates itself in a dense woodland for beloved Patreon backer Ben A's request for tips on a historical time slip scenario. Ken issues a Travel Advisory on his recent trip to Roswell. Listeners love transportation infrastructure, as estimable backer John Scheib proves once again by convening the Architecture Hut for the eldritch […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Sikander asks us to tackle a scenario where the PCs have to figure out whether their boss' secrecy is sinister or mundanely selfish. The Crime Blotter reviews the case of Barbara “Golden Boos” Erni, the 18th century thief who robbed Swiss inns aided by her prodigious strength and […]

In Gaming Hut we discuss organizing one's game mastering notes. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Sam Rutzick, the Horror Hut asks if Jacobin oppressor turned Napoleonic secret policeman Joseph Fouché was a vampire, and why he committed all those acts of vampirism. Only the combined efforts of the Cinema Hut and the Tradecraft […]

In the Gaming Hut we ask what it means for a rule to work. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Nicola Wilson, the Archaeology Hut investigates the chopping up of the alleged mummy of Constantine XI. Anyone who has Fun with Science knows the weird phenomenon of species with dwarf males. Ken and Robin […]

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen we gather the suspects in the Gaming Hut to ask how to make the revelation as compelling as the mystery. Estimable backer Benjamin Rawls beckons us into the Narrative Hut to wonder why some genres assume certain plot structures yet others do not. If you live in […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at optional rules. What does it mean to designate a rule as optional, and what rules are we likely to put in that bucket? The History Hut profiles 19th century utopian sect leader Barthélemy-Prosper Enfantin, who advocated for free love and the Suez Canal. Prompted from a question by […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks us to tell him more about the 2023 Irish weird folk music film All You Need Is Death, and how to use it as inspiration for a modern horror campaign. Ripped from the Headlines finds ghosts in a VR game for kids where you play […]

  The Gaming Hut gets a round table as beloved Patreon backer James Kiley seeks tips on mashing up Pendragon with Call of Cthulhu. At the behest of estimable backer Chad Ward, the Food Hut looks at the role a humble cured meat played in schism and war, in the Affair of the Sausages. Doughty […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at the optional scene paradox in adventure writing. The Weapon Hut gives us a rare chance to un-fun ruin, as we debunk claims that debunk the flail. In the Word Hut Robin tests Ken's knowledge of the often cheeky nicknames given to historical figures. Finally we step into the […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Tom Abella seeks tips on compiling historical reading lists to players. We don elaborate ruffs in the Tradecraft Hut to profile Jacobean spymaster Robert Cecil. Today we look at them as soulful giants of the sea, but to the medieval mind whales were terrifying, diabolical beasts worthy of […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Joshua Randall seeks tips on setting up a new campaign for success. Our latest Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else segment features Ken's chat with Daniel Harms, author of The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana  and editor of the definitive edition of the 19th century American grimoire The Long-Lost Friend. […]

In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Jörgen Blomberg suggests that there's something F20 games handle even worse than falling damage—injuries from exposure. We brave the chill with our thoughts on the subject. Not all western folk heroes became folk heroes. The Crime Blotter looks at the case of robber and ambusher Big Nose George […]

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Charles Picard, the Gaming Hut ponders cultural diaspora in F20 settings. The Archaeology Hut looks at a recent discovery in Denmark, an Iron Age house built on a foundation of weapons and armor. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features our chat with Nerdburger Games' Craig Campbell, […]

In the Gaming Hut Robin discusses his recently concluded Golden Age DC superheroes versus the Cthulhu mythos game. Travel Advisory recalls our visit to the British Museum's current Silk Roads exhibition. If we're thinking about stuff that happened while we were in London, longtime listeners know what that means: Ken's Bookshelf lovingly lists the purchases […]

As is our seasonal custom, we close our year with a live episode recorded at London's Dragonmeet. At the show's final outing in its longtime Hammersmith Novotel venue, Ken pulls off a revolutionary nerdtrope, and we field questions on the dangers of Tarot deck accumulation, the world's ineluctable spiral into chaos, and tricking Brussels sprouts […]

Make sure your ropes are securely fastened as the Gaming Hut asks: have we been doing falling damage wrong? In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, we talk to tabletop game designer of DIE: the Roleplaying Game fame (and sure, comics writer extraordinaire) Kieron Gillen. The Mythology Hut gets festive for an encounter with […]

In The Business of Gaming we check in on the state of crowdfunding through the lens of the recently concluded Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition campaign. There are ants, ants, ants as big as well they're quite small really but they've nearly completed a program of global conquest so Fun With Science takes a look […]

Ready your picks and jimmies as the Gaming Hut seeks fail forwards for one of the trickiest cases of all, the locked door. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken (and some crows) talk to fantasy, horror and SF writer Molly Tanzer. The Culture Hut covers the enigmatic, influential and Eliptony-adjacent theater experimenter […]

Get ready for more detail on the shag carpet than ever before as the Gaming Hut looks at the love some players have for non-interactive narration of their environment. The Crime Blotter investigates the 60s heroin trade and how it forms the linchpin of The Borellus Connection. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Gene […]

In the Gaming Hut we imagine an F20 world where powerful undead don't just drain levels, they sell them to the highest bidder. The Archaeology Hut checks out the latest tests on the Well-Man, a body found at Norway's Sverresborg Castle who matches an account from an 800 year old Norse saga. Finally Ken's Bookshelf […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Mark Waterhouse asks what could possibly go wrong if we let players perform their own in-world divinations. At the behest of estimable backer Martin Rundkvist the Tradecraft Hut investigates the heroic career of Polish-born WWII British operative Krystyna Skarbek. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features our […]

The Gaming Hut looks at the most despised medieval occupations and wonders what would happen if you actually wanted to reflect this in your F20 world. The History Hut covers a very strange fashion fracas, the 1922 New York City straw hat riots. In the Mythos Hut we dial up the scare factor on the […]

In the Gaming Hut we discuss the challenge of revised edition design. When you encounter an element you wouldn't build into a new system, how do you decide whether to replace it, or to respect the legacy and leave it in? The Horror Hut gets reflective as beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks for a […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Ryan McClelland argues that the Sailor is a fine Occupation that ought to be in Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition (now on Backerkit) and urges us to rebut him by listing even more such Occupations. With the 1930s still in mind, the Crime Blotter pulls the dossier on the […]

It's time to rattle some paper in the Gaming Hut as we discuss character sheet design. After that, a deluge, as the Archaeology Hut, at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Niclas Matikainen, studies the sunken city of Rungholt. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features game designer and military consultant for media and […]

In the Gaming Hut we build an F20 setting where everyone knows your level. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Derrick Yates the Tradecraft Hut profiles baseball player and spy Moe Berg. In the Food Hut we decide what to order for lunch at the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel in 1933. Finally the Consulting […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at the changes Ken did and didn't make in character creation for Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition. The Cinema Hut highlight's Robin's fantasy, horror and SF discoveries from the 3rd Annual Robin and Valerie International Film Festival. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else we chat with Taylor […]

Recorded live in a seminar room in the good Marriott at Gen Con, Ken and Robin talk the secret US-UK intergalactic financial war, chicken roasting secrets, our Indianapolis drinks of choice, a 1966 UFO incident and how to real-life investigate the real-life cult in your real-life hometown. Want to pose a question to the show? […]

This week the Gaming Hut populates the town of Locust Grove Oklahoma with gamemaster characters for a Trail of Cthulhu game. Beloved Patreon backer Andrew Bates convenes the History Hut for the story behind Kentucky's very specific, dare we say duel shy, oath of office. Completing our three-part Horror Hut miniseries on reality horror, estimable […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at ways to tell whether your group will thrive in a sandbox game. Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else features our chat with fast-rising board game designer Clarence Simpson, whose credits include The Wolves, A Message from the Stars, Chomp, and Merchants of Magick. Part two of our Horror […]

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Ian Carlsen, the Gaming Hut looks at ways to prepare for a technothriller game. The moment we learned of an increasingly ascendant Brazilian narco gang called the Bonde da Kabbalah, you know it was time to reach for the Crime Blotter. A three-part Horror Hut mini-series on reality […]

In the Gaming Hut we toss our ideas into beloved Patreon backer Shon Richards' Bookhounds of TimeWatch series concept. One of our favorite industry stalwarts, Peter Adkison, joins us in Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else to talk Gen Con TV, his world of Chaldea project, and the state of Gen Con. The Borellus […]

Your intrepid gaming reporters return from Gen Con 2024 to talk awards, tabletop industry trends and scuttlebutt and maybe a restaurant recommendation or two. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon! Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ludovic Chabant asks us what it means when a game mechanic is swingy. The Word Hut isn't having any of your cockamamie ackamarackus, because we're talking 1930s slang. The Food Hut extrapolates what the food scene in Yellow King: Aftermath looks like. Other than the well-established craze for […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen asks us to seek mythic inspiration for gaming scenarios. Estimable backer Derek Upham beckons us to the Tradecraft Hut for our take on the theory that infamous pirate Henry Every might have had a second covert career as a spy. The Mythology Hut investigates the shamir, the […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Toonspew asks us if it's time to stop worrying and love the total party kill. Estimable backer Hyperlexic urges us to shoo costumed devils out of the History Hut by looking at the scandal-brushed career of Los Angeles evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Ripped From the Headlines tackles the […]

Beloved Patreon backer Philip Masters invites a pack of bumblers into the Gaming Hut as he asks how one might run a series based around realistic incompetence in high places. Creep softly up to the Crime Blotter for the tale of prolific UK burglar Flannelfoot, aka Henry Vickers. The Cinema Hut doesn't have trouble getting […]

Gape in wonder at the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Steve Hammond asks how one might emulate the awe of the Jurassic Park dinosaur reveal scene at the gaming table. Well-traveled backers Ed Sizemore and Rafael Pabst journey to the Cartography Hut for the story of fictive medieval travel writer John Mandeville. The Monster […]

Due to a posting error the week previous, some pod apps ignored this episode as already read and did not download it. Apologies to those receiving the file a second time. In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ross Ireland asks gamemasters tips to use when the player characters receive an imaginary tome chock-full of […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ross Ireland asks gamemasters tips to use when the player characters receive an imaginary tome chock-full of information. The sun casts a burning eye on the Horror Hut when estimable backer Keelan O'Hea asks how to flip the switch and make daytime the scariest part of the day. […]

Beloved Patreon backer Noel Warford summons us to the Gaming Hut, asking how to coax more independence from one's players. Estimable backer Kevin Nault pries open the door to the Archaeology Hut to hear the very colorful story, or stories, surrounding the discovery of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts. The discovery of a planet with a […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ryan McClelland asks for tips on incorporating 1890s anarchists into The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. After many previous passing mentions, writer, explorer, scenester and cannibal William Seabrook finally becomes the subject of his own History Hut segment. Without the paper bag and cardboard box the grocery industry would […]

In the Gaming Hut we turn the rise of surreal online retailer Temu into a horror scenario hook. Beloved Patreon backer Ginge assigns the Tradecraft Hut to cough up the real dossier on the icy retrieval mission Project Coldfeet. Estimable backer Charles Picard requests the Culture Hut treatment for experimental filmmaker and Vodou researcher Maya […]

In the Gaming Hut, Ken turns the tables on Robin by springing a concept for a game on him. Eavesdrop on the process as they riff on Ley Brothers. The Crime Blotter reaches back into America's history of 19th century violence to cover the assassination of Kentucky governor William Goebel. In Ask Ken and Robin […]