Podcasts about besm

We sit down with Mark MacKinnon from Dyskami Games! We get insight from the creator of Anime 5e and BESM.    Anime 5E Beyonder Worlds (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dyskami/beyonder-worlds-galactic-realms-expansions-for-anime-5e?ref=user_menu)    Soldier Lune RPG: https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/d93f08ce-d21a-4085-a342-8db19af1c0aa/landing   https://linktr.ee/clashofkrits   Support us on https://patreon.com/ClashofKrits to get access to our after show "Late Night Traffic" and More!

Infomaniak partage les valeurs de Tech Café : éthique, écologie et respect de la vie privée. Découvrez les services de notre partenaire sur Infomaniak.comL'histoire de la tech durant les années 50 en Suède et en Europe de l'Est. ❤️ Patreon

ℹ️ Segment #1 of the 6 Dec 2020 RPG DIE GEST livestream.

Chess is a game that came out of 7th century India, originally called chaturanga. It evolved over time, perfecting the rules - and spread to the Persians from there. It then followed the Moorish conquerers from Northern Africa to Spain and from there spread through Europe. It also spread from there up into Russia and across the Silk Road to China. It's had many rule formations over the centuries but few variations since computers learned to play the game. Thus, computers learning chess is a pivotal time in the history of the game. Part of chess is thinking through every possible move on the board and planning a strategy. Based on the move of each player, we can review the board, compare the moves to known strategies, and base our next move on either blocking the strategy of our opponent or carrying out a strategy of our own to get a king into checkmate. An important moment in the history of computers is when computers got to the point that they could beat a chess grandmaster. That story goes back to an inspiration from the 1760s where Wolfgang von Kempelen built a machine called The Turk to impress Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. The Turk was a mechanical chess playing robot with a Turkish head in Ottoman robes that moved pieces. The Turk was a maze of cogs and wheals and moved the pieces during play. It travelled through Europe, beating the great Napoleon Bonaparte and then the young United States, also besting Benjamin Franklin. It had many owners and they all kept the secret of the Turk. Countless thinkers wrote about theories about how it worked, including Edgar Allen Poe. But eventually it was consumed by fire and the last owner told the secret. There had been a person in the box moving the pieces the whole time. All those moving parts were an illusion. And still in 1868 a knockoff of a knockoff called Ajeeb was built by a cabinet maker named Charles Hooper. Again, people like Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Houdini were bested, along with thousands of onlookers. Charles Gumpel built another in 1876 - this time going from a person hiding in a box to using a remote control. These machines inspired people to think about what was possible. And one of those people was Leonardo Torres y Quevedo who built a board that also had electomagnets move pieces and light bulbs to let you know when the king was in check or mate. Like all good computer games it also had sound. He started the project in 1910 and by 1914 it could play a king and rook endgame, or a game where there are two kings and a rook and the party with the rook tries to get the other king into checkmate. At the time even a simplified set of instructions was revolutionary and he showed his invention off at the Paris where notable other thinkers were at a conference, including Norbert Weiner who later described how minimax search could be used to play chess in his book Cybernetics. Quevedo had built an analytical machine based on Babbage's works in 1920 but adding electromagnets for memory and would continue building mechanical or analog calculating machines throughout his career. Mikhail Botvinnik was 9 at that point and the Russian revolution wound down in 1923 when the Soviet Union was founded following the fall of the Romanovs. He would become the first Russian Grandmaster in 1950, in the early days of the Cold War. That was the same year Claude Shannon wrote his seminal work, “Programming a Computer for Playing Chess.” The next year Alan Turing actually did publish executable code to play on a Ferranti Mark I but sadly never got to see it complete before his death. The prize to actually play a game would go to Paul Stein and Mark Wells in 1956 working on the MANIAC. Due to the capacity of computers at the time, the board was smaller but the computer beat an actual human. But the Russians were really into chess in the years that followed the crowing of their first grandmaster. In fact it became a sign of the superior Communist politic. Botvinnik also happened to be interested in electronics, and went to school in Leningrad University's Mathematics Department. He wanted to teach computers to play a full game of chess. He focused on selective searches which never got too far as the Soviet machines of the era weren't that powerful. Still the BESM managed to ship a working computer that could play a full game in 1957. Meanwhile John McCarthy at MIT introduced the idea of an alpha-beta search algorithm to minimize the number of nodes to be traversed in a search and he and Alan Kotok shipped A Chess Playing Program for the IBM 7090 Computer, which would be updated by Richard Greenblatt when moving from the IBM mainframes to a DEC PDP-6 in 1965, as a side project for his work on Project MAC while at MIT. Here we see two things happening. One we are building better and better search algorithms to allow for computers to think more moves ahead in smarter ways. The other thing happening was that computers were getting better. Faster certainly, but more space to work with in memory, and with the move to a PDP, truly interactive rather than batch processed. Mac Hack VI as Greenblatt's program would eventually would be called, added transposition tables - to show lots of previous games and outcomes. He tuned the algorithms, what we would call machine learning today, and in 1967 became the first computer program to defeat a person at the tournament level and get a chess rating. For his work, Greenblatt would become an honorary member of the US Chess Federation. By 1970 there were enough computers playing chess to have the North American Computer Chess Championships and colleges around the world started holding competitions. By 1971 Ken Thompson of Bell Labs, in a sign of the times, wrote a computer chess game for Unix. And within just 5 years we got the first chess game for the personal computer, called Microchess. From there computers got incrementally better at playing chess. Computer games that played chess shipped to regular humans, dedicated physical games, little cheep electronics knockoffs. By the 80s regular old computers could evaluate thousands of moves. Ken Thompson kept at it, developing Belle from 1972 and it continued on to 1983. He and others added move generators, special circuits, dedicated memory for the transposition table, and refined the alpha-beta algorithm started by McCarthy, getting to the point where it could evaluate nearly 200,000 moves a second. He even got the computer to the rank of master but the gains became much more incremental. And then came IBM to the party. Deep Blue began with researcher Feng-hsiung Hsu, as a project called ChipTest at Carnegie Mellon University. IBM Research asked Hsu and Thomas Anantharamanto complete a project they started to build a computer program that could take out a world champion. He started with Thompson's Belle. But with IBM's backing he had all the memory and CPU power he could ask for. Arthur Hoane and Murray Campell joined and Jerry Brody from IBM led the team to sprint towards taking their device, Deep Thought, to a match where reigning World Champion Gary Kasparov beat the machine in 1989. They went back to work and built Deep Blue, which beat Kasparov in their third attempt in 1997. Deep Blue was comprised of 32 RS/6000s running 200 MHz chips, split across two racks, and running IBM AIX - with a whopping 11.38 gigaflops of speed. And chess can be pretty much unbeatable today on an M1 MacBook Air, which comes pretty darn close to running at a teraflop. Chess gives us an unobstructed view at the emergence of computing in an almost linear fashion. From the human powered codification of electromechanical foundations of the industry to the emergence of computational thinking with Shannon and cybernetics to MIT on IBM servers when Artificial Intelligence was young to Project MAC with Greenblatt to Bell Labs with a front seat view of Unix to college competitions to racks of IBM servers. It even has little misdirections with pre-World War II research from Konrad Zuse, who wrote chess algorithms. And the mechanical Turk concept even lives on with Amazon's Mechanical Turk services where we can hire people to do things that are still easier for humans than machines.

Patrick and Bob compare and contrast episode 40 of Gundam Wing and G Gundam to learn what works and does not about each of them.  Patrick hates when things have titles, so he has chosen to give up his name. Bob, trying to appeal the salamander that lives in the toilet, builds an alter to the creature's ancesters . Lev tries to shackle the podcaster formerly known as Patrick with an embarrassing nickname. What devious name has he devised? Find out on this week's episode of Zaku Talk! E-mail the host as zakutalkcast@gmail.com World of Wong Kar-Wai box set available at: https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/4117-world-of-wong-kar-wai Anime 5E (formerly BESM): https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dyskami/anime-5e-fifth-edition-fantasy-role-playing-reimagined   Opening song - Erupting Burning Finger by Kohei Tanaka Ending song - Just Communication by Two-Mix Artwork by Kiley Mantis zaku, talk, gundam, skeyhill, quixotic, wing, g, skerry, communication, erupting, burning, finger, forty, nine, 40

Today I talk with the Dyskami Publishing's Founder, Content Creator and anime lover - Mark MacKinnon.We discuss the Anime 5E Kickstarter, BESM 4th Edition, Absolute Power and the future of Dyskami Publishing.You can find Mark MacKinnon and all of Dyskami Publishing content via the links below.Website: https://linktr.ee/dyskamihttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dyskami/anime-5e-fifth-edition-fantasy-role-playing-reimagined?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=anime%205eTwitter: https://twitter.com/dyskamiPlease leave reviews on ITunes to help us to learn and grow as a PodcastYours Sincerely,Adam 'Cosy' Powell~~~~~~~~~~CAST & CREWHost: Adam PowellGuest: Mark MacKinnonSound Design: Adam PowellMusic: Epidemic SoundCover Art: Tim Cunningham - www.Wix.com~~~~~~~~~~Website:https://linktr.ee/snydersreturnhttp://snydersreturn.squarespace.comSupport the podcast by joining our Patreon community where you'll gain access several hours of bonus episodes. At the "Celestial” tier you have the opportunity to submit NPC names and items to be used in the game!Visit https://www.patreon.com/snyders_return?fan_landing=trueAre you on DISCORD? Come hang out in our server! https://discord.gg/QgU5UNf Join us in the Snyder’s Return Facebook Group!Buy us a TTRPG Source Book: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SnydersReturn~~~~~~~~~~~Social Media:Twitter - https://twitter.com/ReturnSnyderInstagram -  Snyder's Return (@snyders_return)Email - snydersreturn@gmail.com~~~~~~~~~~~Support our Streamers across on Twitch:Sox_TGD: https://www.twitch.tv/sox_13/videos/allTyler Whatmore:  https://twitch.tv/llamakiller93 Become a Podcaster and Share your interests with others.Buzzsprout Podcast Host: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1010188Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/4u0qhi/Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SnydersReturn)

I just finished reading a book by Ben Peters called How Not To Network A Nation: The Uneasy History of the Soviet Internet. The book is an amazing deep dive into the Soviet attempts to build a national information network primarily in the 60s. The book covers a lot of ground and has a lot of characters, although the most recurring is Viktor Glushkov, and if the protagonist isn't the Russian scientific establishment, perhaps it is Viktor Glushkov. And if there's a primary theme, it's looking at why the Soviets were unable to build a data network that covered the Soviet Union, allowing the country to leverage computing at a micro and a macro scale  The final chapter of the book is one of the best summaries and most insightful I've ever read on the history of computers. While he doesn't directly connect the command and control heterarchy of the former Soviet Union to how many modern companies are run, he does identify a number of ways that the Russian scientists were almost more democratic, or at least in their zeal for a technocratic economy, than the US Military-Industrial-University complex of the 60s.   The Sources and Bibliography is simply amazing. I wish I had time to read and listen and digest all of the information that went into the making if this amazing book. And the way he cites notes that build to conclusions. Just wow. In a previous episode, we covered the memo, “Memorandum for Members and Affiliates of the Intergalactic Computer Network” - sent by JCR Licklider in 1963. This was where the US Advanced Research Projects Agency instigated a nationwide network for research. That network, called ARPAnet, would go online in 1969, and the findings would evolve and change hands when privatized into what we now call the Internet. We also covered the emergence of Cybernetics, which Norbert Wiener defined in 1948 as a the systems-based science of communication and automatic control systems - and we covered the other individuals influential in its development.  It's easy to draw a straight line between that line of thinking and the evolution that led to the ARPAnet. In his book, Peters shows how Glushkov uncovered cybernetics and came to the same conclusion that Licklider had, that the USSR needed a network that would link the nation. He was a communist and so the network would help automate the command economy of the growing Russian empire, an empire that would need more people managing it than there were people in Russia, if the bureaucracy continued to grow at a pace that was required to do the manual computing to get resources to factories and good to people. He had this epiphany after reading Wiener's book on cybernetics - which had been hidden away from the Russian people as American propaganda.  Glushkov's contemporary, Anatoly Kitov had come to the same realization back in 1959. By 1958 the US had developed the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment, or SAGE. The last of that equipment went offline in 1984. The environment was a system of networked radar equipment that could be used as eyes in the sky to detect a Soviet attack. It was crazy to think about that a few years ago, but think today about a radar system capable of detecting influence in elections and maybe notsomuch any more. SAGE linked computers built by IBM.  The Russians saw defense as cost prohibitive. Yet at Stalin's orders they began to develop a network of radar sites in a network of sorts around Moscow in the early 50s, extending to Leningrad. They developed the BESM-1 mainframe in 1952 to 1953 and while Stalin was against computing and western cybernetic doctrine outside of the military, as in America, they were certainly linking sites to launch missiles. Lev Korolyov worked on BESM and then led the team to build the ballistic missile defense system.  So it should come as no surprise that after a few years Soviet scientists like Glushkov and Kitov would look to apply military computing know-how to fields like running the economics of the country.  Kitov had seen technology patterns before they came. He studied nuclear physics before World War II, then rocketry after the war, and he then went to the Ministry of Defence at Bureau No 245 to study computing. This is where he came in contact with Wiener's book on Cybernetics in 1951, which had been banned in Russia at the time. Kitov would work on ballistic missiles and his reputation in the computing field would grow over the years. Kitov would end up with hundreds of computing engineers under his leadership, rising to the rank of Colonel in the military.  By 1954 Kitov was tasked with creating the first computing center for the Ministry of Defence. They would take on the computing tasks for the military. He would oversee the development of the M-100 computer and the transition into transistorized computers. By 1956 he would write a book called “Electronic Digital Computers” and over time, his views on computers grew to include solving problems that went far beyond science and the military. Running company Kitov came up with the Economic Automated Management System in 1959. This was denied because the military didn't want to share their technology. Khrushchev sent Brezhnev, who was running the space program and an expert in all things tech, to meet with Kitov. Kitov was suggesting they use this powerful network of computer centers to run the economy when the Soviets were at peace and the military when they were at war.  Kitov would ultimately realize that the communist party did not want to automate the economy. But his “Red Book” project would ultimately fizzle into one of reporting rather than command and control over the years.  The easy answer as to why would be that Stalin had considered computers the tool of imperialists and that feeling continued with some in the communist party. The issues are much deeper than that though and go to the heart of communism. You see, while we want to think that communism is about the good of all, it is irrational to think that people will act ways in their own self-interest. Microeconomics and macroeconomics. And automating command certainly seems to reduce the power of those in power who see that command taken over by a machine. And so Kitov was expelled from the communist party and could no longer hold a command.  Glushkov then came along recommending the National Automated System for Computation and Information Processing, or OGAS for short, in 1962. He had worked on computers in Kyiv and then moved to become the Director of the Computer Center in Ukraine at the Academy of Science. Being even more bullish on the rise of computing, Glushkov went further even added an electronic payment system on top of controlling a centrally planned economy. Computers were on the rise in various computer centers and other locations and it just made sense to connect them. And they did at small scales.  As was done at MIT, Glushkov built a walled garden of researchers in his own secluded nerd-heaven. He too made a grand proposal. He too saw the command economy of the USSR as one that could be automated with a computer, much as many companies around the world were employing ERP solutions in the coming decades.  The Glushkov proposal continued all the way to the top. They were able to show substantial return on investment yet the proposal to build OGAS was ultimately shot down in 1970 after years of development. While the Soviets were attempting to react to the development of the ARPAnet, they couldn't get past infighting. The finance minister opposed it and flatly refused. There were concerns about which ministry the system would belong to and basically political infighting much as I've seen at many of the top companies in the world (and increasingly in the US government).  A major thesis of the book is that the Soviet entrepreneurs trying to build the network acted more like capitalists than communists and Americans building our early networks acted more like socialists than capitalists. This isn't about individual financial gains though. Glushkov and Kitov in fact saw how computing could automate the economy to benefit everyone. But a point that Peters makes in the book is centered around informal financial networks. Peters points out that Blat, the informal trading of favors that we might call a black market or corruption, was common place. An example he uses in the book is that if a factory performs at 101% of expected production the manager can just slide under the radar. But if they perform at 120% then those gains will be expected permanently and if they ever dip below the expected productivity, they might meet a poor fate. Thus Blat provides a way to trade goods informally and keep the status quo. A computer doing daily reports would make this kind of flying under the radar of Gosplan, or the Soviet State Planning Committee difficult. Thus factory bosses would likely inaccurately enter information into computers and further the Tolchachs, or pushers, of Blat.  A couple of points I'd love to add onto those Peters made, which wouldn't be obvious without that amazing last paragraph in the book. The first is that I've never read Bush, Licklider, or any of the early pioneers claim computers should run a macroeconomy. The closest thing that could run a capitalist economy. And the New York Stock Exchange would begin the process of going digital in 1966 when the Dow was at 990. The Dow sat at about that same place until 1982. Can you imagine that these days? Things looked bad when it dropped to 18,500. And the The London Stock Exchange held out going digital until 1986 - just a few years after the dow finally moved over a thousand. Think about that as it hovers around $26,000 today. And look at the companies and imagine which could get by without computers running their company - much less which are computer companies. There are 2 to 6 billion trades a day. It would probably take more than the population of Russia just to push those numbers if it all weren't digital. In fact now, there's an app (or a lot of apps) for that. But the point is, going back to Bush's Memex, computers were to aid in human decision making. In a world with an exploding amount of data about every domain, Bush had prophesied the Memex would help connect us to data and help us to do more. That underlying tenant infected everyone that read his article and is something I think of every time I evaluate an investment thesis based on automation.  There's another point I'd like to add to this most excellent book. Computers developed in the US were increasingly general purpose and democratized. This led to innovative new applications just popping up and changing the world, like spreadsheets and word processors. Innovators weren't just taking a factory “online” to track the number of widgets sold and deploying ICBMs - they were foundations for building anything a young developer wanted to build. The uses in education with PLATO, in creativity with Sketchpad, in general purpose languages and operating systems, in early online communities with mail and bulletin boards, in the democratization of the computer itself with the rise of the pc and the rapid proliferation with the introduction of games, and then the democratization of raw information with the rise of gopher and the web and search engines. Miniaturized and in our pockets, those are the building blocks of modern society. And the word democratization to me means a lot. But as Peters points out, sometimes the Capitalists act like Communists. Today we close down access to various parts of those devices by the developers in order to protect people. I guess the difference is now we can build our own but since so many of us do that at #dayjob we just want the phone to order us dinner. Such is life and OODA loops. In retrospect, it's easy to see how technological determinism would lead to global information networks. It's easy to see electronic banking and commerce and that people would pay for goods in apps. As the Amazon stock soars over $3,000 and what Jack Ma has done with Alibaba and the empires built by the technopolies at Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and dozens of others. In retrospect, it's easy to see the productivity gains. But at the time, it was hard to see the forest through the trees. The infighting got in the way. The turf-building. The potential of a bullet in the head from your contemporaries when they get in power can do that I guess.  And so the networks failed to be developed in the USSR and ARPAnet would be transferred to the National Science Foundation in 1985, and the other nets would grow until it was all privatized into the network we call the Internet today, around the same time the Soviet Union was dissolved. As we covered in the episode on the history of computing in Poland, empires simply grow beyond the communications mediums available at the time. By the fall of the Soviet Union, US organizations were networking in a build up from early adopters, who made great gains in productivity increases and signaled the chasm crossing that was the merging of the nets into the Internet. And people were using modems to connect to message boards and work with data remotely. Ironically, that merged Internet that China has splinterneted and that Russia seems poised to splinter further. But just as hiding Wiener's cybernetics book from the Russian people slowed technological determinism in that country, cutting various parts of the Internet off in Russia will slow progress if it happens. The Soviets did great work on macro and micro economic tracking and modeling under Glushkov and Kitov. Understanding what you have and how data and products flow is one key aspect of automation. And sometimes even more important in helping humans make better-informed decisions. Chile tried something similar in 1973 under Salvador Allende, but that system failed as well.  And there's a lot to digest in this story. But that word progress is important. Let's say that Russian or Chinese crackers steal military-grade technology from US or European firms. Yes, they get the tech, but not the underlying principals that led to the development of that technology. Just as the US and partners don't proliferate all of their ideas and ideals by restricting the proliferation of that technology in foreign markets. Phil Zimmerman opened floodgates when he printed the PGP source code to enable the export of military-grade encryption. The privacy gained in foreign theaters contributed to greater freedoms around the world. And crime. But crime will happen in an oppressive regime just as it will in one espousing freedom.  So for you hackers tuning in - whether you're building apps, hacking business, or reingineering for a better tomorrow: next time you're sitting in a meeting and progress is being smothered at work or next time you see progress being suffocated by a government, remember that those who you think are trying to hold you back either don't see what you see, are trying to protect their own power, or they might just be trying to keep progress from outpacing what their constituents are ready for. And maybe those are sometimes the same thing, just from a different perspective. Because go fast at all costs not only leaves people behind but sometimes doesn't build a better mousetrap than what we have today. Or, go too fast and like Kitov you get stripped of your command. No matter how much of a genius you, or your contemporary Glushkov are. The YouTube video called “Internet of Colonel Kitov” has a great quote: “pioneers are recognized by the arrows sticking out of their backs.” But hey, at least history was on their side!  Thank you for tuning in to the History of Computing Podcast. We are so, so, so lucky to have you. Have a great day and I hope you too are on the right side of history!

Today I talk with the Creator of Big Eyes Small Mouth (BESM), Content Creator and founder of Dyskami Publishing about Anime, Tabletop Role-playing Games and the Tri-Stat System. You can find Mark MacKinnon and Dyskami Publishing via the links below.Twitter: https://twitter.com/dyskamiLinktree: https://linktr.ee/dyskamiPlease leave reviews on ITunes to help us to learn and grow as a PodcastYours Sincerely,Adam 'Cosy' Powell~~~~~~~~~~CAST & CREWHost: Adam PowellGuest: Mark MacKinnonSound Design: Adam PowellMusic: Epidemic SoundCover Art: www.Wix.com~~~~~~~~~~Website: http://snydersreturn.squarespace.comSupport the podcast by joining our Patreon community where you'll gain access several hours of bonus episodes. At the "Celestial” tier you have the opportunity to submit NPC names and items to be used in the game!Visit https://www.patreon.com/snyders_return?fan_landing=trueAre you on DISCORD? Come hang out in our server! https://discord.gg/QgU5UNf Join us in the Snyder’s Return Facebook Group!Buy us a TTRPG Source Book: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SnydersReturn~~~~~~~~~~~Social Media:Twitter - https://twitter.com/ReturnSnyderInstagram - Snyder's Return (@snyders_return)Email - snydersreturn@gmail.com~~~~~~~~~~~Support our Streamers across on Twitch:Sox_TGD: https://www.twitch.tv/sox_13/videos/allTyler Whatmore: https://twitch.tv/llamakiller93 Become a Podcaster and Share your interests with others.Buzzsprout Podcast Host: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1010188Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/4u0qhi/DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?affiliate_id=1643000Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/snyders_return?fan_landing=true)

Its time to D-d-d-d-d-d-d-ungeon and Dragon. Dragons? Ok, maybe just one! Not just DnD but all table tops are welcome at well... our tabletop! DnD, Pathfinder, BESM, Monster of the Week, Fate, and more! Let's see what stories and moments we can remember on this week's episode!

The guys discuss Wicked Pacts, BESM, and Disney Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @NoBigBanana Email us at nobigbanana@gmail.com Podcast Theme Music By Jasmine Rosa

It's another gaming news episode and we talk about all sorts of things including Pangea, Pathfinder 2.0, BESM 4th Edition, and X-Wing.

Five years after a demonic earthquake rocked Shinjuku, a group of thrill-seeking teenagers entire the infested ruins in search of money and fun...

Wicked Anime has been around for 150 episodes! Can you believe it? Why have you wasted so many of your limited hours of life on this show?!. . . IT’S TIME FOR A BRAND NEW RPG SPECIAL!!! In the tradition of a whole 50 episodes that have come and gone since our last RPG special, we figured it was time to bring it back for your listening pleasure. We will be using the BESM system once again to go out on a Goblin hunt!If you have no clue what we’re on about, be sure to check out the wild ride of this season, Goblin Slayer to get an understanding of the universe we are playing in. And trust us, it’s playing with fire!Join Jonstar, Andrew, Evan, Derek, Greg, and Roomie Raf as they talk about what’s happening in anime and Slay Goblins! PLUS – Apples, female elves?, and I draw my sword. . . See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Here at Passionerdly, we love anime. This month, we invited our friend and long-time anime fan, Sam, to join us in discussing the quintessential Japanese Anime RPG – Big Eyes, Small Mouth, or simply, BESM. Listen in for our thoughts, let us know if you’ve ever played BESM in any of its editions, and find links to purchase below! Hosts: John & Roxy Thompson Featuring: Sam Howard Check out Passionerdly at: passionerdly.com facebook.com/passionerdly Twitter/Instagram: @passionerdly, @roowerks, @passionerdlypds patreon.com/passionerdly teepublic.com/passionerdly Check out The Nerd’s Domain at: nerdsdom.com facebook.com/nerdsdomain twitter.com/nerdsdomain teepublic.com/user/nerdsdomain Wanna get your hands on this game? http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/24482/BESM-Big-Eyes-Small-Mouth-3rd-Edition?it=1 Music "Alien's Feast Loop" by zagi2, FreeSound.org  

Caution citizens! Nothing in this podcast is intended to make you abandon your car! While driving, please remain in your car no matter what you hear. There is more multiclassing in this episode as well as at least 6 of the eight kinds of fun.… Continue reading →

This week, we're (_rolls d20_) talking about fans of miniatures, monsters, magic and mayhem (and much much more); we're talking about fans of Tabletop RPGs! What is it, exactly, about these fictional worlds that draw people in, and why are they becoming so popular? Next week, we'll have special guest, Amin, of [a Podcast of Ice and Fire](http://podcastoficeandfire.com/) joining us to talk about fans of the Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire series! ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **Origins:** Tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) have a long and storied history starting with wargaming... which itself has its roots in even older strategy games like Chess (which originated from Chaturanga, an ancient Indian game). Chess gave way to variants of Chess, which gave way to more modern wargames like Kriegsspiel (literally "war game" in German; used for training German and Prussian armies)... which eventually gave way to games like Chainmail, the precursor to Dungeons and Dragons — the archetypical tabletop RPG. Depending on how you want to measure history, that puts the origin of Tabletop RPGs somewhere between 1974 (the first published edition of Dungeons and Dragons) and the 6th century AD. For our purposes, we'll use Dungeons and Dragons as the origin of Tabletop RPGs. Most Tabletop RPGs use some set of rules (that vary in complexity) where participants describe their character's actions (different from wargaming where each participant takes the role of military). Sometimes there are dice. Sometimes there are lots of tables. Sometimes pen and paper are necessary. There is a _lot_ of variation. And is no shortage of gaming systems, like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulu, GURPS, BESM, Vampire: The Masquerade, or Shadowrun, to name a few. **Most Active:** Given that Tabletop RPGs are a class of games that have existed since the 70s, it is a bit harder to get an idea of the popularity and activity of them over time. Using [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F026q9,%2Fm%2F04dzk1_,%2Fm%2F0mbr2,%2Fm%2F081yd) data for Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Warhammer 40k, and War gaming gives us some approximation though. Dungeons and Dragons was probably most popular around the time of its 'moral panic', but using the data we have, it has been on the decline since 2004 (most popular period)... but is back on the upswing since approximately 2012. **Around the world:** The top 10 countries searching for Dungeons and Dragons, but the same Google Trends data, are: Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Sweeden, and the United Kingdom. **Size of Fandom:** It is extremely hard to estimate the size of the fandom given how loosely we've defined it. That being said, it can still be estimated: - In _What happened to Dungeons and Dragons?_ it is estimated that 20 million people have played the game - [Obsidian Portal](https://www.obsidianportal.com/), a site where you can create your own campaign online, has over 100 000 campaigns - Roll20, a popular tabletop gaming tool, had a sample size of over 73 000 players for its [Q1 2017 industry report](http://blog.roll20.net/post/159952619415/the-orr-group-industry-report-q1-2017) - Attendance at Gen Con (the largest Tabletop Game convention in North America) had over 60 000 attendees in 2016 **Fan Demographics:** We came across several fan surveys, all of which seemed limited. The most recent one, which we stumbled upon via the RPG subreddit, had some demographic information in its 307 responses (you can find the survey [here](http://msmcilvride.com/the-big-rpg-survey/)). - **Age:** Most gamers were between 18-25 (42.3%); the second largest group was folks ages 26-35 (39.7%) - **Gender:** The majority of respondents (88.3%) identified as male, with 9.8% identifying as female - **Tenure:** The largest group of respondents have been playing for 11-20

Fire n Dice wants to share your podcast information and help spread the word to others.In exchange, take this promo to add to your podcast.

Our troopers continue on their way to locate the sleepers and liberate them from their holding facility. Blue are all around them, battering their defenses from all sides, reducing their armor to its last strands. Will their mission be a success? Who will survive and who will become bug food? Find out in this conclusion to Blue Gender.

After 30 years in hibernation, our troopers have awakened to a nightmare of giant killer alien bugs invading and destroying earth. Resistance forces have set up a safe haven in an orbital space station named Earth 2, but supplies are limited, manpower is limited, and humanity is on the brink of extinction. Will our troopers succeed in this last desperate mission? Find out in Blue Gender played at ApolloCon 2014.

The conclusion to the Gurren Lagann module of Tenra Bansho Zero goes out with a bang. Listen in to see how it ends, and don't forget to sign up for ApolloCon if you want to be in the next episodes of Fire n Dice as we bring Attack on Titan Cinema, Baccano Double Cross, and the newest Blue Gender.

This week on You Don't Meet in an Inn, we have the final part of a game run in "Big Eyes, Small Mouth", a system designed by Mark C. Mackinnion and published by White Wolf Publishing. This week features the players Christine Blight, Tristan Clark, Sarah Larock, and Niamh Malcolm. Austin Ramsay acts as the ever suffering G.M. You can find BESM 3e here! ADVENTURE TIME and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Cartoon Network GREEN LANTERN © Warner Bros. Entertainment. GREEN LANTERN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics, Inc. All rights reserved. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Paramount Pictures. MRS. DOUBTFIRE and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation You can contact us at youdontmeetinaninn@gmail.com or via Twitter @notaninn.

This week on You Don't Meet in an Inn, Christine Blight and Austin Ramsay discuss "Big Eyes, Small Mouth", a system designed by Mark C. Mackinnion and published by White Wolf Publishing and sit you through a character creation of Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time. You can find BESM 3e here! ADVENTURE TIME and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Cartoon Network You can contact us at youdontmeetinaninn@gmail.com or via Twitter @notaninn.

This week on You Don't Meet in an Inn, we have the first part of a game run in "Big Eyes, Small Mouth", a system designed by Mark C. Mackinnion and published by White Wolf Publishing. This week features the players Christine Blight, Tristan Clark, Sarah Larock, and Niamh Malcolm. Austin Ramsay acts as the ever suffering G.M. You can find BESM 3e here! ADVENTURE TIME and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Cartoon Network GREEN LANTERN © Warner Bros. Entertainment. GREEN LANTERN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics, Inc. All rights reserved. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Paramount Pictures. MRS. DOUBTFIRE and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation You can contact us at youdontmeetinaninn@gmail.com or via Twitter @notaninn.

This week on You Don't Meet in an Inn, we have the second part of a game run in "Big Eyes, Small Mouth", a system designed by Mark C. Mackinnion and published by White Wolf Publishing. This week features the players Christine Blight, Tristan Clark, Sarah Larock, and Niamh Malcolm. Austin Ramsay acts as the ever suffering G.M. You can find BESM 3e here! ADVENTURE TIME and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Cartoon Network GREEN LANTERN © Warner Bros. Entertainment. GREEN LANTERN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics, Inc. All rights reserved. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Paramount Pictures. MRS. DOUBTFIRE and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation You can contact us at youdontmeetinaninn@gmail.com or via Twitter @notaninn.

This is the story of a man who has realized his destiny, defeated the Spiral King and reclaimed the earth, who battled against the Anti-Spiralists, snatched victory from impossible odds, and in his final days brought unified peace to the entire universe.In this first episode of Tenra Bansho Zero, we bring you Gurren Lagann, the tale of five ordinary people who found within themselves extraordinary spirit in a world of adversity. The story of Simon and Kamina continues after the events of the anime series where new worlds have opened up and in twenty years time will all have allied to bring about universal peace. But what happened in that span of twenty years? That's what we are here to find out. Join us for amazing adventure, giant mechs, big guns, huge monsters, and epic monologues. This is TBZ: Gurren Lagann. Just who the hell do you think we are!?!

One attack after another keeps hitting the financial heart of Tokyo. Section 9 has their hands full trying to clean up the mess and save innocent civilians. Will they be able to locate the source of this threat? Find out in the conclusion to Ghost in the Shell as played through 3:16 Carnage Among the Stars at Space City Con in Galveston, TX.

Unexplained tech has been going haywire and attacking the heart of Japan's economic industry. Section 9 is sent in to protect the citizens and to put a stop to the eco-terrorism. This session was played using 3:16 Carnage Among the Stars game mechanics at Space City Con in Galveston, TX.

Welcome to Alpha Elementary, where the students are handpicked for enrollment and are trained to become the next leaders of the world. It is your last day before graduation and time for the awards ceremony, when something goes wrong. Will you face your fears and take your place among the leadership elite?This episode of Fire n Dice comes to you from Owlcon 2013 and is played through using Monsters and Other Childish Things rule set. This intro episode runs smoothly and is a great start to what could become a wonderful campaign. As you'll see in later episodes, however, the time constraints of running a four hour convention game tend to rush story, but a fun time was still had by all.

As we come to the conclusion of our convention game, I want to thank everyone at Owlcon for putting on such a wonderful event. I'm so excited to get to be a part of it all, but it's thanks to the wonderful coordinators that I get to meet so many new and different gamers from around the Houston area. Stay tuned for the next upload, Shin Megami Tensei (where we go off the rails and just have fun summarizing a game that was really way too big for a four hour slot...oops, that's just me with too many ideas and not enough time.) Also, Fire n Dice will be at Delta H Con in July, so come find me there. We're playing a much shorter Shin Megami Tensei in possibly a different system, and I will be trying my hand at the word and story game of Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple. And lastly, check out our facebook page and like us. We want to keep in touch with all our fans and would love to build so many more. So, until next game, keep your dice on the table or we'll light 'em up. 

The main characters have all been introduced. As the mystery begins to unfold they all see that they are connected to the events happening in town.  Will they work together or will centuries of mistrust and sordid past have them fighting each other?I had lots of fun running again in the world of Kamigan and its newest neighbor countries.  One issue with running a convention game, though, that I still have yet to fully master is timing.  At a convention your game is limited to four hours, and I get so excited to run a game in my fantasy world that there are just too many plot hooks and stories I want players to enjoy.  At the same time, the players have fun interacting with each other in character that sometimes the story doesn't progress as quickly.In this episode you'll hear how the players get into character and enjoy interacting with the other players and their characters.  As a GM I try to encourage this role playing to a point, so long as it doesn't deviate too far from the game, but I always end up with more for them to play out than I have time for.  I would love to have made this convention game into two or even three sessions.

We start off the new year in a new land. Ningen have ventured out beyond Kamigan into a godless land named Marukah. The frontier is harsh, unforgiving, and the land holds a secret that the natives fight to protect.  There is an evil that has been awakened and the citizens of Ferotown must work with the natives and the Shinsengumi both if everyone is to survive.It has been a year since Fire n Dice has had a recording. Times have been tough, but I'm happy to bring you more in the ever expanding world of Asian fantasy, now mixed with Western frontier. Look for many new episodes and projects to come in the near future. Thank you for listening.Hosted by Kiwi6 file hosting. Download mp3 - Free Music Hosting.

It's been a long time since the last time I've posted and this year has been a real test on everyone. Just so you know, I haven't been on the blog site because I'm still trying to put together a solid gaming group, which isn't always easy, but I have been busy in the meantime. So let me just go over a few things that I've been working on and will hopefully have much more for you as 2013 approaches. First off, Owlcon 2013 is coming up mid February and I will be running Monsters and Other Childish Things as one of my games. I'm running a modded version of it I developed based off the Shin Megami Tensei line of Japanese games. The two games just seemed to complement each other. If you're not familiar with the series, it centers around a group of kids, usually teenagers, who get a strange program on their phone that allows them to summon demons as the world around them is being destroyed. The players use demons to fight other demons and uncover a dark and interesting story. The second game I'm running is Big Eyes Small Mouth, and this time I'll be running in my frontier setting of Marukah. It's called Six Gun Samurai and you play as warriors sent in to investigate strange happenings in a small town. If you've ever seen Sukiyaki Wester Django you'll have an idea of the kind of setting I'm going for. After I get those time sensitive projects taken care of, I have two stories I'm in the process of writing, two game systems I'm working on writing up and publishing, a group I'm putting together for more campaigns and recordings, and continually developing the world I began with Anima so long ago. I will keep you updated as more becomes available. As for recordings, check back after Owlcon, or if I can get players together, much sooner. Believe me I want to play again, too.

1st Anniversary Prize to 1st itunes reviewer. Welcome back to Kamigan via Owlcon as our players continue their quest to keep the town of Cua safe, but a new threat arises as they finally meet up with the mysterious Ghost Fox.Happy Anniversary to Fire n Dice, it has been a full year since we began this adventure and as such I will be awarding a copy of BESM 2nd edition to the first itunes reviewer (in the continental US). All you have to do is be the first to write a review (preferably a positive one) in itunes and send a copy of that review with your name and mailing address to yuureighost@gmail.com and I will ship out your prize. Limited time only, good through Feb 29, 2012. So spread the word, tell your friends, and come join us at the next con. Rumour has it you might find us at Delta H con this June, stay tuned for more information. Hosted by kiwi6.com file hosting. Download mp3 - Free File Hosting.

Kamigan adventures return, this time through Big Eyes Small Mouth at Owlcon. New adventurers emerge to defend their home village of Cua while the rest of the country travels to the Imperial City to witness the Emperor's Coronation. Our guest players are (from left to right) Mikala, Alex, Jeff, Ghost (that's me in the middle), James, Derek, Kevin, and Hero is off screen taking the picture. Hosted by kiwi6.com file hosting.Download mp3 - Free File Hosting.

Reseña del juego de rol de manga y anime BESM de la extinta editorial Guardians of Order

Our players are confronted with brujos from Sinaloa, their pursuers since the events that they cannot recall. How will they survive such a devastating attack?Also, after this episode was recorded, the players have decided to take a break for holiday events, faire, and preparing for a new family addition. It is undetermined yet when this storyline will continue. Fire n Dice is looking for new players to continue the Kamigan storyline, so leave a comment if you are interested and live in the area. Be sure to find us spinning fire at Renfaire campgrounds, enjoying Oni-con for the first time Oct. 28-30th, and out at Owlcon where I will be running BESM set in the Kamigan universe, and UA set in Sinaloa where our favorite villains originated. Until next time... Hosted by kiwi6.com file hosting. Download mp3 - Free File Hosting.

After their meeting with Malcolm, our players decide the first step in finding out what they can't remember is to head back to the Menninger Clinic and confront Dr. John Carver. They have no idea what is waiting for them. Hosted by kiwi6.com file hosting. Download mp3 - Free File Hosting.

The players sit down and have a discussion on the direction of the group. Jester has great plans for a new campaign, one that sounds rather exciting to play, and will be a welcome relief to me, seeing as how I GM more often than I get to play. I introduce a new system to continue the Kamigan campaign I began with Anima.Fire n Dice began as a means to separate itself from Swing and a Miss initially by hosting campaign episodes. We still plan on keeping to that ideal, but things have to change, as they often do. At first we planned on Anima, Wild Talents, and Dragonlance, but I was forced to change headings and fill in with Unknown Armies. Now it appears that the Wild Talents game will be put on hold until further notice, but in its place Jester will be running a new campaign, either for the UA group, or a new group entirely plus Jester and myself. (I am Ghost, by the way, just in case.) Listen to this short episode as we discuss the months ahead in store for Fire n Dice. Hosted by kiwi6.com file hosting. Download mp3 - Free File Hosting.

With no memory of the last few days, our players must figure out who they can trust and what their enemy is after. Mysterious voices, trashed homes, uncontrolled visions, and strange music are their only clues as they begin searching for the truth.This storyline Mega Death is written by Ghost in collaboration with the FnD players, Javar, Jamie, Ashley, Hero, and Jester. Intro song "El Calmaninos" by El Calmaninos is provided under a creative commons 3.0 license and can be found on Jamendo . Hosted by kiwi6.com file hosting. Download mp3 - Free File Hosting.

After waking up in a mental hospital with no memory of the past few days, our players team up, investigate why they're here to begin with, and quickly try and find a way out. Hosted by kiwi6.com music upload.Download mp3 - Upload music.

Imagine you wake up in a bed that is not your own, in a room you don't recognize, you barely even remember who you are, and a tv screen comes on with a video you don't remember recording of you speaking directly to yourself watching the video and telling you who you really are. That is what happened to Javar, Freya, Lilith, Patrick, and Ben in this introduction episode of Greg Stolze's Unknown Armies.This storyline Mega Death is written by Ghost in collaboration with the FnD players, Javar, Jamie, Ashley, Hero, and Jester. Intro song "El Calmaninos" by El Calmaninos is provided under a creative commons 3.0 license and can be found on Jamendo . Hosted by kiwi6.com music upload.Download mp3 - Upload music.

We begin our first session with Nyxth, an Oni ranger played by Hero, Giri, an Oni weaponsmaster played by Ball-z, and Mofar, a human illusionist played by Mono, as they travel to the Imperial Circle for the largest celebration in over 50 years in honor of the new Emperor's coronation. On the way they meet X'iang, an elderly Tanuki, who invites them to share stories in a cave by a fire while passing time through a snowstorm. Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.Download mp3

Jump straight into action with Ace played by Ball-z, Pham played by Ghost, and Church played by Mono, as Hero brings you the missions of H.U.N.T. in Velo City. Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload. Download mp3

This is an intro promo to test itunes and kiwi6 compatibility with Fire n Dice. Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.Download mp3

Storytime continues... Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.Download mp3

This episode is for the technical gurus who want to learn more about Anima combat mechanics. Because the system is complex and covers many different possibilities and powers in combat, we spent more time learning and perfecting the mechanics and less time on story flair. If you want to hear more story, stay tuned for the next episode which will be posting soon, and will conclude this session and begin session 3. Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.Download mp3

Our heroes have survived their first battle. How will they make it past the border guards, and what other colorful characters await them down the road they travel and into the town of Kagi? Find out in Anima, session 3. Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.Download mp3

Our heroes learn the benefits of meditation and decide to take Hong and Fong up on their offer to explore a nearby sealed off temple set into a mountain. Traps, ghosts, and dragons await them. Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.Download mp3

Can our heroes survive their first encounter with a real monster? Find out when they face off against a baby earth dragon. Do you think they could survive without the help from their korobokuru friends, Hong and Fong? Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.Download mp3

You ready? You gotta be quick to catch sight of one. Here they come...Ninjas!!! There are two of them, and they are powerful. Did you see them? Look again. Don't worry if you missed them, there will be plenty more to come in later episodes, so stay tuned. Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.Download mp3

This is the conclusion of the Prologue Arc where our heroes take some much needed vacation from adventuring and fighting, lots of drinking, singing, playing games, and meeting with important figures from across Kamigan to determine in what direction they want their lives to head. We will return to more adventures in Anima: Beyond Fantasy after Hero's Wild Talents campaign, coming up next. So stay tuned. Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.Download mp3

Our heroes find trouble waiting for them on the road into the Imperial Circle, their pasts come to haunt them. Join FnD as we explore the combat mechanics of Anima: Beyond Fantasy for the first time. Hosted by kiwi6.com free mp3 upload.Download mp3

Oh no, you can see us now!!!

Hello to all my readers, listeners and gamers!Do I have a fully-packed podcast for you! In fact, there was so much information that it took me until now to be able to release this podcast for your enjoyment! Please feel free to comment on what you hear, check out the great links provided, and I hope you'll leave a comment! Also, feel free to send me feedback at RPGShowcase@gmail.com.-=================================================-First off, Jude Thaddaeus of Crochet For Men's podcast did all my intros for me. Please check out his podcast as well at http://crochetformen.blogspot.com-=================================================-In this, my first official podcast, you will hear: News stories pertinent to all my listeners Quite a lot of informtion on Fudge (and some games that use the system) An interview with Tim Huntley, owner of Domibia Games A bi-weekly feature: Game Tip of the Episode A FREE item for you all to enjoy -=================================================- NEWS -=================================================-Here are the promised links from my podcast during the news section:Dungeons & Dragons II: Wrath of the Dragon God as covered by: Wizard Magazine SciFi Pictures Gamers II: Dorkness Rising Goodman Games (email: goodmangames@mindspring.com) Dead Gentlemen Productions (email: Paige.Barnett@deadgentlemen.com) Domibia Games & Seraphim Guard merger Homepage China's new law reguarding online roleplaying time limits-=================================================- FUDGE -=================================================-Links for the information I provided on the Fudge RPG system: Fudge homepage Baby's First Fudge Dice Steve Jackson Game's 'TOON' RPG Fudge Factor Magazine Gatecrasher! Heartquest: Romatic Roleplaying in the worlds of shoujo manga Now Playing from Carnivore Games Hack-N-Slash, from Digital Alchemy -=================================================- Interview with Tim Huntley -=================================================- Hello Tim! Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.My pleasure, Mike. I am honored to be here.And we're happy you are here, too. Let's get started. Can you please tell us more about the Domibia and Seraphim Guard merger?It actually started a lot longer ago than the press release indicates. After Seraphim Guard, Inc. effectively disbanded leaving Michael (Hopcroft) with the business and a few products, my wheels started turning. I'd always wanted something better for Domibia Games, and I thought it such a crime that Seraphim Guard -- one of the first commercial Fudge publishers -- was on the verge of oblivion, with it's key product -- HeartQuest -- in someone else's handsSo I purchased all of Michael's interest in Seraphim Guard, thinking that as majority shareholder I'd quickly get voted in as President, and I could start putting the pieces back together again. Sadly, I could not have been more mistaken. It was an uphill battle, and without the assistance of William Andersen, of Comstar Games I would have long ago backed out of the deal.With William's help, I was able to consolidate the assets of Seraphim Guard, Inc. with Domibia Games, and transfer them all into Seraphim Guard, LLC, a new company formed specifically to house the merger.Why did the merger happen?Honestly? I didn't want to see Seraphim Guard and HeartQuest disappear. I felt that Seraphim Guard needed strong management and that HeartQuest should be a Seraphim Guard product. I made it my mission to see that happen.Why did you want to merge with Seraphim Guard?There's actually a little method to my madness here. First off, the obvious reasons -- Seraphim Guard was in dire straits, and I knew I could get it back on track. Beyond that, Domibia Games had Gatecrasher -- the first complete, commercial RPG based on the Fudge System. Seraphim Guard was one of the first commercial Fudge publishers, with another of the first complete, commercial RPGs based on the Fudge System -- HeartQuest. Having two such renowned Fudge products under the banner of a mature Fudge publishing house -- Seraphim Guard -- seemed like an excellent foundation for one heck of a game company.What are the benefits to the gamer due to this merger?The main benefit is that the HeartQuest and Gatecrasher fans out there will see renewed interest in, and support for, their favorite game lines. In addition, we've got the right people in the right places to run the business and develop new games. In short, Seraphim Guard is back, isn't going anywhere, and is stronger than ever.What is your interest in the HeartQuest and Steel Roses books?There's actually two answers to that question. Primarily I'm somewhat of an anime neophyte. Through HeartQuest, Steel Roses, and the guidance of my staff, I am learning more and more every day about this exciting genre. I'm learning that what I once thought were cheap, mass-produced cartoons are actually a very refined and dynamic art form, every bit as engaging as any multi-million dollar Hollywood extravaganza. Secondarily, these products are, in my opinion, cornerstones of the commercial Fudge market.Tell us a little bit about the combination package now available on RPGNow.Ah, the HeartQuest Anime/Shoujo Bundle. Basically, this bundle is made up of both the HeartQuest Core Rules -- the essential rules to role-play romance, intrigue and adventure in the worlds of shoujo manga -- and Steel Roses: the HeartQuest Guide to Mecha, packaged as one complete product. With the HeartQuest Anime/Shoujo Bundle you can immerse yourself and your players in any shoujo or anime scenario you can imagine.The financial struggles that are currently plaguing Guardians of Order are are no secret, and they've had to push back the release of BESM 3rd Edition to December. While I hate to see that happen to our friends at GoO (Seraphim Guard is a member of the Magnum Opus program for both BESM d20 and Tri-Stat dX) it does leave an opening in the market for a good, solid anime RPG. I think the HeartQuest Anime/Shoujo Bundle -- and the upcoming HeartQuest Second Edition slated for release in 2006 -- are prime contenders to fill that opening.Could you explain the benefits of buying this combination online RIGHT NOW at RPGNow?It would make me really happy? (Laughs) The main benefit is that the HeartQuest Anime/Shoujo Bundle is VERY inexpensive -- it's priced to move at only $9.95 on RPGNow.com for both HeartQuest Core Rules and Steel Roses. That's quite a bargain. The other benefit is that with those two volumes, you have everything you need to enter our HeartQuest Setting Search -- we need sample settings for HeartQuest Second Edition, and we'd like our HeartQuest fans to write them. We're hoping to select three total settings for HeartQuest Second Edition; those that are selected will be a part of the HeartQuest Second Edition book and the author will get a royalty-free license to the HeartQuest trademarks for expanding their setting and/or developing support materials for it. Details are, of course, available on our website.Well, once again thank you for taking the time to hear our questions and giving some great and informative answers.It's been a pleasure, Mike, and I look forward to our interview in two weeks. Sorry about the negative four die roll on remembering my mic!Again, if you did not catch it, please Click Here to get the HeartQuest bundle for $9.95!! -=================================================- Free Item -=================================================-Ultimate Total Party KillerThat wraps up this episode. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I will see you all in two weeks!

This week, we're (_rolls d20_) talking about fans of miniatures, monsters, magic and mayhem (and much much more); we're talking about fans of Tabletop RPGs! What is it, exactly, about these fictional worlds that draw people in, and why are they becoming so popular? Next week, we'll have special guest, Amin, of [a Podcast of Ice and Fire](http://podcastoficeandfire.com/) joining us to talk about fans of the Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire series! ## Episode outline ### Fandom Facts **Origins:** Tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) have a long and storied history starting with wargaming... which itself has its roots in even older strategy games like Chess (which originated from Chaturanga, an ancient Indian game). Chess gave way to variants of Chess, which gave way to more modern wargames like Kriegsspiel (literally "war game" in German; used for training German and Prussian armies)... which eventually gave way to games like Chainmail, the precursor to Dungeons and Dragons — the archetypical tabletop RPG. Depending on how you want to measure history, that puts the origin of Tabletop RPGs somewhere between 1974 (the first published edition of Dungeons and Dragons) and the 6th century AD. For our purposes, we'll use Dungeons and Dragons as the origin of Tabletop RPGs. Most Tabletop RPGs use some set of rules (that vary in complexity) where participants describe their character's actions (different from wargaming where each participant takes the role of military). Sometimes there are dice. Sometimes there are lots of tables. Sometimes pen and paper are necessary. There is a _lot_ of variation. And is no shortage of gaming systems, like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulu, GURPS, BESM, Vampire: The Masquerade, or Shadowrun, to name a few. **Most Active:** Given that Tabletop RPGs are a class of games that have existed since the 70s, it is a bit harder to get an idea of the popularity and activity of them over time. Using [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F026q9,%2Fm%2F04dzk1_,%2Fm%2F0mbr2,%2Fm%2F081yd) data for Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, Warhammer 40k, and War gaming gives us some approximation though. Dungeons and Dragons was probably most popular around the time of its 'moral panic', but using the data we have, it has been on the decline since 2004 (most popular period)... but is back on the upswing since approximately 2012. **Around the world:** The top 10 countries searching for Dungeons and Dragons, but the same Google Trends data, are: Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Sweeden, and the United Kingdom. **Size of Fandom:** It is extremely hard to estimate the size of the fandom given how loosely we've defined it. That being said, it can still be estimated: - In _What happened to Dungeons and Dragons?_ it is estimated that 20 million people have played the game - [Obsidian Portal](https://www.obsidianportal.com/), a site where you can create your own campaign online, has over 100 000 campaigns - Roll20, a popular tabletop gaming tool, had a sample size of over 73 000 players for its [Q1 2017 industry report](http://blog.roll20.net/post/159952619415/the-orr-group-industry-report-q1-2017) - Attendance at Gen Con (the largest Tabletop Game convention in North America) had over 60 000 attendees in 2016 **Fan Demographics:** We came across several fan surveys, all of which seemed limited. The most recent one, which we stumbled upon via the RPG subreddit, had some demographic information in its 307 responses (you can find the survey [here](http://msmcilvride.com/the-big-rpg-survey/)). - **Age:** Most gamers were between 18-25 (42.3%); the second largest group was folks ages 26-35 (39.7%) - **Gender:** The majority of respondents (88.3%) identified as male, with 9.8% identifying as female - **Tenure:** The largest group of respondents have been playing for 11-20