Podcasts about Steve Jackson Games

Matt Forbeck is all that and so much more. He grew up in Wisconsin as what he describes as a wimpy kid, too short and not overly healthy. He took to gaming at a pretty early age and has grown to be a game creator, author and award-winning storyteller.   Matt has been designing games now for over 35 years. He tells us how he believes that many of the most successful games today have stories to tell, and he loves to create some of the most successful ones. What I find most intriguing about Matt is that he clearly is absolutely totally happy in his work. For most of Matt's career he has worked for himself and continues today to be an independent freelancer.   Matt and his wife have five children, including a set of quadruplets. The quadruplets are 23 and Matt's oldest son is 28 and is following in his father's footsteps.   During our conversation we touch on interesting topics such as trust and work ethics. I know you will find this episode stimulating and worth listening to more than once.     About the Guest:   Matt Forbeck is an award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author and game designer of over thirty-five novels and countless other books and games. His projects have won a Peabody Award, a Scribe Award, and numerous ENnies and Origins Awards. He is also the president of the Diana Jones Award Foundation, which celebrates excellence in gaming.    Matt has made a living full-time on games and fiction since 1989, when he graduated from the Residential College at the University of Michigan with a degree in Creative Writing. With the exception of a four-year stint as the president of Pinnacle Entertainment Group and a year and a half as the director of the adventure games division of Human Head Studios, he has spent his career as an independent freelancer.   Matt has designed collectible card games, roleplaying games, miniatures games, board games, interactive fiction, interactive audiobooks, games for museum installations, and logic systems for toys. He has directed voiceover work and written short fiction, comic books, novels, screenplays, and video game scripts and stories. His work has been translated into at least 15 languages.   His latest work includes the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Core Rulebook, the Spider-Verse Expansion, Monster Academy (novels and board game), the Shotguns & Sorcery 5E Sourcebook based on his novels, and the Minecraft: Roll for Adventure game books. He is the father of five, including a set of quadruplets. He lives in Beloit, Wisconsin, with his wife and a rotating cast of college-age children. For more about him and his work, visit Forbeck.com.   Ways to connect with Matt:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/mforbeck Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forbeck Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/forbeck.com Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mforbeck Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mforbeck/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/forbeck/ Website: https://www.forbeck.com/     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset today. We get to play games. Well, not really, but we'll try. Our guest is Matt Forbeck, who is an award winning author. He is a game designer and all sorts of other kinds of things that I'm sure he's going to tell us about, and we actually just before we started the the episode, we were talking about how one might explore making more games accessible for blind and persons with other disabilities. It's, it's a challenge, and there, there are a lot of tricks. But anyway, Matt, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here.   Matt Forbeck ** 02:02 Well, thank you, Michael for inviting me and having me on. I appreciate it.   Speaker 1 ** 02:06 I think we're going to have a lot of fun, and I think it'll work out really well. I'm I am sure of that. So why don't we start just out of curiosity, why don't you tell us kind of about the early Matt, growing up?   Matt Forbeck ** 02:18 Uh, well, I grew up. I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I grew up in a little town called Beloit, Wisconsin, which actually live in now, despite having moved away for 13 years at one point, and I had terrible asthma, I was a sick and short kid, and with the advent of medication, I finally started to be healthy when I was around nine, and Part of that, I started getting into playing games, right? Because when you're sick, you do a lot of sitting around rather than running around. So I did a lot of reading and playing games and things like that. I happen to grow up in the part of the world where Dungeons and Dragons was invented, which is in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, about 30 miles from where I live. And because of that I was I started going to conventions and playing games and such, when I was about 12 or 13 years old. I started doing it when I was a little bit older. I started doing it professionally, and started doing it when I was in college. And amazingly enough, even to my own astonishment, I've made a career out of it.   Speaker 1 ** 03:17 Where did you go to college? I went to the University   Matt Forbeck ** 03:21 of Michigan over in Ann Arbor. I had a great time there. There's a wonderful little college, Beloit College, in my hometown here, and most of my family has gone to UW Milwaukee over the years. My parents met at Marquette in Milwaukee, but I wanted to get the heck out of the area, so I went to Michigan, and then found myself coming back as soon as we started having   Speaker 1 ** 03:42 kids well, and of course, I would presume that when you were at the University of Michigan, you rooted for them and against Ohio State. That was   Matt Forbeck ** 03:50 kind of, you know, if you did it the other way around, they back out of town. So, yeah, I was always kind of astonished, though, because having grown up in Wisconsin, where every sports team was a losing team when I was growing up, including the Packers, for decades. You know, we were just happy to be playing. They were more excuse to have beers than they were to cheer on teams. And I went to Michigan where they were, they were angry if the team wasn't up by two touchdowns. You know, at any point, I'm like, You guys are silly. This is we're here for fun.   Speaker 1 ** 04:17 But it is amazing how seriously some people take sports. I remember being in New Zealand helping the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind. Well now 22 years ago, it's 2003 and the America's Cup had just finished before we got there, and in America beat New Zealand, and the people in New Zealand were just irate. They were complaining that the government didn't put enough money into the design of the boat and helping with the with the yacht and all that. It was just amazing how seriously people take it, yeah,   Matt Forbeck ** 04:58 once, I mean, it becomes a part of your. Identity in a lot of ways, right for many people, and I've never had to worry about that too much. I've got other things on my mind, but there you go.   Speaker 1 ** 05:08 Well, I do like it when the Dodgers win, and my wife did her graduate work at USC, and so I like it when the Trojans win, but it's not the end of the world, and you do need to keep it in perspective. I I do wish more people would I know once I delivered a speech in brether County, Kentucky, and I was told that when I started the speech had to end no later than preferably exactly at 6:30pm not a minute later, because it was the night of the NCAA Basketball Championship, and the Kentucky Wildcats were in the championship, and at 630 everyone was going to get up and leave and go home to watch the game. So I ended at 630 and literally, by 631 I timed it. The gym was empty and it was full to start with.   Matt Forbeck ** 06:02 People were probably, you know, counting down on their watches, just to make sure, right?   Speaker 1 ** 06:06 Oh, I'm sure they were. What do you do? It's, it is kind of fun. Well, so why did you decide to get started in games? What? What? What attracted to you, to it as a young person, much less later on?   Matt Forbeck ** 06:21 Well, I was, yeah, I was an awkward kid, kind of nerdy and, you know, glasses and asthma and all that kind of stuff. And games were the kind of thing where, if you didn't know how to interact with people, you could sit down at a table across them and you could practice. You can say, okay, we're all here. We've got this kind of a magic circle around us where we've agreed to take this one silly activity seriously for a short period of time, right? And it may be that you're having fun during that activity, but you know, there's, there's no reason that rolling dice or moving things around on a table should be taken seriously. It's all just for fun, right? But for that moment, you actually just like Las Vegas Exactly, right? When there's money on the line, it's different, but if you're just doing it for grins. You know, it was a good way for me to learn how to interact with people of all sorts and of different ages. And I really enjoyed playing the games, and I really wanted to be a writer, too. And a lot of these things interacted with story at a very basic level. So breaking in as a writer is tough, but it turned out breaking as a game designer, wasn't nearly his stuff, so I started out over there instead, because it was a very young field at the time, right? D and D is now 50 years old, so I've been doing this 35 years, which means I started around professionally and even doing it before that, I started in the period when the game and that industry were only like 10 or 15 years old, so yeah, weren't quite as much competition in those   Speaker 1 ** 07:43 days. I remember some of the early games that I did play, that I could play, were DOS based games, adventure. You're familiar with adventure? Yeah, oh, yeah. Then later, Zork and all that. And I still think those are fun games. And I the reason I like a lot of those kinds of games is they really make you think, which I think most games do, even though the video even the video games and so on, they they help your or can help your reactions, but they're designed by people who do try to make you think,   Matt Forbeck ** 08:15 yeah. I mean, we basically are designing puzzles for people to solve, even if they're story puzzles or graphic puzzles or sound puzzles or whatever, you know, even spatial puzzles. There the idea is to give somebody something fun that is intriguing to play with, then you end up coming with story and after that, because after a while, even the most most exciting mechanics get dull, right? I mean, you start out shooting spaceships, but you can only shoot spaceships for so long, or you start out playing Tetris, and you only put shapes together for so long before it doesn't mean anything that then you start adding in story to give people a reason to keep playing right and a reason to keep going through these things. And I've written a lot of video games over the years, basically with that kind of a philosophy, is give people nuggets of story, give them a plot to work their way through, and reward them for getting through different stages, and they will pretty much follow you through anything. It's amazing.   Michael Hingson ** 09:09 Is that true Dungeons and Dragons too?   Matt Forbeck ** 09:13 It is. All of the stories are less structured there. If you're doing a video game, you know you the team has a lot of control over you. Give the player a limited amount of control to do things, but if you're playing around a table with people, it's more of a cooperative kind of experience, where we're all kind of coming up with a story, the narrator or the Game Master, the Dungeon Master, sets the stage for everything, but then the players have a lot of leeway doing that, and they will always screw things up for you, too. No matter what you think is going to happen, the players will do something different, because they're individuals, and they're all amazing people. That's actually to me, one of the fun things about doing tabletop games is that, you know, the computer can only react in a limited number of ways, whereas a human narrator and actually change things quite drastically and roll. With whatever people come up with, and that makes it tremendous fun.   Speaker 1 ** 10:04 Do you think AI is going to enter into all that and maybe improve some of the   Matt Forbeck ** 10:09 old stuff? It's going to add your end to it, whether it's an ad, it's going to approve it as a large question. Yeah. So I've been ranting about AI quite a bit lately with my friends and family. But, you know, I think the problem with AI, it can be very helpful a lot of ways, but I think it's being oversold. And I think it's especially when it's being oversold for thing, for ways for people to replace writers and creative thinking, Yeah, you know, you're taking the fun out of everything. I mean, the one thing I like to say is if, if you can't be bothered to write this thing that you want to communicate to me, I'm not sure why I should be bothered to read this thing well.   Speaker 1 ** 10:48 And I think that AI will will evolve in whatever way it does. But the fact of the matter is, So do people. And I think that, in fact, people are always going to be necessary to make the process really work? AI can only do and computers can only do so much. I mean, even Ray Kurzweil talks about the singularity when people and computer brains are married, but that still means that you're going to have the human element. So it's not all going to be the computer. And I'm not ready to totally buy into to what Ray says. And I used to work for Ray, so I mean, I know Ray Well, but, but the but the bottom line is, I think that, in fact, people are always going to be able to be kind of the, the mainstay of it, as long as we allow that, if we, if we give AI too much power, then over time, it'll take more power, and that's a problem, but that's up to us to deal with?   Matt Forbeck ** 11:41 No, I totally agree with that. I just think right now, there's a very large faction of people who it's in their economic interest to oversell these things. You know, people are making chips. They're building server farms. A lot of them are being transferred from people are doing blockchain just a few years ago, and they see it as the hot new thing. The difference is that AI actually has a lot of good uses. There's some amazing things will come out of llms and such. But I again, people are over the people are selling this to us. Are often over promising things, right?   Speaker 1 ** 12:11 Yeah, well, they're not only over promising but they're they're really misdirecting people. But the other side of it is that, that, in fact, AI as a concept and as a technology is here, and we have control over how we use it. I've said a couple times on this this podcast, and I've said to others, I remember when I first started hearing about AI, I heard about the the fact that teachers were bemoaning the pack, that kids were writing their papers just using AI and turning them in, and it wasn't always easy to tell whether it was something that was written by AI or was written by the student. And I come from a little bit different view than I think a lot of people do. And my view basically is, let the kids write it if with AI, if that's what they're going to do, but then what the teacher needs to do is to take one period, for example, and give every student in that class the opportunity to come up and defend whatever paper they have. And the real question is, can they defend the paper? Which means, have they really learned the subject, or are they just relying on AI,   Matt Forbeck ** 13:18 yeah, I agree with that. I think the trouble is, a lot of people, children, you know, who are developing their abilities and their morals about this stuff, they use it as just a way to complete the assignment, right? And many of them don't even read what they turn in, right, right? Just know that they've got something here that will so again, if you can't be bothered to read the thing that you manufactured, you're not learning anything about it,   Speaker 1 ** 13:39 which is why, if you are forced to defend it, it's going to become pretty obvious pretty fast, whether you really know it or not. Now, I've used AI on a number of occasions in various ways, but I use it to maybe give me ideas or prepare something that I then modify and shape. And I may even interact with AI a couple of times, but I'm definitely involved with the process all the way down the line, because it still has to be something that I'm responsible for.   Matt Forbeck ** 14:09 I agree. I mean, the whole point of doing these things is for people to connect with each other, right? I want to learn about the ideas you have in your head. I want to see how they jive with ones in my head. But if I'm just getting something that's being spit out by a machine and not you, and not being curated by you at any point, that doesn't seem very useful, right? So if you're the more involved people are in it, the more useful it is.   Speaker 1 ** 14:31 Well, I agree, and you know, I think again, it's a tool, and we have to decide how the tool is going to be used, which is always the way it ought to be. Right?   Matt Forbeck ** 14:42 Exactly, although sometimes it's large corporations deciding,   Speaker 1 ** 14:45 yeah, well, there's that too. Well, individuals,   Matt Forbeck ** 14:49 we get to make our own choices. Though you're right,   Speaker 1 ** 14:51 yes, and should Well, so, so when did you start bringing writing into what you. Did, and make that a really significant part of what you did?   Matt Forbeck ** 15:03 Well, pretty early on, I mean, I started doing one of the first things I did was a gaming zine, which was basically just a print magazine that was like, you know, 32 pages, black and white, about the different tabletop games. So we were writing those in the days, design and writing are very closely linked when it comes to tabletop games and even in video games. The trick of course is that designing a game and writing the rules are actually two separate sets of skills. So one of the first professional gig I ever had during writing was in games was some friends of mine had designed a game for a company called Mayfair games, which went on to do sellers of contain, which is a big, uh, entry level game, and but they needed somebody to write the rules, so they called me over, showed me how to play the game. I took notes and I I wrote it down in an easy to understand, clear way that people had just picked up the box. Could then pick it up and teach themselves how to play, right? So that was early on how I did it. But the neat thing about that is it also taught me to think about game design. I'm like, when I work on games, I think about, who is this game going to be for, and how are we going to teach it to them? Because if they can't learn the game, there's no point of the game at all, right?   Speaker 1 ** 16:18 And and so I'm right? I'm a firm believer that a lot of technical writers don't do a very good job of technical writing, and they write way over people's heads. I remember the first time I had to write, well, actually, I mentioned I worked for Kurzweil. I was involved with a project where Ray Kurzweil had developed his original omniprent optical character recognition system. And I and the National Federation of the Blind created with him a project to put machines around the country so that blind people could use them and give back to Ray by the time we were all done, recommendations as to what needed to go in the final first production model of the machine. So I had to write a training manual to teach people how to use it. And I wrote this manual, and I was always of the opinion that it had to be pretty readable and usable by people who didn't have a lot of technical knowledge. So I wrote the manual, gave it to somebody to read, and said, Follow the directions and and work with the machine and all that. And they did, and I was in another room, and they were playing with it for a couple of hours, and they came in and they said, I'm having a problem. I can't figure out how to turn off the machine. And it turns out that I had forgotten to put in the instruction to turn off the machine. And it wasn't totally trivial. There were steps you had to go through. It was a Data General Nova two computer, and you had to turn it off the right way and the whole system off the appropriate way, or you could, could mess everything up. So there was a process to doing it. So I wrote it in, and it was fine. But, you know, I've always been a believer that the textbooks are way too boring. Having a master's degree in physics, I am of the opinion that physics textbook writers, who are usually pretty famous and knowledgeable scientists, ought to include with all the text and the technical stuff they want to put in, they should put in stories about what they did in you bring people in, draw them into the whole thing, rather than just spewing out a bunch of technical facts.   Matt Forbeck ** 18:23 No, I agree. My my first calculus professor was a guy who actually explained how Newton and Leipzig actually came up with calculus, and then he would, you know, draw everything on the board and turn around say, and isn't that amazing? And you were, like, just absolutely enamored with the idea of how they had done these things, right? Yeah. And what you're doing there, when you, when you, when you give the instructions to somebody and say, try this out. That's a very big part of gaming, actually, because what we do this thing called play testing, where we take something before it's ready to be shown to the public, and we give it to other people and say, try this out. See how it works. Let me know when you're starting out of your first playing you play with like your family and friends and people will be brutal with you and give you hints about how you can improve things. But then, even when you get to the rules you're you send those out cold to people, or, you know, if you're a big company, you watch them through a two way mirror or one way mirror, and say, Hey, let's see how they react to everything. And then you take notes, and you try to make it better every time you go through. And when I'm teaching people to play games at conventions, for instance, I will often say to them, please ask questions if you don't understand anything, that doesn't mean you're dumb. Means I didn't explain it well enough, right? And my job as a person writing these rules is to explain it as well as I humanly can so it can't be misconstrued or misinterpreted. Now that doesn't mean you can correct everything. Somebody's always got like, Oh, I missed that sentence, you know, whatever. But you do that over and over so you can try to make it as clear and concise as possible, yeah.   Speaker 1 ** 19:52 Well, you have somewhat of a built in group of people to help if you let your kids get involved. Involved. So how old are your kids?   Matt Forbeck ** 20:03 My eldest is 26 he'll be 27 in January. Marty is a game designer, actually works with me on the marble tabletop role playing game, and we have a new book coming out, game book for Minecraft, called Minecraft role for adventure, that's coming out on July 7, I think, and the rest of the kids are 23 we have 423 year olds instead of quadruplets, one of whom is actually going into game design as well, and the other says two are still in college, and one has moved off to the work in the woods. He's a very woodsy boy. Likes to do environmental education with people.   Speaker 1 ** 20:39 Wow. Well, see, but you, but you still have a good group of potential game designers or game critics anyway.   Matt Forbeck ** 20:47 Oh, we all play games together. We have a great time. We do weekly game nights here. Sometimes they're movie nights, sometimes they're just pizza nights, but we shoot for game and pizza   Speaker 1 ** 20:56 if we get lucky and your wife goes along with all this too.   Matt Forbeck ** 21:00 She does. She doesn't go to the game conventions and stuff as much, and she's not as hardcore of a gamer, but she likes hanging out with the kids and doing everything with us. We have a great time.   Speaker 1 ** 21:10 That's that's pretty cool. Well, you, you've got, you've got to build an audience of some sorts, and that's neat that a couple of them are involved in it as well. So they really like what dad does, yeah,   Matt Forbeck ** 21:23 yeah. We, I started taking them each to conventions, which are, you know, large gatherings gamers in real life. The biggest one is Gen Con, which happens in Indianapolis in August. And last year, I think, we had 72,000 people show up. And I started taking the kids when they were 10 years old, and my wife would come up with them then. And, you know, 10 years old is a lot. 72,000 people is a lot for a 10 year old. So she can mention one day and then to a park the next day, you know, decompress a lot, and then come back on Saturday and then leave on Sunday or whatever, so that we didn't have them too over stimulated. But they really grown to love it. I mean, it's part of our annual family traditions in the summer, is to go do these conventions and play lots of games with each other and meet new people too well.   Speaker 1 ** 22:08 And I like the way you put it. The games are really puzzles, which they are, and it's and it's fun. If people would approach it that way, no matter what the game is, they're, they're aspects of puzzles involved in most everything that has to do with the game, and that's what makes it so fun.   Matt Forbeck ** 22:25 Exactly, no. The interesting thing is, when you're playing with other people, the other people are changing the puzzles from their end that you have to solve on your end. And sometimes the puzzle is, how do I beat this person, or how do I defeat their strategy, or how do I make an alliance with somebody else so we can win? And it's really always very intriguing. There's so many different types of games. There's nowadays, there's like something like 50 to 100 new board games that come out and tabletop games every month, right? It's just like a fire hose. It's almost like, when I was starting out as a novelist, I would go into Barnes and Noble or borders and go, Oh my gosh, look at all these books. And now I do the same thing about games. It's just, it's incredible. Nobody, no one person, could keep up with all of them.   Speaker 1 ** 23:06 Yeah, yeah, yeah, way too much. I would love to explore playing more video games, but I don't. I don't own a lot of the technology, although I'm sure that there are any number of them that can be played on a computer, but we'll have to really explore and see if we can find some. I know there are some that are accessible for like blind people with screen readers. I know that some people have written a few, which is kind of cool. Yeah.   Matt Forbeck ** 23:36 And Xbox has got a new controller out that's meant to be accessible to large amount of people. I'm not sure, all the different aspects of it, but that's done pretty well, too   Speaker 1 ** 23:44 well. And again, it comes down to making it a priority to put all of that stuff in. It's not like it's magic to do. It's just that people don't know how to do it. But I also think something else, which is, if you really make the products more usable, let's say by blind people with screen readers. You may be especially if it's well promoted, surprised. I'm not you necessarily, but people might well be surprised as to how many others might take advantage of it so that they don't necessarily have to look at the screen, or that you're forced to listen as well as look in order to figure out what's going on or take actions.   Matt Forbeck ** 24:29 No, definitely true. It's, you know, people audio books are a massive thing nowadays. Games tend to fall further behind that way, but it's become this incredible thing that obviously, blind people get a great use out of but my wife is addicted to audio books now. She actually does more of those than she does reading. I mean, I technically think they're both reading. It's just one's done with yours and one's done with your eyes.   Speaker 1 ** 24:51 Yeah, there's but there's some stuff, whether you're using your eyes or your fingers and reading braille, there's something about reading a book that way that's. Even so a little bit different than listening to it. Yeah, and there's you're drawn in in some ways, in terms of actually reading that you're not necessarily as drawn into when you're when you're listening to it, but still, really good audio book readers can help draw you in, which is important, too,   Matt Forbeck ** 25:19 very much. So yeah, I think the main difference for reading, whether it's, you know, again, through Braille or through traditional print, is that you can stop. You can do it at your own pace. You can go back and look at things very easily, or read or check things, read things very easily. That you know, if you're reading, if you're doing an audio book, it just goes on and it's straight on, boom, boom, boom, pace. You can say, Wait, I'm going to put this down here. What was that thing? I remember back there? It was like three pages back, but it's really important, let me go check that right.   Speaker 1 ** 25:50 There are some technologies that allow blind people and low vision people and others, like people with dyslexia to use an audio book and actually be able to navigate two different sections of it. But it's not something that is generally available to the whole world, at least to the level that it is for blind people. But I can, I can use readers that are made to be able to accept the different formats and go back and look at pages, go back and look at headings, and even create bookmarks to bookmark things like you would normally by using a pen or a pencil or something like that. So there are ways to do some of that. So again, the technology is making strides.   Matt Forbeck ** 26:37 That's fantastic. Actually, it's wonderful. Just, yeah, it's great. I actually, you know, I lost half the vision of my right eye during back through an autoimmune disease about 13 years ago, and I've always had poor vision. So I'm a big fan of any kind of way to make things easier,   Speaker 1 ** 26:54 like that. Well, there, there are things that that are available. It's pretty amazing. A guy named George curser. Curser created a lot of it years ago, and it's called the DAISY format. And the whole idea behind it is that you can actually create a book. In addition to the audio tracks, there are XML files that literally give you the ability to move and navigate around the book, depending on how it's created, as final level as you choose.   Matt Forbeck ** 27:25 Oh, that's That's amazing. That's fantastic. I'm actually really glad to hear that.   Speaker 1 ** 27:28 So, yeah, it is kind of fun. So there's a lot of technology that's that's doing a lot of different sorts of things and and it helps. But um, so for you, in terms of dealing with, with the games, you've, you've written games, but you've, you've actually written some novels as well, right?   Matt Forbeck ** 27:50 Yeah, I've got like 30, it depends on how you count a novel, right? Okay, like some of my books are to pick a path books, right? Choose Your Own Adventure type stuff. So, but I've got 35 traditional novels written or more, I guess, now, I lost track a while ago, and probably another dozen of these interactive fiction books as well. So, and I like doing those. I've also written things like Marvel encyclopedias and Avengers encyclopedias and all sorts of different pop culture books. And, you know, I like playing in different worlds. I like writing science fiction, fantasy, even modern stuff. And most of it, for me comes down to telling stories, right? If you like to tell stories, you can tell stories through a game or book or audio play or a TV show or a comic, or I've done, you know, interactive museum, games and displays, things like that. The main thing is really a story. I mean, if you're comfortable sitting down at a bar and having a drink with somebody, doesn't have to be alcohol, just sitting down and telling stories with each other for fun. That's where the core of it all is really   Speaker 1 ** 28:58 right. Tell me about interactive fiction book.   Matt Forbeck ** 29:01 Sure, a lot of these are basically just done, like flow charts, kind of like the original Zork and adventure that you were talking about where you I actually, I was just last year, I brought rose Estes, who's the inventor of the endless quest books, which were a cross between Dungeons and Dragons, and choose your own adventure books. She would write the whole thing out page by page on a typewriter, and then, in order to shuffle the pages around so that people wouldn't just read straight through them, she'd throw them all up in the air and then just put them back in whatever order they happen to be. But essentially, you read a section of a book, you get to the end, and it gives you a choice. Would you like to go this way or that way? Would you like to go beat up this goblin? Or would you like to make friends with this warrior over here? If you want to do one of these things, go do page xx, right? Got it. So then you turn to that page and you go, boom, some, actually, some of the endless quest books I know were turned into audio books, right? And I actually, I. Um, oddly, have written a couple Dungeons and Dragons, interactive books, audio books that have only been released in French, right? Because there's a company called Looney l, u n, i, i that has this little handheld device that's for children, that has an A and a B button and a volume button. And you, you know, you get to the point that says, if you want to do this, push a, if you want to do that, push B, and the kids can go through these interactive stories and and, you know, there's ones for clue and Dungeons and Dragons and all sorts of other licenses, and some original stories too. But that way there's usually, like, you know, it depends on the story, but sometimes there's, like, 10 to 20 different endings. A lot of them are like, Oh no, you've been killed. Go back to where you started, right? And if you're lucky, the longer ones are, the more fun ones. And you get to, you know, save the kingdom and rescue the people and make good friends and all that good stuff,   Michael Hingson ** 30:59 yeah, and maybe fall in love with the princess or Prince.   Matt Forbeck ** 31:02 Yeah, exactly right. It all depends on the genre and what you're working in. But the idea is to give people some some choices over how they want the story to go. You're like, Well, do you want to investigate this dark, cold closet over here, or would you rather go running outside and playing around? And some of them can seem like very innocent choices, and other ones are like, well, uh, 10 ton weight just fell on. You go back to the last thing.   Speaker 1 ** 31:23 So that dark hole closet can be a good thing or a bad thing,   Matt Forbeck ** 31:28 exactly. And the trick is to make the deaths the bad endings, actually just as entertaining as anything else, right? And then people go, Well, I got beat, and I gotta go back and try that again. So yeah, if they just get the good ending all the way through, they often won't go back and look at all the terrible ones. So it's fun to trick them sometimes and have them go into terrible spots. And I like to put this one page in books too that sometimes says, How did you get here? You've been cheating there. This book, this page, is actually not led to from any other part of the book. You're just flipping   Speaker 1 ** 31:59 through. Cheater, cheater book, do what you   Matt Forbeck ** 32:04 want, but if you want to play it the right way, go back.   Speaker 1 ** 32:07 Kid, if you want to play the game. Yeah, exactly. On the other hand, some people are nosy.   Matt Forbeck ** 32:15 You know, I was always a kid who would poke around and wanted to see how things were, so I'm sure I would have found that myself but absolutely related, you know,   Speaker 1 ** 32:23 yeah, I had a general science teacher who brought in a test one day, and he gave it to everyone. And so he came over to me because it was, it was a printed test. He said, Well, I'm not going to give you the test, because the first thing it says is, read all the instructions, read, read the test through before you pass it, before you take it. And he said, most people won't do that. And he said, I know you would. And the last question on the test is answer, only question one.   Matt Forbeck ** 32:55 That's great. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah,   Speaker 1 ** 32:57 that was cute. And he said, I know that. I that there's no way you would, would would fall for that, because you would say, Okay, let's read the instructions and then read the whole test. That's what it said. And the instruction were, just read the whole test before you start. And people won't do that.   Matt Forbeck ** 33:13 No, they'll go through, take the whole thing. They get there and go, oh, did I get there? Was a, there's a game publisher. I think it was Steve Jackson Games, when they were looking for people, write for them, or design stuff for them, or submit stuff to them, would have something toward the end of the instructions that would say, put like a the letter seven, or put seven a on page one right, and that way they would know if you had read the instructions, if you hadn't bothered to Read the instructions, they wouldn't bother reading anything else.   Speaker 1 ** 33:42 Yeah, which is fair, because the a little harsh, well, but, but, you know, we often don't learn enough to pay attention to details. I know that when I was taking physics in college, that was stressed so often it isn't enough to get the numbers right. If you don't get the units right as well. Then you're, you're not really paying attention to the details. And paying attention to the details is so important.   Matt Forbeck ** 34:07 That's how they crash from those Mars rovers, wasn't it? They somebody messed up the units, but going back and forth between metric and, yeah, and Imperial and, well, you know, it cost somebody a lot of money at one point. Yeah. Yeah. What do you   Speaker 1 ** 34:21 this is kind of the way it goes. Well, tell me, yeah. Well, they do matter, no matter what people think, sometimes they do matter. Well, tell me about the Diana Jones award. First of all, of course, the logical question for many people is, who is Diana Jones? Yeah, Diana Jones doesn't exist, right? That's There you go. She's part game somewhere? No, no, it doesn't be in a game somewhere.   Matt Forbeck ** 34:43 Then now there's actually an author named Diana Wynne Jones, who's written some amazing fantasy stories, including Howell's Moving Castle, which has turned into a wonderful anime movie, but it has nothing to do with her or any other person. Because originally, the Diana Jones award came about. Because a friend of mine, James Wallace, had somehow stumbled across a trophy that fell into his hands, and it was a pub trivia trophy that used to be used between two different gaming companies in the UK, and one of those was TSR, UK, the United Kingdom department. And at one point, the company had laid off everybody in that division just say, Okay, we're closing it all down. So the guys went and burned a lot of the stuff that they had, including a copy of the Indiana Jones role playing game, and the only part of the logo that was left said Diana Jones. And for some reason, they put this in a in a fiberglass or Plexiglas pyramid, put it on a base, a wooden base, and it said the Diana Jones award trophy, right? And this was the trophy that they used they passed back and forth as a joke for their pub trivia contest. Fell into James's hands, and he decided, You know what, we're going to give this out for the most excellent thing in gaming every year. And we've now done this. This will be 25 years this summer. We do it at the Wednesday night before Gen Con, which starts on Thursday, usually at the end of July or early August. And as part of that, actually, about five years ago, we started, one of the guys suggested we should do something called the emerging designers program. So we actually became a 501, c3, so we could take donations. And now we take four designers every year, fly them in from wherever they happen to be in the world, and put them up in a hotel, give them a badge the show, introduce them to everybody, give them an honorarium so they can afford to skip work for a week and try to help launch their careers. I mean, these are people that are in the first three years of their design careers, and we try to work mostly with marginalized or et cetera, people who need a little bit more representation in the industry too. Although we can select anybody, and it's been really well received, it's been amazing. And there's a group called the bundle of holding which sells tabletop role playing game PDFs, and they've donated 10s of 1000s of dollars every year for us to be able to do this. And it's kind of funny, because I never thought I'd be end up running a nonprofit, but here I'm just the guy who writes checks to the different to the emerging designer program. Folks are much more tied into that community that I am. But one of the real reasons I wanted to do something like that or be involved with it, because if you wander around with these conventions and you notice that it starts getting very gray after a while, right? It's you're like, oh, there's no new people coming in. It's all older people. I we didn't I didn't want us to all end up as like the Grandpa, grandpa doing the HO model railroad stuff in the basement, right? This dying hobby that only people in their 60s and 70s care about. So bringing in fresh people, fresh voices, I think, is very important, and hopefully we're doing some good with that. It's been a lot of fun either way.   Speaker 1 ** 37:59 Well, I have you had some success with it? Yeah, we've   Matt Forbeck ** 38:02 had, well, let's see. I think we've got like 14 people. We've brought in some have already gone on to do some amazing things. I mean, it's only been a few years, so it's hard to tell if they're gonna be legends in their time, but again, having them as models for other people to look at and say, Oh, maybe I could do that. That's been a great thing. The other well, coincidentally, Dungeons and Dragons is having its best 10 year streak in its history right now, and probably is the best selling it's ever been. So coinciding with that, we've seen a lot more diversity and a lot more people showing up to these wonderful conventions and playing these kinds of games. There's also been an advent of this thing called actual play, which is the biggest one, is a group called Critical Role, which is a whole bunch of voice actors who do different cartoons and video games and such, and they play D and D with each other, and then they record the games, and they produce them on YouTube and for podcasts. And these guys are amazing. There's a couple of other ones too, like dimension 20 and glass cannon, the critical role guys actually sold out a live performance at Wembley Arena last summer. Wow. And dimension. Dimension 20 sold out Madison Square Garden. I'm like, if you'd have told me 20 years ago that you know you could sell out an entire rock stadium to have people watch you play Dungeons and Dragons, I would have laughed. I mean, there's no way it would have been possible. But now, you know, people are very much interested in this. It's kind of wild, and it's, it's fun to be a part of that. At some level,   Speaker 1 ** 39:31 how does the audience get drawn in to something like that? Because they are watching it, but there must be something that draws them in.   Matt Forbeck ** 39:39 Yeah, part of it is that you have some really skilled some actors are very funny, very traumatic and very skilled at improvisation, right? So the the dungeon master or Game Master will sit there and present them with an idea or whatever. They come up each with their own characters. They put them in wonderful, strong voices. They kind of inhabit the roles in a way that an actor. A really top level actor would, as opposed to just, you know, me sitting around a table with my friends. And because of that, they become compelling, right? My Marty and my his wife and I were actually at a convention in Columbus, Ohio last weekend, and this group called the McElroy family, actually, they do my brother, my brother and me, which is a hit podcast, but they also do an actual play podcast called The Adventure zone, where they just play different games. And they are so funny. These guys are just some of the best comedians you'll ever hear. And so them playing, they actually played our Marvel game for a five game session, or a five podcast session, or whatever, and it was just stunningly fun to listen to. People are really talented mess around with something that we built right it's very edifying to see people enjoying something that you worked on.   Speaker 1 ** 40:51 Do you find that the audiences get drawn in and they're actually sort of playing the game along, or as well? And may disagree with what some of the choices are that people make?   Matt Forbeck ** 41:02 Oh, sure. But I mean, if the choices are made from a point of the character that's been expressed, that people are following along and they they already like the character, they might go, Oh, those mean, you know that guy, there are some characters they love to hate. There are some people they're they're angry at whatever, but they always really appreciate the actors. I mean, the actors have become celebrities in their own right. They've they sell millions of dollars for the comic books and animated TV shows and all these amazing things affiliated with their actual play stuff. And it's, I think it, part of it is because, it's because it makes the games more accessible. Some people are intimidated by these games. So it's not really, you know, from a from a physical disability kind of point. It's more of a it makes it more accessible for people to be nervous, to try these things on their own, or don't really quite get how they work. They can just sit down and pop up YouTube or their podcast program and listen into people doing a really good job at it. The unfortunate problem is that the converse of that is, when you're watching somebody do that good of a job at it, it's actually hard to live up to that right. Most people who play these games are just having fun with their friends around a table. They're not performing for, you know, 10s of 1000s, if not hundreds of 1000s of people. So there's a different level of investments, really, at that point, and some people have been known to be cowed by that, by that, or daunted by that.   Speaker 1 ** 42:28 You work on a lot of different things. I gather at the same time. What do you what do you think about that? How do you like working on a lot of different projects? Or do you, do you more focus on one thing, but you've got several things going on, so you'll work on something for one day, then you'll work on something else. Or how do you how do you do it all?   Matt Forbeck ** 42:47 That's a good question. I would love to just focus on one thing at a time. Now, you know the trouble is, I'm a freelancer, right? I don't set my I don't always get to say what I want to work on. I haven't had to look for work for over a decade, though, which has been great. People just come to me with interesting things. The trouble is that when you're a freelancer, people come in and say, Hey, let's work on this. I'm like, Yeah, tell me when you're ready to start. And you do that with like, 10 different people, and they don't always line up in sequence properly, right? Yeah? Sometimes somebody comes up and says, I need this now. And I'm like, Yeah, but I'm in the middle of this other thing right now, so I need to not sleep for another week, and I need to try to figure out how I'm going to put this in between other things I'm working on. And I have noticed that after I finish a project, it takes me about a day or three to just jump track. So if I really need to, I can do little bits here and there, but to just fully get my brain wrapped around everything I'm doing for a very complex project, takes me a day or three to say, Okay, now I'm ready to start this next thing and really devote myself to it. Otherwise, it's more juggling right now, having had all those kids, probably has prepared me to juggle. So I'm used to having short attention span theater going on in my head at all times, because I have to jump back and forth between things. But it is. It's a challenge, and it's a skill that you develop over time where you're like, Okay, I can put this one away here and work on this one here for a little while. Like today, yeah, I knew I was going to talk to you, Michael. So I actually had lined up another podcast that a friend of mine wanted to do with me. I said, Let's do them on the same day. This way I'm not interrupting my workflow so much, right? Makes sense? You know, try to gang those all together and the other little fiddly bits I need to do for administration on a day. Then I'm like, Okay, this is not a day off. It's just a day off from that kind of work. It's a day I'm focusing on this aspect of what I do.   Speaker 1 ** 44:39 But that's a actually brings up an interesting point. Do you ever take a day off or do what do you do when you're when you deciding that you don't want to do gaming for a while?   Matt Forbeck ** 44:49 Yeah, I actually kind of terrible. But you know, you know, my wife will often drag me off to places and say we're going to go do this when. Yes, we have a family cabin up north in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that we go to. Although, you know, my habit there is, I'll work. I'll start work in the morning on a laptop or iPad until my battery runs out, and then I shut it down, put on a charger, and then I go out and swim with everybody for the rest of the day. So it depends if I'm on a deadline or not, and I'm almost always on a deadline, but there are times I could take weekends off there. One of the great things of being a freelancer, though, and especially being a stay at home father, which is part of what I was doing, is that when things come up during the middle of the week, I could say, oh, sure, I can be flexible, right? The trouble is that I have to pay for that time on my weekends, a lot of the time, so I don't really get a lot of weekends off. On the other hand, I'm not I'm not committed to having to work every day of the week either, right? I need to go do doctor appointments, or we want to run off to Great America and do a theme park or whatever. I can do that anytime I want to. It's just I have to make up the time at other points during the week. Does your wife work? She does. She was a school social worker for many years, and now as a recruiter at a local technical college here called Black Hawk tech. And she's amazing, right? She's fantastic. She has always liked working. The only time she stopped working was for about a year and a half after the quads were born, I guess, two years. And that was the only time I ever took a job working with anybody else, because we needed the health insurance, so I we always got it through her. And then when she said, Well, I'm gonna stay home with the kids, which made tons of sense, I went and took a job with a video game company up in Madison, Wisconsin called Human Head Studios for about 18 months, 20 months. And then the moment she told me she was thinking about going back to work, I'm like, Oh, good, I can we can Cobra for 18 months and pay for our own health insurance, and I'm giving notice this week, and, you know, we'll work. I left on good terms that everybody. I still talk to them and whatever, but I very much like being my own boss and not worrying about what other people are going to tell me to do. I work with a lot of clients, which means I have a lot of people telling me what to do. But you know, if it turns out bad, I can walk I can walk away. If it turns out good, hopefully we get to do things together, like the the gig I've been working out with Marvel, I guess, has been going on for like, four years now, with pretty continuous work with them, and I'm enjoying every bit of it. They're great people to work with.   Speaker 1 ** 47:19 Now, you were the president of Pinnacle entertainment for a little while. Tell me about that.   Matt Forbeck ** 47:24 I was, that was a small gaming company I started up with a guy named Shane Hensley, who was another tabletop game designer. Our big game was something called Dead Lands, which was a Western zombie cowboy kind of thing. Oh gosh, Western horror. So. And it was pretty much a, you know, nobody was doing Western horror back in those days. So we thought, Oh, this is safe. And to give you an example of parallel development, we were six months into development, and another company, White Wolf, which had done a game called Vampire the Masquerade, announced that they were doing Werewolf the Wild West. And we're like, you gotta be kidding me, right? Fortunately, we still released our game three months before there, so everybody thought we were copying them, rather than the other way around. But the fact is, we were. We both just came up with the idea independently. Right? When you work in creative fields, often, if somebody wants to show you something, you say, I'd like to look at you have to sign a waiver first that says, If I do something like this, you can't sue me. And it's not because people are trying to rip you off. It's because they may actually be working on something similar, right already. Because we're all, you know, swimming in the same cultural pool. We're all, you know, eating the same cultural soup. We're watching or watching movies, playing games, doing whatever, reading books. And so it's not unusual that some of us will come up with similar ideas   Speaker 1 ** 48:45 well, and it's not surprising that from time to time, two different people are going to come up with somewhat similar concepts. So that's not a big surprise, exactly, but   Matt Forbeck ** 48:56 you don't want people getting litigious over it, like no, you don't be accused of ripping anybody off, right? You just want to be as upfront with people. With people. And I don't think I've ever actually seen somebody, at least in gaming, in tabletop games, rip somebody off like that. Just say, Oh, that's a great idea. We're stealing that it's easier to pay somebody to just say, Yes, that's a great idea. We'll buy that from you, right? As opposed to trying to do something unseemly and criminal?   Speaker 1 ** 49:24 Yeah, there's, there's something to be said for having real honor in the whole process.   Matt Forbeck ** 49:30 Yeah, I agree, and I think that especially if you're trying to have a long term career in any field that follows you, if you get a reputation for being somebody who plays dirty, nobody wants to play with you in the future, and I've always found it to be best to be as straightforward with people and honest, especially professionally, just to make sure that they trust you. Before my quadruplets were born, you could have set your clock by me as a freelancer, I never missed a deadline ever, and since then, I've probably it's a. Rare earth thing to make a deadline, because, you know, family stuff happens, and you know, there's just no controlling it. But whenever something does happen, I just call people up and say, hey, look, it's going to be another week or two. This is what's going on. And because I have a good reputation for completing the job and finishing quality work, they don't mind. They're like, Oh, okay, I know you're going to get this to me. You're not just trying to dodge me. So they're willing to wait a couple weeks if they need to, to get to get what they need. And I'm very grateful to them for that. And I'm the worst thing somebody can do is what do, what I call turtling down, which is when it's like, Oh no, I'm late. And then, you know, they cut off all communication. They don't talk to anybody. They just kind of try to disappear as much as they can. And we all, all adults, understand that things happen in your life. It's okay. We can cut you some slack every now and then, but if you just try to vanish, that's not even possible.   Speaker 1 ** 50:54 No, there's a lot to be there's a lot to be said for trust and and it's so important, I think in most anything that we do, and I have found in so many ways, that there's nothing better than really earning someone's trust, and they earning your trust. And it's something I talk about in my books, like when live with a guide dog, live like a guide dog, which is my newest book, it talks a lot about trust, because when you're working with a guide dog, you're really building a team, and each member of the team has a specific job to do, and as the leader of the team, it's my job to also learn how to communicate with the other member of the team. But the reality is, it still comes down to ultimately, trust, because I and I do believe that dogs do love unconditionally, but they don't trust unconditionally. But the difference between dogs and people is that people that dogs are much more open to trust, for the most part, unless they've just been totally traumatized by something, but they're more open to trust. And there's a lesson to be learned there. No, I   Matt Forbeck ** 52:03 absolutely agree with that. I think, I think most people in general are trustworthy, but as you say, a lot of them have trauma in their past that makes it difficult for them to open themselves up to that. So that's actually a pretty wonderful way to think about things. I like that,   Speaker 1 ** 52:17 yeah, well, I think that trust is is so important. And I know when I worked in professional sales, it was all about trust. In fact, whenever I interviewed people for jobs, I always asked them what they were going to sell, and only one person ever answered me the way. I really hoped that everybody would answer when I said, So, tell me what you're going to be selling. He said, The only thing I have to really sell is myself and my word, and nothing else. It really matters. Everything else is stuff. What you have is stuff. It's me selling myself and my word, and you have to, and I would expect you to back me up. And my response was, as long as you're being trustworthy, then you're going to get my backing all the way. And he was my most successful salesperson for a lot of reasons, because he got it.   Matt Forbeck ** 53:08 Yeah, that's amazing. I mean, I mean, I've worked with people sourcing different things too, for sales, and if you can rely on somebody to, especially when things go wrong, to come through for you. And to be honest with you about, you know, there's really that's a hard thing to find. If you can't depend on your sources for what you're building, then you can't depend on anything. Everything else falls apart.   Speaker 1 ** 53:29 It does. You've got to start at the beginning. And if people can't earn your trust, and you earn theirs, there's a problem somewhere, and it's just not going to work.   Matt Forbeck ** 53:39 Yeah, I just generally think people are decent and want to help. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've had issues. Car breaks down the road in Wisconsin. Here, if somebody's car goes in the ditch, everybody stops and just hauls them out. It's what you do when the quads were born, my stepmother came up with a sign up sheet, a booklet that she actually had spiral bound, that people could sign up every three three hours to help come over and feed and bathe, diaper, whatever the kids and we had 30 to 35 volunteers coming in every week. Wow, to help us out with that was amazing, right? They just each pick slots, feeding slots, and come in and help us out. I had to take the 2am feeding, and my wife had to take the 5am feeding by ourselves. But the rest of the week we had lots and lots of help, and we were those kids became the surrogate grandchildren for, you know, 30 to 35 women and couples really, around the entire area, and it was fantastic. Probably couldn't have survived   Speaker 1 ** 54:38 without it. And the other part about it is that all those volunteers loved it, because you all appreciated each other, and it was always all about helping and assisting.   Matt Forbeck ** 54:48 No, we appreciate them greatly. But you know every most of them, like 99% of them, whatever were women, 95 women who are ready for grandchildren and didn't have them. Had grandchildren, and they weren't in the area, right? And they had that, that love they wanted to share, and they just loved the opportunity to do it. It was, I'm choking up here talking about such a great time for us in   Speaker 1 ** 55:11 that way. Now I'm assuming today, nobody has to do diaper duty with the quads, right?   Matt Forbeck ** 55:16 Not until they have their own kids. Just checking, just checking, thankfully, think we're that is long in our past,   Speaker 1 ** 55:23 is it? Is it coming fairly soon for anybody in the future?   Matt Forbeck ** 55:27 Oh, I don't know. That's really entirely up to them. We would love to have grandchildren, but you know, it all comes in its own time. They're not doing no well. I, one of my sons is married, so it's possible, right? And one of my other sons has a long term girlfriend, so that's possible, but, you know, who knows? Hopefully they're they have them when they're ready. I always say, if you have kids and you want them, that's great. If you have, if you don't have kids and you don't want them, that's great. It's when you cross the two things that,   Speaker 1 ** 55:57 yeah, trouble, yeah, that's that is, that is a problem. But you really like working with yourself. You love the entre

Logan and Griffin sit down to discuss a new BoB game from Possume Creek Games, the newest imprint of Steve Jackson Games.  FInd out More about Possum Creek Games here. Order Harvest Here.   Want to join the conversation? Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/gPVH7a9  We are also affiliates with Fan Roll Dice by Metallic Dice Games: Follow this link: https://fanrolldice.com and enter the promo code STORYTOLD10 to receive 10% off your order! To help support the show, share it, or rate and review on your podcast service of choice. To support us financially, please donate on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thestorytold Website: https://www.thestorytoldpodcast.com Instagram: @thestorytoldpodcast Twitter: @storytoldpod Email: thestorytoldpodcast@gmail.com Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/thestorytoldpodcast   Follow Fool's Moon Entertainment across social media in the links below:   Instagram: @foolsmoonentertain Twitter: @foolsmoonei Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foolsmoonentertainment/   Our music is composed by James Horan. To contact him regarding composition, send him an email: jhoran99@optonline.net

Jay Dragon is lead game designer at Steve Jackson Games and editorial director at Possum Creek. She's best kmiwn for her work on Wanderhome, Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, and Sleepaway.Support Jay's work at: patreon.com/possumcreekThank you for listening to Weird Games & Weirder People!Please subscribe to the show to keep up with new episodes!SUPPORT THE SHOW!If you would like to support the show, leave a review and/or join the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Weirdos' Cool Club⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! It will help keep the podcast going! It will help me pay collaborators! It will help me do this work more often and better! I will really help! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buttondown.com/old_skull/archive/join-the-weirdos-cool-club/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can also support me buy buying one of my games!Kosmosaursgot released in print, and it is my RPG inspired by Saturday morning cartoons about Space Dinosaur Rangers defending the galaxy from evildoers!  Get your copy right here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/kosmosaurs-pdf⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get other games of mine on Exalted Funeral: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/search?q=Diogo+nogueira⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Or buy anything at DriveThruRPG using this link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=338514⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Or buy something from my itch store:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://diogo-old-skull.itch.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SUBSCRIBE TO WEIRD TALES FROM THE OLD SKULL!The place where I share ideas, discoveries, weirdness, and the things I am developing, like new TTRPG books, zines, illustrations and a lot more. Lets get weird!Check out our latest post:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buttondown.com/old_skull⁠

Come on and SLAM, and welcome to the Jam that is POGs! Meanwhile, I've got new rulebooks to buy, some books maybe I shouldn't buy, and Will Schoonover is here from Steve Jackson Games to talk about what's new in the Munchkin world. I better keep an eye on Philip…

Come on and SLAM, and welcome to the Jam that is POGs! Meanwhile, I've got new rulebooks to buy, some books maybe I shouldn't buy, and Will Schoonover is here from Steve Jackson Games to talk about what's new in the Munchkin world. I better keep an eye on Philip…

Send us a textIn 2003 Shane Hensley and Pinnacle Entertainment released a brand-new generic roleplaying game. The game was called Savage Worlds and it kinda made a splash.The game emphasized speed of play over detail. That may not seem like much today, but at the time it was revolutionary. You see Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 was also released in 2003, which would go on to birth Pathfinder. Steve Jackson Games had 5 years' worth of source books available for their Generic Universal Roleplaying System. The market at that time was filled with games like Hero, Shadowrun, and Rolemaster,In other words, in 2003 we were at the height of crunch in our roleplaying games.And when I say crunch I am not talking about the candy bar.I'm talking about games with rules, hundreds of pages of rules. I'm talking about math, lots and lots of math. I'm talking about tables to cross-reference everything your characters might do. You see at the turn of the century most TTRPG's were focused on simulations. Trying to make the games as real as possible and to do that, you gotta lean hard into the rules.Shane Hensely changed that with Savage Worlds. By focusing on streamlining the systems and making sure your games were moving fast and your players where having fun he opened the doors for massive changes in how we see our roleplaying games.I would argue that Savage Worlds help bring about D&D 5e, Blades in the Dark, Powered by the Apocalypse, Mork Borg, and basically anything today that is considered rules light.I'm not the only one that thinks Savage Worlds is an impressive game.The game received the 2003 Origin Gamers' Choice Award for best role-playing game. Scott Taylor for Black Gate in 2013 rated Savage Worlds as Honorable Mention #1 in the top ten role-playing games of all time.But now I have to admit my own stupidity.When Savage Worlds came out in 2003 I wasn't interested. I saw it as a direct attack against my favorite game GURPS so I lifted my nose and kept playing GURPS. It wasn't until recently that I started diving into Savage Worlds and man did I miss the boat on this one.In this episode we are going to review Savage Worlds and talk about the game, the game system, why it's cool and why you should give it a shot.Mike, when did you first play Savage Worlds?[Kick to Mike]Christina, What about you?[Kick to Christina]

The Nintendo Switch 2 was announced on the same day the United States announced sweeping tariffs across every other nation on the planet. This caused the initial pre-orders for the Switch 2 to be delayed in the US. Vietnam, where Nintendo moved production to from China, had come to the negotiating table as of the recording of this show, and after recording this show, the reciprocal 46% tariff has been paused for 90 days (however the initial 10% still remains.) Board Games designed in the US are affected, too, because there just isn't the manufacturing capability or capacity in the US to do the specialty parts that many board games need. This means that board game prices will either soar, or people will just stop designing new board games. Tabletop Game makers are also facing some tough decisions about how to go forward with their business when the only good manufacturing for their niche product is in a highly tariff'd country.

What happens if we lean back into the roots of our hobby - which for me is largely the 1980s - and realise that the kind of roleplaying we enjoy the most is in fact the Old-School variety?But instead of landing back in the realm of Dungeons & Dragons, what if we find the kind of system that emphasises the roleplay is actually found in the emergence of a game designed to encourage just that: roleplay?In 1985, Steve Jackson Games published the combat system from their forthcoming roleplaying game system and they named it, “Man-to-Man”. A year later in 1986, they published the full game system as it then existed. It's name was GURPS - the Generic Universal Role-Playing System. 40 years later, GURPS is still around… and so is that earlier incarnation. And it turns out that it's a far more accessible and playable role-playing system than I ever imagined.Thanks to Steve Jackson Games for continuing to keep GURPS Third Edition in print:Amazon POD: amazon.co.uk/GURPS-Basic-Set-Third-Revised/dp/1556348266/Warehouse23 PDF: warehouse23.com/products/gurps-basic-set-third-edition-revisedBig thanks to Spencer and Evil Jeff for calling in with their experiences and thoughts!Game on!Roleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens if we lean back into the roots of our hobby - which for me is largely the 1980s - and realise that the kind of roleplaying we enjoy the most is in fact the Old-School variety?But instead of landing back in the realm of Dungeons & Dragons, what if we find the kind of system that emphasises the roleplay is actually found in the emergence of a game designed to encourage just that: roleplay?In 1985, Steve Jackson Games published the combat system from their forthcoming roleplaying game system and they named it, “Man-to-Man”. A year later in 1986, they published the full game system as it then existed. It's name was GURPS - the Generic Universal Role-Playing System. 40 years later, GURPS is still around… and so is that earlier incarnation. And it turns out that it's a far more accessible and playable role-playing system than I ever imagined.Thanks to Steve Jackson Games for continuing to keep GURPS Third Edition in print:Amazon POD: amazon.co.uk/GURPS-Basic-Set-Third-Revised/dp/1556348266/Warehouse23 PDF: warehouse23.com/products/gurps-basic-set-third-edition-revisedBig thanks to Spencer and Evil Jeff for calling in with their experiences and thoughts!Game on!Roleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:roleplayrescue@pm.meBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueLogo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pathfinder introduces NPC romance and relationship rules, D&D signs a deal with Netflix for a Forgotten Realms tv series, and evil Drow could be returning to 5e 2024!Explore Jarren's Outpost here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dndnerds/jarrens-outpostEmail your questions to podcast@ghostfiregaming.comBen: @TheBenByrneDael: @dailydael Shawn: @shawnmerwinAdam:  @RetroArchetype Editor:  @ZsDante  Topics:00:00 - Intro02:13 - Favorite D&D species11:54 - Evil Drow returning!14:15 - D&D Netflix Series21:59 - Jarren's Outpost27:39 - Pathfinder romance rules39:08 - Kickstarter Pledge Over Time44:31 - Steve Jackson Games & Possum Creek49:05 - Fantasy travel between settlements

The "Illuminati Card Game," released in 1994 by Steve Jackson Games, is a strategy and card game that delves into the world of conspiracies and secret societies. Known for its satirical take on global politics and conspiracy theories, the game has gained a cult following due to its clever mechanics, humorous illustrations, and eerie predictions that some players find eerily prescient. The game is famous for its satirical portrayal of conspiracy theories, poking fun at the idea of secret societies controlling the world. The illustrations and card descriptions are filled with humor and irony. Additionally, some cards have gained notoriety for seemingly predicting real-world events, such as the "Terrorist Nuke" and "Epidemic" cards, which have been linked to various global incidents post-release. Indeed, many of the cards are a little "too on the nose" to be a coincidence. Let's explore this, shall we? SOURCES: -Scans of the cards (use virus protection): https://archive.org/details/illuminaticardgamecompletelist12160socialnetwork/Illuminati%20Card%20Game%20Part%20I%20-%20Complete%20List%20-%2012160%20Social%20Network/ -Mayamagik: https://www.mayamagik.com/ -Illuminati Card Game Second Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jackson-Games-Illuminati-2nd/dp/B07CZT4TF4 -Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati_(game) -The Illuminatus Trilogy: https://www.amazon.com/Illuminatus-Trilogy-Pyramid-Golden-Leviathan/dp/0440539811

GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System), 4. edycja (2004)Designer: Steve JacksonWydane przez: Steve Jackson Games

On April 2nd 2004, Pyramid Magazine published an article entitled, “Designer's Notes: GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition” by Sean Punch. Twenty years from that article in 2004, GURPS - the Generic Universal Role-Playing System - is still with us. Contrary to popular opinion, it's not a dead game. GURPS Fourth Edition might be out of fashion but it's truly a standard in the RPG community. Last episode, I spoke of my rediscovery of the spirit of the Third Edition through the pages of Roleplayer. A month on, I have arrived back with the Fourth Edition of GURPS. Having enjoyed a journey into the early 1990s GURPS community, I was also aware that GURPS received an overhaul in 2004. This episode is a reflection on the power of that RPG system: it's time to unleash this power and flexibility into my experience of play.Big thanks to Matt C and Jason W for the call-ins this episode!Thanks also to Steve Jackson Games for creating GURPS and keeping the game alive for nearly 40 years.Game on!GURPS Basic Set on Warehouse23: GURPS Basic Set: Characters and Campaigns | Warehouse 23ORwarehouse23.com/collections/gurps/products/gurps-basic-set-characters-and-campaignsGURPS Lite on Warehouse23:GURPS Lite (Fourth Edition) | Warehouse 23OR warehouse23.com/products/gurps-lite-fourth-editionGURPS Lite on DriveThruRPG:GURPS Lite (Fourth Edition) - Steve Jackson Games | GURPS Fourth Edition | GURPS Fourth Edition - Start Here! | DriveThruRPGORdrivethrurpg.com/en/product/236828/gurps-lite-fourth-editionRoleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:hello@rpgrescue.comBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueRoleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On April 2nd 2004, Pyramid Magazine published an article entitled, “Designer's Notes: GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition” by Sean Punch. Twenty years from that article in 2004, GURPS - the Generic Universal Role-Playing System - is still with us. Contrary to popular opinion, it's not a dead game. GURPS Fourth Edition might be out of fashion but it's truly a standard in the RPG community. Last episode, I spoke of my rediscovery of the spirit of the Third Edition through the pages of Roleplayer. A month on, I have arrived back with the Fourth Edition of GURPS. Having enjoyed a journey into the early 1990s GURPS community, I was also aware that GURPS received an overhaul in 2004. This episode is a reflection on the power of that RPG system: it's time to unleash this power and flexibility into my experience of play.Big thanks to Matt C and Jason W for the call-ins this episode!Thanks also to Steve Jackson Games for creating GURPS and keeping the game alive for nearly 40 years.Game on!GURPS Basic Set on Warehouse23: GURPS Basic Set: Characters and Campaigns | Warehouse 23ORwarehouse23.com/collections/gurps/products/gurps-basic-set-characters-and-campaignsGURPS Lite on Warehouse23:GURPS Lite (Fourth Edition) | Warehouse 23OR warehouse23.com/products/gurps-lite-fourth-editionGURPS Lite on DriveThruRPG:GURPS Lite (Fourth Edition) - Steve Jackson Games | GURPS Fourth Edition | GURPS Fourth Edition - Start Here! | DriveThruRPGORdrivethrurpg.com/en/product/236828/gurps-lite-fourth-editionRoleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:hello@rpgrescue.comBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueRoleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

About Alex YeagerAlex Yeager joins us on today's episode to bring his wealth of knowledge and experience from over 20 years in the board game industry. Alex is the Chief Operating Officer at Amigo Games, overseeing the company's North American operations. Before his time at Amigo, Alex held various leadership roles at renowned companies like Mayfair Games, where he served as Vice President of Acquisition and Development, and Steve Jackson Games, where he contributed significantly to their demo programs. He also has a rich background as an event coordinator and demo leader, helping bring many games to wider audiences.In this episode, Alex shares his journey, from falling in love with tabletop games like Cosmic Encounter and Illuminati to his deep involvement in demoing for Steve Jackson Games and CheapAss Games. He walks us through his innovative 2-2-2 demo method, explains what makes a game pitch successful, and dives into the marketing strategies that can revive evergreen titles like Bonanza. Alex's insights into game development, pitching, and the mechanics behind building successful games provide a goldmine of advice for designers and developers alike. Enjoy!Want to support the podcast and get more design lessons?Paying subscribers enjoy an abundance of extra game design content and an exclusive newsletter with new lessons, archive access, videos, and more! By opting for a free or paid subscription, you can get the latest articles delivered to your inbox and support this podcast! Get full access to Think Like A Game Designer at justingarydesign.substack.com/subscribe

Opener: Noli Closer: Just a few games that caught my eye or attention in other ways coming at Essen. Galileo Galilei, In the Footsteps of Marie Curie, Port Arthur, Amazonia Park, and Flatiron      My call for feedback earlier this year sparked both halves of this podcast. First, there was a request for me to explain my history with the best, most famous, and original CCG, Magic The Gathering. Though I dabble a tiny bit even now, there were a few years in the beginning when I dove in with both feet. It was, as we now say, a lifestyle game. I still think it's incredible, clearly one of my all-time favorites, but it's not easy to keep up with Magic and other games. Therefore it's mostly part of my gaming past, but I have such fond memories and will definitely play a game here or there in the future. Such as on M:tG Arena, the fantastic free-to-play digital version of the game. When Settlers of Catan (and Air Baron! another of my early favorites) showed up, eurogames essentially displaced Magic for me. Though we called them German Games at the time. I was hooked, and now it's been nearly thirty years. That sounds like a a long time--and it is!--but I have a hobby gaming history before Catan and Magic. I've told parts of that history on this podcast before, but when someone who listens to the show was surprised to hear I'd once worked for Steve Jackson Games, I realized it's been about 18 years since I told that story! So you'll forgive the repetition, if by some chance you remember my tale the first time. After talking about Magic, I go back to the beginning of my hobby gaming with a variety of stops along the way. There were years of wargames (both science fiction and some historical) and lots of roleplaying games. Like Magic, my RPG days are something I'll always remember fondly, but I'm not sure if I'll ever play those again.        -Mark

Our guest Warren Spector is the creative producer behind vastly influential games like Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Deus Ex and many others. Now working on (working title) Argos, he joins us to talk about the birth of the immersive sim, having amazing mentors and ways to start a game, this week!The conversation dives deep into Warren's career, discussing his design philosophy around player agency and choice, the history behind some of the most influential immersive sim games, and his experiences working at companies like Origin Systems, Ion Storm, and Disney. Warren shares behind-the-scenes stories about the development of Deus Ex, his transition from tabletop gaming to video games, and his collaborations with industry legends like Doug Church and John Romero. The episode also touches on Warren's current work with OtherSide Entertainment and his ambitious, upcoming project, Argos.Timestamped Highlights:[00:01:00] Warren discusses his design philosophy: player choice and agency.[00:02:30] Alex recalls working with Warren at Junction Point on Epic Mickey.[00:03:50] Aaron shares a humorous story about flubbing an interview with Warren during his early career.[00:10:00] Warren talks about his early work with TSR and Steve Jackson Games in the tabletop space.[00:12:00] Working on System Shock and the role of Looking Glass Studios.[00:18:00] Warren's transition from tabletop to video games and his early days at Origin Systems.[00:20:00] The creative process behind Deus Ex and Warren's work with Ion Storm.[00:24:00] Story of how John Romero offered Warren creative freedom at Ion Storm to make Deus Ex.[00:31:00] Warren shares his love for board games and his extensive library of books and car magazines.[00:39:00] Growing up in New York and his passion for film, leading to his career shift.[00:46:00] Warren's first exposure to Dungeons & Dragons in 1978, which profoundly influenced his game design philosophy.[00:53:00] His critique of games that lack meaningful player choice and why he strives to offer alternative solutions in his games.[01:00:00] A sneak peek into his new project at OtherSide Entertainment, Argos, though much remains under wraps.[01:05:00] Discussion about working with Disney and the creative challenges of designing Epic Mickey.[01:09:00] Alex and Warren reflect on their experiences working within Disney and the corporate dynamics.This episode is packed with gems on game design, industry insights, and entertaining stories from one of gaming's most celebrated designers.Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life!Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron MarroquinFind us at www.thefourthcurtain.comCome join the conversation at https://discord.gg/KWeGE4xHfeVideos available at https://www.youtube.com/@thefourthcurtainFollow us on twitter: @fourthcurtainEdited and mastered at https://noise-floor.comFeaturing the music track Liberation by 505

Hailing from Portsmouth, Virginia, Christopher R. Rice is constantly writing, tinkering with, and running GURPS. A frequent writer for Steve Jackson Games, if he's not writing for GURPS, he's blogging about it. His site “Ravens N' Pennies” is well-stocked with more GURPS goodies than you could shake a stick at.This one's about GURPS Meta-Tech, his most recent book, but it's about so much more. Even for those not into the GURPS system, there's much to ponder and I hope you'll listen in nonetheless. Christopher is a great evangelist for GURPS but he's also a strong voice for creative, exciting game play. Big thanks up front to Christopher for coming on the show!Game on!Ravens 'n' Pennies Blog:Ravens N' Pennies - Caw! Caw! Look, it's a blog! About gaming and writing and...and stuff! (ravensnpennies.com)ORhttps://www.ravensnpennies.com/Christopher's Ravenpenny Patreon:Christopher R. Rice | Creating Role-Playing Games and Fiction | PatreonORhttps://www.patreon.com/ravenpennyMeta-Tech on Warehouse23:GURPS Meta-Tech | Warehouse 23ORhttps://warehouse23.com/collections/new/products/gurps-meta-tech-pdfMeta-Tech on Amazon:GURPS Meta-Tech: Amazon.co.uk: Rice, Christopher R.: 9781639990566: BooksORhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/GURPS-Meta-Tech-Christopher-R-Rice/dp/1639990569Roleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:hello@rpgrescue.comBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueRoleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblin:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hailing from Portsmouth, Virginia, Christopher R. Rice is constantly writing, tinkering with, and running GURPS. A frequent writer for Steve Jackson Games, if he's not writing for GURPS, he's blogging about it. His site “Ravens N' Pennies” is well-stocked with more GURPS goodies than you could shake a stick at.This one's about GURPS Meta-Tech, his most recent book, but it's about so much more. Even for those not into the GURPS system, there's much to ponder and I hope you'll listen in nonetheless. Christopher is a great evangelist for GURPS but he's also a strong voice for creative, exciting game play. Big thanks up front to Christopher for coming on the show!Game on!Ravens 'n' Pennies Blog:Ravens N' Pennies - Caw! Caw! Look, it's a blog! About gaming and writing and...and stuff! (ravensnpennies.com)ORhttps://www.ravensnpennies.com/Christopher's Ravenpenny Patreon:Christopher R. Rice | Creating Role-Playing Games and Fiction | PatreonORhttps://www.patreon.com/ravenpennyMeta-Tech on Warehouse23:GURPS Meta-Tech | Warehouse 23ORhttps://warehouse23.com/collections/new/products/gurps-meta-tech-pdfMeta-Tech on Amazon:GURPS Meta-Tech: Amazon.co.uk: Rice, Christopher R.: 9781639990566: BooksORhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/GURPS-Meta-Tech-Christopher-R-Rice/dp/1639990569Roleplay Rescue Details:Voice Message:speakpipe.com/roleplayrescuePatreon:patreon.com/rpgrescue Email:hello@rpgrescue.comBlogroleplayrescue.com Bluesky Social:https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.socialMeWe:https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescueRoleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblin:https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  Steve Jackson Games is set to release two new GURPS 4E Basic Sets on August 7, 2024. These sets aim to provide players with the essential tools to learn and adapt the game to various settings. The first set, Basic Set: Characters, focuses on character creation and combat basics, retailing for $59.95. The second, […]

Steve Jackson and his company Steve Jackson Games have been at the heart of the tabletop industry since its earliest days. At Metagaming Concepts Jackson pioneered the micro-game, an efficient multiplayer gaming experience like OGRE that fit in a small polythene bag. After founding his own company Jackson went on to develop classics like Car Wars, Illuminati, and GURPS - the Generic Universal Roleplaying System that could be used to simulate RPG games in any setting or style. With games like Munchkin SJ Games has remained a relevant force in the gaming market place to this day.Steve Jackson even cross the Atlantic to work with Steve Jackson (and Ian Livingstone) to pen a few Fighting Fantasy game books.We talk about a prestigious career in the table top industry, how he got started, some of his finest works, and where things go next.Steve Jackson in conversation with Jordan Sorcery.Steve's Links:[Steve Jackson Games]https://www.sjgames.com/Jordan's Links: PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/jordansorceryDOWNLOAD MY FANTASY BATTLE SCENARIO DEAD KING WENCESLAS:https://jordansorcery.itch.io/dead-king-wenceslasELEMENT GAMES AFFILIATE LINK:https://elementgames.co.uk/?d=11216KO-FI:https://ko-fi.com/jordansorceryINSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/jordansorcery/ BLUESKY:https://bsky.app/profile/jordansorcery.bsky.social WEBSITE:https://jordansorcery.com/DISCORD:My Discord is now open to exclusively to Patreon supporters & by invitation only

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

Dive into the quirky world of Munchkin Big Box with Steve Jackson Games’ very own Will Schoonover on our latest podcast episode. Get the inside scoop on your favorite role-playing game, discover behind-the-scenes secrets, and join the fun with insights that’ll make you the master of your next game night. Tune in now for a […]

Steve Jackson in conversation with Jordan SorceryWe talk about founding Games Workshop in the 70s, starting White Dwarf, working with Bryan Ansell as his Citadel team created Warhammer, co-writing Fighting Fantasy with Sir Ian Livingstone, and creating cutting edge interactive storytelling over the phone with Steve Jackson's F.I.S.T (Fantasy Interactive Scenarios by Telephone!)This was a huge joy for me to film and a conversation I never thought I'd get to have - a magical opportunity for which I am very grateful. Thank you to Steve and to everyone who has supported the channel that has allowed me to do this work!Support my work:Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/jordansorcery]Element Games Affiliate Link [https://elementgames.co.uk/?d=11216]Download my Fantasy Battle Scenario: Dead King Wenceslas [https://jordansorcery.itch.io/dead-king-wenceslas]Ko-Fi [https://ko-fi.com/jordansorcery]Discord [https://discord.gg/vtjKzTGevD]This episode was originally released via YouTube: https://youtu.be/DiPHg4YKWAY

This week, Morrus, PJ, and Jessica bring you up to date with all the tabletop RPG news including the resignation of Wizards of the Coast President Cynthia Williams, Hasbro searching for new partner for Baldur's Gate 4, and more! Plus a brand new sketch about the importance of cabbages. -------------------- News Wizards of the Coast President Cynthia Williams Resigns https://www.enworld.org/threads/wotc-president-cynthia-williams-resigns.703723/ Hasbro looking for a new partner to make Baldur's Gate 4 https://www.enworld.org/threads/hasbro-is-looking-for-partners-for-baldurs-gate-4.703740/ Vecna: Eve of Ruin Trailer Stars Baldur's Gate's Astarion's Voice Actor https://www.enworld.org/threads/vecna-eve-of-ruin-trailer-stars-baldurs-gates-astarion-actor.703763/ Nest of the Eldritch Eye Released to Vecna: Eve of Ruin Pre-order Customers https://www.enworld.org/threads/nest-of-the-eldritch-eye-was-released-to-eve-of-ruin-pre-order-customers.703746/ 40+ Multiversal Monsters in Vecna: Eve of Ruin https://www.enworld.org/threads/meet-some-of-the-40-multiversal-monsters-in-vecna-eve-of-ruin.703764/ Beedle & Grimm's Platinum Edition of Vecna: Eve of Ruin details https://www.enworld.org/threads/heres-all-the-loot-in-b-gs-vecna-eve-of-ruin-platinum-edition.703742/ 13th Age Second Edition Kickstarter pre-launch page https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pelgranepress/13th-age-second-edition-storytelling-action-fantasy-game Not DnD – 13th Age 2nd Edition with Rob Heinsoo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyHzFjEb2Cw What to expect in Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition https://www.enworld.org/threads/what-to-expect-in-star-trek-adventures-2nd-edition.703739/ Pathfinder Meta Event War of Immortals https://www.enworld.org/threads/paizo-announces-pathfinder-war-of-immortals-meta-event.703730/ Critical Role Whiskey from Quest's End https://www.enworld.org/threads/critical-role-whiskey-coming-from-quest%E2%80%99s-end.703758/ Peer-Reviewed study says that D&D is good for mental health https://www.enworld.org/threads/peer-reviewed-study-says-dungeons-dragons-good-for-mental-health.703759/ Steve Jackson Games 2023 Annual Stakeholder Report https://www.enworld.org/threads/steve-jackson-games-releases-stakeholder-report-for-2023.703757/ Pathfinder Life Size Baby Goblin from WizKids https://www.enworld.org/threads/pathfinder-life-size-baby-goblin-coming-from-wizkids.703760/ Monsters of Drakkenheim on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dungeondudes/monsters-of-drakkenheim-5e The Laundry 2nd Edition on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cubicle-7-games/the-laundry-roleplaying-game-second-edition Adventure Time: The Roleplaying Game on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cze/adventure-time-the-roleplaying-game Field Guide to Floral Dragons on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hitpointpress/the-field-guide-to-floral-dragons Potential Monsters in Quests from the Infinite Staircase Adventures https://www.enworld.org/threads/potential-monsters-in-quests-from-the-infinite-staircase-adventures.703743/ -------------------- Please support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/morrus Don't forget to join the Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1033145023517295/ and join us on Discord at https://discord.gg/VAuxX8M Ask your Listener Question on Twitter, email morruspodcast@gmail.com, or contact us on TikTok at TikTok -------------------- Hosts: Russ “Morrus” Morrissey, Peter Coffey, and Jessica Hancock Editing and post-production: Darryl Mott Theme Song: Steve Arnott Malach the Maleficent played by Darren Morrissey Check out all the media content from EN World at http://enliverpg.com

fWotD Episode 2534: Fallout (video game) Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.The featured article for Friday, 12 April 2024 is Fallout (video game).Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is a 1997 role-playing video game developed and published by Interplay Productions. In a mid-22nd century post-apocalyptic and retro-futuristic world, decades after a global nuclear war between the United States and China, Fallout's protagonist, the Vault Dweller, inhabits the underground nuclear shelter Vault 13. After customizing their character, the player must scour the surrounding wasteland for a computer chip that can fix the Vault's failed water supply system. They interact with other survivors, some of whom give them missions, and engage in turn-based combat where they battle until their action points are depleted.Tim Cain began working on Fallout in 1994. It began as a game engine based on Steve Jackson Games's tabletop role-playing game GURPS. Interplay dropped the license after Steve Jackson Games objected to Fallout's violence, and Cain and designer Christopher Taylor created a new character customization scheme, SPECIAL. Although Interplay initially gave the game little attention, the development ultimately cost $3 million and employed up to thirty people. Interplay considered Fallout the spiritual successor to its 1988 role-playing game Wasteland and drew artistic inspiration from 1950s literature and media emblematic of the Atomic Age as well as the films Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog. The quests were intentionally made morally ambiguous. After three and a half years of development, Fallout was released in North America in October 1997.Fallout received acclaim for its open-ended gameplay, character system, plot, and perceived original setting. It won "Role-Playing Game of the Year" from GameSpot and Computer Games Magazine, was nominated by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences at the Spotlight Awards, and is often listed among the greatest video games of all time. Fallout has been credited for renewing consumer interest in the role-playing video genre due to its setting, open-ended plot, and gameplay. Fallout was a commercial success, selling 600,000 copies worldwide. It spawned the Fallout series, the rights to which were purchased in 2007 by Bethesda Softworks.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:31 UTC on Friday, 12 April 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Fallout (video game) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm Olivia Neural.

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

In a detour from my normal episodes, have an unboxing episode for Hexagram 11, a zine by Steve Jackson Games for use with The Fantasy Trip. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gmsshadow/message

On this episode of And I Quote: Ryan talks with veteran comic-book artist and writer, Zach Howard about his latest Kickstarter, Moonshine Bigfoot and his career in the industry. We will also be taking your questions! Zach Howard is a freelance professional comic book artist of 23 years. His most notable employers include Marvel, DC Comics, Nickelodeon, Image, Dark Horse, IDW, Boom, Simon & Schuster, and Steve Jackson Games. Zach's most popular projects are Hellboy, Wild Blue Yonder, Shaun of the Dead, Venom, Wolverine, GI Joe, The Cape, Aliens, and Batman. He has been nominated for an Eisner Award, multiple Indie awards, and received an Amazon Book of the Month selection for Wild Blue Yonder. In addition to his professional work, Zach is passionate about supporting young artists and has dedicated much of his time to helping nurture the next generation of creators. Co-Creator, Co-scripting, Artwork Inks and Finishes are my credits for Moonshine Bigfoot. My most famous works in the last few years were Hellboy and the BPRD: The Return of Effie Kolb, The Cape (with Joe Hill), and Wild Blue Yonder. However, I've done everything out there - Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Aliens, etc. Follow Zach Howard on Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zach.howard.359?ref=tn_tnmn IG: @spacefriend_z Deviant Art: https://www.deviantart.com/spacefriend-krunk KS: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/roninridgestudio/moonshine-bigfoot-moonshine-muscle-cars-and-mayhem?fbclid=IwAR0DgVeyCypBxkJb9lgL1Hs-WRYh3zlNc7z4B7T4FuiFgoAQuLwt17umqso Follow Ryan on Social Media: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/ryanandiquote

Well I suppose it was about time. Let's dive into the world of world creation by taking a hard look at GURPS, one of the earliest examples of the "Do anything at all" RPG model, from Steve Jackson Games. If I can post this right. My tech level is pretty low. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Restoration Games will release Unmatched: Teen Spirit, and more gaming new from Dan Patris on this week's Munchkin Land! Show your thanks to Major Spoilers for this episode by becoming a Major Spoilers Patron at http://patreon.com/MajorSpoilers. It will help ensure Munchkin Land continues far into the future! Join our Discord server and chat with fellow Spoilerites! (https://discord.gg/jWF9BbF) Contact us at podcast@majorspoilers.com NEWS Restoration Games Will release Unmatched:Teen Spirit, A Marvel Stand alone set for Unmatched April ‘23 ($50) . Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, and Cloak and Dagger. WizKids will release Dungeons & Dragons Onslaught: Scenario Kit, The Benefactor, (Base Game Required) ($25) June ‘23. Portal Games announced two expansions for Eleven:Football manager Board game, Solo and Stadium Expansions March ‘23 ($20 each) Steve Jackson Games will release the next Munchkin mini-expansion-- Munchkin Squids April ‘23 ($11) Asmodee will release Azul Mini, a travel or compact edition April ‘23. ($20) Catalyst Game Labs will release Centurion (A standalone yet integrated standalone expansion for The Duke) April ‘23 ($40) Brotheriwse games will release a 2 player version of Overboss, Overboss Duel Q3 ‘23 ($30) Hatchette Board Games will Release Vaalbara in the US in May ‘23 ($15-20) DIGITAL GAMES Steam Spring sale is going on and there's a ton of great games on sale from Gloomhaven to Terraforming Mars. CROWDFUNDING GameFound Coming Soon Elder Scrolls:Betrayal of the Second Era -- Chip Theory games KICKSTARTER Coming Soon--Unmatched Adventures: Tales To Amaze launching KS 3/23 Point City + Deep Dive The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast From The Moon Townsfolk Tussle: Foul Neighbors and Odd Jobs Beverage

Sometimes we cover games that are truly artifacts of their time. This is one of those! Killer by Steve Jackson Games might be considered by some a proto-LARP, others would see it as “Cops & Robbers” for adults, and most others as a serious ecurity risk? Falling pillow-safes, Dart guns (with a ‘D'!), and 30 […]

Chatting With Sherri welcomes leading storyboard artist and Illustrators of the Future judge; Rob Prior! Best known for his art provided for Spawn, Heavy Metal comics and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as his rare ability of painting with both hands at the same time. As a comic book artist, he has worked with Marvel, D.C., Todd McFarlane, Kevin Eastman and Image Comics, to name a few, with his most notable credits on Spawn, Terminator, Deep Space 9, Evil Ernie, Melting Pot, Lady Death and Heavy Metal. As a leading storyboard artist, Prior has provided storyboards for advertising campaigns such as Budweiser and Nikon, as well as for the gaming industry, for Titleist, 2K Games, Terminator 3 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also created all the storyboards and animatics for the video games Ghost Rider and The Darkness. As an illustrator, Prior has supplied cover art and interior art material for Steve Jackson Games, TSR (Dungeons and Dragons), Wizards of the Coast, Battle of the Lords of the 23rd Century, and many others. Prior has directed short films and music videos in which he has storyboarded, production designed/art directed and did all practical effects for each and is now directing his first movie called Whisper. Prior is also the VP of creative for Heavy Metal. Prior has been an Illustrators of the Future judge since 2015.        

This week, Morrus, Peter, and Jessica talk about different ways of learning a new roleplaying game. In the news, Wizards of the Coast's Kyle Brink tells the company's side of the OGL story, Steve Jackson Games teases (but doesn't confirm) a new edition of GURPS, Dark Souls RPG gets a bestiary, and more! Plus a new listener question and a brand new sketch about the difficulties of slaying a dragon to become a hero. -------------------- News Kyle Brink Interviewed by 3 Black Halflings https://www.enworld.org/threads/kyle-brink-d-d-exec-producer-on-ogl-controversy-one-d-d-summary.695136/ Kyle Brink Interviewed by Teos Abadia (Alphastream) https://www.enworld.org/threads/kyle-brink-interviewed-by-teos-abadia-alphastream-on-ogl-wotc-d-d.695173/ Bank of America Reiterates “Underperform” Stock Rating https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/hasbro-dilutes-magic-the-gathering-brand-stock-price-bank-america-2023-2 How to Use the Open Game License https://a5esrd.com/how-to-use-the-open-game-license News Digest for the Week of February 10 (Fantasy AGE 2nd Edition update, GURPS 5th Edition Rumor, Dark Souls Tome of Strange Beings) https://www.enworld.org/threads/news-digest-for-the-week-of-february-10.695224/ Against the Dragonlords Episode 5 https://www.enworld.org/threads/against-the-dragonlords-episode-5-tuesday-7pm-gmt-2pm-et.695137/ Starfinder Years 6 Metaplot Announcement https://www.enworld.org/threads/paizo-news-starfinder-year-6-announcement.695211/ Strikes & Spares: A Bowling TTRPG on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/funemployment-press/strikes-and-spares Cities Without Number on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sinenomineinc/cities-without-number Adventures in the Cypher System on BackerKit https://www.backerkit.com/c/monte-cook-games/adventures-in-the-cypher-system These Stars Will Guide You Home on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/albi13/these-stars-will-guide-you-home-0 Nighthawks by Titanomachy RPG https://titanomachyrpg.itch.io/nighthawks Gate Pass Gazette Annual 2022 Funded! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/level-up-a5e-gate-pass-gazette-annual-2022 -------------------- Learning a New RPG Shut Up & Sit Down “How to Teach Board Games Like a Pro” https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/videos/how-to-teach-board-games-like-a-pro/ What's OLD is NEW (WOIN) Starter Set announcement https://www.enworld.org/threads/open-licensed-woin-starter-set-coming-in-2023.694589/ Memories of Holdenshire Introductory Adventure for Level Up Advanced 5e https://enpublishingrpg.com/collections/level-up-advanced-5th-edition-a5e/products/level-up-memories-of-holdenshire-a5e? -------------------- Please support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/morrus Don't forget to join the Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1033145023517295/ and join us on Discord at https://discord.gg/VAuxX8M Ask your Listener Question on Twitter, email morruspodcast@gmail.com, or contact us on TikTok at TikTok -------------------- Hosts: Russ “Morrus” Morrissey, Peter Coffey, and Jessica Hancock Editing and post-production: Darryl Mott Theme Song: Steve Arnott Malach the Maleficent played by Darren Morrissey Check out all the media content from EN World at http://enliverpg.com

No, not that guy! The other one, ya' know the OGRE, Car Wars & GURPS guy. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thedicearescreaming/support

We apologize for the all-caps implied yelling, but really, given this volume we had to have a corresponding... uh, volume. The puns are also somewhat fishy--but those you can feel free to skip, jack. The nautical theme doesn't end with fishing, as the recent Crash Octopus (when compared with older titles that are comparatively crusty) shone. More specifically given that it's about an octopus and we want to minimize the yelling, it's a safe, low pod. Wait, no, that's the wrong family. If you wanna shop in latin... you mall, usque?I'll see myself out. 1:04 AYURIS: Trick Shot (Nikita Krylov & Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designa, 2021)Games Played Last Week:03:27 -Lords of Hellas: Dark Ages Expansion (Adam Kwapiński, Awaken Realms, 2019)09:43 -Hallertau (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2020)12:27 -Keep the Heroes Out (Luís Brüeh, Brueh Games, 2022)17:37 -Nusfjord (Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2017)21:49 -Santa Maria (Eilif Svensson and Kristian Amundsen Østby, Aporta Games, 2017)25:47 -Spots (Alex Hague, Jon Perry, and Justin Vickers, CMYK, 2022)29:37 -Long Shot: The Dice Game (Chris Handy, Perplext, 2022)33:37 -Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood (Jamie Jolly, Shadowborne Games, 2022)41:00 -Return to Dark Tower (Tim Burrell-Saward, Isaac Childres, Noah Cohen, Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, & Brian Neff, Restoration Games, 2022)43:52 -Car Wars (Sixth Edition) (Samuel Mitschke & Rany Scheunemann, Steve Jackson Games, 2021)49:39 -Twilight Inscription (James Kniffen, FFG, 2022)51:47 -Space Cadets: Dice Duel (Geoff Engelstein and Sydney Engelstein, Stronghold, 2013)53:56 -Scooby-Doo! The Board Game (Guilherme Goulart and Fred Perret, CMON, 2022)57:32 -Guards of Atlantis II (Artyom Nichipurov, Wolff Designa, 2022)1:02:50 -Chronicles of Avel (Przemek Wojtkowiak, Rebel Studio, 2021)1:04:23 -Crash Octopus (Naotaka Shimamoto, itten, 2021)News (and why it doesn't matter):1:06:29 Funbrick Series by itten: two Reiner Knizia dexterity games!1:07:19 Queen's Dilemma, and the consumer's dilemma1:09:09 Spirit Island: Nature Incarnate on BackerKit. Strangely information-free campaign. 1:12:32 HeroScape campaign floundering.1:14:08 Another G.I. JOE expansion: Cold Snap1:14:37 Both Sadler brothers out of professional game design1:15:26 A reason why we don't do previews1:16:23 October 27th is Arkhipov Day

Before the age of the OGL, there was a time undreamt of, the time of second generation FRPGS! Join us back in the late 1970s as we cover “The Fantasy Trip” by first Metagaming, then reprinted by Steve Jackson Games. Your fave Halflings consider this precursor to GURPS in all of its rules-light glory. Mana, […]

I was joined by Steve Jackson who has had a distinguished career, designing iconic games such as GURPS, Car Wars, The Fantasy Trip, and last, but not least - Munchkin! Steve shared his journey from his first entry into the hobby, to lessons learned along the way, and the sharing of new games such as the re-releases of Car Wars and The Fantasy Trip. To learn more about Steve Jackson Games: http://www.warehouse23.com https://thefantasytrip.game --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/diekugames/message

Spurred on by an episode of The Red Caps Podcast I finally decided to have a bit of a solo play using The Fantasy Trip: Melee rules. The Fantasy Trip: Melee by Steve Jackson Games, available in print and as a free PDF here: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/the-fantasy-trip-melee-pdf Virtual Tabletop was Foundry VTT using the GURPS Game Aid and custom form fillable PDFs Accessed using the PDF Foundry (now deprecated) module for Foundry. If you want to know how I linked the sheets, ask me how, but maybe wait until after Foundry V10 is out with the new PDF viewer! If you don't want to use Anchor to leave a message, I also have a SpeakPipe account here: https://www.speakpipe.com/gmsshadow The Red Caps Podcast can be found here: https://www.theredcaps.net/ My original blog post can be found here: https://gmsshadow.wordpress.com/2022/09/14/the-fantasy-trip-melee-playthrough/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gmsshadow/message

This week, Morrus, Peter, and Jessica talk about establishing atmosphere and tone in an RPG. In the news, D&D apologizes for Spelljammer race lore, Monty Python licensed RPG on its way, Paizo's Lisa Stevens retires, a TSR News Update, and more! Plus Five Minutes at DragonCon with Egg Embry interviewing Steve Jackson and a brand new sketch about the party discovering their first Spelljammer ship.   Editor's Note: The original upload of this episode was incorrectly exported causing an issue with the audio. It has now been fixed. I apologize for the error. -------------------- News Monty Python's Cocurricular Medieval Reenactment Programme https://www.enworld.org/threads/theres-an-official-monty-python-rpg-coming.691377/ News Digest for the Week of September 9 (Munchkin Video Game, Paizo's Lisa Stevens Retires, Kickstarter Personnel Changes) https://www.enworld.org/threads/news-digest-for-the-week-of-september-9.691422/ NuTSR Customer Financial Data Breach https://www.enworld.org/threads/nutsr-financial-data-breach.691241/ Wizards of the Coast Requests Injunction Against NuTSR https://www.enworld.org/threads/wizards-of-the-coast-requests-injunction-against-nutsr.691440/ TechCrunch: Patreon confirms security team layoffs https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/09/patreon-security-layoffs/ Wizards of the Coast Apologizes for Spelljammer Race Descriptions https://www.enworld.org/threads/wotc-apologises-for-spelljammer-race-descriptions.691242/ The Anatomy of Adventure by M.T. Black on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1367769523/the-anatomy-of-adventure A Selection of Slimes by Philip Reed Games on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/philipreed/a-selection-of-slimes-odd-oozes-for-rpgs-by-philip-reed Free League announces Blade Runner Starter Set https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/52067/free-league-reveals-blade-runner-rpg-starter-set Critical Role and Hipdog releasing Critical Role Makeup https://www.hipdot.com/collections/critical-role Dungeon Delver's Guide from EN Publishing on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/dungeon-delvers-guide-a-sourcebook-for-5e-and-a5e Hexagram #10, an Old-School Size for The Fantasy Trip from Steve Jackson Games on Kickstarter (ENDING MONDAY!!) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/warehouse23/hexagram-10-an-old-school-rpg-zine-for-the-fantasy-trip -------------------- Please support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/morrus Don't forget to join the Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1033145023517295/ and join us on Discord at https://discord.gg/VAuxX8M Ask your Awfully Cheerful Question on Twitter using the hashtag #AwfullyCheerfulQuestion, email morruspodcast@gmail.com, or contact us on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@enpublishingrpg -------------------- Hosts: Russ “Morrus” Morrissey, Peter Coffey, and Jessica Hancock Editing and post-production: Darryl Mott Theme Song: Steve Arnott Malach the Maleficent played by Darren Morrissey Check out all the media content from EN World at http://enliverpg.com

We've all heard the term "meta-gaming" used, and usually with bad connotations, but what is it?  And is it always bad?  This week we Steves ponder this very thing!    d20 Network Spotlight: Eberron Renewed -- https://thegeekpantheon.com/category/podcast/eberron-renewed/   Game of the Week:      Steve G:  Teenage Mutant Dirtbags -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/404270/Teenage-Mutant-Dirtbags-A-Roleplaying-Game?affiliate_id=2018399      Steve S:  Car Wars -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/12199/Steve-Jackson-Games/subcategory/29316/Car-Wars?affiliate_id=2018399   The Steves will be at the Pittsburgh Gaming Expo in Monroeville PA (just outside Pittsburgh) on Oct 1&2, 2022.  We'll be doing a panel or 2, running some games, and just hanging out enjoying the fun!  For more info, check out https://www.pghretrogaming.com/.  Gaming of many sorts, bands, and just fun!   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Jesse!, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, and Dave Smith!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   You can reach us at meandsteverpg@gmail.com On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On Twitter @AndRPGs on TikTok @meandsteverpgpodcast Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs   Join us on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW   We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/  

This week we're joined by Douglas from Gaming Ballistic to talk about GURPS from Steve Jackson Games.  Along the way Doug shares some inside info on the publishing side of the business, and also talks about his current Kickstarter for some old-school solo-play adventures!      Links for Gaming Ballistic:           Website: https://gamingballistic.com/           Twitter: http://twitter.com/GMingBallistic           Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GamingBallistic/           Webstore: https://gaming-ballistic.myshopify.com/           Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gamingballistic/old-school-solo-adventures/posts/3579621   d20 Network Spotlight:  The Story Told -- https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/   Game of the Week:      Steve S: Pandora: Total Destruction -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/395733/Pandora-Total-Destruction?affiliate_id=2018399      Douglas: Symbaroum -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/163293/Symbaroum--Core-Rulebook?affiliate_id=2018399   The Steves will be at the Pittsburgh Gaming Expo in Monroeville PA (just outside Pittsburgh) on Oct 1&2, 2022.  We'll be doing a panel or 2, running some games, and just hanging out enjoying the fun!  For more info, check out https://www.pghretrogaming.com/.  Gaming of many sorts, bands, and just fun!   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Jesse!, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, and Dave Smith!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   You can reach us at meandsteverpg@gmail.com On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On Twitter @AndRPGs on TikTok @meandsteverpgpodcast Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs   Join us on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW   We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/  

Join us this week as Zig travels down the path of Steve Jackson Games. Meanwhile on the murdery side of the house Geoffrey tells the tale of Albert Fish, The Brooklyn Vampire.For your 30 day free Audible Trial go to: Audibletrial.com/nerderyandmurderyFor 10% off with BetterHelp go to: betterhelp.com/nerderyandmurderySupport the show

Wobblies & Wizards wanted to commend Steve Jackson Games on their recent statement about the Supreme Court decision on Roe V Wade. You can read the statement on their site here: http://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/July_08_2022/Roe_v_Wade --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wobbliesandwizards/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wobbliesandwizards/support

This week, Morrus and Jessica talk about creating a character beyond the stats on the page. In the news, DriveThruRPG and Roll20 partnership, previews of Spelljammer and Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, ENnie Award nominees announced, and more! Plus a brand new sketch about a party with a not ideal replacement for their fighter. -------------------- News DriveThruRPG and Roll20 Teaming Up https://www.enworld.org/threads/roll20-dtrpg-are-teaming-up.689879/ D&D New Edition Design Looks Soon? https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-d-new-edition-design-looks-soon.689858/ Spelljammer ship art preview https://www.enworld.org/threads/check-out-these-spelljammer-ships.689860/ Spelljammer Academy first adventure available for free on D&D Beyond https://www.enworld.org/threads/spelljammer-academy-get-free-spelljammer-adventures-from-d-d-beyond.689811/ Beth Rimmels review of Slaying the dragon: The Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons https://www.enworld.org/threads/slaying-the-dragon-the-secret-history-of-dungeons-dragons-review.689824/ AD&D Setting Sales Comparisons 1979 to 1998 https://www.enworld.org/threads/ad-d-settings-sales-comparison-79-98.689909/ Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel Table of Contents https://www.enworld.org/threads/journeys-through-the-radiant-citadel-table-of-contents.689910/ ENnie Award Nominees for 2022 Announced https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-ennies-announces-2022-nominees.689752/ The Official 5e Version of Doctor Who Coming Soon https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-official-5e-version-of-doctor-who-is-coming-in-just-2-weeks.689780/ News Digest for the Week of July 15 (Modiphius 2d20 Day and SRD, Steve Jackson Games blog post about paper prices and POD) https://www.enworld.org/threads/news-digest-for-the-week-of-july-15.689904/ Shadowrun Humble Bundle https://www.humblebundle.com/books/shadowrun-trpg-catalyst-game-labs-books?partner=gamerstavern Til Death Do Us Part: Adventures with Heart for 5e https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/til-death-do-us-part-4 ------------------- Kickstarters Iron Kingdoms: The Nightmare Empire https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/privateerpress/iron-kingdoms-the-nightmare-empire Arcanis 5e Campaign Setting Runic Edition https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1418216834/arcanis-5e-campaign-setting-runic-edition Fading Suns: Lost Worlds https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ulissesspiele/fading-suns-lost-worlds Hieronymus: Garden of Earthly Delights Edition https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/laurieoconnel/hieronymus-garden-of-earthly-delights-edition Find all the RPG crowdfunding projects ending soon with Egg Embry's RPG Crowdfunding News https://www.enworld.org/threads/rpg-crowdfunding-news-%E2%80%93-iron-kingdoms-arcanis-fading-suns-and-more.689836/ -------------------- Please support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/morrus Don't forget to join the Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1033145023517295/ and join us on Discord at https://discord.gg/VAuxX8M Ask your Awfully Cheerful Question on Twitter using the hashtag #AwfullyCheerfulQuestion, email morruspodcast@gmail.com, or contact us on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@enpublishingrpg -------------------- Hosts: Russ “Morrus” Morrissey, Peter Coffey, and Jessica Hancock Editing and post-production: Darryl Mott Theme Song: Steve Arnott Kickstarter Game Research: Egg Embry Kickstarter Game Theme: Lyrics by Russ Morrissey, Vocals by “drwilko”, Guitar by Darryl Mott Malach the Maleficent played by Darren Morrissey Check out all the media content from EN World at http://enliverpg.com

Episode 96 Streamed Live Tuesday July 12, 2022 Main Topic: OSR, Old School and the DnD divide with The Legacy GM https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4OoPEzT5nq0c7ToEpWSe3A We discuss many aspects of “Old School” or OSR gaming. Legacy GM (LGM) discusses his favorite games and gaming style. We go over some potential differences between OSR games and Old School feel. LGM talks about getting younger folks into older style games. Then we discuss the, largely, sociopolitical divide in the hobby. We try to figure out why it is so stark a divide. Also, we discuss what we feel the essence of the divide is and take swipes at post modernism. We agree that likely the only way to bridge the gap is to set a good example of being accepting of the folks we are accused of hating but concede that it will only be a few of them we can hope to convince. Segment #2: Like it Love it, or Leave it TSR (the original company-version 1.0) - Love Psionics in D&D - Like Movie Reboots - Leave Contest of Champions-Finally! We've hit 250+. Now the give-away, you get to choose ONE 1) Feng Shui 2 by Robin D Laws 2) Traps & Treachery d20 book (sticker on cover) by FFG 3) Rackham Vale: Fantasy Adventures from the Art of Arthur Rackham (OSE related) How are we doing it? To Be Announced. Geek Culture 1.Call-ins/emails: Will have a whole show dedicated to the backlog. Likely next week. (7/19) 2. Steve Jackson Games: http://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/July_08_2022/Roe_v_Wade Venger Satanis: https://youtu.be/P-JS7o1EFEI Shameless Plug Time: If you would like to support our show, please like, subscribe, and share us where you are listening or viewing the show, also: We are on all the socials, video and podcast places as well. Cash Support PayPal: paypal.me/biggusgeekus Streamlabs: https://streamlabs.com/biggusgeekus1/tip Anchor: https://www.anchor.fm/biggusgeekus On the Web: Website: www.biggusgeekuspodcast.com Email: thegeeks@biggusgeekuspodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/biggusgeekus/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/biggusgeekus/support

In this Publisher Showcase, Tom Vasel takes a look at his top 10 games from Steve Jackson Games!

S3E8 (98) FoZ II: Doug Cole of Gaming Ballistic Doug Cole is a force of nature. His work with Steve Jackson Games is truly inspiring. Dragon Heresy, a 5e offering, and his Nordlund Bestiary brings Viking-themed crunch to your campaigns. Hold on to your butts as we open the fire hose of Doug Cole game theory. We need him back on the show! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gamingballistic/nordlond-bestiary-and-enemies-book https://twitter.com/GMingBallistic https://www.facebook.com/GamingBallisticd If you want more info about Zine Month, follow this link: https://www.zinemonth.com/, but be careful. It's gonna cost you some money. To hear more about what we have going on, when we're going live, what cons we'll be attending, or just to hangout with some cool people like yourself (not us, our other fans)… join us on our Discord. Just click here: https://discord.gg/KAaWZbGmJK Social Links Discord Link: https://discord.gg/KAaWZbGmJK Geeks' Cant Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/geekscant Zac Goins Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xzacklee Troy Sandlin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/troysandlin Jon Christian Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dwarfpower This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Hailing from Portsmouth, Virginia, Christopher R. Rice is constantly writing, tinkering with, and running GURPS. A frequent contributor to Steve Jackson Games' Dungeon Fantasy and Pyramid, if he's not writing for GURPS, he's blogging about it. His site “Ravens N' Pennies” is well-stocked with more GURPS goodies than you could shake a stick at. This time we're talking about his March 2021 release, "Realm Management" which we both believe could be used by any roleplaying game GM.Yes, this is a GURPS focused discussion but there is gold hidden inside for any Game Master. I hope you find some useful nuggets for yourself. Thanks to Christopher for agreeing to do the interview. Game on!Check out his Patreon here: Christopher R. Rice is creating Role-Playing Games and Fiction | Patreon or https://www.patreon.com/RavenpennyRoleplay Rescue Details:Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore: Tale of The Manticore, a Dark Fantasy Dungeons & Dragons Audiodrama (podbean.com) or https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/messageEmail: hello@rpgrescue.comPatreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue Blog: roleplayrescue.com MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue")Buy Che Webster a Coffee: ko-fi.com/cwebster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Illuminati" is a trading card game from 1994...that predicted the September 11th terror attacks? In the early 80s, Steve Jackson Games released a game called Illuminati. And then in the early 90s they came out with an expanded trading card game version of it to capitalize off of the popularity of Magic: The Gathering. It was a fun game about conspiracy theories that developed a cult following. But, years later, people started noticing that it was predicting major world event after major world event, and might have been designed to give us clues to the coming New World Order? Who is Steve Jackson? And how did he know that 9/11 and COVID-19 were going to happen? Check out the Kickstarter for "Illuminati Confirmed" now! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/radiofreenet/illuminati-confirmed --------- Additional incidental music credits: The Deadboy Detectives D.Catalano https://wekeepoddhours.bandcamp.com PSEUDOCIDE https://bit.ly/PSEUDOCIDE --------- Additional Reference Materials: https://www.vice.com/el/article/nn44yz/did-the-illuminati-make-this-rpg https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/index_documents.html https://www.cuttingedge.org/index.html#aboutus https://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1753.cfm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illuminatus!_Trilogy http://sj.sjgames.com/sjbio.html http://www.sjgames.com/general/profiles/ http://www.sjgames.com/general/about-sjg.html http://sj.sjgames.com/#_ga=2.18043582.689970870.1604556452-1321064353.1603785059 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati_(game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati:_New_World_Order https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_Games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_(American_game_designer) https://www.eff.org/about/history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_Games,_Inc._v._United_States_Secret_Service#section_1 https://www.theweek.co.uk/odd-news/106131/card-game-from-the-1990s-predicted-coronavirus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_Manifesto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sundevil http://www.sjgames.com/SS/ http://www.sjgames.com/SS/affidavit.html http://www.sjgames.com/SS/eff-creation.html http://www.sjgames.com/SS/complaint.html http://www.sjgames.com/SS/decision-text.html http://www.sjgames.com/SS/appeal-opinion.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBAjrTxrgEs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdwGgQakMk0 https://mralanc.blog/inwo-card-game-1-best-inwo-cards-in-hd/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AetqORzhiNQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlHHNCidd-k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnmyTKkhd-0 ------- 01100110 01101110 01101111 01110010 01100100  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/deepcutspod/message