Roll for Topic – Page 15 – Gamemasters Discuss the Fine Art of Running Games, 1d10 at a Time

Episode 17 – Reflections on Gencon 2019

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Episode 17 - Reflections on Gencon 2019

00:00 / 24:45

As a change of pace from our usual format, we’re talking about Gencon 2019, from which Andy just returned! Chris and Andy discuss some GMing takeaways from the con.

Episode 17 appendix (mostly games that Andy played at Gencon):

Gencon, of course.
The Mothership RPG.
Band of Blades.
Eclipse Phase.
Cthulhutech.
Delta Green.
@geekteachin, who led a great Gencon seminar on running RPGs with middle-schoolers.
Greg Stolze, author of many fine games (and a killer con GM).
And lastly, a correction: in this episode, Andy refers to Greg Stolze as the author of Delta Green. Actually, Stolze has written material for Delta Green but is not the sole author of the gameline. Andy deeply regrets the error!

Episode 16 – How to Send Off a Player Who’s Leaving Your Game

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Episode 16 - How to Send Off a Player Who's Leaving Your Game

00:00 / 38:33

What do you do when one of your players has to leave the game for good? Hopefully, you give them a fun in-game send-off. Chris and Andy discuss what makes for a good farewell salute to departing players.

Also: we want to hear your suggestions for topics to cover! Drop us a line if you’ve got a great topic you want to hear us discuss!

Episode 16 appendix:

Red Dead Redemption 2, a cowboy video game Andy has been playing.
If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino, a challenging book that Chris recently read.
The 13th Age RPG.
Call of Cthulhu and Blades in the Dark, the games Andy and Chris (respectively) can’t stop mentioning.
Fourth and 5th edition D&D, and the 4th edition iteration of the Dark Sun campaign setting.

Episode 15 – Theater-of-the-mind vs. Maps, Minis, and Other Visual Representations (with Murph)

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Episode 15 - Theater-of-the-mind vs. Maps, Minis, and Other Visual Representations (with Murph)

00:00 / 41:26

We’re joined by Murph to talk about how to bring the action at the table alive. Do you paint word pictures, or slap down some gorgeously painted miniatures?

If you have any feedback, praise, or criticism, we want to hear about it! Visit our contact page for how to get your message directly to us.

Episode 15 Appendix:

Episode 14 – How to Create and Use Monsters in a Game (with Kyle Latino)

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Episode 14 - How to Create and Use Monsters in a Game (with Kyle Latino)

00:00 / 49:09

This episode we’re joined by Kyle Latino, our first returning guest (!), to discuss monsters. Listen as we all admit to just re-skinning existing monsters from the Monster Manual as needed.

Episode 14 appendix:

Fantasy Fun Council on itch.io – Kyle’s tables and supplements.
Powered by the Apocalypse – the system all D&D DM’s secretly wishes they were running
Prismastic Corpse jam – a game jam where you rewrite D&D from memory.
D&D 5e Monster Manual
Follow Kyle on Twitter
Read Shedwarf, Kyle’s Webcomic

Episode 13 — How to Prepare to Run a Roleplaying Game (With Audrey Huggett)

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Episode 13 — How to Prepare to Run a Roleplaying Game (With Audrey Huggett)

00:00 / 39:45

We’re joined by GM and librarian Audrey Huggett to talk about preparing to run an RPG. We also hear about Audrey’s successful efforts to bring roleplaying events to the library!

Episode 13 appendix (aka show notes):

Murder at Raccoon Ranch, a massive roleplaying/mystery event that Audrey hosted at her library.
The In Between: Quest for the Keystone, a fantasy RPG event that Audrey designed and ran for library patrons.
Upcoming events at the Ann Arbor District Library.
The NeoScum podcast, a cyberpunk campaign using the Shadowrun game/setting.
RPG systems and books that we mentioned: the Curse of Strahd campaign for D&D, GURPS (given that Chris and Andy don’t play GURPS, they sure talk about it a lot), Dungeon World, and Blades in the Dark.

Episode 12 — How to Handle Randomness in Your Games

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Episode 12 — How to Handle Randomness in Your Games

00:00 / 41:15

How do you incorporate random elements into your games? Do you rely heavily on randomness or do you downplay it? Andy and Chris discuss the fun (and occasional terror) that random elements bring to a roleplaying game.

Episode 12 appendix (aka show notes):

The D&D Starter Set, featuring the adventure “Lost Mines of Phandelver” which Chris somehow turned into a 12+ month campaign.
Blades in the Dark, which seems to come up in every episode.
Gamma World, a classic RPG that leans into randomness. Andy mentions the 2010 7th edition, which takes the randomness to a (fun) extreme.
Friends at the Table, an actual play podcast that produced the “Fall of Magic” campaign that Chris enjoyed.

Episode 11 — How to Track Combat Details (with Jason Matteson)

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Episode 11 — How to Track Combat Details (with Jason Matteson)

00:00 / 35:07

What’s the best way to track and manage hit points and other details during an RPG combat scene? Guest GM Jason Matteson joins Andy and Chris to discuss this practical question!

Episode 11 appendex (aka show notes):

Habler’s Purse, a magic item that Jason created and makes available at the Dungeon Master’s Guide store (pay-what-you-want).
Kobold Fight Club, a website that Chris uses to manage combats.
Jason’s DNDTools repo on github.

Episode 10 — How to Deal with Bored or Distracted Players (with Greg Teachout)

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Episode 10 — How to Deal with Bored or Distracted Players (with Greg Teachout)

00:00 / 53:49

What’s a GM to do when their players start getting bored or distracted during a game? Guest GM Greg Teachout joins Andy and Chris to discuss a challenge that every GM will face at some point.

Episode 10 appendix:

D&D 2nd and 5th editions.
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov.
Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody.
Dark Souls, a 2011 videogame.
The Against Type and Quill or Be Quilled podcasts.

Episode 9 — How to Manage the Power Level of an RPG (with David Frees)

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Episode 9 — How to Manage the Power Level of an RPG (with David Frees)

00:00 / 47:26

How to you set the power level (and handle the power curve) in a tabletop RPG? Guest GM David Frees joins Andy and Chris to discuss.

Episode 9 appendix (aka show notes):

The D&D Expert Set.
The Lore fantasy roleplaying game by GameFace Publishing (Dave’s game!).
Hackmaster 5th edition by Kenzer and Company.
Other games that came up: Exalted, Pathfinder, D&D 5e.
The Metroid Prime video game, originally released for the GameCube.

Episode 8 — How to Handle Consequences for Player Characters (with John Corey)

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Episode 8 — How to Handle Consequences for Player Characters (with John Corey)

00:00 / 39:26

What do you do when the PCs take actions that have severe consequences? How do you make sure that in-game consequences add to the game, rather than detract from it? Guest GM John Corey joins Andy and Chris to discuss!

Episode 8 appendix (aka show notes):

Microscope by Lame Mage Productions, one of John’s go-to RPGs.
SPI’s DragonQuest, one of John’s early RPGs. See also a nice retrospective on the game at Grognardia.
Victory Games’ celebrated James Bond 007 RPG (the source of John’s d10, pictured above).
Kids on Bikes and Blades in the Dark, two RPGs that we just can’t stop talking about.
UCon and GrandCon, two Michigan game conventions that we hope to attend.