Jolene was reading about a GM who was running D&D 5th edition had players trying to do combat actions before the GM had called for Initiative. She asked Saul about this and asked if it happened in his D&D or any other RPGs he had GMed. After a brief discussion they decided to do an episode on this subject. As usual Saul got a little distracted from the subject and expanded the scope of the discussion. Saul did keep it about combat before the GM calls for any kind of initiative roll in an...
Aug 15, 2025•33 min•Ep. 381
Saul was looking at Reddit posts and came across a GM that was lamenting that his players had not learned their characters abilities after 10 sessions of D&D 5th edition. The GM didn't go into too much detail, for example age of players, experience of players, etc. Saul noticed the large number of negative reaction to the players but those offered no real help abou this GM's plight. Saul discussed this Reddit Post with Jolene. She thought that just blaming the player and telling the GM to "F...
Jul 28, 2025•36 min•Ep. 380
Jolene was looking at the different types of games she has played in. Though she likes tactical combat games. She loves Shadowrun 5th edition and D&D for example, she also likes mysteries, dramas, and crime solving. So she asked Saul about what games do not concentrate on combat but other types of settings. Saul thought that games that do not rely on combat for the center piece of the genre they are emulating are generally non violent. Saul thought and looked at his RPG library and thought o...
Jul 14, 2025•36 min•Ep. 379
Jolene was looking for some interesting topics to talk about and came across an article discussing Rotating GMs. She looked for more articles and there were quite a few articles and discussion on how to do this type of roleplaying. Jolene asked Saul and about it. Saul told her he had tried it a couple of times with various degrees of success. As they talked about it he started mentioning details and she remembered a couple other iterations of this idea. From Rotating GMs with different RPGs, to ...
Jul 06, 2025•50 min•Ep. 378
Jolene was reading online and came across an article that talked about things that GMs say that players should pay attention to. She told Saul and this and Saul thought about some things he says that conveys more than intended. Sometimes these comments from GMs are questions, in fact most of them are and it is at this time that players should really be paying attention to what is happening at the game table. Thank you all for Listening Web Art by Jim Foster Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones Mus...
Jun 28, 2025•40 min•Ep. 377
Jolene was looking online at RPG topics and came across a confession by a new GM. This novice GM was running their first campaign which they had been running with new players for nine months. There was a point in the game were a character would have been killed but the GM pulled their punch. The character did not suffer a death. Even though there had been a Session Zero where the GM had discussed that Death of Characters was indeed possible. But when the time came that a character could die the ...
Jun 13, 2025•37 min•Ep. 376
A question was asked about what are some things that you found in one RPG that as a GM would Steal to use in all other RPGs that you run. Saul and Jolene each thought abou the topic and they each found something that they really liked that they believed could be "easily" used in a variety of RPGs. Saul made a short list of mechanics and ideas that he would use in RPGs he would run. Thank you all for Listening Web Art by Jim Foster Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones Music by Schizophonic, song St...
Jun 06, 2025•47 min•Ep. 375
A listener was thinking about some games he played with a particular GM, who took a few minutes after the game asking how the session went. So this listener asked what would be the best way or some hints as to asking for feedback right after the session ends. Saul and Jolene discussed how this immediate feedback would be good or bad. As a GM that run games at Game Cons he is usually asked to run game multiple times since the number of seat at the game are limited and convention games can fill up...
May 30, 2025•37 min•Ep. 374
A listener asked what we thought were some good Non D&D published campaigns? Saul questioned what makes a good, quality and fun campaign. Saul's criteria was the same if it was you home campaign but in a published one it is essential that the criteria that Saul sets out is met. There are many campaigns out that that would meet these elements so Saul picked the ones he liked the best or has had the most experience in playing or running the games. Saul comes up with 3 things every campaign mus...
May 21, 2025•36 min•Ep. 373
A listener asked about a good RPG to run a Monster of the Week game. Saul came up what criteria would make a good Monster of the Week game. From ease of rules, types of character and other factors. Then Saul and Jolene talked about what games would make it easy to run a Monster of the Week game. Saul's list comes from game created in the 1990's, 2000's, 2010's and even very recent game published. Thank you all for Listening Web Art by Jim Foster Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones Music by Smakab...
May 17, 2025•35 min•Ep. 372
A listener asks about getting a RPG off the Shelf of Shame and on the the table to play. This is a problem that inflicts both RPG gamer and board gamer as both groups have this problem. Both have games that have not hit the game table and for many a gamer this is a terrible source of frustration. Saul has a lot of shelves that contain RPG games. It has been a source of consternation for him and has made it a goal to get as many of those RPGs of Shame on the game table. There are certain steps yo...
May 08, 2025•35 min•Ep. 371
Saul was at Kubla Autumn a new game con taking place over Veteran's Day which is celebrated here in the U.S. on November 11th. Right when he got there he sat in a seminar the dealt with the future of boardgames. In that seminar they talked about Cozy games. Saul immediately thought of Cozy RPGs. Saul noticed a lot of RPGs that would fit under this genre. He talked to Jolene about it and discussed the subject. This episode is the result of that conversation. Saul list five RPGs that he thought wo...
Apr 23, 2025•36 min•Ep. 370
In the long time that Saul has been playing RPGs, there has been some instances where players did some weird things. At least unexpected things that he saw as both a GM and a Player. Saul remembers a couple instances where players acting strange may have caused problems in the session. Jolene relates a story she read online about a player who indeed acted strange for no logical reason that Saul and Jolene did not understand. What causes players to act in a strange way? Saul proposes some ideas a...
Apr 18, 2025•38 min•Ep. 369
In this Episode Saul and Jolene discuss why some GMs do not like running Intellectual Property games. Those are games based on books, Tv shows, or movies. Whether its Conan, Star Wars, Star Trek of hundreds of other RPGs that are based on others creative works some GMs shy away from running these games for specific reasons. Saul as usual goes to the way back machine and discusses his brushes with working on games that were based on others Intellectual Property. From the first foray into running ...
Apr 11, 2025•34 min•Ep. 368
Saul is slowly recovering from heart valve surgery but Jolene and Saul are back to recording episodes. This episode comes from a Reddit post about a GM that needs to run a game with no prep for 1st time players with only a 2 hour window. Though many answers were the names of games that people suggested Saul took a different angle. Saul was thinking what the GM had to think about the game they decided to run. From the system, to the adventure, to the GM's comfort in running the game. Also there w...
Apr 01, 2025•33 min•Ep. 367
*SPECIAL NOTE* Saul and Jolene would like apologize for the lack of epidodes for the past Month. This was due to Saul having to have heart valve replacement surgery. Saul is recovering and Jolene is taking care of him. Saul and Jolene would like to thank all the listeners for their support of their podcast. The latest episode concerns Starter Box Sets. What a good starter set should have in the box and why. Starter Sets have changed from the days of the D&D Blue Box Set. After their brief di...
Mar 20, 2025•36 min•Ep. 366
When you are creating an adventure or a complete RPG for public consumption one thing you really need as a creator is Feedback. From one shot adventures, longer adventures, campaigns you need feedback to hone your creation to make it as best as it can be. Good Feedback is essential to making your creation to be as successful as it can be. With self publishing become a large part of TTRPGs, you as a creator need good feedback on your creation. A key to good feedback is asking the right type of qu...
Feb 06, 2025•35 min•Ep. 365
Saul was reading a Reddit and came across a post asking if people used maps or visual aids in their roleplaying games. The poster also stated that they only used a while board and magnitized tokens in his sessions. The OP then asked if you do use maps or visual aids how integral are they to your game. Saul and Jolene have played and ran games where lots of maps or visual aids were used and game where nothing was used during the game. Saul and Jolene discussed why this was and they decided it was...
Jan 23, 2025•37 min•Ep. 364
Saul read an article about a couple of RPGs that had elimnated the Iconic Mechanic of Rolling to Hit. Saul mentioned the idea to Jolene. Jolene had a lot of questions about the whole idea and how it would work. Jolene's questions were why, how and would it be fun? It was a good discussion so they decided to do an episode on the subject. The big game on the list is a new game coming out in the near future by Matt Colville now called Draw Steel. There is a link at the bottom of these show notes. T...
Jan 17, 2025•42 min•Ep. 363
Hey there Listeners, Happy New Year! Saul and Jolene were reminicing some of the more memorable times of their games. Jolene mentioned the times that they came across some very powerful creatures, Dragons were high on the list from game of D&D to Shadowrun. Other powerful beings were giants, demigods and gods. Saul and Jolene discussed what made those moment memorable and how and why they interacted with the Player Characters. Saul discussed how in the first 30 years of this GMing he did not...
Jan 10, 2025•38 min•Ep. 362
It is the New Year and as we look forward to 2025 EN Publishing asks what New RPGs we are looking forward to the New Year. Saul choose his top three and discusses some of the games that made the list. Saul noticed quite a few games are getting a 2nd edition and other are being resurrected from the way back machine and are getting a new edition thanks in no small part due to Kickstarter and other crowd funding platforms. As we enter the New Year we would wish everyone a better 2025 than we had in...
Jan 03, 2025•43 min•Ep. 361
There was a post on Reddit about how RPGers read rulebooks for new RPGs before they ran a session. The answers at first were vey like minded. People stating that they read the rulebook completely. From reading it once to reading the rulebook from cover to cover multple times. Saul was a bit shocked at reading these posts since he had never read a RPG Rulebook that way. As Saul read more he found posts more aligned with his style of reading a rulebook. If you consider jumping from section to sect...
Dec 22, 2024•40 min•Ep. 360
Saul was reading Reddit posts and came across a post about players playing themselves too much in RPGs. There was quite a bit of a discussion and most respondents said they didn't play themselves at all because they didn't want to play their boring lives. Saul on the other hand thought that he had for most of his RPG life had played himself or an aspect of his personality in the game. Usually a one dimensional character. As Saul got older he started to branch out and play characters that were to...
Dec 12, 2024•38 min•Ep. 359
Jolene was looking online and found a person who was asking for help. They had never GMed a RPG and they only had two players. The person was asking if there were any games that were made for one GM and two players. Jolene asked Saul about this and after a brief discussion they decided to do an episode on the subject. Jolene and Saul have an episode dealing with single player games, one Saul remembered was Ghost Dog which is a RPG based on the movie of the same title. It is a RPG where the playe...
Nov 27, 2024•34 min•Ep. 358
A listener and friend asked Saul and Jolene about a question his daughter had asked him. The questions was, "Should a GM change a dungeon campaign after the players make characters that can see in the dark." The GM designed the dungeon with the idea of limited visibility of the characters due to it being pitch black in the dungeon. Slightly upset at the characters the GM decided to change the dungeon. Is it okay for the GM to change the adventure after devulging information of the game? Saul and...
Nov 21, 2024•38 min•Ep. 357
In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk about making a RPG from a computer game. This was from a question that Saul read online about a father that wanted to make a RPG for his kids that played Destiny 2. Saul thought he recognized the game and even thought he had the older computer game but he was thinking of Mass Effect 2. Still Jolene and Saul discussed the trials and tribulations of making your own RPG. It has been Saul's belief that making your own game would be a big work and time investment....
Nov 13, 2024•35 min•Ep. 356
Saul was looking at Reddit and found a post about how the person didn't like playing "Lighter" RPGs because they were more work for him in roleplaying than a crunchier systems like Pathfinder . Others also agreed and added comments about why they didn't like RPGs. Saul and Jolene have tried a few "Light RPGs". Games like Kobolds Ate My Baby, Sleepaway Camp, The Quiet Year, Tales From the Loop and others. Listen to hear what Saul and Jolene have to say on the subject. Thank you all for Listening ...
Oct 30, 2024•40 min•Ep. 355
Saul and Jolene decided to ask a question of their gaming friends, Felipe, Cipriano and Michael, "Why do you still game after playing for so long." Saul has been gaming with Felipe, his brother, since 1978, with Cipriano right after that and Michael since Junior High. Though some of them had some short stints of not playing here or there, Saul and his friends are still playing RPGs today. So why do they still want to play? Listen and find out. Thank you all for Listening Web Art by Jim Foster Ep...
Oct 23, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 354
This episode comes from Jolene surfing the internets and finding a post on Reddit. She mentioned it to Saul and they talked about this idea. Saul remembered that at some Convention Games a few GM's did this to get the players ready to enter the world of the game, break the ice between players and do some information dissemination. Thank you all for Listening Web Art by Jim Foster Episode Art by Michael Shean-Jones Music by Shirley Jones, song Questions, off the album Black Cat Blues Available fr...
Oct 21, 2024•35 min•Ep. 353
A question was floating around in social media and on Reddit, that if you only had three RPGs to play for the rest of your life which ones would they be. Saul was intrigued of whittling down all his favorite RPGs down to three that he would play forever if he had only three to play. Saul and Jolene discussed it a bit and though Jolene didn't like the idea of paring down the RPGs she liked to just three though she reluctantly did come up with a final 3. Saul was a bit more manic and he listed his...
Oct 09, 2024•42 min•Ep. 352
