Technology has greatly advanced since the introduction of RPGs in the mid 1970s. Saul and Jolene discuss the pros and cons of having today's tech at the gaming table. For the most part the discussion is positive about technology at the table. From laptops, cell phones, tablets and HD TVs technology at the game table can really help in running an RPG. Things such as PDFs of the rules, music and sound effects, pictures and movie clips can really spice up your experience at the RPG table. But of co...
Jun 13, 2020•36 min•Ep. 141
Saul and Jolene talk about sticking to canon in RPGs. Saul usually tries to be a rebel but feels sticking to official "canon" of a setting or IP is important. It may not be really important to Saul as a fan of a genre, but when he runs RPGs, he feels that staying close to canon is important. One of the reasons it is important is because when you list or describe your game being set in a certain setting, from Star Wars to Star Trek to Forgotten Realms, the players coming to sit at your table come...
Jun 07, 2020•34 min•Ep. 140
Saul and Jolene talk about "Backtracking" in your RPG, also known as RetConning. Jolene read about a GM asking about advice on a situation where a two player game resulted in a TPK and one of the players wanted a do over. Jolene was surprisingly harsh and was against the idea and Saul was open to the idea. As the discussion progressed, Jolene was able to convince that allowing the do over was not a good idea. As always thank you all for listening and all we ask is that you share our podcast in y...
May 31, 2020•34 min•Ep. 139
The classic Druid class in D&D is discussed by Saul and Jolene in this episode. Though not a favorite of Saul or Jolene they have had a number of players in their groups who played druids. From Saul's the cavalier childhood friend to the critical thinker druid played by the son of a friend. Each character were was played very differently due to how each player interpreted what a druid was. Of course Saul digresses with an old, Jolene would say very OLD, tale of Saul's friend which luckily fo...
May 24, 2020•33 min•Ep. 138
This is our 100th Episode which means we are only four weeks away from 2 years of podcasting which is a pretty good milestone in podcasting. People like the big round numbers so this is 100 weekly episode, which does not include interview or recordings from gaming conventions. Paranoia is this crazy, wild game of a "Humorously Dark Future." Saul bought the box set one summer in 1984, that year is oddly familiar, when Saul was staying over the summer with his sister who lived in the big city of S...
May 17, 2020•30 min•Ep. 137
Saul and Jolene talk about "Realistic" Post Apoc RPGs. Having discussed this genre when they talked about Gamma World we decided that another sub genre needed to be discussed in detail as they can tell a different kind of story. As always thanks for listening. Music by Robert Vasley, song The Seedling. Available at Tribeofnoise.com
May 13, 2020•40 min•Ep. 136
Today Saul and Jolene talk to Marcus Bone. Like Saul, once Marcus saw the cover of Dark Conspiracy RPG in 1991 he had to have it. Though Saul liked the theme and the game overall Marcus was a true fan. At first one of three co-creators of Demon Ground, then author of DC supplement "Of Gates and Gods" and even owner of the license to publish Dark Conspiracy itself. Dark Conspiracy 4th edition was just announced to have a new publisher. And like all DC fans we are hoping to see DC 4th edition in o...
May 06, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 135
In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss "Saying Yes AND..." as GM tool to keep the players engaged in your roleplaying session. Of course Saul has to relate it to the ancient history of his first days of playing D&D and how playing D&D back in the late 70's and early 80's was a different experience than roleplaying games of today. Leaving the Dungeons to playing outside in an open world caused a fundamental difference in the stories that D&D games could tell. D&D games where the ...
May 03, 2020•34 min•Ep. 134
This this episode we took an off podcast discussion and invited long time friend Mike to come on the microphone and talk about his idea that modern RPGs "coddle" players. And that this "coddling" is not good for the players or the GM that has to treat the modern gamer with kid gloves. Saul and Jolene ask and discuss this idea of being too easy on players. This discussion went a bit longer than our normal session but we think it is worth a listen to. As always thanks for listening and please shar...
Apr 24, 2020•56 min•Ep. 133
In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk about one of their favorite genres, Steampunk. Saul talks about various books of the Steampunk genre he has read. Saul and Jolene discuss the various RPGs that fall under the genre of Steampunk. Some are dismissed as not Steampunk by Saul but Jolene thinks that some of those dismissed by Saul are Steampunk. In the end Jolene asks Saul to run a RPG of the Steampunk variety. As always thank you all for listening and please share our podcast in your favorite soc...
Apr 19, 2020•37 min•Ep. 132
This week Saul and Jolene discuss new RPGs for every new movie, tv show or book. Do we really need a new game for these intellectual properties that we see. Saul has always said you don't but lately, he seems to have changed his mind a bit. In this episode listeners learn that Saul has a large RPG collection, their personal copy of Ticket to Ride has seen over a thousand plays, and that certain IP's deserve their own rpg if they are done well. Of course as usual Saul meanders around this topic w...
Apr 12, 2020•38 min•Ep. 131
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about the differences between "Hard Science Fiction" and plain ole science fiction in RPGs what it means and some differences. From artificial gravity, FTL travel, personal and ship combat and other topics are covered in this fun discussion about what your flavor of science fiction you like and give many examples of RPGs that tackle these different types of SF. As always, thank you all for listening and all we ask is that you share our podcast on the social m...
Apr 05, 2020•34 min•Ep. 130
This week Saul and Jolene discuss the using of "real life" events in RPGs. Saul and Jolene talk how using real life events maybe problematic at your game table. Do you really want to use a recent event as a back drop to your game? Will inclusion of serious, real life altering events cause some of your players not to have fun at your game table? Saul and Jolene give tips on how to keep things fun at your table when using real life events in your role playing games. As Always Thanks for Listening ...
Mar 29, 2020•31 min•Ep. 129
In this week's episode Saul and Jolene talk about Sub-Optimal Characters. The discussion kinda meanders this week from creating flawed characters, to a discussion of Min-Max players, problems as story elements etc. As Always thanks for listening and all we ask is that you share our podcast in your social media networks. Also with the Covid-19 outbreak please stay safe. You all should know the drill, wash your hands for 20 seconds, don't touch your face and maintain social distancing. Stay Safe E...
Mar 22, 2020•43 min•Ep. 128
Getting the Gang Together, as adult gamers this tends to be a big problem. Just getting a day when you can play a nice rpg session in can be daunting in today's world of tight schedules. Saul and Jolene talk about this subject on why as adults we just can't play like we used to when we were kids. Saul and Jolene also discuss some simple PC tools you can use to get a better chance of getting a game group together. As always thank you all for listening and all we ask is that you Share on your soci...
Mar 15, 2020•32 min•Ep. 127
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about Dark Themed RPGs. They talk about the different games that explore darker themes than most RPGs that focus on Adventure and Heroics. From post-apocalyptic to games where you play monsters such as Vampire, Werewolf, Monster Hearts, Saul runs through games he has played and at times run. Jolene with much less experience in playing different RPGs wonders about the fascination with playing monsters. She also wonders about consent in games that tend toward d...
Mar 08, 2020•45 min•Ep. 126
Civility is boardgames. What is more important your friendship or "WINNING"! Saul and Jolene talk about boardgame civility, at home, at tournaments or conventions. What games don't make it to the table because there is too much player interaction. Backstabbing element in the game? Better make sure all your players can handle it. Saul and Jolene talk about a question a listener had on if it was okay to block someone from getting to a city in a Ticket to Ride boardgame? Or in Carcassone, adding a ...
Mar 01, 2020•34 min•Ep. 125
In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk to Brandon Raasch of BARD Games. Currently Brandon has a Kickstarter for the boardgame The Lost Worlds of Josh Kirby. This is the second time we have had the pleasure of talking to Brandon while he has had a live KS campagin. In this episode Brandon talks about his new game The Lost Worlds of Josh Kirby and the interesting finds the Josh Kirby estate has found looking previously unpublished art for the game. An interesting find were letters written to Josh Ki...
Mar 01, 2020•49 min•Ep. 124
Saul and Jolene went to Dundracon 44 in San Ramon California over the President's Day weekend. On Saturday they recorded at DDC and had two people join them on the microphone one was the much mentioned Felipe, Saul's older brother, and Phil, Saul's long time friend and fellow gamer. Felipe is the older brother that got Saul started on his lifetime love of hobby gaming with the introduction of Original D&D in 1978. Phil, Saul met in a high school Geometry class, but didn't game with him until...
Feb 24, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 123
In this week's episode Saul and Jolene discuss running a RPG for brand new players. Things you should consider when running games for players that have never played a roleplaying game. Thing like ages of the players, what their interests are or where their interest of playing an RPG came from. As always thanks for listening and all we ask is that you share our podcast on your social media. Music by Tiz Music, song New Impetus off the album Empire of Dreams. Available at Tribeofnoise.com...
Feb 23, 2020•33 min•Ep. 122
Saul and Jolene take a premise of an earlier topic of magic altering structures in a fantasy world and discuss how "Magic" would impact society as a whole. What would be different? How would they be different? What might stay the same. As usual the conversation runs from books to movies and even some talk about Roman civilization and how they dealt with who lead the Roman Empire, or more importantly what they did to stay in power. As always thanks for listening and please share our podcast in yo...
Feb 16, 2020•28 min•Ep. 121
In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss whether Dungeons and Dragons is an ambassador for all RPGs and if that is a good or bad thing. This topic came from a discussion from another RPG podcast called Fear the Boot where one member shared is dislike that when the subject of RPGs comes up with people who don't play, a lot of them think D&D is the only RPG. He is a big SF fan and was dismayed by this. Then he commented Critical Role fueled this misconception as they decided to stream their RPG...
Feb 09, 2020•27 min•Ep. 120
This week Saul and Jolene talk about one of Saul's favorite old rpgs called Dark Conspiracy. It is a game of "near future horror roleplaying game. Published in 1991 Dark Conspiracy called DC by fans first caught the eye of Saul way back in 1991 at a B. Dalton's Bookstore in the local mall. From the cover and the story line that intrigued Saul, he kept going back to that store and finally bought the book after three months of thinking about it. Saul ran two campaigns of DC. One for the old friend...
Feb 02, 2020•28 min•Ep. 119
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about skill in rpg and whether they diminish RP. Saul uses the "Sense Motive" skill or similar one as an example of how a skill might kill roleplaying. In the example the GM playing an merchant NPC tells the player something. The player then rolls a Sense Motive skill, is successful and tells the GM that he knows if the merchant is lying. By passing any roleplaying. Saul and Jolene discuss games that have skills and those that don't. New games and old all in ...
Jan 27, 2020•30 min•Ep. 118
In this episode Saul and Jolene begin a discussion about gamer expectations from the player and GM point of view. The discussion is about how gamer's expectations about a game they are playing in might change and how these changes might impact the fun at your game table. Saul and Jolene talk about their Shadowrun game they are currently playing and how certain game sessions can change even within the same game system. Jolene relates how she enjoyed a particularly heavy RP session of Shadowrun ab...
Jan 19, 2020•33 min•Ep. 117
In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss the question every gamer hears from their significant other, "Why Another Edition?" You already have that roleplaying game. Its crazy that you have multiple RPGs of the same genre but another edition of the same game? That's Crazy!!! Now Saul and Jolene won't argue that it isn't crazy but there are reasons why a gamer would want yet "another edition" of a certain game. They discuss Dungeons and Dragons to illustrate changes that are made to a RPG game that...
Jan 12, 2020•41 min•Ep. 116
First of all Happy New Year to you all. Hope you all had a great holiday season. So in this episode Saul and Jolene talk about virtual table tops specifically Roll20. Saul who has been on Roll20 since 2013 shares the trials and tribulations of online rpg gaming. From connection issues to last minute games and cancellations, they are all problems that can sideline a rpg game online. But Saul and Jolene share their experiences online that really for them out weigh any "problems" that playing a RPG...
Jan 05, 2020•40 min•Ep. 115
Once again Saul and Jolene tackle a subject that a listener had posted on their Facebook Page. That question was would Fantasy Structures be built differently than in our real world history. As usual Saul went a bit off the rails on this subject where Dwarf Commandos were brought up as were the lair of those "sneaky boogers" the Beholder. As always Jolene tries to rein in Saul and have him focus on the topic of the week. Jolene found out after researching the subject online, that it was a subjec...
Dec 29, 2019•26 min•Ep. 114
From a post on MeWe seeking advice GMing their first game, this episode was born. In this episode Saul and Jolene cover some ideas that might prove helpful for a person running their very first RPG. Saul and Jolene prioritized the tips differently but pretty much agreed on what they thought were the best few tips to give to a new GM. Some of these ideas might even prove helpful for long time GMs. As always thank you all for listening and all we ask is that you share our podcast with friends and ...
Dec 22, 2019•31 min•Ep. 113
Saul and Jolene asked the Webosphere, if there were any topics they wanted covered by the podcast. One topic was posted on the Gaming Perspectives Facebook page was journals. Now Saul didn't have an exact idea what the poster, Michael, exactly meant by "journals" but that didn't stop Saul from answering the question anyway. As always Jolene was had to corral Saul from meandering too far from the subject. Saul and Jolene discussed how journals or diaries could be used in roleplaying games. Player...
Dec 15, 2019•23 min•Ep. 112
