Almost every RPG gamer knows about Metagaming. In the current era, metagaming is considered the ban of any "true" roleplayer. With a little research and thinking about the subject Jolene found that not all metagaming is bad? What thought Saul, what are you doing challenging something that all gamers now hold has the "truth" that all metagaming is bad. Jolene discusses how in some instances and situations, metagaming isn't terrible or horrible. Well I guess an old dog CAN learn new tricks and so ...
Dec 08, 2019•28 min•Ep. 111
Saul and Jolene discuss Women at the Gaming Table. Here Saul relates how growing up there were no girls or women at his gaming table. Even when Saul went to his first gaming convention women were very few. It was not until the 1995 that he was in a gaming group that had not one but two women. Jolene starting gaming because of her younger brother. But then they moved to a new town of Chico California and the guys that her brother started playing with were a bit "intimidated" by Jolene's presence....
Dec 01, 2019•26 min•Ep. 110
In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk about a RPG that goes back to 1985, King Arthur Pendragon. Since it debut in 1985 with a box set it has seen a few editions, the latest being Pendragon 5.2. Saul and Jolene are interested in this game but each for different reasons. Saul owes liking and playing D&D back in 1978 to the King Arthur stories. From books he read to a Disney Cartoon movie called Sword in the Stone. Later movies like Excalibur, First Knight and others. Saul discusses how King Ar...
Nov 24, 2019•33 min•Ep. 109
A while back John Wick, no not the Keanu John Wick, the creator of 7th Seas RPG and others, stated in his blog that Dungeons and Dragons was not a Role playing game. Saul brought this up to Jolene and the following discussion was had. What did John Wick mean that D&D wasn't and RPG? Millions of people have been playing D&D and they have been thinking, believing and knowing that they were playing an RPG. Saul and Jolene discuss this and figure out what motivations or reasons why anyone, e...
Nov 17, 2019•31 min•Ep. 108
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about the new RPG engine by Free League they are calling the Year Zero Engine. It is the system that was introduced in Mutant Year Zero RPG and was used in the subsequent other publications. This New Zero system was tweaked and used in Coriolis, Tales From the Loop and Forbidden Lands RPGs. Free League decided to streamline the rules, clean them up and publish them as an Open Gaming License publication. Meaning that you can under certain circumstances use the...
Nov 10, 2019•34 min•Ep. 107
Saul and Jolene discuss the GMPC, the game master player character. Saul saw a poll on social media about how often should a GM use a GMPC. All the possible answers varied from always, sometimes, and use only infrequently. Saul was surprised to see of those that replied that a vast number of people said it was totally okay to do. They all had their "reasons" for using a GMPC. Jolene was a bit puzzled by the topic Saul presented so she used her research skills and found some pretty funny anecdote...
Nov 02, 2019•31 min•Ep. 106
Hobby Game Stores have evolved from the small mom and pop store of the 1970's and 80's. Saul and Jolene discuss how they have had to evolve from those small hobby shop game stores that have mainly gone the way of the dinosaurs. In today's small profit margins and competition from online sales they can't, like other retail establishments, do business the same old way. Saul relates the two old style hobby game stores from when he was a kid. Neither one of those two stores remain, but instead we ha...
Oct 27, 2019•27 min•Ep. 105
After the interview with Mark Schynert where he mentioned Arduin Grimoire, Saul got many questions on social media about Mark Schynert's involvement with Arduin Grimoire and its creator David Hargrave. Saul and Jolene decided to invite him back to the microphone to talk exclusively about Arduin and creator Dave Hargrave. David passed away in 1988 while he was working on his beloved Arduin Grimoire RPG game. Those that knew and played with David decided to publish as a tribute of sorts. Mark volu...
Oct 23, 2019•53 min•Ep. 104
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about the upcoming Alien RPG by Free League, the creators of Mutant Year Zero, Tales From the Loop and others. Saul got the Cinematic Starter Kit which is a 173 page PDF that contains all the rules to run an Alien one-shot. From the rules, adventure and pregen characters this PDF contains everything to run a 4-5 hour session. Saul really liked the game, from the simple system, the "Stress" and "Panic" mechanic and the adventure. Even the character sheet got h...
Oct 21, 2019•28 min•Ep. 103
In this episode we talk with Stephen Price again as our first recording was half eaten by the podcast gods. In this episode we talk about the new game con called Rising Phoenix Game Con in Milford Massachusetts coming in April 17-19 2020. From the beginnings the group putting this game convention wanted it to be a bit different. They want their attendees to be immersed in the gaming world. Coming from LARP roots these game con creators are working to make it seem like your going to a Renaissance...
Oct 17, 2019•33 min•Ep. 102
Saul and Jolene talk about miniatures in gaming from RPGs to Wargames to Boardgames. Miniatures are one of the first accessories for games. They not only make the games look cool but they are very useful in all aspects of hobby gaming. Saul and Jolene talk about how useful miniatures can be and some problems with miniatures. As always thanks for listening and please share our podcast with family and friends. Our son Augustin's big Pathfinder Con game used Reaper Bones 1 miniatures. To design you...
Oct 13, 2019•30 min•Ep. 101
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk to Jayson and Ron Smith the creators of Wizardz Bluff. Saul and Jolene met Jayson and Ron at Kublacon this past year as they were demoing their game Wizardz Bluff which will be going live on Kickstarter on October 15th. We decided to chat with them how they started gaming and how that went from players to game creators. These two brothers have a love of gaming that really shows in how they talk about games in their lives. As usual thank you all for listening ...
Oct 12, 2019•44 min•Ep. 100
In this week's episode is about Monte Cook's free PDF called "Consent In Gaming." Saul and Jolene talk about this pdf that is only 13 pages but is a very important addition to the gaming hobby. Saul talks about how his perspective has changed over the years and how he may not have needed or felt he needed this years ago but is very especially pertinent in this new era of rpgs and the new players it is attracting. As always thank you all for listening and all we ask is that you share our podcast ...
Oct 06, 2019•31 min•Ep. 99
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about Good Games that had problems. Yes even games that went well can have problems. The main point of this discussion is that we can learn from the problems we have in our games. Jolene remembers her son's Chess teacher sharing that there are only Winners and Learners. Losing was not a word he used because he said if you learn you don't lose. Saul agrees with the idea that as GMs you can learn from your good games but you can really learn from your problems ...
Sep 29, 2019•28 min•Ep. 98
In this episode Saul and Jolene interview Christoffer Sevaldsen the creator of The Black Void RPG. Saul and Jolene ask about Christoffer gaming roots, and find that like many gamers he started playing at a young age. Saul of course shows his knowledge of world geography and confuses Sweden for Denmark. Christoffer discusses his path from homebrew to publishing a completely original role-playing game. It is a story of a labor of love that becomes a dream come true, these stories are pretty fantas...
Sep 28, 2019•38 min•Ep. 97
In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss the idea of Game Balance in RPGs. What does it mean, how is it employed and does it matter? Saul, as always, talks about his early RPG experiences and how game balance just kind of happened organically. As always Jolene reigns in Saul's trip down memory lane and bring his back to the topic. Thank you for listening and all we ask is that you share our podcast with your family and friends. No music as freemusicarchive was acquired by another company....
Sep 22, 2019•33 min•Ep. 96
A mistake in an email sent by Modiphius announcing a newly published RPG called The Black Void, leads to Saul running a "One-Shot" of the new rpg with a call by the players to keep playing in that game. Saul and Jolene decided to talk about and give a quick overview of The Black Void rpg. The Black Void is self described as an esoteric fantasy RPG by Christoffer Sevaldsen. The book itself is very well written with great art throughout the entire book. It was Kick Started in 2017 and Modiphius is...
Sep 15, 2019•26 min•Ep. 95
The Dream of many a gamer is that of Getting Paid to Play. Well at least in this case getting paid to GM a game. Saul always considered this kind of a pipe dream and not very possible. Then Saul read an article about a GM in San Francisco that gets paid over 500 dollars a session. Saul was reminded, by Jolene, about Becky Thomas of The Roleplay Workshop who has been making a living of GMing for over 25 years. Saul and Jolene decided to take the conversion to the microphones and share it with you...
Sep 08, 2019•29 min•Ep. 94
In this bonus episode Saul and Jolene recorded this episode of Gaming Perspectives at Pacificon on August 31,2019. In our second day we were joined by Gabriel Vega the producer of the show and we have a very candid talk with "Mondo" about his life running the show and outside the Pacificon Game Expo. We also get a treat as he sings his song about attending cons. We were also lucky to talk to Aldo G. who owned Impressions a game distribution company. Aldo tells us about in his words the typical g...
Sep 03, 2019•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 93
Saul and Jolene talk about their interest in Live Action Role Playing games. Over the years Saul's ideas and feeling toward LARPs has changed from thinking it a strange and weird offshoot of Roleplaying games. Over the years with Jolene's insight, Saul realizes that he has indeed played in three of his friend's home brewed LARP. Dressing up as become part of the fun. The last hurdle would be to LARP with strangers. Maybe at the next Game Con! As always, thanks for listening, and please share our...
Sep 02, 2019•31 min•Ep. 92
We are at Pacificon a Labor Day weekend gaming convention in Santa Clara California. We were asked by Gabriel "Mondo" Vega to record our podcast from Pacificon and we gladly agreed. As with all our bonus "live" episodes this one was not edited. There is a lot of background noise due to the nature of recording in the middle of the convention. Still they are a lot of fun to do and we will be back tomorrow with another episode. As always thanks for listening and please share our podcast with your f...
Aug 31, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 91
Dresden Files is a favorite book series in Saul and Jolene's home. There happens to be two RPGs using the Fate system to run your very own Dresden Files game. In this episode, Saul and Jolene geek the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher and the Urban Fantasy genre in general. Saul discusses the many times he as run his own version of Dresden he dubs, Monterey Dresden since he uses Monterey Bay as the setting for his games. Saul has made 3 separate adventures and run each one at least 3 times or m...
Aug 25, 2019•37 min•Ep. 90
We Interviewed Stephen Price after he contacted Saul via the social networks telling us he and a group of friends were starting a new game convention in Milford MA. that will take place next year from April 17-19th 2020. We had a very good interview but unfortunately we lost over half of the interview. Still we wanted to publish this interview for any and all folks near this convention. The people working on this game con are committed to giving attendees the best possible gaming experience. We ...
Aug 19, 2019•24 min•Ep. 89
In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk about Actual Plays. Are they good or bad for RPGs. From the very well produced and acted ones like Critical Role to the people playing in their RPG Cave eating and drinking and talking over each other. Saul and Jolene discuss the different views of how "Actual Plays" can hinder RPGs and the people that play them and on the other hand how people see it as a positive to the RPG hobby. As always thanks for listening and all we ask is that you share with family a...
Aug 18, 2019•33 min•Ep. 88
Gabriel Vega the Director of Convention Development and Organizer of Pacificon had some "Breaking News" and wanted to do and interview give Saul and Jolene first dibs on this News. Gabriel has been organizing Pacificon for the last 15 years here in the SF Bay Area. Gabriel has also started some smaller specific gaming and interest convention in the Central Valley. Saul and Jolene have been going to Pacificon since Gabriel bought the convention from previous owners. Pacificon takes place over the...
Aug 17, 2019•47 min•Ep. 87
Things that you can easily do to immerse your players at your RPG table. Saul and Jolene discuss simple and cheap things you can do to get buy in from your players. From special character sheets, handouts, notes to maps, all these things and more can get your players really into the setting of the game. Saul discusses the different things he has done to get the players ready to play Dresden Files, Tekumel, Star Trek Adventures and other RPGs . So get creative and get ready to lead your players i...
Aug 10, 2019•36 min•Ep. 86
Romance in RPGs, Saul and Jolene talk about why this has not happened much in their games at home. Romance can add an interesting element to any RPG games. Jolene finds an RPG specifically about romance. Actually a trio of rpgs by Emily Care Boss. This was not the romance in RPGs that Saul was thinking about, Saul was thinking of more of a courtly romance or adding a love interest to a PC character. Also discussed is romance between players and some pitfalls this might lead to. Jolene's research...
Aug 04, 2019•28 min•Ep. 85
Saul and Jolene talk about the OSR. What is it, why are there so many different versions. Why do people want to play this old style game. Saul remembers his Original D&D and AD&D days. Jolene did a bit of research in this nostalgic type of fantasy rpg style and found quite a bit of games and information. You can Find OSRIC here : http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/osric/index.html Castle and Crusaders: https://www.trolllord.com/indexnew.html Dungeon Crawl Classics: https://goodman-games.com...
Jul 28, 2019•38 min•Ep. 84
In this Bonus Episode we talk to Theresa D. a game board player(Scrabble) and game Ap developer. Saul and Jolene met Theresa at KublaCon game Convention in May and decided to talk more about her entry into board gaming and how it ties to her work at Temple Gate Games. Of course Saul digresses and stray off topics but Jolene as always is there to wrangle him back. We recorded this interview before July 4th but Saul and Jolene went on Holiday right after so this is published a bit later than inten...
Jul 27, 2019•42 min•Ep. 83
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk an old rpg Gamma World by TSR. It was the first RPG owned by Saul and it was Jolene's first RPG game she played way back in the early 80's. Saul and Jolene discuss all the iterations Gamma World that were published. From the first edition published in 1978 to 8th edition published in 2010. Saul has copies of 4 different editions. Saul and Jolene talk about why they liked the game. Saul discusses running the latest edition at local con in kids and teen rooms. ...
Jul 21, 2019•35 min•Ep. 82
