This episode is about Homebrew games. What is Homebrew. Should you do it. Who should you admit that you have a "Homebrew" game. Can you get a shot to take care of this problem? Saul as usual goes way off the rails on this topic, and Jolene on multiple occasions has to wrangle Saul back to the topic. This time Saul was in a bit of a tangent mood though. Thanks for listening. Music by Hasen Chat, song Coming Home. Available from Tribeofnoise.com...
Jul 14, 2021•36 min•Ep. 201
The topic for this episode was found by Jolene when she was looking at Game Hole Con's Facebook post which asked about how to go about describing their game for an upcoming Game Hole gaming convention. It was from a GM that had run games previously at Game Hole Con but they noticed a slightly different worded policy about adult content games. So we decide to talk about how to describe your game for a game convention and possibly your friends. Now that large gathering are started to be permitted ...
Jul 07, 2021•35 min•Ep. 200
Saul and Jolene discuss the Bait and Switch game. It is when you, as the GM, present a game of a genre, a type a particular setting or even a system, but when the players sit down to play, you switch it up on the players and try to run something other than presented. Saul discusses an idea with some fellow GM's and they inform Saul that its a bad idea and say its a "Bait and Switch" game. Saul was thinking it was just a way to surprise the players and didn't think he was baiting and switching pl...
Jun 27, 2021•34 min•Ep. 199
In this Episode Saul and Jolene discuss why play rpgs. Many people who have never played an RPG don't have a clue as to what roleplaying is all about. Usually they know about many misconceptions and stereotypes which Saul concedes might have been somewhat true in the 1980's but is now no longer valid. Even in the 70's and 80's those stereotypes only matched a small percentage of the gamer population. Saul and Jolene actually argue against those stereotypes and discuss how playing games, especial...
Jun 21, 2021•33 min•Ep. 198
This week Saul and Jolene talk about fish. Red Herring in RPGs is the topic. Should GMs use this story idea in their RPG adventures? Saul talks about his past experiences with Red Herring in the games that he has run. Jolene likes the idea of using Red Herring as a way of making the world more expansive or more real. Thank you all for listening and all we ask is that you share our podcast. Music by Darikus, song Mysterious. Available from Tribeofnoise.com...
Jun 14, 2021•30 min•Ep. 197
Skill checks can become too monotonous. GM's often cringe when a PC fails a skill check to hear another player saying "I will check too." with the sound of rolling dice. Saul discusses with Jolene how he thinks that use of "Skills" can be made more fun and even more exciting by implementing a few ideas to your gaming style. We would like to thank everyone that put us over 10,000 downloads. Thank you all for listening and please share our podcast with friend and family....
Jun 07, 2021•35 min•Ep. 196
As a GM would you let a player, play a traitor in your Roleplaying game? At a Con Game or in a One Shot would you as a GM make a character that is a traitor to be used by a player. This week Mike asked about installing or using a traitor in your RPG. He asked if it was a good idea or bad. Mike also wanted to get our take on using this idea in an adventure or campaign. Saul would for the longest time say that was a hard "No!" Much along the lines of playing an evil character having an embedded tr...
Jun 02, 2021•29 min•Ep. 195
In this Episode Saul and Jolene interview Gabriel Garcia who is writing War Stories a World War Two RPG using the Year Zero system. Saul came across Gabriel's post about War Stories on Facebook. Saul has been a fan of supernatural WWII RPGs such as D20s Weird War II, Savage Worlds Weird War, and Saul even used Spycraft 2.0 to run a series of Weird War II adventures for his home group. Seeing what he liked in War Stories playtest PDF he decided to ask Gabriel to do an interview and see who was th...
May 26, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 194
As more and more people get vaccinated and the Pandemic is starting fade, the thing all gamers have been craving is In Person Gaming. Saul and Jolene discuss moving some of their online games back to In Person gaming. Saul and Jolene talk about what they like about gaming in person compared to online. Saul ponders if there are some elements from online gaming that will continue when game go away from the virtual table and back to the dinner table. What do gamers miss most from in person games? W...
May 25, 2021•32 min•Ep. 193
A question from the internet is this week's topic for the latest episode. How do you restart or come back to a campaign that has been on an extended break? Saul and Jolene discuss two ways to get back to your campaign in this episode. The first one is the easier one, and that is just start exactly where you left off. This seems like the best and easiest way to restart or come back to a campaign. There are some things you can do to make this a smoother transition in getting back to the action. Sa...
May 16, 2021•34 min•Ep. 192
In this bonus episode Saul and Jolene interview Paul Mitchener creator of Liminal an urban fantasy rpg based in England and it's folklore. Liminal was successfully Kickstarted by funding 6 times it goal. Liminal uses a very creative 2d6 system in which you can create a wide variety of character in little time. Recently Paul Kickstartered Out of the Ashes a fantasy post apocalyptic rpg. Out of the Ashes will use a similar dice mechanic but instead of 2d6 it is a 2d10 system. Saul and Jolene ask a...
May 12, 2021•50 min•Ep. 191
In this episode Saul and Jolene what makes a good RPG. For Saul it comes down to two things, Setting and Rules make a game good. Saul and Jolene use recent and older games they have played to discuss this topic. Saul starts with 4 game setting he really likes but seem to fall short in the rules department. Games mentioned in his podcast are Cyberpunk, Dark Conspiracy, Space Opera, Shadowrun, Liminal and Victoriana. Thank you all for listening. All we ask is that you share our pocast. Music by RB...
May 09, 2021•32 min•Ep. 190
The Middle of the Campaign is the most meaty and the where most of the game happens. Most GMs come up with great beginnings with an eye to the end but most of the game takes place in this nebulous part of the campaign, I am calling the middle. So how do you plan for this part of the campaign? Saul and Jolene discuss how to plan for the middle of the campaign. Discussing different types of game setting, types of rpgs, the amount of player agency and how it will affect the planning of your middle ...
May 02, 2021•40 min•Ep. 189
Saul and Jolene continue their conversation about comparing old rpgs versus new rpgs in which they only got as far as the 1980's. So in this, second part which Saul changes the name of the episode to "Evolution of RPGs" they discuss how RPGs changed in the 1990s, the 2000's and in the last 10 years. As always we would like to thank you all for listening and please share our podcast.
Apr 25, 2021•39 min•Ep. 188
Today we have a bonus episode, an interview of Stephen Turner of Britannia Game Design the creators of Chivalry and Sorcery 5th edition. C&S has a long history, first published in 1977 by Fantasy Games Unlimited. In this interview we discover Stephen's gamer roots and then learn of how he became to be the publisher if this historic RPG and plans for the future of Britannia Game Design. As always thank you all for listening. Chivalry and Sorcery have a "Bundle of Holding" that benefits the Ho...
Apr 21, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 187
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk how RPGs have changed over the years. From the first RPGs on the scene like Original D&D and Traveller to the games that came out in the 90's and on to the last 20 years, RPGs have changed. The episode went a bit long so this will be a two part episode, continuing with the games from the 1990's to today. We would like to that all of you that listen to our podcast we really appreciate you listening and sharing. Correction: Saul makes references to Iron Cro...
Apr 20, 2021•35 min•Ep. 186
In Media Res in RPGs is the topic for this episode. What is In Media Res? Saul and Jolene first discuss what it is and where it is commonly seen. Saul recounts a couple examples of the writing and filming technique he has read in books and seen in movies. From there Saul and Jolene discuss how to apply this to your session of your favorite rpgs. What are some of the advantages and some of the hurdles that are involved in using In Media Res in your RPG session. As always thank you all for listeni...
Apr 11, 2021•34 min•Ep. 185
Saul and Jolene explore RPGs which subject are animals or anamorphic in nature. Saul talks about his first experience playing an animal rpg called Bunnies and Burrows. Saul goes into some details about B&B. Saul recounts the next game being Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which he briefly collected the comic books but didn't get the RPG until the mid 90's after the first TNMT movie had come out by New Line Cinema. Jolene's first encounter with this kind of game was in Gamma World were some of t...
Apr 04, 2021•34 min•Ep. 184
Though Saul and Jolene touched on the subject before Saul thought that a whole episode detailing Solo RPGs would be worth while. With the Pandemic still raging across the world, though there is light at the end of the tunnel, some people are not able to play with their normal group and for one reason or another do not want or cannot play RPGs online. And they want to still get that RPG feel from a table top game. Enter the Solo RPG experience. Saul and Jolene discuss how today's solo games are r...
Mar 28, 2021•36 min•Ep. 183
In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk about making a good RPG Villain. They discuss only a few tips of many ways you can make a villain in your RPG stand out and not be a cliche. Saul offers two examples from games that he has run. One was a convention game which was played in an 8 hour session at a local game con, the other is from a long running home D&D game. Each example showcases the tips Saul used in creating a Villain that the players really learned to hate and cheer each time the vill...
Mar 21, 2021•39 min•Ep. 182
In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss how damage is determined in RPGs. Though there are many implementations of how damage is determined, Saul believes there are really only two ways damage is dealt with in RPGs. Static and Random. As usual Saul goes meandering off topic but this time Jolene was a bit at fault for his digression. Saul and Jolene discuss what they like and dislike about the ways damage is determined in RPGs. As Always Thank You for listening. Music by Hoffman Sloth, song Damag...
Mar 14, 2021•34 min•Ep. 181
If you play any games you need to learn the rules, and RPGs are no different. Most likely you play or are interested in a new game that is published and you have to Learn New RPG Rules. Saul and Jolene in this episode discuss learning the rules of new RPGs, or RPGs that are new to you. If you are learning a new, recently published game then, according to Saul, you are in luck since we are in a "Golden Age" of RPGs. Jolene isn't as convinced about this "golden age" but does admit that some newer ...
Mar 07, 2021•41 min•Ep. 180
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about the reasons to look at and buy a new edition of a RPG. Some reasons for a new edition are fixing errors as simple as typos, rule contradictions, or a reworking of a task resolution system to make the game run smoother are good reasons for a new edition. Do the rule changes till does it warrant buying a new edition? Listen and find out what Saul and Jolene think of new editions of roleplaying games. As Always we thank you for listening. Please share our ...
Feb 28, 2021•33 min•Ep. 179
In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss armor in RPGs. Saul and Jolene discuss the most popular ways armor is represented in RPGs. From D&D's Armor Class to Traveller's ablative armor. Each way armor is handled is a mix if how easy one wants to express the use of armor in a RPG against how realistic the game wants to represent armor. Games discussed are D&D in all its iterations, Traveller, Liminal, Shadowrun, GURPs, The One Ring. They each handle the often discussed issue of armor in RP...
Feb 22, 2021•32 min•Ep. 178
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about Light RPGs. Saul defines what he means by "light" RPGs and gives examples of what he considers light RPGs. Saul and Jolene discuss RPGs from Tales From the Loop to the one page RPG called Lazers and Feeling. As Always Thanks for Listening. All we ask is that you share our podcast. Music by The Curtains and Their Terrifying Story, song Say Light off the album, Shake My Fire. Available from Tribeofnoise.com...
Feb 14, 2021•37 min•Ep. 177
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about the term "crunchy" in RPGs. Saul, again, goes way back to the beginning when he first started playing roleplaying games, and the first game he played was Original D&D. Saul does this to explain why he thinks the roots of OD&D being where crunch comes from. How OD&D set the standard of how a RPG should look and who played RPGs back in the late 70's and early 80's. Saul and Jolene talk about the early RPGs from D&D, Traveler, Space Opera, ...
Feb 07, 2021•36 min•Ep. 176
In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss the Liminal RPG by Paul Mitchener. It is a modern urban fantasy RPG set in England. Saul received a free PDF from Modiphius and it garnered enough of an interest that Saul bought a physical copy of the rules. Saul ran the game twice in two days over a weekend and the game was well liked by the players in two different groups. Saul and Jolene cover the rules, the setting content and how what they liked about the game. Of course Saul digresses a couple of ti...
Jan 30, 2021•34 min•Ep. 175
In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about GMing Styles. Saul and Jolene discuss how your GMing style impacts the games that you run from type of adventure to actual the RPG that you like to run. Your GMing style not only determines the adventures and RPG game you run but the players that you run games for. Some players may not want to play in certain types of games and your GMing Style should coincide with your players. If it does not then either the GM or the players will not find the game ver...
Jan 24, 2021•38 min•Ep. 174
In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss playing more than one character in a RPG. Saul begins the discussion with playing back in the ole days of D&D where people would "play" a character of a player that could not make the session. Saul admits they really didn't RP those characters but just went through the mechanics of playing the missing players character. From there Saul talks about friends playing with more than one character due to not being able to attend games on a regular basis and ...
Jan 20, 2021•31 min•Ep. 173
Part two of New RPGs for 2021. Well new RPGs that Saul is really looking forward to in 2021. In a more quick shotgun style of listing games, Saul rattles through more RPGs that are slated to be published via Kickstarter, pre-order or traditional publishing. As Always, thanks for listening and all we ask is that you share our podcast. Music by Nathan Brumley, song Games That Play Us, album Shay Watson. Available at Tribeofnoise.com For more info on the games talked about follow the links below: I...
Jan 10, 2021•36 min•Ep. 172
