In the Gaming Hut we consider the two meanings of the term roleplaying. Through the joint auspices of Travel Advisory and the Culture Hut we profile surrealist occultist painter Ithell Colquhoun, subject a career retrospective show current at Tate Britain. The power of fantasy becomes the subject as the Cinema Hut’s Fantasy Essential Series turns the corner into the 1950s. Finally Ken’s Time Machine receives its most important mission ever, convincing Victorian arts critic John Ruskin to change ...
Jul 25, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 2025Ep. 659
Beloved Patreon backer Tennant Reed seeks Gaming Hut tips on scenarios where the player characters discover that they’re not who they think they are. The Crime Blotter profiles Old West cattle rustler and creative evader of consequences Climax Jim Nephew. The Cinema Hut Fantasy Film Essentials series focuses on postwar tales of ghosts, love, and at least one beast. Finally the Consulting Occultist suggests traditions of immortality estimable backer Bob Grider might include in his Yellow King gam...
Jul 18, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 2025Ep. 658
Settle back for some Gaming Hut disambiguation as beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks us to explain the difference between a setting and a campaign frame. The Mythos Hut listens to a conch and screams when estimable backer Ludovic Chabant seeks the Deep One shenanigans behind the Margate Shell Grotto. The Cinema Hut Fantasy Essentials series looks at wartime movies about ghosts, supernatural bureaucrats, and an exaggeration-prone Baron. Finally the Eliptony Hut examines the surely entirely v...
Jul 11, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 2025Ep. 657
The Gaming Hut gets informative as beloved Patreon backer Daiv Barr asks for campaign frames built around the librarian answer-seeking list Stumpers-L, aka Project Wombat. The Mythology Hut looks at St. Cuthbert, the historical Anglo-Saxon saint who became a D&D god. Our Cinema Hut fantasy essential series continues with the early 40s. Finally Ken’s Time Machine surveys alternate histories that postpone Attila the Hun’s ignominious death. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priorit...
Jul 04, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 2025Ep. 656
As assigned by an anonymous beloved Patreon backer, the Gaming Hut ponders a university urban fantasy campaign where the syllabuses matter as much as the sylphs. The History Hut retreats to the high ground to meet estimable backer Robert Wolfe’s request for the esoteric and gaming ramifications of Dayton’s Great Flood. Our Cinema Hut Fantasy Film Essentials series continues in the late 30s and rounds the corner into the 40s. Finally backer and sponsor John Kovalic asks the Consulting Occultist a...
Jun 27, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 2025Ep. 655
The Gaming Hut has stacked up the non-perishables and gas masks to answer beloved Patroen backer’s Jason Thompson about a campaign that starts on the day of the apocalypse. The Stock Character Hut returns to examine a trope with a truly ancient provenance, the wily servant. Part two of the Cinema Hut Fantasy Essentials Series picks up in the mid 1930s. Finally the Eliptony Hut ponders the chalky, suspicious artifact that is the Grime’s Graves Goddess. Want to pose a question to the show? Get you...
Jun 20, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Season 2025Ep. 654
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Michael Cule wants to know more about the role dice play in roleplaying games. Fun With Science answers estimable backer Jurie Horneman’s request to look into a case of brain diagnosis by inner voices. The Cinema Hut kicks off our tour through Fantasy Film Essentials with the formative titles of the silent era. Finally in Ken’s Time Machine our resident chrononaut reveals the dread timelines prevented by his intervention in the sinking of the galleon San ...
Jun 13, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 2025Ep. 653
In the Gaming Hut we talk roleplaying the French Revolution at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Dr. Nick. The Tradecraft Hut profiles English spy George Blake. The Cinema Hut kicks off a new Fantasy Film Essentials series by examining the boundary of the genre and setting some ground rules. Finally the Consulting Occultist obeys the command of estimable backer Justin Mohareb, who wants to know about Kabbalists who used their powers against fascism. Want to pose a question to the show? Get yo...
Jun 06, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 2025Ep. 652
Beloved Patreon backer beckons us to the Gaming Hut seeking tips on keeping PC hope alive when the bad guys run the authorities. In the Tradecraft Hut estimable backer Scify wants to know if DOGE has been cutting funding for CIA front operations. Urban cows are just the beginning as the Food Hut looks at the crusade against swill milk in mid-19th century NYC. Finally formidable backer Kevin J. Maroney steps into the Eliptony Hut to inquire about the New England vampire panic. Want to pose a ques...
May 30, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 2025Ep. 651
Much has changed since our last anniversary episode, but one thing that remains the same is our dedication to celebratory LIGHTNING ROUND!!! questions from our beloved Patreon backers. In quick startling fashion we dispatch inquiries, most not lists, favorites, or lists of favorites, concerning tabletop games, time travel, food & drink, spy stories and horror history. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon ! Our ...
May 23, 2025•1 hr•Season 2025Ep. 650
The Gaming Hut finds reasons for player characters to show mercy toward defeated opponents. Hoaxing is usually a white collar crime. Not so, as the Crime Blotter explores, in the case of Mark Hofmann, whose production of forged Church of Latter Day Saints historical documents escalated to murder. The first installment of the Stock Character Hut looks at that comic perennial, the stuffed shirt. Finally our intrepid chrononaut must use Ken’s Time Machine to keep kimchi in the timeline if the 16th ...
May 16, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 2025Ep. 649
In Among My Many Hats , Robin tells all about Page Turners , his game of dramatic interaction for one player and one game moderator, in which he is joined as a scenario writer by Sarah Saltiel, Ruth Tillman, and Wade Rockett. Beloved Patreon backer Michael David Jr. draws us into the Mythos Hut to cross Silver Age superheroes with Lovecraftian horror. The Mythology Hut profiles Cloacina, goddess of Rome’s holiest sewer. Finally the Consulting Occultist tells the tale of Florence Farr, an actor a...
May 09, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 2025Ep. 648
For the first time at THE KRAKEN, the legendary Gaming Retreat held in the remote yet cozy environs of the Schloss Neuhausen in what used to be Prussia, Ken and Robin talk live to a group of rapt attendees. After nerdtroping Stalin and an alien invasion, we field questions on German cuisine, the economics of printing in Europe, adding a post-credits sequence to a game session, and whether there might one day be a Ken and Robin book. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question...
May 02, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 2025Ep. 647
Sometimes you want to let the player characters stand back and let more capable parties mop up the threat. The Gaming Hut finds ways to keep that exciting and suspenseful. The History Hut profiles Milton Bradley, the person behind the famous game company. Beloved Patreon backer beckons us to the Narrative Hut to consider whether the journey is a sixth scenario type to add to Robin’s list from Adventure Crucible . Finally the Eliptony Hut answers estimable backer Ross Ireland’s call for a full ru...
Apr 25, 2025•54 min•Season 2025Ep. 646
In the Gaming Hut we look at that essential tool in the GM’s arsenal, the ability to bend world logic toward the fun. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Eric Park, the Cartography Hut looks at the alleged travels and maps of Nicolo Zeno. The Food Hut studies a cake of mythic import Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec might serve to Yellow King Roleplaying Game characters—the convent snake. Finally estimable backer Dan Noland assigns Ken’s Time Machine to (non-fatally) prevent Woodrow Wilson from beco...
Apr 18, 2025•55 min•Season 2025Ep. 645
The Gaming Hut situates itself in a dense woodland for beloved Patreon backer Ben A’s request for tips on a historical time slip scenario. Ken issues a Travel Advisory on his recent trip to Roswell. Listeners love transportation infrastructure, as estimable backer John Scheib proves once again by convening the Architecture Hut for the eldritch truth behind the failure of Providence’s Washington Bridge. Finally the Eliptony Hut tackles the freshly generated pseudo archaeology of underground megas...
Apr 11, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 2025Ep. 644
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Sikander asks us to tackle a scenario where the PCs have to figure out whether their boss’ secrecy is sinister or mundanely selfish. The Crime Blotter reviews the case of Barbara “Golden Boos” Erni, the 18th century thief who robbed Swiss inns aided by her prodigious strength and mysterious trunk. Ripped from the Headlines finds the mythic truth behind the shooting of a white stag in Merseyside. Finally the Consulting Occultist reveals the career of Albin...
Apr 04, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 2024Ep. 643
In Gaming Hut we discuss organizing one’s game mastering notes. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Sam Rutzick, the Horror Hut asks if Jacobin oppressor turned Napoleonic secret policeman Joseph Fouché was a vampire, and why he committed all those acts of vampirism. Only the combined efforts of the Cinema Hut and the Tradecraft Hut can cover the kidnapping of South Korean director Shin Sang-ok and his movie star wife Choi Eun-hie by North Korea’s Kim Jong-il, who pressed them into service m...
Mar 28, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 2025Ep. 642
In the Gaming Hut we ask what it means for a rule to work. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Nicola Wilson, the Archaeology Hut investigates the chopping up of the alleged mummy of Constantine XI. Anyone who has Fun with Science knows the weird phenomenon of species with dwarf males. Ken and Robin wonder which Mythos creature has dwarf males and how that causes problems for Trail of Cthulhu characters. Finally the Eliptony Hut recounts the nightmarish tale of the Blaenavon horse humanoid. ...
Mar 21, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 2025Ep. 641
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen we gather the suspects in the Gaming Hut to ask how to make the revelation as compelling as the mystery. Estimable backer Benjamin Rawls beckons us into the Narrative Hut to wonder why some genres assume certain plot structures yet others do not. If you live in the Maryland area you may have noticed some empty shelves at your local bookshops. Ken’s Bookshelf steps up to solve that mystery. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority qu...
Mar 14, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 2025Ep. 640
In the Gaming Hut we look at optional rules. What does it mean to designate a rule as optional, and what rules are we likely to put in that bucket? The History Hut profiles 19th century utopian sect leader Barthélemy-Prosper Enfantin, who advocated for free love and the Suez Canal. Prompted from a question by beloved Patreon backer Ross Ireland, How to Write Good reveals the software tools and online resources we use in our work. Finally, at the behest of estimable Patreon backer Steve Dempsey, ...
Mar 07, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 2025Ep. 639
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks us to tell him more about the 2023 Irish weird folk music film All You Need Is Death , and how to use it as inspiration for a modern horror campaign. Ripped from the Headlines finds ghosts in a VR game for kids where you play tag as legless gorillas. Finally, in our usual nod to the Oscars, the Cinema Hut finally unveil our top ten movie lists for 2024. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with ...
Feb 28, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Season 2025Ep. 638
The Gaming Hut gets a round table as beloved Patreon backer James Kiley seeks tips on mashing up Pendragon with Call of Cthulhu . At the behest of estimable backer Chad Ward, the Food Hut looks at the role a humble cured meat played in schism and war, in the Affair of the Sausages. Doughty backer Dylan Gault convenes the Architecture Hut for the real story behind the Newmarket Ghost Canal. Finally our chrononaut reveals which Song Dynasty social club he had to edit from history using Ken’s Time ...
Feb 21, 2025•1 hr•Season 2025Ep. 637
In the Gaming Hut we look at the optional scene paradox in adventure writing. The Weapon Hut gives us a rare chance to un-fun ruin, as we debunk claims that debunk the flail. In the Word Hut Robin tests Ken’s knowledge of the often cheeky nicknames given to historical figures. Finally we step into the Eliptony Hut for a look at the recent New Jersey drone flap. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon ! Our Patreon-bac...
Feb 14, 2025•59 min•Season 2025Ep. 636
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Tom Abella seeks tips on compiling historical reading lists to players. We don elaborate ruffs in the Tradecraft Hut to profile Jacobean spymaster Robert Cecil. Today we look at them as soulful giants of the sea, but to the medieval mind whales were terrifying, diabolical beasts worthy of treatment in the Monster Hut . Finally the Consulting Occultist looks at collector and art historian Aby Warburg. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority ...
Feb 07, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 2025Ep. 635
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Joshua Randall seeks tips on setting up a new campaign for success. Our latest Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else segment features Ken’s chat with Daniel Harms, author of The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana and editor of the definitive edition of the 19th century American grimoire The Long-Lost Friend . Robin provides a guide to the variable realm of Internet Movie Database ratings in the Cinema Hut . Finally the Conspiracy Corner shines a light on the Prime B...
Jan 31, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 2025Ep. 634
In the Gaming Hut , beloved Patreon backer Jörgen Blomberg suggests that there’s something F20 games handle even worse than falling damage—injuries from exposure. We brave the chill with our thoughts on the subject. Not all western folk heroes became folk heroes. The Crime Blotter looks at the case of robber and ambusher Big Nose George Parrott, who in a gruesome twist of fate became… something else. Fun with Science plumbs two marine mysteries brought to our attention by estimable backer David ...
Jan 24, 2025•58 min•Season 2025Ep. 633
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Charles Picard, the Gaming Hut ponders cultural diaspora in F20 settings. The Archaeology Hut looks at a recent discovery in Denmark, an Iron Age house built on a foundation of weapons and armor. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features our chat with Nerdburger Games’ Craig Campbell, designer of Capers and Good Strong Hands. Finally the Eliptony Hut peers at the legendary and murky Rendlesham Forest UFO incident. Want to pose a question to the show? ...
Jan 17, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 2025Ep. 632
In the Gaming Hut Robin discusses his recently concluded Golden Age DC superheroes versus the Cthulhu mythos game. Travel Advisory recalls our visit to the British Museum’s current Silk Roads exhibition. If we’re thinking about stuff that happened while we were in London, longtime listeners know what that means: Ken’s Bookshelf lovingly lists the purchases our hero made at Treadwell’s and Foyles. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for ...
Jan 10, 2025•55 min•Season 2025Ep. 631
As is our seasonal custom, we close our year with a live episode recorded at London’s Dragonmeet. At the show’s final outing in its longtime Hammersmith Novotel venue, Ken pulls off a revolutionary nerdtrope, and we field questions on the dangers of Tarot deck accumulation, the world’s ineluctable spiral into chaos, and tricking Brussels sprouts into being delicious. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon ! Our Patre...
Dec 20, 2024•47 min•Season 2024Ep. 630
