In the dog days before Labor Day, Ask Ken and Robin happily accepts a softball from Cam Banks (a ringer name if ever we heard one.) “Why is “fantasy” supposedly a genre in RPGs but people mostly mean “F20 fantasy”? Why is there no equivalent in science fiction RPGs?” Ken issues a Travel Advisory for Necronomicon 2015, with a detour to pork belly obsessed Providence, RI. Restaurants mentioned: Den Den Café, Kitchen, Ken’s Ramen, Red Stripe, Pizza Gourmet. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio dips back int...
Sep 04, 2015
Genetic enhancements meet tradecraft as Among My Many Hats looks under the hood of Ken’s new Mutant City Blues campaign frame, “ Mutant City Spies. ” The Food Hut returns in what might be the first of an sweeping two-part series as we find ways to trick vegetables into being delicious. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio from the Pelgrane Press panel at Gen Con, regarding yet more Dracula Dossier ancillary items in development, TimeWatch , GUMSHOE One-2-One , and the Worldbreaker epic campaign for The E...
Aug 28, 2015
As the action opens in the Gaming Hut , we find Ken and Robin just one day back from Gen Con, punchy but unbowed. Hear them talk Diana Jones Awards, the new regime at Chaosium, and the great D&D resurgence. Make future spending plans as they recount such Pelgrane-rich announcements as The Fall of Delta Green, GUMSHOE One2One, and Robin Writes About Stuff. And as we mention a few of the panels we attended, steel yourself for a terrible revelation about the recording of our live episode. Yes, ...
Aug 14, 2015
Buckle up your extra special rapier for a jaunt into the Gaming Hut to consider the connection between gear and status. Take extra reindeer with you, for your predecessor lost all of his when he entered the far confines of the Cartography Hut to talk Soviet map-making . From hominids and their tapir pals to the contents of a teen’s bedroom, Ken and Robin delineate some great opening scenes in the Cinema Hut . Then paranoia goes old-timey as the Conspiracy Corner recounts the story of America’s A...
Aug 07, 2015
Robin gets a head start on his Dracula Dossier homework as the Gaming Hut lays out the whys and hows of campaign frames. The titular chapeau takes on a conical shape as Ken talks Yithians in Among My Many Hats . Check out his Ken Writes About Stuff installment for more. How to Write Good examines different authorial worldviews and how they determine what does and doesn’t fit in your narrative. Finally Ken’s Time Machine whirs up for a trip to pre-gold rush California, courtesy of a question from...
Jul 31, 2015
Stuff we’re here to talk about in this milestone episode might include Ben Franklin, the Flash, Zeus, Tom Fury, Phar Lap, keraunomedicine, the Lockheed P-38, Mjolnir, the blitzkrieg, Final Fantasy XIII, James Otis Jr., Garth Ranzz, al-Borak, Tampa Bay hockey, or the static discharge between clouds and the earth. That is to say, we’ve hit episode 150, a milestone requiring us to pull out all the meteorological stops for our customary all Ask Ken and Robin lightning round edition. Warning : actual...
Jul 24, 2015
Line up your polyhedrals in order of social preference as we enter the Gaming Hut to examine caste and class in worldbuilding. The History Hut provides a footnote to a somber event with details on the 1822 trial of Denmark Vesey, a founder of Charleston SC’s Mother Emanuel Church, for conspiracy to revolt against slavery. Tom Pleasant poses a challenging Ask Ken and Robin query, asking what we would do if we could use Ken’s Time Machine to alter roleplaying history. Finally we bathe ourselves in...
Jul 17, 2015
The Gaming Hut acquires extra filigrees and an extended backstory as we examine the cognitive investments gamers make when they learn to love detail. The Food Hut takes a turn for the imaginary in response to this medieval recipe for griddle-roasted unicorn , brought to our attention by Terry O’Carroll. What happens when F20 adventurers start to regard monsters and mythical creatures not just as opponents, but as ingredients in fantasy-world cuisine? In Ask Ken and Robin , Sean Phelan asks for g...
Jul 10, 2015
Spruce up your decor as the Gaming Hut reveals the secrets of room description. Ken does the bulk of the replying in an eliptonic Ask Ken and Robin , as RogerBW seeks a disentanglement of convex and concave hollow earth theories. Once again we rev up the Recommendation Engine , tipping you to a movie, two books, two food products and, believe it or not, a game! Impose your will on reality through whatever lens you want as the Consulting Occultist casts a gimlet eye on chaos magick. Look out, Lie...
Jul 02, 2015
Guns blaze and mystic swords clash as Among My Many Hats goes under the hood on Blowing Up the Movies , Robin’s new book of essays combing the action movie classics for gameable nuggets. In Ask Ken and Robin , @clarkythecruel asks about incorporating sports into RPGs. How to Write Good shows you how to build a dimensioned protagonist for an idea-based story. Ken’s Time Machine reports back from the alternate dimension where Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his pal Robert Southey actually established ...
Jun 26, 2015
Alex Guerrero has played before but never GMed. He wants to introduce a trio of interested neophytes/family members to roleplaying through a session of Fear Itself . He’s here to Ask Ken and Robin “What tips do you have on pacing, and not overthinking?” In History Hut we look at the craziest damn thing we’ve heard about in a long time, the wacky, electrified lost world of fraternal orders and side degrees. For more, see Fantagraphics’ Burlesque Paraphernalia . Ken’s Bookshelf tells the exciting ...
Jun 19, 2015
Abandon your neutrality as we enter the Gaming Hut to talk about alignment in D&D. Find out if we’ve been digging what you’ve been digging about the recent crop of shows in the Television Hut . Then the Consulting Occultist gives us the lowdown on alchemist, mystic and eponymous library founder Elias Ashmole. Attention, class! Anchor sponsor Atlas Games wants to enroll you in Mad Scientist University, the card game of evil genius, insane assignments, and unstable elements. Act now , Ken and ...
Jun 12, 2015
Using the conveniently public domain 1972 film Horror Express as a baseline, we demonstrate how to adapt a movie into a scenario worthy of the Gaming Hut . In a flood-threatened Travel Advisory, Ken takes us on a tour of the sights and horrors of his hometown, Oklahoma City. Then Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else , checking in on Keith Baker and his recently Kickstarted game Phoenix: Dawn Command . Finally we sidle discreetly into the Conspiracy Corner for urgent whispers concerning the sini...
Jun 05, 2015
In the Gaming Hut we ask how much work game design should do to constrain problem players. Be careful in the History Hut not to sit in the sledgehammerin’ seat as we tell the tale of the Bloody Benders. In Ask Ken and Robin Ciaran Conliffe asks Ken and Robin to demonstrate how Esoterrorists might exploit Somerset Fairy Doors . Next a certain someone clambers into Ken’s Time Machine to do something about Ngo Dình Diem other than installing him as president of South Vietnam and then assassinating ...
May 29, 2015
In Ask Ken and Robin your intrepid hosts field an Eion Dornan question about helping players take on the role of real historical figures. The story of a Nigerian juju practitioner handed a lengthy sentence for magical services performed for Texas-based Gulf cartel drug traffickers calls for the debut of a new segment we can only call Nerdtrope Cards in the News . How to Create Good examines the secrets of successful collaboration. And Ken’s Time Machine , answering a request from Christoph Sapin...
May 22, 2015
Crack open your Chaotic Neutral dictionary as Ken and Robin venture into the Gaming Hut to spitball a fantasy world extrapolated from the existence of alignment languages. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Somebody Else , both Ken and Robin speak with Leeman Kessler, the actor and auteur behind the Ask Lovecraft web series. And since we were both recently near a Powell’s—the one in Portland to be precise, the time has come to take another epic gander at the recent inflow toward Ken’s Bookshelf . (Ken’...
May 15, 2015
Screaming to you from the abyssal depths of the downtown Portland Oregon Crowne Plaza, comes our latest live episode. Join us as we talk Dracula vs. Gala, Muhammad Ali vs. Nyarlathotep, Nollywood, the Sino-Soviet split, DaVinci’s Glaaki revelation, our season of True Detective, and more. Attention, class! Anchor sponsor Atlas Games wants to enroll you in Mad Scientist University, the card game of evil genius, insane assignments, and unstable elements. Act now , Ken and Robin listeners, and they’...
May 08, 2015
Make sure you have your magic translation earbuds on as we enter the Gaming Hut to talk about secret and magical languages. In Ask Ken and Robin , Ruth Tillman John Burgess asks us to reveal our research secrets. Sorry for the misidentification in the episode audio, John. Having previously run down the classic Hong Kong movies you need to see to feel the Feng Shui 2 vibe, Robin reopens the Cinema Hut for a rundown of titles from the last few years. And at the behest of Phil Masters, Ken clambers...
May 01, 2015
This article on the programmable variability of claw machines springboards us into the Gaming Hut for an examination of pass/fail cycles. A corpse with the distinctive dagger of medieval Teutonic justice lies near the threshold of the History Hut , where we convene to discuss Vehmic courts. How to Write Good has us spitballing classic characters reimagined as leading characters in TV police procedurals. Finally the Consulting Occultist answers a request from Bryant Durrell for the 101 on spiritu...
Apr 24, 2015
Robin hijacks an Ask Ken and Robin question about running an Armitage Files-style campaign set after Sherlock Holmes’ plunge over Reichenbach to ask: do the master detective and the Mythos go together at all? Then of course we do answer Sami Uusitalo’s question, because what kind of podcast would we be otherwise? Ken tells us about Tomb-Hounds of Egypt , his latest Ken Writes About Stuff single, in Among My Many Hats . That hat is a pith helmet and the topic is 1930s Egyptology. Heads spin in th...
Apr 17, 2015
When the Gaming Hut asks you to mind your tone, we’re talking about ways to instil it during roleplaying sessions. In Ask Ken and Robin , Roger Bell West draws us into the Eliptony Hut with by requesting the lowdown on Fomenko’s New Chronology. We ban phrases from our lexicon in an ever so impactful edition of the Word Hut . Then the Consulting Occultist builds electric Jesus in its barn as we look at the career of John Murray Spear. Attention, class! Anchor sponsor Atlas Games wants to enroll y...
Apr 10, 2015
It’s raining drama tokens in the Gaming Hut as Robin shares his DramaSystem GMing tips. The clash of arms resounds in the History Hut as Ken gives us the lowdown on legendary Indian empire-builder Chandragupta Maurya. In Ask Ken and Robin , Ryan Christiansen asks if RPGs can be used as a consciousness raising tool. Art history and faith collide in the Conspiracy Corner as we ask what might be in those Michelangelo letters thieves are holding for ransom . Will the Vatican pay the requested 100,00...
Apr 03, 2015
Cough into your elbow as we duck into the Gaming Hut to think up explanations imaginary cultures might give for the origin of diseases. The Cinema Hut unspools Robin’s top five recommended films for schooling your players in the Feng Shui spirit. In Ask Ken and Robin , Collin T asks how to get players immersed in a detailed setting without burying them in exposition or homework. Finally the Consulting Occultist introduces us to the Italian benandanti, who as late as the 16th century were enterin...
Mar 27, 2015
In Ask Ken and Robin , Jonas Beardsley points us to this Wired article about advances in astrophysics brought about by the computer effects used in the movie Interstellar. We then make good on his invitation to explore ways overly realistic CGI could go horribly wrong. Safe under the covers of the Horror Hut , we talk about stories, movies and lists that scared us as kids. The Eliptony Hut goes underground for a truth more interesting than the truth of Toronto’s mystery tunnel. Finally Time Inc....
Mar 20, 2015
Join us in the Gaming Hut for a psychotropic ritual as we think about introducing entheogens into the magic of your F20 world. The Politics Hut flips its municipal focus as Ken shares his perspective on the Chicago machine and mayor Rahm Emanuel’s forced confrontation with a run-off election. How to Write Good takes a closer look at first acts, specifically the ones that set up your character’s status quo and the imminent threats to it. Finally the Consulting Occultist crosses over with Among My...
Mar 13, 2015
Yohann Delalande kicks us off with an Ask Ken and Robin question about portraying current real-world horrors in RPGs without lapsing into insensitivity. We fulfill this podcast’s Canadian content requirements in the Tradecraft Hut with a look at iconic hooded defector Igor Gouzenko. Patron hero of surveyors Nain Singh Rawat inspires a duck into the Cartography Hut to consider exploration-based campaign frames. Blond Venusians await in the Eliptony Hut for a profile of prolific contactee, mystic,...
Mar 06, 2015
We start with an Ask Ken and Robin question from Ethan Cordray, who wants to know how a GM and player might collaborate in creating scenarios. Inspired by this Malcolm Gladwell piece , the Crime Blotter examines the changing relationship between organized crime and upward mobility. Fun with Science plays with your perceptions for a look at hallucinations and synaesthesia. Recommended reading: Oliver Sacks’ Hallucinations . Speaking of reading, we conclude with another paw through Ken’s Bookshelf...
Feb 27, 2015
Weighty personages surrounded by bullet-proof genre expectations surround us in the Gaming Hut as we examine script immunity in historical gaming. The Mythology Hut finds us riffing a kid-friendly adventure idea arising from the superstitious connection between faeries and uncrushed eggshells. Pol Jackson poses an Ask Ken and Robin poser about the difficulty of staging Tomb of Horrors style gotcha traps for today’s F20 players. Finally, as the Oscars approach, we grab some popcorn in the Cinema ...
Feb 20, 2015
We begin with endings as the Gaming Hut enumerates ways to build your roleplaying series to the biggest of finishes. Among My Many Hats has Ken telling us about Vendetta Run, the latest installment of Ken Writes About Stuff, in which a spectral Wyatt Earp decides you’re in need of some rough supernatural justice. How to Write Good looks at common pitfalls in mystery plotting. That telltale salty crunch tells you that Ken’s Time Machine has been tasked by questioner Donald Dennis to inquire into ...
Feb 13, 2015
A pithy remark from LEGO Batman inspires our latest excursion into the Gaming Hut , as we ponder the question of narratively acceptable character demises. In the Tradecraft Hut we look at bone music, 50s era contraband pop music recordings etched against the will of Soviet authorities onto old medical X-rays. The Recommendation Engine spits out manly suggestions from Ken and unthemed suggestions from Robin. Finally, in response to a Nick Eden request, the Consulting Occultist introduces us to th...
Feb 06, 2015
