Our throats showing the wear of travel to that most lurghy-inducing of wonderlands, we issue a Travel Advisory on Dragonmeet and the Modigliani show at the Tate Modern in London. In the Gaming Hut we compare and contrast two ways of structuring mystery scenarios: Robin’s Maze of Clues and Ken’s Ocean of Clues. Longtime listeners are already bracing themselves for what comes next. The fall of the British pound places a heavy burden on the structural integrity of Ken’s Bookshelf , as he comes back...
Dec 15, 2017
Hey, it’s an all-request episode! Patreon backer Joshua Trowbridge entreats us in the Gaming Hut to return to a perennial puzzler: how to convince change-averse players to try the awesome new thing you want to run for them. Patreon backer Josh Mannon summons us to the Cartography Hut , to explain that hole where the Kong Mountains used to be. In Ask Ken and Robin Patreon backer Adam Grotjohn asks Ken and Robin if roleplaying games could be used to teach criminological procedure. And finally Patr...
Dec 08, 2017
Patreon backer Doc Cross pulls his satin bell-cord to summon us to the Gaming Hut to mull the droll possibilities of P. G. Wodehouse gaming. In the Tradecraft Hut we journey to the shadowy isle of Malta. The Food Hut documents Robin’s conversion to the cult of Instant Pot . And finally the Consulting Occultist fulfills the request of Patreon backer Paul by filling us in on the witches of Chiloe. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for t...
Dec 01, 2017
We’ve installed additional measures in the Gaming Hut to discuss security camera surveillance and how to stop it from wrecking your mystery plots. Jump scares await in the Horror Hut as we look at the bogeyman and his pals, the evil spirits. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , we chat with marketing guru and game designer Wade Rockett. Which leads us to Ken’s Time Machine and a question from Patreon backer Derek Upham, who wants to know about our chrono-protagonist’s role in causing the E...
Nov 24, 2017
Make sure your copy of this podcast has been properly authenticated, preferably by a person in a pointy hat, as the Gaming Hut looks at forgery in worlds with truth magic. Get your drama on in How to Write Good as we make sure that your scenes of interaction further the plot, instead of merely commenting on the action. Then once more run your vicarious paws over the latest acquisitions to adorn Ken’s Bookshelf . Yes, our hero has been to Powell’s again and has the loot to show for it. Want to po...
Nov 17, 2017
Gather in the Gaming Hut but keep an eye on who might be creeping up on you with a knife or candlestick as we riff a cast of murder suspects. Ken then meets you in the Cinema Hut to report on what he saw at this year’s Chicago Film Festival. In Ask Ken and Robin , Patreon backer Aaron Sapp wants to know how Ken’s famously anti-vampire views square with his work on Vampire 5th Edition . We end on a Gallic switcheroo as Robin dons the mantle of Consulting Occultist to fulfill a request from Patreo...
Nov 10, 2017
Evade lasting shame by joining us for tea and scones in the Gaming Hut , where Patreon backer Tom Abella asks us to riff on the subject of social spirals. Sneak into the Tradecraft Hut for a look back at the career of WWII spy Jeanne Rousseau. Ken has oft-spoken of the dire Bochcoization. Now Robin turns on the Television Hut to alert all and sundry to its heir, the inexorable Abramsification. Finally the Eliptony Hut goes cigar-shaped as it unearths the shattering truth behind the Aurora Airshi...
Nov 03, 2017
We situate the Gaming Hut near a wolf trap as we answer a request from Patreon backer Dicegeeks and find ways to use the Green Children of Woolpit in a game. In the Food Hut backer Bryan Gustafson asks us to talk about snack bar purveyor and philanthropist Daniel Lubetsky. Our Cinema Hut 101s usually take the form of filmographies, but this time around we’re going to instead lay out the basics on a slippery concept: auteurism. Finally backer Steve Sick stands next to Ken’s Time Machin e and asks...
Oct 27, 2017
In the Gaming Hut we examine a classic dichotomy in GMing technique: when do you use the world to nudge the story, and when do you address the players out-of-character? The Tradecraft Hut looks at 2017’s most eliptonic spy story, the apparent sonic attacks in Cuba that have led the US State Department to withdraw diplomats from the country. At the urging of Patreon backer Ethan Cordray, we convene in a particularly outdoorsy version of the History Hut to look at the Kibbo Kift, the British inter...
Oct 20, 2017
Some monsters we want to kill. But others we want to figure out, then kill. The Gaming Hut looks at designing creatures that make for good mysteries. Then at the behest of Patreon backer Fridrik Bjarnason we journey across route revealed by codes and numbers to the Eliptony Hut , where we consider the theory that Dante and da Vinci snitched out the location of Templar treasure, looted from the Holy Land, in that most obvious of places, Iceland. Patreon backer Sean McCauliff pops a question over ...
Oct 13, 2017
Robin is back from his annual sojourn to the Toronto International Film Festival, so it’s time to open up the Cinema Hut to alert you to the best and nerdiest of the 44 titles he saw there. From zombies to noir, he’s got your watch list for the next 12-18 months. In the Gaming Hut we look at the causes and implications of the biggest story in tabletop RPGs these days, the great D&D resurgence. Following up on a past visit to the Mythology Hut , we deliver on our promise to talk about the myt...
Oct 06, 2017
Hold onto your wallet when you enter this Gaming Hut . It’s full of scamsters, as we look at clipjoint towns in F20 games. Patreon backer Elias Helfer digs into the files for a declassified Tradecraft Hut as he asks for the 101 on espionage in WWI. Then Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else , as Green Ronin’s Nicole Lindroos shows us the ropes of game company management. Finally it’s time for some Fun With Science , as backer Allen Wilkins wants to know what’s really going on with NASA’s bacteri...
Sep 29, 2017
When Ken and Robin go live, as they do here in this episode recorded in August at Gen Con, the audience, aided by a mythic pack of index cards, tells us what the topics are. And in this case they jointly demanded Crimean War mecha, Bannonesque intrigue, Ken’s beef with the Gnostics, time machine interference in the Siege of Malta, mediating disputes between Captain America and Wolverine, and the proverbial so much more. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking acces...
Sep 22, 2017
In That Thing I Always Say , we examine Ken’s maxim that death spirals make for good gaming. With Labor Day in the rear view mirror, the Cinema Hut looks back at blockbuster season for a round up of the summer movies that were. Finally the Consulting Occultist serves up a reply to Patreon backer David Shaw, who seeks the secret truth on occult Kashmir. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your Support for the KARTAS Patreon ! Snag Ken and Robin merch...
Sep 15, 2017
A couple of episodes ago we put a pin in the idea of Magic Blackwater and now in the Gaming Hut we unpin it for further consideration. In yet more business arising from the previous minutes, the Mythology Hut looks at the kinship between the vampire and the serial killer. Then Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , specifcally Stacy Dellorfano of Contessa fame. Then it’s off to the whirring proximity of Ken’s Time Machine to see what it did and didn’t have to do with the Roman Emperor Caracalla...
Sep 08, 2017
Annual traditions happen only once a year, and since Gen Con has now happened fifty times, we must bring you an extra special convention review Gaming Hut . With a Travel Advisory on something that won’t happen for a long time or possibly ever–Ken’s journey into eclipse totality! Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your Support for the KARTAS Patreon ! Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic . In Unknown Armies , Atlas Games’ modern-day, occult ...
Sep 01, 2017
That ambient sound you hear is the muffled bustle of the Embassy Suites in beautiful downtown Indianapolis as we record a face-to-face episode immediately prior to the sweet chaos of Gen Con. We start in a portable version of the Gaming Hut to answer a question from Patreon backer Alexandria Permann, who wants to know how to sell players on unfamiliar genres and settings. Then we guard against korrigan magic as we dare enter the Mythology Hut for an overview of Breton folklore. How To Write Good...
Aug 25, 2017
The Gaming Hut goes inside the design process as Robin discovers he wants to make a humble sub-system a little less humble. The Food Hut goes inside the casing as Ken waxes rhapsodic on the history and virtues of the Chicago hot dog. Ask Ken and Robin goes inside the business as Patreon backer David Shaw drops a query about getting one’s game published. Finally the Consulting Occultist goes inside, uh Posadism, as backer Stewart Robertson asks about Posadism. Want to pose a question to the show?...
Aug 19, 2017
The Gaming Hut goes inside the design process as Robin discovers he wants to make a humble sub-system a little less humble. The Food Hut goes inside the casing as Ken waxes rhapsodic on the history and virtues of the Chicago hot dog. Ask Ken and Robin goes inside the business as Patreon backer David Shaw drops a query about getting one’s game published. Finally the Consulting Occultist goes inside, uh Posadism, as backer Stewart Robertson asks about Posadism. Want to pose a question to the show?...
Aug 18, 2017
We clatter our dice and thump our miniatures in the Gaming Hut , considering a Patreon backer Travis Johnson question about what to do when the players break the tone they asked you to instill. With a Kickstarter and then a vacation, Robin hasn’t been paying attention to the news lately. So he meets Ken in the Tradecraft Hut on the off chance anything has happened on the espionage front his summer. In the Cinema Hut , Patreon backer Nancy Feldman wants us to talk about our favorite pulp movies. ...
Aug 11, 2017
The Gaming Hut falls all over itself answering a question from Patreon backer Daniel Krauklis: “What does the choice to have fumbles in your rules that tell us about your game and the moral universe in which the characters operate?” We fortify the Cartography Hut for a workshop on designing strategic locations into your world. How to Write Good examines tragedy and anagnorisis. And the Consulting Occultist gets all semiotic to reply to a query from Patreon backer Polydamas on what the Secret Mas...
Aug 04, 2017
Are your modern investigators getting cocky? Join us in the Gaming Hut as we riff a rival team to toss some sand in their gears. The Cartography Hut looks at the process of mapping fictional cities, like those invented by H. P. Lovecraft. In Ask Ken and Robin, John Scheib wants to know about habits of mind to transition from OSR to narrative style gaming. Then we stand in proximity to Ken’s Time Machine as we learn why our hero had to borrow the white doe of Sertorius. Want to pose a question to...
Jul 28, 2017
As heard on this very podcast, I and Atomic Overmind Press are launching — nay, have already launched — the Kickstarter for my book Tour de Lovecraft: the Destinations, the sequel to my much beloved volume Tour de Lovecraft: the Tales. Drop by the Kickstarter and back us if you care to, and we would be ever so grateful if you shared the Kickstarter link wherever you find the media most sociable. Gotta go, that bus isn’t going to drive itself! NARRATOR: The bus is going to drive itself....
Jul 26, 2017
As one Kickstarter ends, another begins, specifically on Wednesday, July 26. In Among My Many Hats Ken tells us about his cool new book, Tour de Lovecraft: The Destinations, which is Kickstarting on Wednesday, July 26. The Gaming Hut poses a GMing question: when is it best for us, as Game Masters, not to talk? In Ask Ken and Robin , Patreon backer Jeff Kahrs asks Ken and Robin how to engage reluctant old-schoolers in narrative sharing. Finally, it turns out that Chicagoans have been sighting a b...
Jul 21, 2017
Who would have believed that when they started a podcast two scrappy writer/game designers could make it all the way to episode 250? You know what that means: time once again for another Lightning Round, in which we fire through as many questions as we can, starting with those posed to us by our indispensible Patreon backers. And yes, of course Cary Grant, not Jimmy Stewart, stars in North by Northwest . Ken is just testing you. This anniversary gains a special frisson, as we must also thank ENn...
Jul 14, 2017
Run! Hide! The Gaming Hut is coming for you, with a look at chase rules for horror RPGs. Homicide and puppets collide as the Crime Blotter recounts 1929’s Benny Evangelist murders. The recent theft of Dawson City’s Downtown Hotel severed drinking toe prompts a Food Hut consideration of appalling drink rituals. Then we rev up Ken’s Time Machine to find out why our resident chrono-agent prevented sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi from building a lamp-wielding lady at the Suez Canal. Want to pose...
Jul 07, 2017
In the Gaming Hut we find ways to design compelling consequences, with a particular nod toward Robin’s recent work on GUMSHOE One-2-One and The Yellow King Roleplaying Game . The Tradecraft Hut provides a briefing requested by Patreon backer Stephen Brandon: given the recent Reality Winner case, what can player characters do to avoid her mistakes and leak confidently to the media? Ask Ken and Robin celebrates Canada Day alongside backer Jake Cotter, who asks for recommendations for running a Can...
Jun 30, 2017
Stare! Stare my friends, into the most psychically destablizing hat of all. For this week Among My Many Hats has the Yellow Sign neatly embroidered upon it, and you know what that means: Robin’s new GUMSHOE project for Pelgrane Press, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game , is Kickstarting now. Ken hangs onto his last Composure point as he asks Robin all about it. At the triple command of Patreon backer Rafael Pabst, the Book Hut takes a look at the mythic work of Robert Graves. A simple yet elusive ...
Jun 23, 2017
We interrupt the tranquility of your regular podcast subscription feed to riff briefly on some long anticipated yet terrifying news. The Yellow King Roleplaying Game, which Robin has been covertly promoting for many months, is now up for your decadent assessment on Kickstarter . We’ll be back in Friday to discuss it in detail, but we knew you would want to be woken from your febrile absinthe dreams to scoot on over to Kickstarter and claim those all-important firsties. And don’t worry–you can’t ...
Jun 22, 2017
Uh-oh, looks like Robin wants to introduce another term of art into the RPG design lexicon. Ken joins him in the Gaming Hut to consider system humility. Transfixed by the hypnotic gaze of Patreon backer Andrea Coletta, we shuffle into the History Hut to reveal all on the Rasputin phenomenon, as most recently echoed by a juicy South Korean political scandal. In Ask Ken and Robin we imbibe a query from backer Wayne about PC and GMC intoxication in roleplaying games. Then we stand in proximity to K...
Jun 16, 2017
