Things get both creepy and capey in the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Sean asks how to combine superheroes with cosmic horror. At the behest of estimable backer Cynistrategus, Ripped From the Headlines finds the gaming potential in recent animal thefts at the Dallas Zoo. In the Cinema Hut , part eight of our Science Fiction Cinema Essentials series reaches the 1960s as the genre moves to Europe and goes avant-garde. Finally the Eliptony Hut expands to hide a giant sphere as formidable bac...
Mar 24, 2023•59 min•Season 2023Ep. 540
In the Gaming Hut we wonder whether it is always bad for the players to figure out the mystery prior to the big reveal scene. A relic heist comes under scrutiny in the History Hut as beloved Patreon backer Mark D. Rinna asks why black ops crusaders raided the tomb of St. Nicholas. Installment seven of the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series finds us working methodically through the late fifties. Then the Consulting Occultist enters the Culture Hut at the behest of sophisticated backer J...
Mar 17, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 2023Ep. 539
We hope you’re wearing headphones for this one because we start in the Gaming Hut with a request from beloved Patreon backer Kevin L. Nault asks us to wrap a campaign around ear-entering, disease-causing ghosts. Then the Tradecraft Hut looks up in the sky for the truth about spy balloons. Finally, the Cinema Hut makes way for our annual pre-Oscars tradition, in which we list our top ten films of the 2022, Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your sup...
Mar 10, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Season 2023Ep. 538
We appear to be stuck in the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck seeks tips on scenarios set in confined spaces. In the Tradecraft Hut estimable backer Dan L seeks gaming inspiration from Operation Pedro Pan, a covert effort to migrate unaccompanied teens and kids to the US from early 60s Cuba. The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series reaches the mid-1950s and some all-time classic creature features. Finally Ken’s Time Machine travels to and interferes with the early 20th...
Mar 03, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2023Ep. 537
In the Gaming Hut we ask ourselves what we would pitch to Disney if they asked us to design an F20 game using their characters. Beloved Patreon backer Toonspew draws us to the Monster Hut to contemplate the prospect of evil unicorns. We take our seats in the Cinema Hut for installment five of our Science Fiction Cinema Essentials and more classics of the early 50s. Finally in the Eliptony Hut we peer into the Premonitions Bureau, a late 60s British project to record psychic predictions. Want to ...
Feb 24, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2023Ep. 536
The topic may be vagueness but the analysis remains sharp as the Gaming Hut looks at open questions and unsolved mysteries in RPG setting material. In Fun With Science , we look for plot hooks in the ChatGPT AI text generator, including the inevitable query about its Mythos implications from beloved Patreon backer Tom Abella. The Cinema Hut reaches part four of the Science Fiction Film Essentials series, as the genre finally hits full boil in the hopeful but paranoid early 50s. Finally, at the b...
Feb 17, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 2023Ep. 535
Beloved Patreon backer Michael Gemar requests that The Business of Gaming tackle Wizards of the Coast’s latest adventures in managing the Dungeons and Dragons Open License. We thought that would be one segment. Hear it, in real time, turn into three! That leaves room for the Cinema Hut ’s Science Fiction Film Essentials series to reach the sound era, and the 1930s, when the laboratory becomes a wellspring of gothic terror. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking ac...
Feb 10, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 2023Ep. 534
In the Gaming Hut we look at what characters should do more often in horror: run! At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Eric Saltwell, the Word Hut seeks the real truth behind Unicode ghost kanji. In part two of our Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series, we finally get to some actual movies, the precursors (and one classic) of the silent era. Finally Ken’s Time Machine fuels itself on some high-octane introductory exposition as fiendishly clever backer Philip Masters asks our. chrononau...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 2023Ep. 533
In the Gaming Hut we remember our friend and colleague Darren Watts, prolific Champions designer and former head of Hero Games. The Crime Blotter comes a little too close to home for comfort as Ken tells the story of his recent shooting. We kick off a new series in the Cinema Hut , Science Fiction Cinema Essentials. Due to the porousness of the genre we train our radium oscilloscopes on some definitions and ground rules before getting started with earliest examples. Finally another undead bloods...
Jan 27, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2023Ep. 532
In response to this Caity Weaver New York Times Magazine article , beloved Patreon backer Scott Wachter makes the Gaming Hut a very quiet place indeed by asking us for the scenario possibilities of anechoic chambers. Estimable backer Ray Slakinski beckons us to the Northern Ontario location of the Horror Hut to discuss the Wilno vampire. Speaking of horror, Ken and Robin Recycle Audio completes its highlights of the Horror Roleplaying Masterclass from Dragonmeet. Finally the Consulting Occultist...
Jan 20, 2023•56 min•Season 2023Ep. 531
Fire up your automated die rollers as the Gaming Hut goes digital to answer beloved Patreon backer Marc Kevin Hall’s request for guidance on running tabletop RPGs online. In the History Hut , unswerving backer Jeromy French unwittingly illuminates the number one rule of Canadian history by seeking the secrets behind the assassination of Ontario newspaperman and politician George Brown. Then Ken and Robin Recycle Audio with more answers from the Dragonmeet Horror Roleplaying Masterclass, also sta...
Jan 13, 2023•1 hr 2 min
We start by whittling some polyhedrals in the Gaming Hut , as beloved Patreon backer Derrick Yates asks us to sketch out an Appalachian cryptid campaign. In The Business of Gaming we discuss another reason the books you’re waiting for are late, the great freelancer / creator crash-out of 2022. Then another long dormant segment returns, as Ken and Robin Recycle Audio from the Dragonmeet Horror Roleplaying Masterclass. Finally alien ears perk up in the Eliptony Hut as we profile UFO gadfly Gray Ba...
Jan 06, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 529
After nearly three chaotic years, the universe has begun to right itself, as you can tell when this episode recorded live at Dragonmeet enters your ear canals. Ken answers the call of the nerdtrope card. Then, fortified by sticky toffee pudding and Christmas sandwiches, we talk topical villains, the cure for cursed dice, the occult nature of various drinks, and more. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon ! Our Patre...
Dec 23, 2022•49 min•Ep. 528
Our weary protagonists, fresh from Dragonmeet, stumble into the Gaming Hut . There they undergo the sort of deductive epiphany required, as per a request from beloved Patreon backer Keelan O’Hea, to bring visual “aha” moments into investigative games. Then London’s National Gallery becomes the Culture Hut as our heroes recall their visit to its current Lucian Freud and Winslow Homer shows. Seasoned listeners, at the mention of Dragonmeet, know what comes next: Ken’s Bookshelf finally returns to ...
Dec 16, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 527
We start as per usual in the Gaming Hut , where this time beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks for tips on combining The Esoterrorists with Night’s Black Agents . Then we move onto an ever-shifting southwestern Culture Hut , as estimable backer Robert Wolfe seeks knowledge on cartoonist George Herriman’s Krazy Kat and its effect on the dreamlands. Our scene shifts again to a tangled birch woods, as the Archaeology Hut examines the Beardmore find, a Viking hoax that fooled the Royal Ontario Mu...
Dec 09, 2022•1 hr 7 min
In the Gaming Hut we look at scenario text as a place to put GM advice. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Bret Kramer the History Hut hosts the tale of German-born eventual doctor Gottfried Knoche, who in the late 19th century took his penchant for mummification innovation to Venezuela. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , Ken chats with Heather O’Neill, designer of Meeple Party and Schrödinger’s Cats . Finally, our hero revs up Ken’s Time Machine to assist the Antemnates against Rom...
Dec 02, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 525
In the Gaming Hut we mull a peculiar property of RPGs as narrative, the expectation that a scenario will set up more plot elements than it actually pays off. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Jurie Horneman, the Cartography Hut gets out a map to look at the 50 square mile legal loophole known as Yellowstone’s Zone of Death. Then the Tradecraft Hut delves into recent headlines suggesting that the Chinese government has set up clandestine police stations throughout the world, including three...
Nov 25, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 524
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Elias Helfer asks us how to start researching real-world places we intend to use in our games. The Archaeology Hut dusts off a request from estimable backer Steve Dempsey for a profile of innovative site diggers Tessa and Mortimer Wheeler. At the behest of regal backer Paul Douglas the Mythology Hut checks of the theory of Iranian influence on Arthurian legend. Finally the Consulting Occultist reaches into his tarot collection for HEXEN 2.0 , making this ...
Nov 18, 2022•55 min•Ep. 523
As noted wearers of colorful shirts, we are uniquely qualified to enter a Hawaiian edition of the Gaming Hut . There we respond to the call of beloved Patreon backer Kristian Groenseth, who wants to us to fit Magnum P.I. into Trail of Cthulhu . In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , Ken talks with J-M and Trish deFoggi about projects incluuuuding 13th Age books and their Dark Owl publishing company. With the remarkably preserved fossil of the nodosaur Borealopelta back in the news, estimable...
Nov 11, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 522
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Neil Barnes dons his lovingly constructed Benjamin Disraeli costume to ask how to best portray historical figures at the roleplaying table. The Cinema Hut looks at the flattening of cinematography in the streaming era, asking the question that is on all of your lips. Is Netflix the new Natalie Kalmus? Finally a Powell’s sales clerk in Portland breathes a sigh of relief as Ken’s Bookshelf shudders with the weight of his most recent acquisition event, under...
Nov 04, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 521
In the Gaming Hut we address a query from beloved Patreon backer Steven Dosman on keeping the solutions of mysteries far enough away from characters with the competence and point spends to solve them. The Mythos Hut obeys the command of estimable backer Joshua Randall, who seeks the eldritch secrets behind the Antarctic doom of explorer Ernest Shackleton. The Tradecraft Hut investigates the case of Park Chae-seo, the spy dubbed Black Venus, whose undercover work dealing with North Korea embroile...
Oct 28, 2022•57 min•Ep. 520
The Gaming Hut as always uses Skynet for your benefit, providing ways to use AI art at your roleplaying table. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , Ken talks to two someones: Katarzyna “Kate” Kuczynska and Marcin “Martin” Kuczynski of Game Machinery , publisher of the Defiant Roleplaying Game . In the Horror Hut we look at character likeability in the genre of terror and monstrosity. Finally the Eliptony Hut tunes into stony vibrations as beloved Patreon backer Shon Richards asks us to wei...
Oct 21, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 520
Belle Époque wings flutter as the Gaming Hut brings the faery world into The Yellow King Roleplaying Game . Ken issues a Travel Advisory for his recent visit to the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. In How to Write Good we look at calibrating your characters’ complexity level to the story you are telling. Finally at the request of beloved Patreon backer Louis Sylvester, the Consulting Occultist profiles Cotton Mather. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority questi...
Oct 14, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 518
The first annual Robin and Valerie International Film Festival has come to an end, and just like TIFF before it, that means Robin has a list of movies to recommend to you in the Cinema Hut . The twist: this time you can find and watch them right away. Then in The Business of Gaming we look at sudden tsunami of AI art, and the potential and pitfalls of using generated illustrations in gaming products. Finally Ken’s Time Machine has some tsar-kicking to do as our hero introduces some late edits in...
Oct 07, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 517
We enter the Gaming Hut to ponder the constituency of gamers who prefer lots of crunch, but don’t actually use it when they play. In the History Hut beloved Patreon backer Gene Ha asks if electricity-loving Benjamin Franklin was the real modern Prometheus. The Culture Hut situates itself near a vast outdoor art work as estimable backer Tom Abella seeks as many gaming ideas as we can wring out of Michael Heiser’s “City.” From Nevada it is a mere hop and a skip to Utah, and the Eliptony Hut , for ...
Sep 30, 2022•57 min•Ep. 516
Rob Heinsoo and Gareth-Ryder Hanrahan step in for a sadly absent Robin as the annual live episode from Gen Con returns from the slumber of Pandemicland. They join Ken for a robust discussion of talking animals in the War of the First Coalition, Malort, why The King in Yellow gets restaged all the time, dealing with player absence in our chaotic times, steak rareness, guest stars at the gaming table, and the Ferris Wheel made of Ararat timbers. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priori...
Sep 23, 2022•51 min•Ep. 515
In the Gaming Hut we look at a largely foregone phenomenon in tabletop, the roleplaying tournament. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Dan L, the Tradecraft Hut examines Project Coast, South Africa’s apartheid-era chemical weapons program, and its head, Wouter “Dr. Death” Basson. Esteemed backer Chad Ward meets us in the Mythology Hut to ask that we expand our previously parenthetical beef with Joseph Campbell into an entire segment. Finally forward-thinking backer Tennant Reed visits the C...
Sep 16, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 514
The Gaming Hut exists in all dimensions as beloved Patreon backer Jacob Boersma asks how to giving Evelyn Wang’s multiversal powers from Everything Everywhere All at Once to player characters. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , Ken talks to Cody Swendrowski, developer for the Foundry virtual tabletop platform, who tells how its community focus distinguishes it from its competitors, and of his forays into streaming and podcasting. Discerning backer Eric (Speaker in Digressions) buys a tic...
Sep 09, 2022•59 min•Ep. 513
In the Mythos Hut we decide that fish people and serpent folk have hogged the spotlight for too long. It’s time for us to invent some humanoid toads, of the psychedelic variety of course, and wrap them into a Fall of DELTA GREEN scenario hook. Inevitably, Fun With Science must grapple, so to speak, with the advent of necrobotic spiders. A request from beloved Patreon backer Evan Hughes, and some superglue, makes that happen. In the Narrative Hut we explore the rural tilt of the fantasy genre. Fi...
Sep 02, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 512
Foul sorcerers flee the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Jesse Lowe asks for the best Earth-based setting for swords and sorcery—the Hellenistic Era excepted, of course. In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else , designer Gwen Marshall joins Ken to discuss the thinking behind such acclaimed projects as the ENnie-winning Ancestry & Culture and S5E: Superheroic Roleplaying . The Monster Hut gets philosophical for a look at egregores in mythology and gaming. Finally the Consulting Occultist...
Aug 26, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 511
