Our first all-request episode in many moons kicks off with a Gaming Hut question from beloved Patreon backer Derrick Yates, on running horror when you don’t love gory movies. Then compelling backer Richard Schwerdtfeger beckons us to the Command Hut for the peculiar, cameo-filled WWII battle at Castle Itter. At the behest of inquiring Patreon backer John Kingdon, the Book Hut examines the practice of anthropodermic bibliopegy. For a complete treatment of the topic, see Megan Rosenbloom’s Dark Ar...
Oct 20, 2023•57 min•Season 2023Ep. 570
The Gaming Hut completes its series on scenario structures, as inspired by Robin’s recent Adventure Crucible chapbook for the Kraken, with the intrigue scenario. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , we chat with Ajit George, who looks back on his work as developer of the acclaimed Journeys Through the Radiant City adventure anthology for Dungeons & Dragons. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer John Scheib, Crime Blotter seeks the numismatic and/or occult significance of a Philadelph...
Oct 13, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 2023Ep. 569
The Gaming Hut continues its look at the structures analyzed in Robin’s Adventure Crucible Kraken chapbook with the survival scenario. In the Cinema Hut Robin points you toward the best geek-facing films he chose for the second annual Robin and Valerie International Film Festival. Ask Ken and Robin entertains the request of beloved Patreon backer Tom Abella for guidance on running a Yevgeny Prigozhin game. Finally the Consulting Occultist fills intrepid backer Jacob Boersma in on the alchemists,...
Oct 06, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 2023Ep. 568
The Gaming Hut continues its look at scenario structures, as found in Robin’s new Adventure Crucible chapbook, with the chain of fights. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , Eric Prister from The Nature of My Game Podcast provides tips on GMing for an actual play podcast. Stay tuned after this episode’s credits for a special bonus teaser from the first episode of NoMG’s epic run of Robin’s upcoming Cassilda’s Song mega-campaign for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game . Among My Many Hats give...
Sep 29, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Season 2023Ep. 567
In the Gaming Hut , we look at the second of the scenario structures Robin breaks down in his new Adventure Crucible chapbook , the mystery. Beloved Patreon backer Joshua Randall beckons us into the Cartography Hut as he seeks places on Earth with the widest variety of F20 friendly biomes. Then Charles Picard puts up multiple screens in a geodesic Culture Hut to ask about Charles and Ray Eames’ film “Glimpses of the USA”, as seen in Moscow in 1959. Finally the Eliptony Hut looks at the dangerous...
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2023Ep. 566
Ken and Robin were together once more for a live show at Gen Con, and here it is, with the mystical confluence of Elvis, Ben Franklin, and zombies, plus harissa, fancy liquor labeling, our nemeses, why Robin would never have Ken assassinated, Schrodinger’s frogs, and what the hamsters and guinea pigs are really up to. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon ! Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned o...
Sep 15, 2023•47 min•Season 2023Ep. 565
The Gaming Hut hosts part one in a series breaking down the various scenario structures, as inspired by Robin’s new Kraken chapbook, Adventure Crucible . We start with a look at the dungeon and other area-based scenarios, finding its hidden and not-so hidden strengths. An anonymous patron beckons us into the History Hut for a look at Albert Einstein’s world travels from 1922 to 1923, with many stops including Japan and Jerusalem. In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else , we speak with writer an...
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2023Ep. 564
Among My Many Hats looks at Robin’s new Adventure Crucible Kraken chapbook, in which he breaks down the structures of various scenario types to help you design them better. Get in PDF from DriveThruRPG or in physical form from All Rolled Up. Beloved Patreon backer Matthew Preston beckons us into the Archaeology Hut to ask why the tombs recently excavated at Exeter Cathedral had no deceased bishops in them. The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Film Essentials series reaches its epic conclusion with the...
Sep 01, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2023Ep. 563
In the Gaming Hut , we propose ways to respond to the characters’ failures of stealth without killing story momentum. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , both of us chat with author Howard Andrew Jones about the state of sword and sorcery and his new novel, Lord of a Shattered Land . In Ask Ken and Robin , beloved Patreon backer Snivgrits requests that we riff a police procedural featuring Wendy Darling from Peter Pan. Finally the Consulting Occultist looks at the alchemical side of pione...
Aug 25, 2023•59 min•Season 2023Ep. 562
For the first time since the Great Unpleasantness, not only Ken but also Robin made it to Gen Con. Picking up a tradition where it left off, we devote the episode to recapping our experience there. From the new stuff at the Pelgrane booth, from the flow of the show to the state of the industry, with maybe a note or two about Indianapolis food, we are here to report. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon ! Our Patreo...
Aug 18, 2023•1 hr•Season 2023Ep. 561
The episode we record together in Indianapolis before Gen Con is back, starting with a Gaming Hut look at using the vagaries of attendance to guide your plot developments. In the Food Hut we look at new additions to our list of techniques, grocery lists, and home bars. Our Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essential Series reaches the Riff Interregnum, otherwise known as the present day, when this podcast was already in production. Finally the Eliptony Hut lets you well actually an upcoming film by giv...
Aug 11, 2023•1 hr•Season 2023Ep. 560
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen asks for tips on achieving balance with F20 magic items. How do GMs find the sweet spot between a boring +1 sword and a full MacGuffin? The Book Hut looks at the career of SF, fantasy and crime writer Avram Davidson, in the centenary of his birth. The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series grows ever closer to our recognizable present day as we head from the twenty-oughts into the twenty-tens. Finally Ken’s Time Machine hurtles toward some...
Aug 04, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 2023Ep. 559
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Hector Trelane asks us to discuss the Jeepform game design movement. A Crime Blotter investigation has us looking at Captagon, a licit pharmaceutical product that traveled from Germany to the Eastern Bloc and finally morphed into a war-fighting or party drug with a geopolitical reach throughout the Middle East. In the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Film Essential series we look at 9/11’s impact on the genre. And finally the Consulting Occultist regales us wit...
Jul 28, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 2023Ep. 558
In the Gaming Hut , beloved Patreon backer Michael David Jr. wants to know how to fold the 19th century French interest in Ancient Egypt into The Yellow King Roleplaying Game . In the Food Hut we look at gum arabic, a ubiquitous ingredient in processed food and other products whose worldwide supply is now threatened as a side consequence of the Sudan conflict. The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series turns a dissociated, paranoid corner into the 21st century. Finally, it’s once more time...
Jul 21, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 2023Ep. 557
Beloved Patreon backer and longtime GM David Rourke convenes us in the Gaming Hut to ask, is it okay if running published adventures doesn’t work for you? Travel Advisory features a report from Ken on his recent trip to the Diversão Offline game convention in São Paulo, Brazil. The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials Series becomes ever more entangled in issues of selfhood and identity as we cover the back stretch of the 1990s. Finally Ken’s Time Machine finds our chrono-here looking for salub...
Jul 14, 2023•57 min•Season 2023Ep. 556
The Gaming Hut looks at collaborative worldbuilding. Our Cinema Hut Science Fiction Cinema Essentials series reaches the back half of the 90s. In Ask Ken and Robin , beloved Patreon backer Kevin Greenlee asks how to fit DramaSystem into other games. Finally the Consulting Occultist tells the tale of a magical assassination plot aimed at Edward II. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon ! Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd...
Jul 07, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 2023Ep. 555
In the Gaming Hut we look at a common GMing pitfall, which we like to call the Case of the Tight-lipped Informant. The Tradecraft Hut opens the dossier on 18th century antiquarian and spy Philipp von Stosch. Installment 22 of the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series finds us in the mid 90s. Finally beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen shimmies over to the Eliptony Hut for the lowdown on dancing plagues. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your s...
Jun 30, 2023•1 hr 9 min
Beloved Patreon backer Ryan McClelland ventures into our seedy, low rent Gaming Hut to ask how Sam Spade’s monkeywrenching style of investigation fits in GUMSHOE. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Somebody Else , Ken talks to Improv for Gamers author Karen Twelves. The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Cinema Essentials series makes the turn from the 80s into the 90s, starting with a duo of cool dudes who know their way around a time machine. Speaking of chrono-conveyances, Ken’s Time Machine heads back to t...
Jun 23, 2023•56 min•Season 2023Ep. 553
In the Gaming Hut we suggest ways to design your player character backstory to make you a premise accepter. Learn with Ken as Among My Many Hats discusses his upcoming online adult education course “H.P. Lovecraft: Maker of Modern Horror,” available Thursdays in July through Signum University. The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series reaches installment 20, and the late eighties, starting in a jungle stalked by an invisible alien hunter. Finally beloved Patreon backer Gerald Sears wants ...
Jun 16, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 2023Ep. 552
In the Gaming Hut , beloved Patreon backer Elias Helfer wants to hear our take on our esteemed colleague Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan’s take on investigative leads . Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else finds Ken talking to tabletop roleplaying pioneer Jennell Jacquays. Part eighteen of our increasingly epic Cinema Hut Science Fiction Film Essentials series brings us to the halcyon year of 1986. And finally we locate the Eliptony Hut on a long, mountainous island as estimable backer Eric Parks seeks t...
Jun 09, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 2023Ep. 551
The planet Earth has hurtled through time and space yet again to take this podcast to another milestone: our five hundred and fiftieth episode. Longtime listeners know what that means—LIGHTNING ROUND!!! questions as posed by our beloved Patreon backers. In rapid fashion we address queries about overrated foods, stingy players, satellite imagery, and so much more. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon ! Our Patreon-b...
Jun 02, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2023Ep. 550
Flashbacks and cold opens fill the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Kelly Fisher asks how scenes without the player characters work as downbeats. In the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials Series, we reach installment 17, which might not get us all the way through that most speculative year, 1984. Then our bibliomaniacal hero regales us with the fruits of his latest Austin purchasing frenzy in Ken’s Bookshelf . Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access w...
May 26, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 2023Ep. 549
Your heroes don masks and top hats in the Gaming Hut as beloved backer Daniel Fidelman asks how to use iconic French pulp villain Fantomas in The Yellow King Roleplaying Game . The Tradecraft Hut gets a little too online as we look at the tabletop implications of the Jack Teixeira spy secrets leak case. We phone home but don’t phone it in as we continue to make steady progress through the rich trove of the early eighties in the Cinema Hut ’s Science Fiction Essentials Series. And finally Ken’s T...
May 19, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2023Ep. 548
In the Gaming Hut we wonder how running games for a streaming audience will change GMing practice in general. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Dan Noland with proceed with extreme caution into the Book Hut for a look at an arsenic-infused volume of 19th century silhouette portraits by peripatetic artist William Bache . Installment fifteen of the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series takes to the beginning of the 1980s, which is veritably chockablock with classics. Finally the Consu...
May 12, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 2023Ep. 547
We enter the secret chamber of the Gaming Hut at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Ian Carlsen, who seeks guidance on a campaign built around initiation into a mystery cult. Speaking of mysteries, the Food Hut tackles the terrifying possibility that ice cream might be good for you. In the Cinema Hut our Science Fiction Film Essentials series reaches the densely packed turn from the 70s into the 80s. Finally Conspiracy Corner looks at the 15 minute city and how this anodyne urban planning conc...
May 05, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2023Ep. 546
Get your spreadsheets and notebooks out because in the Gaming Hut we’re talking bluebook-heavy games. In the Command Hut beloved Patreon backer Andrew Miller waves his saber to precipitate a discussion of the Charge of the Savoia Cavalleria at Izbushensky, and whether it was in fact history’s last significant cavalry charge. The lucky thirteenth chapter of our Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series takes us to the late 70s, starting with the lightsaber-wielding film that changed the genre ...
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 2023Ep. 545
The Gaming Hut makes knowing reference to the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Joshua Hillerup asks how one might make a game that is to roleplaying what Community was to the sitcom. Malaise gives way to corrupt hedonism as the Cinema Hut science fiction essentials series reaches the mid 70s. In The Business of Gaming we wonder what the crumbling state of social media means to guerrilla marketing for tabletop products. Finally in Ken’s Time Machine estimable backer Neil Barnes proposes that ...
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2023Ep. 544
In the Gaming Hut we examine the social contract of F20, specifically whether players want the GM to move the boss fight into a room convenient to session pacing. Part eleven of our Cinema Hut science fiction essentials series takes us to the malaise of the early seventies. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , Ken chats with Christopher Robin Negelein about his Mystery Flesh Pit National Park RPG . Look for it on Kickstarter. Finally beloved Patreon backer Ed Sizemore beckons us into the E...
Apr 14, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 2023Ep. 543
We begin in the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Ludovic Chabant asks for tips on porting the single-protagonist assumptions of much genre source material to the party-driven play typical to tabletop roleplaying. The Cinema Hut takes place in the shadow of a certain monolith as installment ten of our Science Fiction Cinema Essentials reaches the late 60s and early 70s. We’ve talked about sidekick campaigns before. In Ask Ken and Robin , revered backer Peter Adkison points out that we haven’t...
Apr 07, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2023Ep. 542
In the Gaming Hut we look at the Efficiency Paradox, where players who most effectively grapple with the choices of a scenario are the most likely to regard it as linear. A Zillow floorplan of a Glendora CA home winds up in the Cartography Hut at the behest of beloved backer Monster Talk, who has spotted some anomalies he needs explained. The ninth installment of the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series finds us in the mid-60s, as the genre falls into arty European hands. On Jan 31, 1914...
Mar 31, 2023•1 hr•Season 2023Ep. 541
