Numbers come and numbers go but when the podcast odometer clicks over to 600 Ken and Robin listeners know what to expect: the thunderous return of LIGHTNING ROUND!!! 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 on the show is now up and running . Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show. Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic . The off...
May 24, 2024•42 min•Season 2024Ep. 600
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Bob Grider asks how to create mystery hooks for sovereign citizens in The Yellow King: This Is Normal Now . With dire inevitability this leads to a discussion of pan-conspiratorialist Romana Didulo, aka the Queen of Canada. Estimable backer Paul Douglas seeks the Tradecraft Hut take on the death of White Helmets founder James le Mesurier. Cherished backer Andrew Blasenak alerts the Horror Hut to a new impending Philadelphia museum, VAMPA, which stands for...
May 17, 2024•58 min•Season 2024Ep. 599
Picking up where a previous Gaming Hut left off, beloved Patreon backer Gene Ha asks about scenarios where one of the PCs is a mole working against the rest of the group. In Ask Ken and Robin , estimable backer Martin Rundkvist asks how Ken’s planned relocation of Swords of the Serpentine to Venice is going to work. The Voyager space probe has been fixed after sending gibberish data back to Earth for five months. But what, formidable backer Bob Koester asks in Fun With Science , if it wasn’t gib...
May 10, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 2024Ep. 598
In the Gaming Hut we talk about our visit to Shadowcon in Barcelona, courtesy of our beloved pals at Shadowlands, who have just published a stunning edition of the Dracula Dossier in the Spanish language. Travel Advisory covers our exploration of the less nerdy reaches of our new favorite city, with an obligatory selection of small plates in the Food Hut . Ken didn’t come home with a pile of Spanish books, but if it’s a trip we have to look at some new acquisitions. So Ken’s Bookshelf finally re...
May 03, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Season 2024Ep. 597
In the Gaming Hut , beloved Patreon backer Andrew Miller asks for tips on playing paladins well. We enter the History Hut to wonder what shattered the mind of Tudor historian John Leland. Amid the popcorn munching of the Cinema Hut estimable backer David Sowa asks why so many action movies have poor final acts. Finally the Consulting Occultist looks at the career of Icelandic medium Indriði Indriðason. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your suppor...
Apr 26, 2024•58 min•Season 2024Ep. 596
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Jason Thompson asks if the group dynamic known as the Tyranny of Structurelessness applies to GM-less roleplaying games. Estimable backer Gray St. Quintin seeks the regular confines of the Architecture Hut to ask about Walter Burley Griffin, designer of Canberra and avid anthroposophist. Fun With Science ensues when formidable backer asks what the heck was up with a rich philanthropist’s decision to take hominid fossils with him on his Virgin Galactic spa...
Apr 19, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 2023Ep. 595
In the Gaming Hut we identify the elements of a great recurring gamemaster character. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Lester Ward, the Archaeology Hut mulls the ancient Egyptian fortresses that were flooded by the building of the Aswan dam. In the Book Hut tough, wisecracking Patreon backer Adam Grotjohn seeks a 101 on hardboiled fiction. And finally the Consulting Occultist profiles Maria de Naglowska, occult lecturer and sex magician of 20s and 30s Paris. Want to pose a question to the...
Apr 12, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 2023Ep. 594
Elves and dragons have some emotional needs to work out as the Gaming Hut answers beloved Patreon backer Nikolaj’s request for tips on bringing elements of DramaSystem into an F20 game. The Crime Blotter checks out the Philadelphia poison murders, a massive killing for profit scheme involving syndicate witches in the Trail of Cthulhu era. Madrigals are sung and the underworld is descended into in the Culture Hut , as erudite backer Patrick Holmes asks for a gameable bio of 16th century composer ...
Apr 05, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 2024Ep. 593
In the Gaming Hut we find ways to bring players back into the action when they make sensible decisions that sideline their characters. 2Beloved Patreon backer Paul S. Enns beckons us into the Tradecraft Hut to cover the May 23rd Lake Maggiore boating accident. In the Monster Hut we look at the blemmyae, the hungry headless folk of classical and medieval lore. Finally Ken’s Time Machine responds to the request of estimable backer Eric Parks, who wants to know what the timeline would look like had...
Mar 29, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 2024Ep. 592
In the Gaming Hut , Robin pitches Ken on a concept for a roleplaying game called Renfields . The Mythology Hut looks at the enigmatic Dacian god and/or person named Zalmoxis, who might have been a sky deity. Or an earth deity. Or a physician. In Ask Ken and Robin , beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks Robin to expand on his capsule review of the 1956 Carol Reed circus movie Trapeze as a model for efficiently executed DramaSystem scenes. The Consulting Occultist wraps up the episode with th...
Mar 22, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 2024Ep. 591
We hope you can make it to the Gaming Hut for a discussion of quorum and attendance vagaries. In the History Hut we answer the request of beloved Patreon backer Jeromy French to flesh out a topic we have previously only alluded to—the Toronto clown-fireman riot. Finally Ken’s Bookshelf features a mere half of our resident bibliomane’s book raid on the Potomac region. 4th segment Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon...
Mar 15, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 2024Ep. 590
Players say they hate linear scenarios. Seasoned convention GMs extoll the efficacy of the greased rail session. In the Gaming Hut we ask what’s up with that. Beloved Patreon backer Monster Talk requests a Ripped from the Headlines on the now world-famous Chicago rat hole. Finally, in keeping with our pre-Oscars tradition, we sneak into the Cinema Hut to finally reveal our respective movie top tens for 2023. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your ...
Mar 08, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 2024Ep. 589
Keep your ancient documents well-hidden in the Gaming Hut , as beloved Patreon backer Brian Thomas asks us how to construct a Bookhounds of London one-shot around explorer Aurel Stein, the Great Game, and the Diamond Sutras. When architects go wrong they wind up not in their own hut, but on the Crime Blotter , as is the case, as requested by estimable backer Derek Upham, 19th century heist mastermind George Leonidas Leslie. In the Narrative Hut we ask ourselves if procedural crime dramas are, in...
Mar 01, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 2024Ep. 588
Beloved Patreon backer Mark Kenney inspires us to wear our classiest outfits in the Gaming Hut as we seek ways to bring the vocabulary of clothing and fashion to tabletop narration. The Food Hut examines an old school staple dessert ingredient and the man who popularized it in North America, with the story of Walter Tennyson Swingle and the journey of the date. We grab a long hook and protect draw a protective circle around the Mythology Hut for a look at stories where the devil comes to claim a...
Feb 23, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 2024Ep. 587
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Hector Trelane takes inspiration from Robin’s EZ One Shot system to ask if designers are finding a root language of roleplaying that points toward a less cluttered style of play. At the behest of estimable backer Kristian Groenseth the Cartography Hut investigates the fake stop sign epidemic that struck Cranston, Rhode Island. And finally Ken’s Bookshelf paws the spoils of our resident bibliomane’s recent raid on New York City. Want to pose a question to ...
Feb 16, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 2024Ep. 586
In the Gaming Hut we look at the paradox of choice, in which players want many alternative paths yet also want to explore all of them. The Archaeology Hut surveys the career of William Stukeley, the 18th century polymath whose studies of Stonehenge and Avebury made him one of the field’s foundational figures. In the Horror Hut beloved sponsor John Kovalic wants us to retell the tale of the BBC’s lost terror series, Late Night Horror. Finally the Eliptony Hut sets up close to Robin’s location for...
Feb 09, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 2024Ep. 585
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Joshua Randall asks for help dealing with players who like to shoot down everyone else’s plans. Fans of irony will appreciate the story of Edo firebreaks, as told in the History Hut . Ken and Robin Recycle Audio concludes our excerpts from the Dramatic Interaction panel at Gen Con 2023. Emily Cambias and John R. Harness join Robin in examining the integration of trad gaming and personal interaction. Then at the behest of esteemed Patreon backer Michael C...
Feb 02, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 2024Ep. 584
In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Ludovic Chabant asks Robin to expand on his choice for favorite RPG adventure, as seen on the Scroll for Initiative blog . Naturally Ken also makes a choice or two himself. Estimable backer Fred Kiesche beckons us to the Architecture Hut , which has a Culture Hut inside, and possibly a strong streak of occultism, to discuss the fourth-dimensional explorations of architect and stage designer Claude Bragdon. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio with installment two of the D...
Jan 26, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 2023Ep. 583
In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Jamie Twine seeks tips on signaling weirdness and danger in horror games not set in our recognizable world. Esteemed backer Ginger asks for the Tradecraft Hut take on the OSINT journalism entity Bellingcat. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio with the first part of a Dramatic Interaction panel from Gen Con, in which Robin is joined by designers Emily Cambias and John R. Harness. Finally the Eliptony Hut reviews the case of Jean Grenier, a young misfit from a 17th century...
Jan 19, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 2024Ep. 583
Everything unravels in the Gaming Hut when beloved Patreon backer Tennant Reed asks us to use the Watergate docudramedy Gaslit as inspiration for a heist gone wrong game. Ken’s Bookshelf delivers a change of pace segment as Robin asks our resident bibliomane to describe the five most specialized books in his collection. In Ripped from the Headlines estimable backer Paul Douglas asks for the real scoop on a hungry and disoriented Russian economist who got from Copenhagen to LAX without a ticket o...
Jan 12, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 2024Ep. 581
The Gaming Hut contains a special rack for displaying fancy blades as beloved Patreon backer Stephen Dosman asks us to find the tabletop fun in Ulfberht swords. In the Cinema Hut we look at the newest cycle of female-focused, character-driven horror films. Estimable backer Manfred Gabriel uses his Ask Ken and Robin powers to seek advice on spending his Dracula points. Finally the Consulting Occultist tells the wry tale of the early Georgian era astrologer Isaac Bickerstaff, who predicted the dea...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 2024Ep. 580
Our annual live episode recorded at London’s Dragonmeet finds our audience of expert questioners in a substantive mood. Accordingly, after nerdtroping WWII and the Peloponnesian war and contemplating high end snacks, we look at the unsolved problems of gaming, solo game design, troupe play and so much more. That puts 2023 in the rearview mirror for us. Enjoy the holiday you celebrate and rejoin us in the weird future of 2024. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking...
Dec 22, 2023•45 min•Season 2023Ep. 579
The Gaming Hut explodes in a molasses fireball full of staplers, but then does something entirely sensible, as we consider ways to reframe the fumble. The Eliptony Hut studies a locally beloved cryptid, the Loveland Ohio frogman. Finally Ken’s Bookshelf features an unusually sleek and selective London book haul, as our hero describes treasures liberated from Treadwell’s and Foyles. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patr...
Dec 15, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 2023Ep. 578
In the Gaming Hut we come to the aid of beloved Patreon backer Keelan O’Hea, who wants to know how to revive a campaign after a period spent on hold. Recent reports that it is the world’s oldest pyramid surely had you wondering when we were going to discuss Indonesia’s Gunung Padang in the Archaeology Hut . To the world’s cheers, orcas have been attacking boats near Spain and Portugal. Ripped from the Headlines has the story behind the story. Finally, we learn which key events Ken’s Time Machine...
Dec 08, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 2023Ep. 577
In the Gaming Hut we ask ourselves whether designers should include optional rules they don’t actually recommend using. The History Hut takes on the smell of rocket fuel as beloved backer Fred Kiesche asks for the real made-up story behind the US anti-satellite weapons of Program 437. Estimable backer Shane Cubis bids us to the Culture Hut to profile Peggy Guggenheim, peripatetic collector, dealer and patron of the surrealist and abstract expressionist movements. At the behest of applaudable bac...
Dec 01, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 2023Ep. 576
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Alexander Arebalo wants to know how to make a building more of a character than a setting in a scenario. Glittering backer Josh King checks the Crime Blotter for the story of Civil War gold that one treasure hunter accuses the FBI of stealing right from under his nose. Legendary Patreon backer Joshua Hillerup beckons us to the Monster Hut to review the particulars of the Irish sorcerer-dwarf and/or vampire, the abhartach. Finally the Consulting Occultist ...
Nov 24, 2023•59 min•Season 2023Ep. 575
In the Gaming Hut show you how to remind players that their characters are the experts. The Tradecraft Hut profiles American novelist, journalist and Soviet spy Martha Dodd. Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else finds us chatting with designer and theorist John R. Harness. Finally at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Patrick Holmes, Ken’s Time Machine sets the dial for prehistoric. Our chrono-hero looks into the hominid population bottleneck, which came close to ending the homo sapiens story ...
Nov 17, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 2023Ep. 574
In the Gaming Hut we discuss ways to build premise acceptance into pregenerated characters. Beloved Patreon backer invites us to the Horror Hut to discuss H. P. Lovecraft’s view that Bram Stoker was not the sole author of Dracula . Director Paul Schrader recently observed that movie audiences are dumber now. In the Cinema Hut we decide if he’s onto something there. Finally in the Eliptony Hut we return to the site of a recent segment to unearth the history of the Hexham Heads. Want to pose a que...
Nov 10, 2023•1 hr•Season 2023Ep. 573
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks us for ways to make traps exciting. Redoubtable backer Patrick Crowley directs us to the History Hut for a look at St. Louis’ Veiled Prophet tradition. The Food Hut takes on a retrofuturistic look as tasteful backer Rich Ranallo asks us for the lowdown on futuristic cooking. Finally stellar backer Scott Wachter asks the Consulting Occultist why the so-called 13th astrological sign, Ophiuchus, remains unrecognized. Want to pose a question ...
Nov 03, 2023•57 min•Season 2023Ep. 572
The Gaming Hut stands inconveniently close to a weapons and armor store as beloved Patreon backer Urchin Prince asks for advice on handling shopping-obsessed players. At the request of arborially concerned backer Evan Hughes, Ripped from the Headlines finds the esoteric truth behind the felling of the iconic, titular tree at Sycamore Gap. Speaking of shopping, Ken’s Bookshelf allows us to vicariously enjoy our hero’s latest effort to deplete the book purveyors of Oregon. Want to pose a question ...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 2023Ep. 571
