Make sure your ropes are securely fastened as the Gaming Hut asks: have we been doing falling damage wrong? In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else , we talk to tabletop game designer of DIE: the Roleplaying Game fame (and sure, comics writer extraordinaire) Kieron Gillen. The Mythology Hut gets festive for an encounter with the krampus, demonic dispenser of jolly Yuletide punishment. Finally the Consulting Occultist raps tables and psychically excites the zither for a look at Victorian spiritu...
Dec 13, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 2024Ep. 629
In The Business of Gaming we check in on the state of crowdfunding through the lens of the recently concluded Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition campaign. There are ants, ants, ants as big as well they’re quite small really but they’ve nearly completed a program of global conquest so Fun With Science takes a look at their supercolony wars. Grab some cotton candy or a corn dog as the Word Hut offers a course on 1920s and 30s carnival slang. Finally, at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Paul S. Enns,...
Dec 06, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 2024Ep. 628
Ready your picks and jimmies as the Gaming Hut seeks fail forwards for one of the trickiest cases of all, the locked door. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else , Ken (and some crows) talk to fantasy, horror and SF writer Molly Tanzer. The Culture Hut covers the enigmatic, influential and Eliptony-adjacent theater experimenter Jerzy Grotowski. Finally the Eliptony Hut examines the hoaxed artifacts known as the Michigan relics. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question as...
Nov 29, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 2024Ep. 627
Get ready for more detail on the shag carpet than ever before as the Gaming Hut looks at the love some players have for non-interactive narration of their environment. The Crime Blotter investigates the 60s heroin trade and how it forms the linchpin of The Borellus Connection . At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Gene Ha, the Cinema Hut wonders what can be done with the increasingly tangled continuity of the MCU. And finally the Consulting Occultist profiles influential 19th century proto-fe...
Nov 22, 2024•1 hr•Season 2024Ep. 626
In the Gaming Hut we imagine an F20 world where powerful undead don’t just drain levels, they sell them to the highest bidder. The Archaeology Hut checks out the latest tests on the Well-Man, a body found at Norway’s Sverresborg Castle who matches an account from an 800 year old Norse saga. Finally Ken’s Bookshelf chronicles our resident bibliophile’s genteel efforts to separate Powell’s Books in Portland from its wares. Making a special cameo appearance, it’s the Princeton University Press sale...
Nov 15, 2024•1 hr•Season 2024Ep. 525
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Mark Waterhouse asks what could possibly go wrong if we let players perform their own in-world divinations. At the behest of estimable backer Martin Rundkvist the Tradecraft Hut investigates the heroic career of Polish-born WWII British operative Krystyna Skarbek. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features our talk with actual player extraordinaire Lindsey Brown, as heard on The Nature of My Game podcast. Finally Ken’s Time Machine looks for chrono-sp...
Nov 08, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 2024Ep. 624
The Gaming Hut looks at the most despised medieval occupations and wonders what would happen if you actually wanted to reflect this in your F20 world. The History Hut covers a very strange fashion fracas, the 1922 New York City straw hat riots. In the Mythos Hut we dial up the scare factor on the humblest Lovecraftian creature, the zoog. Finally the Eliptony Hut combs the forest for Wisconsin’s oddball cryptid, the hodag. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking acc...
Nov 01, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 2024Ep. 623
In the Gaming Hut we discuss the challenge of revised edition design. When you encounter an element you wouldn’t build into a new system, how do you decide whether to replace it, or to respect the legacy and leave it in? The Horror Hut gets reflective as beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks for a terrifying look at mirrors. A new spinoff podcast threatens to break out when Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features a chat with board gam designer Quinn Brander, designer of Rebuilding Seatt...
Oct 25, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 2024Ep. 622
In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Ryan McClelland argues that the Sailor is a fine Occupation that ought to be in Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition (now on Backerkit) and urges us to rebut him by listing even more such Occupations. With the 1930s still in mind, the Crime Blotter pulls the dossier on the Barker-Karpis bank robbery and kidnapping gang. Ripped from the Headlines covers a recent incident of rogue mountain sheep cloning in Montana. Finally, in Ken’s Time Machine , our hero ponders interven...
Oct 18, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 2024Ep. 621
It’s time to rattle some paper in the Gaming Hut as we discuss character sheet design. After that, a deluge, as the Archaeology Hut , at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Niclas Matikainen, studies the sunken city of Rungholt. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features game designer and military consultant for media and gaming properties Anthony Joyce-Rivera. Finally, as suggested by estimable backer the Molten Sulfur Blog, the Eliptony Hut looks at 19th century medical educator, grave ro...
Oct 11, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 2024Ep. 620
In the Gaming Hut we build an F20 setting where everyone knows your level. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Derrick Yates the Tradecraft Hut profiles baseball player and spy Moe Berg. In the Food Hut we decide what to order for lunch at the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel in 1933. Finally the Consulting Occultist delves into the career of coroner and Golden Dawn co-founder William Wynn Westcott. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for...
Oct 04, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 2024Ep. 619
In the Gaming Hut we look at the changes Ken did and didn’t make in character creation for Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition . The Cinema Hut highlight’s Robin’s fantasy, horror and SF discoveries from the 3rd Annual Robin and Valerie International Film Festival. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else we chat with Taylor Navarro, designer of self-published games Chefs de Partie and Not Yet: A Romantic Duet and freelancer extraordinaire. Finally the assignment for Ken’s Time Machine is to get Czech ...
Sep 27, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 2024Ep. 618
Recorded live in a seminar room in the good Marriott at Gen Con, Ken and Robin talk the secret US-UK intergalactic financial war, chicken roasting secrets, our Indianapolis drinks of choice, a 1966 UFO incident and how to real-life investigate the real-life cult in your real-life hometown. 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 runn...
Sep 20, 2024•47 min•Season 2024Ep. 617
This week the Gaming Hut populates the town of Locust Grove Oklahoma with gamemaster characters for a Trail of Cthulhu game. Beloved Patreon backer Andrew Bates convenes the History Hut for the story behind Kentucky’s very specific, dare we say duel shy, oath of office. Completing our three-part Horror Hut miniseries on reality horror, estimable backer Greg tasks us to devise an alternate scare figure to replace the King in Yellow. And finally the Eliptony Hut looks into Alaska’s phantom city ho...
Sep 13, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 2024Ep. 616
In the Gaming Hut we look at ways to tell whether your group will thrive in a sandbox game. Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else features our chat with fast-rising board game designer Clarence Simpson, whose credits include The Wolves , A Message from the Stars , Chomp , and Merchants of Magick . Part two of our Horror Hut look at reality horror, as spurred by beloved backer Greg, tackles scenario design for this mind-tripping sub-genre. Finally the Consulting Occultist cracks the code on pione...
Sep 06, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 2024Ep. 615
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Ian Carlsen, the Gaming Hut looks at ways to prepare for a technothriller game. The moment we learned of an increasingly ascendant Brazilian narco gang called the Bonde da Kabbalah, you know it was time to reach for the Crime Blotter . A three-part Horror Hut mini-series on reality horror, requested by estimable backer Greg, starts off with a 101 of literary and filmic sources. Finally Time Incorporated’s soft spot for libraries calls for Ken’s Time Machin...
Aug 30, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 2024Ep. 614
In the Gaming Hut we toss our ideas into beloved Patreon backer Shon Richards’ Bookhounds of TimeWatch series concept. One of our favorite industry stalwarts, Peter Adkison, joins us in Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else to talk Gen Con TV, his world of Chaldea project, and the state of Gen Con. The Borellus Connection , the new mega-campaign for The Fall of DELTA GREEN gets the Among My Many Hats treatment from its story designer, our own Kenneth Hite. Finally the Eliptony Hut peers into the...
Aug 23, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 2024Ep. 613
Your intrepid gaming reporters return from Gen Con 2024 to talk awards, tabletop industry trends and scuttlebutt and maybe a restaurant recommendation or two. 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 prophecy h...
Aug 16, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 2024Ep. 612
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ludovic Chabant asks us what it means when a game mechanic is swingy. The Word Hut isn’t having any of your cockamamie ackamarackus, because we’re talking 1930s slang. The Food Hut extrapolates what the food scene in Yellow King: Aftermath looks like. Other than the well-established craze for Belgians, that is. Finally the Consulting Occultist lays out everything you need to know to placate a Mesopotamian ghost. Want to pose a question to the show? Get yo...
Aug 09, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 2024Ep. 611
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen asks us to seek mythic inspiration for gaming scenarios. Estimable backer Derek Upham beckons us to the Tradecraft Hut for our take on the theory that infamous pirate Henry Every might have had a second covert career as a spy. The Mythology Hut investigates the shamir, the enigmatic device or rock-eating worm credited with carving Solomon’s temple. Finally Ken’s Time Machine heads back into history to restore the original name of the dollar. Wan...
Aug 02, 2024•58 min•Season 2024Ep. 610
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Toonspew asks us if it’s time to stop worrying and love the total party kill. Estimable backer Hyperlexic urges us to shoo costumed devils out of the History Hut by looking at the scandal-brushed career of Los Angeles evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Ripped From the Headlines tackles the recent theft of Roland’s legendary sword Durandal from a rocky cliff in the French commune of Rocamadour. Finally, from Kabbalah in your DNA to polar reversal, the Elip...
Jul 26, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 2024Ep. 609
Beloved Patreon backer Philip Masters invites a pack of bumblers into the Gaming Hut as he asks how one might run a series based around realistic incompetence in high places. Creep softly up to the Crime Blotter for the tale of prolific UK burglar Flannelfoot, aka Henry Vickers. The Cinema Hut doesn’t have trouble getting started, but many sequels do, and we explain why. Finally at the behest of silver-stringed backer Jon Biscoe, the Consulting Occultist looks at two magical tomes mentioned in M...
Jul 19, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 2024Ep. 608
Gape in wonder at the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Steve Hammond asks how one might emulate the awe of the Jurassic Park dinosaur reveal scene at the gaming table. Well-traveled backers Ed Sizemore and Rafael Pabst journey to the Cartography Hut for the story of fictive medieval travel writer John Mandeville. The Monster Hut digs into the graveyard-dwelling Luison of Paraguay, Argentina and environs, whose many versions merge indigenous Guarani myth with European werewolf lore. Finally o...
Jul 12, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 2024Ep. 607
Due to a posting error the week previous, some pod apps ignored this episode as already read and did not download it. Apologies to those receiving the file a second time. In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ross Ireland asks gamemasters tips to use when the player characters receive an imaginary tome chock-full of information. The sun casts a burning eye on the Horror Hut when estimable backer Keelan O’Hea asks how to flip the switch and make daytime the scariest part of the day. Finally Ke...
Jul 10, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 2024Ep. 606
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ross Ireland asks gamemasters tips to use when the player characters receive an imaginary tome chock-full of information. The sun casts a burning eye on the Horror Hut when estimable backer Keelan O’Hea asks how to flip the switch and make daytime the scariest part of the day. Finally Ken’s Bookshelf shares the vicarious joys of our resident bibliophile’s recent raid on the used shops of Austin, Texas. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priorit...
Jul 05, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 2024Ep. 606
Beloved Patreon backer Noel Warford summons us to the Gaming Hut , asking how to coax more independence from one’s players. Estimable backer Kevin Nault pries open the door to the Archaeology Hut to hear the very colorful story, or stories, surrounding the discovery of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts. The discovery of a planet with a fluffy, cotton candy texture prompts Fun with Science and the riffing of an appropriate space opera scenario. Finally wondering backer Eric Parks notes that reports of ...
Jun 28, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 2024Ep. 605
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ryan McClelland asks for tips on incorporating 1890s anarchists into The Yellow King Roleplaying Game . After many previous passing mentions, writer, explorer, scenester and cannibal William Seabrook finally becomes the subject of his own History Hut segment. Without the paper bag and cardboard box the grocery industry would not be what it is today. The Food Hut reveals the creation myths behind these undersung heroes of the packaging universe. Finally th...
Jun 21, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 2024Ep. 604
In the Gaming Hut we turn the rise of surreal online retailer Temu into a horror scenario hook. Beloved Patreon backer Ginge assigns the Tradecraft Hut to cough up the real dossier on the icy retrieval mission Project Coldfeet. Estimable backer Charles Picard requests the Culture Hut treatment for experimental filmmaker and Vodou researcher Maya Deren. Finally Ken’s Time Machine asks our resident chrono-protagonist for the best intervention into the 1826 Lao Rebellion. Want to pose a question to...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 2024Ep. 603
In the Gaming Hut , Ken turns the tables on Robin by springing a concept for a game on him. Eavesdrop on the process as they riff on Ley Brothers . The Crime Blotter reaches back into America’s history of 19th century violence to cover the assassination of Kentucky governor William Goebel. In Ask Ken and Robin beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks Robin what a one player, one GM action movie game inspired by The Beekeeper and its retribution-seeking cinematic relatives might look like. Fina...
Jun 07, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 2024Ep. 602
In the Gaming Hut we examine the fine but crucial distinction between fun obstacles and dilemmas your players will read as punishments. The Horror Hut looks at a classic and misunderstood trio of classic characters, the so-called Brides of Dracula. In the Cinema Hut we break down the visual grammar of shot composition. Finally, the Consulting Occultist , surprised to find that he has yet to cover Nostradamus after more than a decade of episodes, proceeds to do just that. Want to pose a question ...
May 31, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 2024Ep. 2023
