This week the Steves are joined by Tony and Dave from 23rd Century Productions to talk about their game Battlelords of the 23rd Century. It's a sci-fi, space, military game set in a corporate-controlled future. Not only have they released an updated new edition fairly recently, they have a Kickstarter live for a supplement ( http://bit.ly/FAKickstart ), and they are also working on an adaptation of the setting to the Savage Worlds ruleset! So come learn with us about a fun, darkly humorous game ...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 67
This week the Steves have a talk about playing "sub-optimally"! It's a conversation about a different way to look at playing rpgs, and just maybe a way you can add a different layer of enjoyment to your table. d20 Network Podcast of the Week: Adventure Game Engine Interest Series (or AGEIS) https://soundcloud.com/ageispodcast/tracks Game of the Week: Steve S: Hello My Name is Death -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/346573/Hello-My-Name-is-Death?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve G: Cy_Borg -- http...
Nov 16, 2021•50 min•Ep. 66
As what is likely a wrap to our dark/gritty/horror mini-series for October, and now a little beyond, we were extremely fortunate to be joined by Chris Spivey of Darker Hue Studios, to talk about the games he's written, namely Harlem Unbound (in 2 editions) and Haunted West. Not only is Chris a game designer and developer, but (as we learn) he's also a HUGE fan of history. He's on a mission to make gaming both fun and informative, and from the bits he dropped about Haunted West, I can confidently...
Nov 09, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 65
This month we've been talking about dark and horrific games. But, they're not always the easiest games to run, so, in an effort to help all of you learn how to run these games better (and ourselves too), we sat down with Kenneth Hite to pick his brain and experience on ways to run horror games, and to run horror games better. For those unfamiliar, Ken has been playing, running, and writing horror games for the last 40 years or so, and has writing credits on an astounding number of game books, in...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 64
This week we're howling at the moon! It's all about Werewolf: the Apocalypse! We're joined by Josh Heath, host of Werewolf: the Podcast to discuss his favorite game, and one that Steve S has had a curiosity about for a while. So join us for a talk about the Garou Nation, Gaia, the Wyrm. d20 Network Podcast of the Week: Werewolf: the Podcast -- https://keepontheheathlands.podbean.com/ Other links: High Level Games: https://www.highlevelgames.ca/ Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Ed. on Dr...
Oct 26, 2021•52 min•Ep. 63
“That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.” -- H.P. Lovecraft This week it's Call of Cthulhu! And to help out the Steves, they're joined by 2 guests, Jon Hook, and Seth Skorkowsky! We discuss the game, the lore, and why it's fun to play in a world of things bigger than the human mind was intended to fathom. Both Seth and Jon have done a large volume of work in the RPG space, not the least of which is the podcast that they currently do together called "Mod...
Oct 19, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 62
We make no secret here at Me and Steve that we like darker, grittier games, at least some of the time. And, with it being 'Spooky-month' it seemed appropriate to talk about some of those topics. In this episode, we're joined by Liam, from the Mud & Blood podcast, to have a chat about just what it is that draws both us, and others, to this type of gaming. We talk about a few different games that are favorites of ours, and Liam shares a rather intense moment from his personal gaming experience...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 61
This week the Steves are joined by Russ Morrissey, game designer, publisher, founder of EN World & EN Publishing, and host of Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk. We could talk with Russ for hours about many topics in gaming, but, today, we're talking with him about a Kickstarter project that will launch the same day that this episode goes live for his new line called "Level Up". Level Up is an expanded take on the 5th Edition D&D that many gamers know. Russ and his team have taken on t...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 60
This week, it's our long-promised talk on Safety Tools for RPG play. We reached out to Ryan Boelter from the Character Creation Cast podcast, and he was kind enough to join us for an excellent discussion of what these tools are, how to implement and use them, and also where to find more information on them, in addition to our discussion here. Referenced Resources: Character Creation Cast Session Zero document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XmFAZHQfFKTkQkLEbglQfyuihhFAyBpCPdsj9qc12Jk/edit T...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 59
This week the Steves take questions from the Discord, and that's the show topic! It's a little bit of everything! A big thank you to all those who submitted questions! d20 network podcast of the week: Court Games -- https://courtgamespod.com/ Seth Skorkowsky's video on the "Mercer Effect" titled "The Story of Jeff: My Experience with the Mercer-Effect" -- https://youtu.be/kwjLAC1wh7U Game of the Week Steve S: Cryptomancer -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/186678/Cryptomancer?affiliate_id=2...
Sep 21, 2021•49 min•Ep. 58
This week we're talking characters, both PCs and NPCs. We talk a little about ways to create them, how to make them feel more real, and Steve shares his little secret on how to liven them up! d20 Network podcast of the week: Eberron Renewed -- https://thegeekpantheon.wpcomstaging.com/category/podcast/eberron-renewed/ Game of the Week Steve G: Tales From the Loop Starter set -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/305344/Tales-from-the-Loop-RPG-Starter-Set?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve S: Doctor Who...
Sep 14, 2021•44 min•Ep. 57
This episode marks our 1 year anniversary! So, we thought it might be fun to take a look at the topic that we did our very first episode on, and see if our opinions have changed, or what we've learned. So we talk about that, along with a little reflection on our journey through our first year of podcasting, and a little talk on our plans going forward. d20 Network Podcast of the Week: Primed by Cortex -- https://pbcpod.podbean.com/ Game of the Week Steve S: Urban Jungle -- https://www.drivethrur...
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 56
On the heels of talking adventure writing, the Steves have a chat around that classic rpg adventure type, the dungeon crawl. We range into some talk about how to make them interesting, old-school vs. new-school design, and adversarial GMing! d20 Network podcast of the week -- Werewolf: the Podcast -- https://keepontheheathlands.podbean.com/ Game of the Week Steve G: Neurocity -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/318907/NEUROCITY?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve S: Age of Steel -- https://www.drivet...
Aug 31, 2021•49 min•Ep. 55
What do we do when we play games? We go on adventures! And someone's got to write them. Often, people write their own, but this can be trickier than it seems. So we got veteran GM (and freelance writer) GM Hooly to come fill us in on some of his tricks and tips! Recommended Resources R. Talsorian Games "Scripting the Game" -- https://rtalsoriangames.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/RTG-ScriptingtheGamev1.2.pdf GM Hooly's Episode Beat-Sheet -- https://forgegenesys.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/episod...
Aug 24, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 54
We roll dice all the time playing ttrpgs. But there are times when in might actually make it a better game overall if you put down the dice, and step back for a second. That's what we're talking about this week! d20 Network podcast of the week: Shared Sagas -- https://sharedsagas.podbean.com/ Game of the Week Steve G: Deadball -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/208817/Deadball-Baseball-With-Dice?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve S: Little Monster Detectives -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Aug 17, 2021•42 min•Ep. 53
Another system overview this week, and this time, it's the Adventure Game Engine from Green Ronin Publishing. We're joined by Reyn, one of the hosts of the AGEIS https://soundcloud.com/ageispodcast (Adventure Game Engine Interest Series) podcast here on the d20 Network, as AGE happens to be their personal 'system-of-choice'. It's a pretty cool game engine, and has some really neat features, so come listen! Links for Reyn, and the AGEIS Podcast Podcast feed: https://soundcloud.com/ageispodcast Th...
Aug 10, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 52
This week we're talking about Cursed Captains of Cthulhu, a brand new game that actually just wrapped up it's Kickstarter campaign. (But don't worry, they will be doing late pledges if you missed it!) It's a game of swashbuckling adventure on the high seas in the golden age of piracy, but something sinister lurks beneath the waves! Because pirates are cool, but pirates and wierd, creepy, tentacled monsters are even cooler! We're joined by a member of the team producing it, Susanah Grace, Media a...
Aug 03, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 51
Another podcast on the d20 network is The Genesys Archives - https://anchor.fm/thegenesysarchives - and this week, we sat down with their GM, Jonathan K, do discuss the setting they've been playing in, called "The Unseen World" and how he went about building it. This is another installment in our worldbuilding series, where we're trying to bring you different perspectives on how people build their game worlds, so you can use some of those concepts to build your own. Of course, if you like the so...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 50
So, according to one Steve, there's been a debate going on Tic Tok around "playing D&D" diverging from the greater, overall TTRPG hobby. So we have a talk around our feelings regarding Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, and some of there marketing, etc. Also, it is worth noting that this discussion is not discussing Dungeons & Dragons as a game per se, but rather as a brand and an entity. It was also recorded 2 weeks the "Cloudsea" episode, which aired last week. d20 Network podcast spotlight...
Jul 20, 2021•53 min•Ep. 49
This week we're doing something we don't do a lot. Were talking about a product for 5e D&D. But this one is quite unique and different. It's the Cloudsea setting, currently on Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mcolon/cloudsea-a-primer-to-living-atop-the-clouds And to make things even better, we're joined by the writer of the setting, Miguel Colon! He joins us to talk about some of the themes, the quite unique world, a couple of new races/species, and generally all about this v...
Jul 13, 2021•51 min•Ep. 48
Here is is! The finale to "M.O.D.O.K. Family Reunion"! Will some sinister plot be revealed? Will our motley band of heroes save the day? Listen in to find out! The Cast: Captain America: Shane Stacks (from Ep 27, and the Shane Plays podcast) Ant-Man (Scott Lang): Jeff Moon Knight: Steve G. Drax the Destroyer: Steve S. and, as GM extraordinaire: Alex Thomas Links: M&M on Drive-thruRPG -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/536/Green-Ronin-Publishing/subcategory/2064/Mutants--Masterminds?a...
Jul 06, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 47
This week we have a little talk about alignment, our opinions on it, and an also talk a little about an alignment system that's different (and maybe, or maybe not, better) than the classic, 9-slot system that everyone's familiar with from D&D. d20 Network podcast of the week: Order 66 -- http://feeds.feedburner.com/Order66 Game of the Week: Steve S: Dystopia Rising: Evolution -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/283402/Dystopia-Rising-Evolution?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve G: Mutants & ...
Jun 29, 2021•47 min•Ep. 46
M.O.D.O.B. , M.O.D.O.X., M.O.D.O.R., even M.O.D.O.Q. When does it stop? Who knows? It's part 2 of M.O.D.O.K. Family Reunion! Part 3 (the finale) in 2 weeks! The Cast: Captain America: Shane Stacks (from Ep 27, and the Shane Plays podcast) Ant-Man (Scott Lang): Jeff Moon Knight: Steve G. Drax the Destroyer: Steve S. Links: M&M on Drive-thruRPG -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/536/Green-Ronin-Publishing/subcategory/2064/Mutants--Masterminds?affiliate_id=2018399 Alex Thomas: https://u...
Jun 22, 2021•56 min•Ep. 45
Savage Worlds is an RPG system that's another of the "universal toolkit" type of games that's very popular these days. It runs on a quite unique system, and so, in our never-ending quest to broaden your RPG horizons, we went and found someone to talk with us about it! We found Chris Landauer, who runs a Savage Worlds podcast, is one of the founders of a large, Savage Worlds based gaming club, and also does some promotional work for Pinnacle Entertainment Group, who publish the game. More info on...
Jun 15, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 44
Remember Episode 28, where we talked with Alex Thomas about the supers title Mutants & Masterminds from Green Ronin Publishing? This week, he's back, and this time he's running the first installment of a scenario he's written called "M.O.D.O.K. Family Reunion" for us! The Cast: Captain America: Shane Stacks (from Ep 27, and the Shane Plays podcast) Ant-Man (Scott Lang): Jeff Moon Knight: Steve G. Drax the Destroyer: Steve S. Links: M&M on Drive-thruRPG -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/bro...
Jun 08, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 43
We all sooner or later end up creating items, classes, species, etc for our games. But, as we mentioned in our Power Spirals episode, sometimes that can lead to problems. In an effort to learn how to create cool stuff, without causing problems in our games, we've enlisted the help of Brett Bowen of Studio 404 Games ( https://www.studio404games.com/ ). Brett provides us some tips and tricks that he's learned over the years doing work for several published game systems. So come, listen, and learn ...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 42
This week the Steves are joined by Kakita Kaori from the Court Games family of podcasts, to talk about the Japanese/Asian inspired RPG Legend of the Five Rings. From it's origins as a card game, through to a very rich and vibrant game setting, Kakita gives us a bit of an overview, as well as some tips that might prove helpful if you want to give L5R a try yourself! d20 Network Spotlight this week is the Court Games Family of podcasts, which can be found at https://courtgamespod.com/ Additional l...
May 25, 2021•57 min•Ep. 41
The "World of Darkness" family of games has been around for a good long time now, and there are lots of games contained within the family, but there's also the "Chronicles of Darkness". And then there's the 'Storyteller' system, the 'Storytelling' system, and the 'Story Path' system. It all started with White Wolf, but then there's Paradox, and Onyx Path, and Modiphius. Confused yet? We were. So we reached out to Chazz Kellner to come give us an overview of the whole assembly of games, and where...
May 18, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 40
What happens when both Steves forget to come up with a topic? This happens! We asked our Discord for a topic, and when they answered, we ran with it! Besides, who doesn't like some weird in their RPGs? d20 Network spotlight: The Miskatonic University Podcast -- https://www.mu-podcast.com/ Game of the Week Steve G: Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000AD -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/246292/Judge-Dredd--The-Worlds-of-2000-AD-RPG-Core-Rulebook?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve S: Santa Vaca -- h...
May 11, 2021•42 min•Ep. 39
Only one Steve this week, but I had the one and only JT Dimino from the Primed by Cortex podcast come by and fill in! We had a cool conversation about the FATE rpg engine (yes we did sneak a little Cortex in too), which was a game that I found out I really want to know more about! So if you've never experienced FATE, come on a little journey with us! FATE core book on Drive-Thru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/114903/Fate-Core-System?manufacturers_id=2152&filters=44284_0_0_0_0?affi...
May 04, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 38
