This week we have a talk about those feelings of burn-out that creep in on many of us from time to time. It happens, and sometimes, maybe just talking about it a little helps... Short Episode this week due in-part to tech issues (Now resolved, I believe. I have opened up the computer and disconnected the offending audio components!) d20 Network spotlight: Table//Flip -- https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tableflip Game of the Week Steve G: Invaders! -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/4...
Sep 05, 2023•37 min•Ep. 157
One Steve, plus a guest this week! I'm joined by YouTuber XP Lovecat to have a talk about the benefits that we can gain from playing a variety of different games and systems. Yeah, I probably don't need to talk to most of our regular audience about this, but you could also point some of your friends who you're trying to convince to try other games to have a listen! Links for XP Lovecat: YouTube Channel -- https://www.youtube.com/@XPLovecat Website -- https://www.xplovecat.com/ Also check out Mis...
Aug 29, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 156
This week we bring you a chat with Egg Embry about GenCon 2023, just in case you weren't able to attend yourself. Conversations with Egg are always fun, and go a little bit of everywhere! Also, there were some technical issues with parts of the recording, but we've done our best to make it sound like it makes sense. Links for Egg: Multiverse Con -- https://www.multiversecon.org/ DragonCon -- https://www.dragoncon.org/ Linktree -- https://linktr.ee/eggembry d20 Network Spotlight: Eberron Renewed ...
Aug 22, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 155
This week we have a conversation about our "dream games", along with a few other bits and pieces. We'd also love to hear what all of your dream games are! So come join us on our Discord (see link below)! d20 Network Spotlight: Court Games family -- https://courtgamespod.notion.site/ Game of the Week: Steve G: Beak, Feather, & Bone -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/311602/Beak-Feather--Bone?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve S: Alteregomania -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/404721/Altere...
Aug 15, 2023•49 min•Ep. 154
This week we brave the perils of fritzy internet connections to bring you a quick talk about tone, and how it's use differs somewhat between campaigns and 1-shot adventures. d20 Network Spotlight: The Wonderous Atlas of Creation's Destiny -- https://wondrousatlas.wordpress.com/ Game of the Week: Steve G: Frostbite (A Mork Borg Adventure) -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/422938/Frostbite--A-Cold-and-Ruthless-adventure-for-Mork-Borg?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve S: Kinghts of the Underbed -- h...
Aug 08, 2023•45 min•Ep. 153
This week we're doing another "system overview" episode, and this time it's the "Year Zero Engine" that powers many games from Free League, including Tales From The Loop, Coriolis, Mutant Year Zero, Vaesen, Alien, Twilight 2000, and Blade Runner, to name a few. To do so, we're joined by veteran Danish gamer and GM Jacob Sorensen. So sit back, grab a drink, and enjoy as we talk some cool Swedish game design. Links for Jacob and the GM Workshop podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1883725 https://w...
Aug 01, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 152
This week we talk Wizz and Colt, two of the organizers for our local gaming convention, the Pittsburgh Gaming Expo (or PGX for short). It's held Sept 30th - October 1st, 2023 at the Monroville Convention Center, just outside of Pittsburgh PA. You'll have to listen for the details, but let's just say that it's a really fun time of table-top and video gaming, cosplay, music, and just nerdy, geeky culture in general. And of course, you'll be able to find both of us Steves at the show! For more info...
Jul 25, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 151
Once more urged on by out Patreon supporters, this week it's a talk about crunch, what we think it is, and what we use as a reference point when talking about games, and so on. We also talk a little bit about what we like in game mechanics, things already used in certain games that we really like. d20 Network Spotlight: The Genesys Archives -- https://anchor.fm/thegenesysarchives Game of the Week: Steve G: We Saved This Vessel -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/443002/We-Saved-This-Vessel-O...
Jul 18, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 150
This week we bring you a discussion requested by one of our wonderful Patreon supporters! Following the discussion about character advancement, which we discussed in more of a mechanical sense, Blue Nova asked us our thoughts around more narrative advancement. So, ever wanting to give y'all what you want, we have a talk about just that! d20 Network Spotlight: The Forge -- https://forgegenesys.com/ Game of the Week: Steve S: Outgunned (Quickstart) -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/433185/Ou...
Jul 04, 2023•38 min•Ep. 149
Part 3 of our little series here! This week we have a conversation around character death, and ways it can be handled in games. Also some talk around the (perhaps infamous) safety request of character death being taken off the table. d20 Network Spotlight -- Order 66 -- http://feeds.feedburner.com/Order66 Game of the Week Steve G: Monster Kart Mayhem -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/138983/Monster-Kart-Mayhem?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve S: Dark Times -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product...
Jun 27, 2023•47 min•Ep. 148
Somewhat continuing from thoughts from last week's show, this week the Steves chat about character advancement, and the different ways some systems handle it. (There may or may not be some minor ranting.) d20 Network Spotlight: Werewold: The Podcast -- https://keepontheheathlands.podbean.com/ Game of the Week Steve G: Public Access -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/429340/Public-Access?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve S: The Esoterrorists -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/340/Pelgrane-P...
Jun 20, 2023•56 min•Ep. 147
This week the Steves have a discussion about cheating in ttrpgs. Brought on by a situation in one of Steve's games, we chat a little about what it can be, and how to handle it. Not by any means a definitive thing, but some food for thought. d20 Network spotlight: The Story Told -- https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/ Game of the Week: Steve S: Tri-Cube Tales/ Hunters of Victorian London -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/294202/Tricube-Tales?affiliate_id=2018399 & https://www.drivethrurpg.c...
Jun 13, 2023•49 min•Ep. 146
This week I'm joined by the newest member of Studio 404 Games, Darren West, who I also got to meet (and play a game with) in-person at GamerNation Con! Darren is also a freelance RPG writer, one heck of a minis painter, was selected as a launch author for the Genesys Foundry, and is also just a really, really nice person! Anyway, we sat down and had a ramble about Studio 404, Savage Worlds, RIFTS (and Savage RIFTS), vtt gming, and probably a few other things I can't recall at the moment! So come...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 145
So the other weekend I was hanging out at a local game shop and got into a conversation about Cyberpunk Red. The other person was saying that they felt like the game almost seemed to want to be run more adversarially than they were used to running their usual game (PF1). Which of course led to conversation, and then to conversation between we Steves. So "Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads!" as we have a little chat around this topic, and a few other things cyberpunk-ish! d20 Network Spotlight: ...
May 30, 2023•54 min•Ep. 144
This week we bring you an introspective conversation borne out of our own feelings and struggles. It's a talk about coming to grips with what you're good at, and what you aren't, and also letting yourself be ok with those things. d20 Network Spotlight: Eberron Renewed -- https://zencastr.com/Eberron-Renewed Game of the Week Steve G: Feral -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/435116/Feral?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve S: Never Going Home (Beginning and End KS) -- https://www.kickstarter.com/proje...
May 23, 2023•54 min•Ep. 143
This week we're joined by the hosts of a new podcast on the d20 Network! Aramithius and Raelz who host the Wonderous Atlas of Creation's Destiny podcast join us to talk a little about Exalted, specifically as a rather super-powered fantasy rpg. It's a lively conversation, as we even talk about a spaceship that's also a god! Find Wonderous Atlas of Creation's Destiny at https://wondrousatlas.wordpress.com/ Email them at wondrousatlas@gmail.com Twitter: @wondrousatlas Game of the Week: Steve G: In...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 142
This week we're talking about the current Kickstarter from High Level Games, a game called Army Men, and we're joined by the head of High Level Games, Josh Heath (also of Werewolf: the Podcast and the OpCast), and the lead designer for the game, Neil Litherland. Army Men is a 5e driven game about playing in the world of those classic molded figures we all played with, and can still find so easily to this day. The system has been tweaked and prodded for the setting, and having seen the manuscript...
May 09, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 141
We Steves are freshly back from our adventure to Dallas TX, for GamerNation Con 8, and figured we'd do a little "rewind" show to kinda recap all the fun we had,. We're also joined by writer for the d20 Network blog, Ben Erickson , who we got to meet, and game with over the course of the convention. Long story, really short, folks, this con is one heck of a good time, and we Steves are going to do our best to make sure that we get back next year, and years following, and y'all should try and make...
May 02, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 140
Tune in for the Exciting Conclusion to Monster of the Week! Thank you Eric, Ben, Ricky and Hagen for recording this with us. *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG. All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus". It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.* Monster of the Week https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/143518/Monster-of-the-Week?src=hottest_filtered&filters=0_0_100050_0_0 We greatly appreciate the donations o...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 139
This week it's a Patreon-supporter question based episode! (Thanks Jesse!) One of our supporters asked for our thoughts on how to use super-hero tropes and concepts to improve F-20 fantasy games, so we Steves sat down and had a chat about it! Hopefully y'all find it thought provoking and useful! d20 Network Spotlight: The Story Told -- https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/ Game of the Week Steve S: Proxi M.T's USED Android Catalogue -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/425263/Proxi-MTs-USED-Androi...
Apr 11, 2023•55 min•Ep. 138
Late upload this weeks Steve's computer decided to throw a temper tantrum of a four year old that didn't get ice cream. Thank you Eric, Ben, Ricky and Hagen for recording this with us. The GamerNation Con 8 Kickstarter campaign has funded and closed! As of the time of release I don't have another link to give you, so check for updates here! -- https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gncon/gamer-nation-con-80s *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG. All this does, is give us a small percenta...
Apr 05, 2023•2 hr•Ep. 137
As we start a sort of series here on "Supers" games, we're joined by game developer Michael Surbrook to talk about the Prowlers & Paragons system, as well as his forthcoming campaign setting for it, called Well of the Worlds. So join if for some wonderfully super-powered game talk! Links for Prowlers & Paragons, and Michael Surbrook: Mobius Worlds Publishing: https://mobiusworldspublishing.com/ Michael's work on Drive-Thru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?author=Michael%20Sur...
Mar 28, 2023•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 136
Those guys continue on their adventure looking into the mysterious Santa Fest! Thank you Ben Ricky and Hagen for recording this with us. The GamerNation Con 8 Kickstarter campaign has funded and closed! As of the time of release I don't have another link to give you, so check for updates here! -- https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gncon/gamer-nation-con-80s *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG. All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "ref...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 135
Here's one we actually recorded a while back (like late January I believe), but it's just a fun little romp about comedy at the table, and funny stories, and stuff like that! d20 Network spotlight: The OPCast -- https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/opcast Game of the Week Steve G: Goblin Jug Band -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/414326/Goblin-Jug-Band?affiliate_id=2018399 Steve S: Frontier Scum -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/403322/Frontier-Scum?affiliate_id=2018399 The GamerN...
Mar 14, 2023•43 min•Ep. 134
Good things come to those who wait, you patience has paid off and here is our session 0 and a full session 1 of Monster Of the Week! I want to thank Ben for running this for us he's a very talented GM and very grateful that he was able to take over while we were between campaigns. This short campaign was recorded over the holidays so there is a rotating door of players. Longer episode this week but well worth it! Thank you Ben Ricky and Hagen for recording this with us. The GamerNation Con 8 Kic...
Mar 08, 2023•1 hr 57 min•Ep. 133
On this episode of Retrostar an old friend arrives from somewhere far out there. Thank you Ben and Hagen for allowing us to record and playing with us! The GamerNation Con 8 Kickstarter campaign has funded and closed! As of the time of release I don't have another link to give you, so check for updates here! -- https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gncon/gamer-nation-con-80s *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG. All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive...
Mar 07, 2023•43 min•Ep. 130
This week we're joined by independent comic writer/artist Luke Stone to talk about the HYBRIDS rpg (now on IndieGoGo), based on the comic of the same name. Nick Tockert, the designer for the game system also joins us, and we talk about the setting, themes, and design of the game. HYBRIDS is currently live on the IndieGoGo funding platform -- https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hybrids-double-feature-rpg-and-tpb#/ More info on the comic, and Luke's other creations can be found at http://www.lukest...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 132
This week we welcome back Opti from Fragging Unicorn Games, and his cohort Ryan, to talk about the game they're bringing to Kickstarter the same day this episode releases. It's called Subversion, and its a cool, fantasy-cyberpunk game with a focus on principles and community! For more than that, you'll just have to listen! Find the Kickstarter for Subversion here -- https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fraggingunicorns/subversion the FUG website -- https://www.fraggingunicorns.com/ and the FUG D...
Feb 21, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 131
This week we sit down for a chat about the recent controversy about the "OGL" or Open Gaming License. We're joined by ttrpg design/development veteran Owen K C Stephens (WotC, Paizo, Green Ronin, Evil Genius, and Rogue Genius, plus others and freelancing) for him to give us a bit of a lesson and also perspective on the way the OGL has been used, and how it's been important in the development of the greater hobby. If you're interested in more of what Mr. Stephens has to say, you can check out the...
Feb 07, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 129
Our crew embarks on an epic run to a RAX with Burt Reynolds! Thank you Ben and Hagen for allowing us to record and playing with us! The GamerNation Con 8 Kickstarter campaign has funded and closed! As of the time of release I don't have another link to give you, so check for updates here! -- https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gncon/gamer-nation-con-80s *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG. All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral...
Jan 31, 2023•33 min•Ep. 128
