Adventure Party

In this meeting of the Adventure Party, we discuss the uses of reward and punishment in a games setting. Giving characters untold wealth, powerful swords, and magic items may seem like fun but it can lead to unforeseen complications. Conversely, punishing your characters harshly because their dice rolls a poor and they aren't catching that ONE clue that can move the story forward is no fun at all. How do you balance it all out and make an even handed game that's fun to play? What tips and tricks have we learned during our years of playing and running RPG sessions? Co-host Glenn Buettner and I share that all with you.

Glenn reviews the remade Cheapass Games classic, formerly known as Captain Park's Imaginary Polar Expedition, Stuff and Nonsense.

In the news, we talk about Pathfinders' new play test of the proposed vigilante class. It's called Ultimate Intrigue. Imagine being a fantasy age Batman. Striking fear in the hearts of wrongdoers in your local fiefdom.

Ryan Murphy gives us a new update on computer and console games, for this week.

The Kickstarter Spotlight shines o the game Battalia. This new game has been developed by people in multiple countries and the game will be offered in those languages. This strategy board game uses mostly images and numbers to get over the language barrier. It's just the rules that will be offered in the different languages.

We wrap up the show with our in depth talk about rewarding and punishing characters during game play. How to keep it fair, balanced and interesting is always a challenge of any game. We give some insights into things that we've found to work over the years as a good starting point for you to use in your game sessions.

Leave us feedback by calling our voicemail number at (805) 328-3966 e-mailing at [email protected] or, send an audio message by clicking https://www.speakpipe.com/GalacticNetcasts

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In this meeting of the Adventure Party; we talk with the Sword and Laser collection author of the book, The Life Engineered, and award winning miniature painter J.F. Dubeau about all things miniatures. Miniature selection, painting, painting styles, techniques and tales of our beginning steps into the world of miniatures. As an added bonus, JF tells us how he goes about adding LEDs to some of his larger figures.

Glenn Buettner reviews the game Elevenses. It's a card game that is all about making the perfect cup of tea and setting a proper table. We've said before, you can make an amazing game out of something that can seem very mundane. This game certainly qualifies.

In the News, we talk about the latest addition to the Contagion family. It's called War Stories: Prophetic Dreams. This new addition is looking like a real winner and is VERY reasonably priced.

Ryan Murphy gives us the Galactic Gaming News and lets us know what is going on in the world of computer and console games.

Our Kickstarter Spotlight is the next chapter in the line of the Bard's Tale saga, Bard's Tale IV. It's looking like they've brought together all of the things you've loved about the previous games and layered it on top of a new engine that promises some great game play.

You can find out more about J.F. Dubeau at his website and you can help back his latest book, A God in the Shed at Inkshares.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Leave us feedback by calling our voicemail number at (805) 328-3966 e-mailing at [email protected] or, send an audio message by clicking https://www.speakpipe.com/GalacticNetcasts

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In this meeting of the Adventure Party, we talk about finding, building, and maintaining an RPG group. It can be easy or hard to do. There is an element of luck involved but if you've put a great group together, there's nothing else like it.

Glenn reviews the board game called Steam Park. It's a great game that requires you to build an awesome amusement park, advertise it properly, and keep in clean. Because robots are messy.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/121410/steam-park

In the news, we discuss Unwritten. The RPG based on the worlds of Myst and Riven.

http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/unwritten-rpg-now-available/

Ryan Murphy gives us the Galactic Gaming News and lets us know what is going on in the world of computer and console games.

Our Kickstarter Spotlight is Wombat Rescue. No other game could make the creation of poop cubes more delightful than if you were a 6 year old.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2002188924/wombat-rescue-unlike-any-game-seen-played-or-smelt

Finally, we have our weekly discussion. This time we talk about our experiences creating and being a part of great RPG groups. What does it take to put one together? How do you make them better? How do you recruit for your group? All this and more is covered in this episode.

Yewenyi at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Leave us feedback by calling our voicemail number at (805) 328-3966 e-mailing at [email protected] or, send an audio message by clicking https://www.speakpipe.com/GalacticNetcasts

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In this meeting of the Adventure Party, we talk about what makes a good gaming system, what systems we enjoy, and how important are supplements to a gaming system.

Glenn reviews the game Xenoshyft and lets us know what it has in common with Johnny Rico.

Bathesda Games had an AMAZING financial windfall from their Fallout 4 announcement.

Ryan Murphy gives us an update with the Galactic Gaming News for this week.

Our Kickstarter Spotlight shines on The Sixth Gun RPG for Savage Worlds.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/545820095/the-sixth-gun-rpg-for-savage-worlds?ref=nav_search

Then we talk about what we think makes a great gaming system, using the criteria of Setting, Rules, and System Support.

Leave us feedback by calling our voicemail number at (805) 328-3966 e-mailing at [email protected] or, send an audio message by clicking https://www.speakpipe.com/GalacticNetcasts

Subscribe to this podcast at https://gncasts.com/subscribe-to-the-adventure-party-podcast/

More episodes can be found at https://gncasts.com/category/adventureparty/

In this meeting of the Adventure Party, we discuss a few of our favorite card, board and role playing games. We also reminisce about the gaming renaissance of the early 90's and explain why we love what Kickstarter has done for gaming.

Glenn reviews the board game, Colt Express and gives us insight into it's mechanics and why you might be interested in playing it.

Ryan Murphy gives us an update on the latest gaming news, with his Galactic Gaming newscast.

Our Kickstarter Spotlight features the board game called Middara.

We talk about our favorite games.

Our Lists of Favorite Games

Glenn's list is:

* Abyss

* Yggdrasil

* Starfrontiers

Brad's list is:

* Give Me the Brain

* Betrayal at House On the Hill

* White Wolf - Hunters Hunted 2 setting

By Philip Mitchell [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Leave us feedback by calling our voicemail number at (805) 328-3966 e-mailing at [email protected] or, send an audio message by clicking https://www.speakpipe.com/GalacticNetcasts

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More episodes can be found at https://gncasts.com/category/adventureparty/

In this meeting of the Adventure Party, we welcome Andy Gille to talk about the history of RPGs. The Digital Age captured the hearts and minds of many and the folks making that happen saw a value to bringing RPGs into the digital realm. Andy shows us his collection of early computer RPGs and we discuss the history of how this happened and it's significance to gaming. Wizardy, Ultima, Bards Tale... we cover a lot of ground in this discussion.

We begin the meeting by mixing in a game review by Glenn. Our first review is Castles of Mad King Ludwig. The game of building your own castle at the expense of the other players. It involves resource management and strategy.

Our news story is a long and involved one.  RPGs have run afoul of the law, repeatedly and this story is well worth reading. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have stepped in when there have been misunderstandings about some of the best RPGs.

Ryan Murphy gives us the Galactic Gaming News update.

Our Kickstarter Spotlight is Defenders of the Last Stand - Adventure Board Game. It takes the elements of Mad Max and puts them in a great looking package. Based on the write-up. it looks like a really fun game that you may want to pick up.

By Bilby (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Leave us feedback by calling our voicemail number at (805) 328-3966 e-mailing at [email protected] or, send an audio message by clicking https://www.speakpipe.com/GalacticNetcasts

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In this meeting of the Adventure Party, we talk with our guest, Patrick Rothfuss. His best selling books, The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man's Fear and The Slow Regard of Silent Things prove that he knows how to world build and he shares a bit about how he did it. We discussed world building your RPG setting, how he 'play tested' the world in which Kvothe exists and what game systems he thinks would be the best to run adventures in his world.

Keep an eye on his blog at blog.patrickrothfuss.com for the kick off of the Indiegogo Summer fundraiser, his other charity work through Worldbuilders.org and read Pat's blog posts. They are very well written, of course.

We also talked about the upcoming 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons book called "Rage of Demons" and the Universal Adventures module #4 called "Death Knell Delve- Part 2".

Ryan Murphy also gives us an update on the digital side of gaming.

Our Kickstarter Spotlight featured WarQuest.

Leave us feedback by calling our voicemail number at (805) 328-3966 e-mailing at [email protected] or, send an audio message by clicking https://www.speakpipe.com/GalacticNetcasts

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More episodes can be found at https://gncasts.com/category/adventureparty/

In this meeting of the Adventure Party, we talk with our guest, Rollin Kunz, about the role and function of art in games. Not just the art but design and layout of a game can make or break a new release.

We also talk about the new Temple of Elemental Evil board game and the release of Pathfinder Unchained.

Ryan Murphy gets us up to date with the latest Galactic Gaming News segment.

Our Kickstarter Spotlight, this week, is Lord of the Dead.

To find out more about Heavenly Immortal Monkey King or check out Rollin's art,  you can visit rollinkunz.com .

Leave us feedback by calling our voicemail number at (805) 328-3966 e-mailing at [email protected] or, send an audio message by clicking https://www.speakpipe.com/GalacticNetcasts

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More episodes can be found at https://gncasts.com/category/adventureparty/

 

In this, longer that usual meeting of the Adventure Party, we converse with our guest Ian Benton. Our topic this meeting is a complex one. Morals, the nature of heroism and topic comfort are things we can take for granted. We talk about the moral mechanics that some games incorporate and if a system does not have one, will a group will create their own. Does this define the nature of heroism in a game and are the topics and morals explored going to make members of your RPG group uncomfortable.

We also talk about the new Dungeons & Dragons Steam app and the Rise of the Runelords Soundpack from Syrinscape.

Ryan Murphy's Galactic Gaming News covers the digital side of gaming.

Our Kickstarter Spotlight this week was The Titan Series.

Dungeons & Dragons Steam app

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2483015,00.asp

The Rise of the Runelords Soundpack from Syrinscape

http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/complete-pathfinder-rise-of-the-runelords-soundpack-now-available-from-syrinscape/

Kickstarter Spotlight The Titan Series

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/781219801/the-titan-series?ref=nav_search

Leave us feedback by calling our voicemail number at (805) 328-3966 e-mailing at [email protected] or, send an audio message by clicking https://www.speakpipe.com/GalacticNetcasts

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In this episode, our guest is Dr. Randy Wolfmeyer. Our topic is how to get into terrain building. How to plan your project, pick the materials that are appropriate for your project and how to choose the right paint for your terrain build. He set up a gallery of images that accompany this episode here https://www.flickr.com/photos/catgunner/sets/72157651839788846/.

We discussed the Chew: Cases of the FDA board game

http://idwgames.com/chew-cases-of-the-fda-due-to-hit-stores-in-may-2015/

Lone Wolf Development Announces New Pathfinder Adventure Path Package For Hero Lab

http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/lone-wolf-development-announces-new-pathfinder-adventure-path-package-for-hero-lab/

Ryan Murphy give us an update on the digital front lines with the Galactic Gaming News

Our Kickstarter Spotlight was the new board game Posthuman

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/532062403/posthuman

Then we spoke with Dr. Randy Wolfmeyer about his terrain projects and get in depth info on how he went about his numerous builds. Including his recent father-daughter build.

Photo used with permission from Randy Wolfmeyer

Leave us feedback by calling our voicemail number at (805) 328-3966 e-mailing at [email protected] or, send an audio message by clicking https://www.speakpipe.com/GalacticNetcasts

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More episodes can be found at https://gncasts.com/category/adventureparty/