Today we are joined with Trevor Devall from Me, Myself, and Die to talk about his new fantasy "Sim-Lite" game, The Broken Empires. Trevor gave us the goods on every aspect of the game system, from skills to magic, and we went in depth on the philosophy of game design he is bringing to the table. Don't miss his upcoming Kickstarter campaign launching October 1st!

https://play.thebrokenempires.com/

This week we sit down with one of the players from our home game of ACKS II to talk about how RPGs became a obsession for someone who had never played before. Don't miss this, and don't miss the kickstarter for The Shucked Oyster, launching August 6th on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1003133567/the-shucked-oyster-a-cursed-brothel-for-shadowdark-rpg

Victor Raymond of the Tékumel Foundation was kind enough to sit down with us to discuss Professor M.A.R. Barker's monumental contributions to TTRPG history. Empire of the Petal Throne was one of the first RPG settings, and it is no longer out of print! Black Blade Publishing was hosting both the Tékumel Foundation as well as a huge assortment of amazing products from small indie publishers at North Texas RPG Con 2024. This was an excellent conversation and we will be speaking with Victor more in the future.

This episode, we sit down with our good friend Spencer who was there 3000 years ago when Dungeons and Dragons first hit the scene. We talk about how gaming changed, what it was like to see D&D develop, and how to make everyone rage quit a multi year campaign because you never revealed your true alignment. Great stories, and much more to come with this level 98 Grognard.

Join Black Lodge Games for a discussion of the origins of the TTRPG hobby through the lens of the incredible book, "The Elusive Shift" by Jon Peterson.

-There may not be a way to win at Dungeons and Dragons, but there is certainly a way to LOSE. This week we talk about the fruits of the #brosr gaming efforts and the principles behind them.

This week, we discuss why roleplaying in character adds more to any game of any style, why you should want excellence at your table, and how the villains at Onyx Path Publishing (armed with a practically unlimited art budget) ripped the heart and soul out of the aesthetics of the Exalted game line.

Within the Ring of Fire is a dark fantasy roleplaying game from RAW Immersive Games over at  @woodwwad 

Today we talk about hostility to actual roleplay at the table. Getting into character is one of the easiest ways to enhance immersion at the table and aversion to it is largely rooted in a fear of embarrassment for bringing a little sincerity to the game.

The OSR has an extremely autistic view on what constitutes story in Dungeons and Dragons. Any mention of character backstory, plot hooks, or even role play constitutes "story gaming" as opposed to the truth as revealed by Gary Gygax that D&D is nothing more than a sandbox exploration game in pulp fantasy hex maps.