Dice of Doom

In this fun packed episode of the podcast we discuss our first impressions of GURPS, the General Universal Role Playing System from Steve Jackson Games and we also look at playing heros and sidekicks in your roleplaying games.

If we look at the majority of fantasy fiction (up until recent times) the main protagonist in the story tends to be a loner, and if there is any one else in the story, they tend to be sidekicks. We discuss how to run sidekicks in a game, how to balance story share and ways to make the sidekick role fun for the players. We also discuss the possibilities created by taking a 'cast of characters' approach to running a game - giving players the ability to take on multiple roles and characters throughout the campaign.

In this fun filled episode of the podcast we discuss the TV show that nearly was Korgoth of Barbaria, the switch by Games Workshop to move to Finecast resin for their models and we give Duncan a chance to discuss his views on whether rules matter or not.

In a revisit to a topic that we discussed on what we consider to be one of our best episodes ever, we give Duncan the opportunity to debate his side of the 'Do Rules Really Matter' issue. We look at whether or not the character needs stats to be roleplayed well, when it's OK to ignore dice rolls and an optional rules for strip-roleplaying (it's a pants-lite system).

We also look at the recent move by Games Workshop to change their model production from metal to a new type of resin called Finecast. This has generated quite a bit of debate as to the merits of the new material, so we sent Duncan out to have a look at them and report back. We also discuss the pricing issues relating to Games Workshop miniatures.

This week we discuss our first impressions of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition and sources of inspiration for Games Masters for their roleplaying games.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is very dear to Paul and I. It was our first fully fledged roleplaying game experience back in the 80's and we have loved playing it on and off over the last 3 decades. So it was with some mixed feelings that we decided to try out 3rd edition for our gaming experiment.

In this episode we review Vampire: The Masquerade which we have just finished playing as part of our Grand Gaming Experiment and we look at running investigative style roleplaying games.

After the completion of our Vampire: The Masquerade game we started discussing how often we had run games where the PC's were put in positions of having to investigate mysteries, crimes, conspiracies and the like. An investigative game suits any setting you may be playing from high fantasy through to a gritty Call of Cthulhu game. If you have ever thought that you might like to cast your players in the roles of detectives, sleuths, or hapless bystanders who get caught up in a conspiracy, we have a look at how to run these games along with tips to giving hints to your players to avoid the awful "I don't know what to do next..." problem that often plagues games of this sort.

In this episode our topics are Vampire: The Masquerade, Confessions of a Newbie GM and An Introduction to the writings of HP Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

As Lisette is not only running Vampire: The Masquerade, it is also her first* time running a game as a GM. We thought we'd ask her how her first experience GM'ing was going. We talk about the pits and hurdles that newbie GM's often experience and some ways to overcome them. We also have a chat with special guest Mardo about the writings of HP Lovecraft and where to start with his voluminous writings. If you are interested in learning more about the Cthulhu Mythos, then this topic should have you covered.

In this episode of the podcast we give our initial impressions of Vampire: The Masquerade (2nd Edition) and discuss how to make the most of a character death or end of a campaign.

Many times, when a character dies, it is the result of a bad die roll, an encounter gone wrong, or a failed skill check. We have started allowing players to narrate the end of the character's existence, giving the player a way of making the most of the character's end. This has made for some very memorable character deaths. As part of this discussion, we also look at bringing campaigns to an elegant end, and the importance of having a final point so that they don't just 'fizzle out'.

In this episode of the Dice of Doom podcast we review our Dragon Chow dice bags, we review the Zombie Apocalypse roleplaying game All Flesh Must Be Eaten and we discuss how to add social themes to your games.

During our All Flesh Must Be Eaten campaign, Paul (who was the Zombie Master) decided to try and add social themes to the game. The idea was to highlight the importance of personal relationship networks and how they collapse of these can add to the horrific nature of a catastrophe. This is not a new concept, Vampire: The Masquerade recommends attempting the same thing, but it was not something we had consciously done a lot of previously. We discuss whether or not it worked, how it could be improved upon and did it actually contribute to the game.

This week we talk about Play a New RPG (and Chocolate Coated Beer Marshmallows) and we discuss Roleplaying books and games in general, looking at some of our favourite editions and what we liked about them, and what made them, in our opinion, successful. We also discuss the desire for more widespread acceptance of PDF's by the gaming industry as an addition to the purchase of regular books. Some of the games we discuss are:

Fading Suns

Chivalry & Sorcery

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

Rolemaster

Ars Magica

Vampire: The Masquerade

Legend of the Five Rings

The handcrafted Warhammer Fantasy Battles book

Dungeons & Dragons 3.x

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st and 2nd Edition

In this episode of the Dice of Doom podcast we give an update on our All Flesh Must Be Eaten Campaign, we discuss Do Rules Really Matter and we investigate the topic of Manipulating Character Generation as one of the many roles of the GM. Continue reading →

In this episode of the podcast we lament the pulling of the Mountains of Madness movie, we discuss the Play a New RPG Month project, we give a brief update on our game Goblins!, we discuss our initial impressions of the zombie horror survivor game All Flesh Must Be Eaten and we review Gamma World.

Gamma World was a game that we were a bit hesitant to try as it is based on the D&D4e ruleset, and our Grand Gaming Experiment is about trying out new games. It wasn't until Paul quite rightly pointed out that the other part of the experiment was to try settings that were completely new to us as well. With point clearly made, Gamma World was added to our roster. Listen to the podcast to find out what we thought of it.