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On this episode we interview Ben Alexander. Ben is the artist for Parable Games and his new game Ion Heart Multiplayer has just launched on Backerkit. 

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/parable-games/ion-heart-multiplayer-a-lo-fi-mech-ttrpg

You can contact Ben at Parable Games.

https://www.parablegames.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOorW--NCFUPwIO6kfv6eQ9v2p9oam3Yi1bPb3pKfs97UfZYvXK4V

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Welcome to you heard it here last, where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/parable-games/ion-heart-multiplayer-a-lo-fi-mech-ttrpg/launch_party

The fantastic Ion Heart a solo roleplaying game from Parable Games where you take on the role of a mech and it’s pilot is making the leap to multiplayer. Christina and I reviewed the Ion Heart Solo game for Pop Geeks last year and we are getting ready to dive in and give this one a review as well so look for that review to drop in the next month or so. I am looking forward to seeing how the quirky and fun game translates into a multiplayer platform and I really love everything that’s coming out of Parable Games right now.

Christina, I know you haven’t seen the game, but any thoughts?

[Kick to Christina]

Mike, while you didn’t review the game you have a lot of history with solo roleplaying games, you wrote one yourself with the Radiance Engine. What are your initial thoughts on taking a solo game and turning it into a multiplayer game.

[Kick to Mike]

Ion Heart dropped to Bakerkit on March 24th, so check it out.

Next up we’ve got an upcoming tabletop roleplaying game covering one of my favorite anima films, Ghost in the Shell. 

https://www.enworld.org/threads/a-second-ghost-in-the-shell-ttrpg-is-on-its-way.718020/

Mantic Games has announced that the new Ghost in the Shell TTRPG will be based solely off of the acclaimed manga. The plan to publish the TTRPG in 2026. The game uses an all-new system created by Alessio Cavatore of Games Workshop fame and Zak Barouh a writer, editor, and game designer. While I am not very familiar with the manga, I was a huge fan of the 1995 film. That film and Akira opened my eyes to Japanese animation. There have been attempts at turning the source material into a game before and this one isn’t the only Ghost in The Shell game planned for 2026. Mana Project Studio has raised over 500,000 dollars on their kickstarter for a Ghost in the Shell project.

I’m not familiar with Mantic Games, but I do own Mana Project Studios Cowboy BeBop game and lets just say I don’t plan on picking up their version in the future so this one might be a great alternative.

Christina, what do you think about Ghost in the Shell and Mantic Games diving into this source material for a ttrpg?

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J.R.R Tolkien famously argued in his landmark essay “The Monsters and the Critics” that the monsters in a story aren't just obstacles; they are the externalization of the impossible odds that make a hero’s victory meaningful.

Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer’s Journey said, "Every villain is the hero of his own story." And George R. R. Martin has said many times that the most compelling villains are those who believe they are doing a heroic act on Tuesday and something horrible on Wednesday.

Villains are arguably the most important part of any story which means, they are an important part of your game. 

In this episode Mike, Christina and I are going to talk about Villains. We are going to share some of our favorite villains from films and books and we are going to talk about some of our favorite villains from roleplaying games.

Christina, kick us off with the first villain that made you realize how important villains were to the story?

[Kick to Christina]

Mike, I know you are going to say Darth Vader at some point in today’s episode, so I decided to say it first. But seriously same question, who was the first villain that made you realize the importance of villains.

[Kick to Mike]

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Welcome to you heard it hear last, where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.

Well, I guess it was only a matter of time.

Deadline announced that Balder’s Gate 3 is coming to TV.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/there%E2%80%99s-a-baldur%E2%80%99s-gate-tv-show-coming.717787/

Deadline Hollywood, the entertainment news site has reported that Balder’s Gate 3 is coming to HBO and it is being run by the co-creator of the Last of Us, another TV show adapted from a game.

Craig Mazin will “create, write, executive produce and showrun” the TV adaptation. Other executive producers include Hasbro's Gabriel Marano, plus Jacqueline Lesko and Cecil O'Connor.

Chris Perkins—who used to work at WotC but now works at Darrington Press—will be acting as a consultant for the show.

Larian Studios, which made the bestselling video game, is not involved with the TV show.

Ok, So the company that made the game has nothing to do with it. The co-creator of the Last of Us that had an incredible first season and an abysmal second season is putting it together, and Chirs Perkins is climbing back into bed with Hasbro as a consultant.

To quote another favorite movie of mine, “It’s a trap, get an axe.”

Christina what do make of this announcement.

[Kick to Christina]

Mike, What about you.

[Kick to Mike.]

Next up we have some news that’s a little closer to home, and unlike most of our news, this will be the first time you’ve heard of it.

Leviathan Rising will debut at GenCon 2026. 

Leviathan Rising is a brand-new tabletop roleplaying game designed to simulate disaster films and specifically those creature features like Godzilla. It’s got an inventive new mechanic that incorporates the chaos that happens when everything around you is coming apart. And to make it all sweeter, the game is written by our very own Dr. Christina.

The game won’t be available for sale yet, but you will be able to sign up for games being run and demo’d by Christina herself.

Christina, give us some details about the demo’s you will be running at GenCon this year.

[Kick to Christina]

Mike, you’ve seen the game, what are your thoughts?

[Kick to Mike]

So, if you are going to GenCon this year look for Leviathan Rising and sign up for a demo from Christina.

And that’s all the news you’ve already heard.

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“So, what did you guys think”

If I’ve asked that question once at the end of a game session, I’ve asked it a hundred times.

Feedback, it’s all about feedback.

As a game master I want to know what worked, what didn’t work, and did I get my ideas across to the players. Where they surprised by anything, did the rules make sense, what do they want to see more of and most importantly, did they have a good time.

Recently we started a new game with our Thursday Night Game Group. Our core crew was present of course and we brought back some old players and added a few new players to the mix. We decided on playing Twilight 2000, a game from my past that Free League had picked up and made some significant changes by plugging their Year Zero engine into it.

I started by reading the rules and then ran the players through the lifepath system to help them create characters and finally we played the first session. As of this recording we have 2 sessions under our belt, and I wanted to take this episode to talk to the players and get their thoughts on the game.

We started this podcast to mimic those conversations we have after the games, and I can’t think of a better use for it then to actually have one of those conversations.

Let’s start with you Mike, what did you think?

[Kick to Mike]

Christina, I felt like you agreed to play the game, because you’ll never say no to a roleplaying game. That makes for a different view than some of the other players. What did you think about it.

[Kick to Christina]

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Welcome to You Heard it Here Last where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.

I evidently missed this announcement in November of 2025, so when I got the email from Backerkit about an upcoming launch I might be interested in, I was surprised. Traveller 5e from Mongoose Publishing was coming to Backerkit in March of 2026. 

https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/4bb4fe4f-753f-484d-8133-870c7c591797/landing?ref=home-page

My first thought was they were printing a new edition of Traveller, but then I remembered Marc Miller had produced Traveller 5th Edition in 2013. Of course, Mongoose has taken over publishing, but they are in the 2nd edition…then it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was Traveller for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.

I’m sure if I tried real hard, I could come up with something more useless, but I gotta tell you, right now I’m out of ideas. 

What a complete waste.

Traveller is an iconic roleplaying game with specific systems that work perfectly in that science fiction world it portrays. Rewriting the entire thing for D&D 5E … Stop it. Just Stop it. I know that 5E is the biggest selling game out there and I know this is just a money grab, but Damit people, open another roleplaying game book.

I typically cheer for anything that brings more eyes to our hobby, but this isn’t a rising tide, it’s a tsunami destroying what’s good about independent games and alternatives to D&D.

I’m tapping out on this one.

Christina, thoughts?

[Kick to Christina]

Mike

[Kick to Mike]

You might think after my lead in I would avoid all things Hasbro, but our next article from EN World is just too interesting to pass up. We’ve talked a lot about AI on our podcast and in Hasbro’s latest earnings call Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks addressed the company’s use of AI.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/hasbro-ceo-says-ai-integration-has-been-a-clear-success.717852/

“We're beyond experimentation. We're deploying AI across financial planning, forecasting, order management, supply chain operations, training and everyday productivity.” Cocks said. He also broke down how creatives use the tools.

Mike, AI has recently become a huge part of your life and after diving into it and embracing it in the workforce you got promoted to COO. Briefly breakdown why AI is the future, whether we like it or not.

[Kick to Mike]

Christina hit us with the ethical issues

[kick to Christina]

And there you have it, all the news, you’ve already heard.

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“As the four of you move into the open cavern you see a large Goblin on the far side. He turns and raises a club banging his crusty and broken shield. Three more goblins step from the shadows, their bows raised.”

Bob who was playing a first level fighter smiled. “This is perfect. Four Goblins against our Four 1st level characters. Let’s Do This! I charge forward with a war cry.”

20 minutes later as the players all sit in disbelief, their characters dead or dying with no possibility of survival. “What the hell just happened” they mumble as they start working on new characters.

What happened is that no matter what the book says about Challenge Ratings, there is no such thing as a balanced encounter.

On this episode Mike, Christina and I are going to talk about Balancing Encounters in your games. Why there is no such thing as a balanced encounter and the difference between a Roleplaying and Gaming at the table.

Mike, this is your favorite thing to say, so why don’t you kick us off.

[Kick to Mike]

Christina, you are heavy on the story telling side or what I like to call Roleplaying. I know you believe that the only way to balance encounters is between your ears.

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Welcome to you heard it here last, where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.

First up we are looking at EN Worlds results from their fan vote Most Anticipated Games of 2026. Malcolm and I talked about our favorites a few weeks ago, but now we have the official results from EN World.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/here-are-2026s-most-anticipated-ttrpgs-as-voted-by-you.717141/

The top 10 fan voted games are interesting for a number or reasons. We have some new players to the game world, some old favorites getting a face lift and at least one that left me scratching my head.

But let’s get the Doctor’s thought’s first. Christina, what stood out to you on EN World’s Top 10 List of Most Anticipated Games for 2026.

[Kick to Christina]

Mike, I know you have opinions, what did you pull from this?

[Kick to Mike]

In business news Drive Thru RPG announced an increase in it’s print on demand prices.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/drivethrurpg-print-on-demand-prices-increasing-again.717604/

This comes on the heels of last March’s almost 50% increase in printing costs. Drive Thru’s announcement indicates that there will be a 3 – 5 percent increase in costs for their print on demand service. This increase went into effect on February 1st, 2026. The announcement places the reason for the increase squarely on the shoulders of rising costs of materials, from paper to ink to labor.

Mike, I know the printing world is something you keep an eye on, so what observations do you have for the laymen out there wanting to get books printed?

[Kick to Mike]

Christina, is the future of TTRPG’s digital and what does that ultimately mean for the hobby?

[Kick to Christina]

And there you have it, all the news, you’ve already heard.

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I homebrew all my games. Well, not all of them. Over the years I have tried my hand at running modules to mixed results. As I have talked about before on this podcast, I like the freedom of homebrew, the ability to change things up at a moments notice and the freedom to let the players take me on a ride. As a matter of fact, I am putting together a Twilight 2000 game and while I am stealing the name and location setting of the classic first adventure, I am homebrewing everything else.

Recently I have been making these homebrew adventures a little more formal in there set up and construction and I have even written a series of adventures for Oddfish Games, How To Roleplay With Your Cat, that hopefully will be available at GenCon this year. I wrote a one-shot Call of Cthulhu game that came out beautifully last month and I have gone down the path of formalizing my upcoming adventures, for posterity’s sake of nothing else.

I decided that since I had a smattering of experience now, I should probably sit down with the experts and chat about how to write an adventure for roleplaying games and since I have a podcast designed for just such a topic, here you go.

On this episode Mike, Christina and I are going to talk about writing an adventure for roleplaying games. The basics, structure, format, and of course the does and don’ts.

Christina, Do you remember the first time you sat down and officially created a new adventure? And was it a formal process or more informal?

[Kick to Christina]

Mike, what about you? First Adventure?

[Kick to Mike]

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Welcome to You Heard it Here Last, where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.

We start this week off with an article from EN World about Daggerheart and Darrington Press.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/daggerheart-sold-out-in-two-weeks-has-three-year-plan-in-place.716975/

The article reports that the first printing of Daggerheart was planned to last a year. Instead, it sold out in 2 weeks. But don’t fear, the article goes on to say that Darrington Press has a 3-year plan in place for Daggerheart, Yipee!

The article is based on another article by Business Insider that highlights Ed Lopez and Ben Van Der Fluit the COO and Senior Vice President of Business and Content Development respectively. Now I am an avowed capitalist, unlike my co-hosts, but even I get annoyed with the little games designed to separate a fool and his money. I mean you can’t even read the original article at Business Insider unless you pay them money. If any of you are buying this crap, then shame on you. Darrington Press is simply a WOTC and Hasbro wannabe that are adapting the same bullshit that we have seen from those companies, I mean they even hired the people that come up with the bullshit to begin with. You mean to tell me that professionals in a business behind the most successful actual play show in the history of actual play shows screwed up their product ordering by 96%. I mean not even weathermen and the airlines are that bad. On top of it, if you tried to pick up the game at GenCon then you saw their business idea first hand. Small windows where the product was available everyday to create artificial scarcity and only provide the most expensive version of the game. I mean you couldn’t even buy just the basic rulebook. You had to get the entire starter set, which was of course…more expensive. 

But anyway, that’s my opinion. 

For our next bit of information, we are diving into a specific release.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/rpg-print-news-%E2%80%93-traveller-d-d-mothership-and-more.717021/

https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2148379689/Omendrome?awid=1086

Omendrome by Alewood Games is a brand-new softcover adventure for Mothership using the ARKYVR supplement. Now I have heard a ton about Mothership, but I haven’t read any of it. Lots of word of mouth and lots of love, but it just hasn’t crossed my path and this is the first time I have heard anything about the ARKYVR supplement. Mothership is a Sci-Fi Horror Game that lets you play out all your Aliens and Space Hulk adventures. ARKYVR is a system that builds on that putting the characters behind the lens so to speak and letting them “Film” the action and choose the direction of the stories. All of that sounds amazing. The Omendrome adventure set puts the player character in the driver’s seat of a pirate TV station that films and shows all of the horrors of space. Are those horrors real or just made up for the TV, well the players and characters get to decide that. I love the TV aspect of horror. My favorite Call of Cthulhu games are set in the modern era with the players taking on rolls of TV employees. And one of my favorite cult horror films is Videodrome which clearly Omendrome drew heavily from when they wrote the adventure. So Mothership, ARKYVR and Omendrome just hit my buy list for 2026.