Fear the Boot

* (0:28) Dan’s voice. A look back at older episodes. * (2:54) The double-standard of how social skills are handled versus any other check. * (8:00) When players cheat around their dump stats. * (12:47) The plausibility of counterfactuals. * (32:04) Having no awareness of the game you’re in. * (37:42) Holding me responsible for the things you didn’t tell me. * (41:28) Revisiting other topics. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:30) Introducing Dale of Jon Brazer Enterprises. * (7:11) The story of Jon Brazer, the character. * (9:07) How the degree of crunch changes your options for creating material. The OGL and similar licenses. * (24:26) Half of your money?! * (33:09) Revisiting the relationship between crunch (or the lack thereof) and what that lets you create. * (43:37) The positive role of more stuff. * (49:40) Getting started with Traveler. Hosts: Chad, Dale, Dan, Wayne

* (0:32) Dan is having throat issues. * (1:01) A huge “thank you” to Zylo for doing so much for Fear the Con-Line! * (2:18) Wayne created a template to help with game pitches. You can find a blank version here. * (5:26) A sample for D&D 5th Edition. * (8:24) Every game starts somewhere. * (11:03) Structuring without restricting. A sample for Dresden Files. * (19:42) Pitches in-person versus on-paper. * (29:16) Adapting the pitch based on feedback. * (36:10) Adding miscellaneous notes. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Julia, Wayne

* (0:28) This studio is hot. * (2:55) The conundrum of character suicide. How Frankenstein's monster was actually made. * (16:10) Not being a victim of your own creations. * (31:28) Explaining the idea of a swan song and how it manifests in an RPG. * (39:17) Deconstructing a swan song that occurred in one of our games. * (40:56) Extra camera time. * (47:30) Letting a character arc run its full course. Death of a Salesman. * (51:59) Swan songs as a consensus of every contributor to the story. * (56:18) Recognizing the moments when they happen unplanned. Letting the character continue, anyway. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne

Excuse the intro. I’ve lost my voice, so that was the best I could do. * (0:28) We are living in the future. We’re at the threshold of hell. * (12:39) An after-action report on bringing in a pair of new players. Planning versus problem-solving. * (32:52) Constant pressure squeezing out roleplaying. * (37:02) Failing to give the players a break. * (41:37) Shifting between modes of gaming and degrees of tension. * (56:45) Fear the Conline. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:28) Charlie goes on a rampage. A tangent on Cluster-B personality disorders. * (6:51) Incorporating new people into the social context of your group. * (11:16) Revising our advice on how to meet someone. * (13:36) Using the pregame questionnaire as a loose guide. Dale’s publishing website. * (19:28) Observing and adjusting during session zero. * (22:07) Considering their worldview. * (25:41) The value of compromise and outside influence. * (29:14) Isolating the first part of the game. * (33:46) Balancing the spotlight. * (46:38) Why Blades in the Dark? Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:28) Play and life skills in higher animals. * (3:25) Vote for Reading Radio in the Columbus Podcast Awards. They’re listed in both the art categoryand podcast of the year. * (6:28) Introducing new concepts to established roleplayers. * (9:43) Limited material for character creation and game play. * (21:32) Making characters together. * (25:07) An example from Star Trek and Solaris VII. * (34:40) Knowing the rules. Unintentionally setting a precedent. * (48:04) Asking players to stick to what the GM knows. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:42) Dan’s phone betrays him. Spoilers and thpoilerth. * (14:10) Chopin makes you a superior person. * (14:52) Premises that are meant for one character but invite storytelling for many characters. * (18:17) Wayne tries one-to-many, and it doesn’t quite work out. * (22:15) Distilling a premise down to what really matters. * (27:03) The chosen one. * (33:39) Subdivide the premise so it works for multiple characters. * (40:08) A world big enough to ignore an individual. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (1:07) The glory and horror of self-insert. * (3:37) Dan does Shadowrun. * (16:45) Wayne does D&D. * (26:43) Chad does Star Wars. Sort of. * (40:31) Julia does Narnia. * (48:17) Dan does Battletech. * (56:42) A bit of gaming advice. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Julia, Wayne

* (0:31) Brodeur and the broken finger. * (2:57) Fear the Conline is set for June 21st and 22nd. You can sign up for games here and ask questions on Discord here. * (6:55) Explaining what B-plots are. * (10:00) How B-plots spread the spotlight, build investment, and strengthen the game. * (15:00) Building the marketplace of ideas. * (19:41) Don't punish the players for shopping. * (25:15) Likening an RPG to a Ken Burns documentary. Unpacking an individual's story. * (30:51) Encouraging a B-plot. * (39:04) Connecting the A-plot and B-plot. * (51:48) B-plots humanizing the parties in the A-plot. * (54:04) The B-plot as free content or wasted effort. Hosts: Brodeur, Caleb, Chad, Dan