Fear the Boot

* (0:23) A love letter to an under-served demographic. * (1:43) Surviving without a gaming group. * (11:59) What if podcasting had existed earlier? * (16:39) Wayne and his apes. Monkeys in outer space. * (22:33) Things we never needed to know about Star Trek. * (29:19) Back to the love letter. Sorta. Nope, we're talking about Drow and Wemics. * (33:16) The love letter for real this time. Koko the gorilla addresses humanity. * (45:58) The Oxford comma, idears, and counting syllables. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Julia, Wayne

* (0:28) Fear the Con and its Con Planner site. * (1:08) A D&D game gets us talking about pets. * (3:45) How animals affect storytelling and group dynamics. * (9:02) Pets as PCs versus NPCs. Picking two thematic traits. * (21:19) Passing the pet to the right. * (31:19) Adding a third trait. * (36:10) The animal adventure. * (45:27) Finding the animal's voice through gameplay with another player. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Eric, Wayne

* (0:28) Fear the Con and its Con Planner site. The mixer is on June 21st, with the con itself on June 22nd and 23rd. * (1:12) Chad is running a D&D 5th Edition game. The shorthand version of spell components. * (6:46) Introducing a new player to RPGs. * (13:39) The group template (and its longer form) versus the pregame questionnaire. The Sword of Damocles. * (25:04) An Epoch of Rysos game that had a similarly diverse—yet equally cohesive—group. * (32:21) Short chapters, told out of sequence. * (42:43) Dissecting why the non-sequiturs work. Rory's Story Cubes. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Eric

* (0:52) Google searches on some podcasts, and a prank with Brandi that didn't happen. * (3:26) Letting players develop parts of the setting mid-game, including the NPCs. * (8:04) Fat Tony and Lovin'. * (16:59) How players can decide when it's appropriate to mess with something. * (24:30) Letting player investment drive truth. Tommy Wiseau tries out for the Joker. * (28:04) Walking back contradictions or problems created by player ideas. * (34:42) The legend of Pops. John Henry and the Johnny Cash song about him. Davy Crockett. * (51:01) Setting development as opposed to narrative control. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Eric, Wayne

* (0:52) Wayne visits Brodeur at Miniature Market (their Facebook page). * (5:21) Prologue games. Taking them seriously while recognizing their disposability. * (15:20) A shared history that's played instead of just written. * (18:57) How a prologue identifies issues, and what to do when one is found. * (24:46) The value of the missing middle. * (31:22) Finding your voice. * (35:49) Expecting too much from a prologue game. * (42:16) Bridging the prologue to the intended starting point of the first game. * (49:24) The important differences between a prologue and a flashback. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:29) There and Back Again Kickstarter. * (0:51) Simplification of Fear the Boot's Patreon. * (5:17) How can a wonderful dream become a nightmare? * (9:57) What We Do in the Shadows. * (12:49) Players that pad a a situation. * (16:41) Allowing for deliberation. Power-gaming through roleplay. * (25:14) Strategies for discouraging trap cards. * (35:35) The motivation for these contingencies. Hosts: Aisha, Chad, Dan, Eric

* (0:29) Welcoming Jason Brick to the show. Baby Shoes, Flash, Sojourn 1, and Sojourn 2. * (3:04) Setting up today's topic. Jason's Kickstarter for There and Back Again. * (5:41) Harkening back to The Gamer Traveler. Daniel Perez' current website. * (8:36) How real experiences affect your roleplaying games. Some examples from security work and drug use. * (19:36) The way things look, the way people get hurt. * (37:36) Spaaaaaaaace Camp! Also, Kuala Lumpur, architecture, and names. * (45:49) Intentionally bringing real experiences into your game. Hosts: Dan, Chad, Jason, Wayne

* (0:41) Welcoming Eric from GamersTable. Almost crashing Brodeur's place of work. * (1:23) GM Impostor Syndrome. The Dunning-Kruger Effect. * (6:35) Some help with that feeling of intimidation. * (10:02) How we suck. Failing fast. * (21:57) Effectively communicating criticism. * (32:53) To thine own self be true. * (44:52) Nobody's perfect. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Eric, Wayne

* (0:27) What we're looking forward to in 2018. * (1:02) Roleplaying games and related material. * (8:08) Video games. We somehow failed to mention the upcoming Battletech game. * (29:36) Upcoming movies. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:50) Wayne takes his entire party prisoner in a Necessary Evil game. * (2:03) Setting some boundaries on the discussion. Giving the concept of "agency" a clear definition. * (8:19) Keeping it fair and purposeful. * (14:16) Understanding the subconscious, social transaction. * (24:02) The relationship between failure, agency, and story. * (35:31) Gnarl ties it all together. * (40:43) Knowing why it happened. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne