Fear the Boot

* (0:22) Warning: Content is out of order, like Witcher novels or Firefly. * (1:12) Magic button of Annihilation: What Christmas song would you obliterate? * (7:18) Brodeur hates Trans Siberian Orchestra. Dan's ghetto heart isn't satisfied. * (10:20) Dan's exotic pets: An otter! * (13:40) Dan's defense of broadening the definition of "pet animals", but first some important caveats. * (19:43) The difference between tame and domesticated animals. A lion showing affection to its rescuer. Dogs seeking help from humans when wolves don't (experiment 1, experiment 2). * (27:47) The value of interaction with exotic animals. Dan's pet spider, Hermine (nee Herman). Click beetles. * (41:32) Brodeur goes too far. Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Wayne

* (0:18) Dan and Chad were quoting Still Talkin (NSFW language warning). * (2:19) Music you listen to at the most formative moments of your life. Jidenna's Long Live the Chief and Method Man's Bulletproof Love. * (9:29) Del the Funky Homosapien. Alex Trebek's comments on nerdcore and the response song, Who is Alex Trebek? * (17:48) Dan and Chad pick their top three. Afrika Bambaataa. DJ Kool's Let Me Clear My Throat. Alphabet Aerobics and Chemical Calisthenics. * (26:08) Brodeur makes his picks. Pop Goes the Weasel by 3rd Bass. * (30:34) The use of personae and backstory in hip-hop. Hosts: Broduer, Chad, Dan

* (0:47) I lied about part 2, but part 1 of my interview with Jim McClure is out! * (2:50) XCOM 2 gets us thinking about setting the level of challenge in a tabletop roleplaying game. * (9:59) Games that get easier versus games that get harder. * (13:18) The kinds of challenge. Combat encounters, roleplaying, puzzles, mystery, etc. * (20:07) Identifying the type of narrative experience the players and GM are trying to get out of the game. * (23: 06) Why start the challenge low for veteran players? Ebbs and flows. Difficulty as a path instead of a moment. * (33:16) Always having a way forward. Richard Pryor scared for no reason. * (39:34) The importance of downbeats in the story. The right type of failure. The Heisman Trophy and the Ghetto Heisman. * (52:33) Knowing the reason for the specific challenge. Avoiding banal struggles. Bambi vs Godzilla. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan

* (0:28) Much ado about butts. Thanks, Patreon supporters! * (3:35) Was this section even legal to air? * (5:58) Fish Donuts and the foxy Ms. Candida. * (9:15) What happened with the cell phones? Dan's +Jews! charger. * (20:19) Attention as a precious commodity. * (31:30) The things you just don't allow in your games. First example: Math heavy abilities and powers that take away the uniqueness of other characters. * (37:32) Softening the limits but restricting the books. Conceding aspects of powers to make them less annoying to the GM. * (43:55) Child prodigies, half-orcs, and monks. * (52:34) Not disrupting the fun for the players or the GM. * (55:12) Brodeur is a dictator. Player handouts, and knowing why you don't want something. * (57:31) What don't you allow, and why? What did you not used to allow, but now will, with what caveats? What changed your mind? Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (1:07) Fear the Boot's Secret Santa, run by Noob13. You can find details on the forums. * (2:15) Dan's interview on Talking Tabletop with Jim McClure. Fear the Boot's Twitter and Facebook links. * (3:59) A cross-town move forces Dan to look through his possessions and contemplate life. The Battletech warchest system. * (9:06) Changing taste in games perhaps tied to a diminishing ability to focus on crunch. Our episode on getting started with Battletech. * (16:09) A question to the listeners: How has time changed your taste in games? Hosts: Dan

* (0:35) Dan moves, and the studio moves with him. * (1:47) Fear the Con X's Kickstarter is in its last week. * (2:32) A big thanks to our Patreon backers for the new chairs. * (3:21) Our homebrew Transformers RPG. Along with a recent episode on Wayne's game, I discuss the nuts and bolts of creating an RPG from an existing IP. * (7:34) Numerically modeling a Transformer, using their stat cards as a starting point. The example of Onslaught. * (23:43) Testing the results through mass character creation and playing the game. Hosts: Dan

* (0:46) Fear the Con X's Kickstarter is live and needs your support. * (1:55) Support the Strays on No Shave November. Also, much love to Matt who joined the team after this show was recorded, which is why he doesn't get mentioned in the audio. * (9:45) The finite resources of governance, The Rules for Rulers, The Dictator's Handbook, and how it all relates to RPGs. * (20:29) Dan's Story: Contractor Competition. People want each other's resources for the same objectives. * (25:32) Techniques for designing the power structure. Political Order and Political Decay. * (49:44) So we were playing Riven... Hosts: Chad, Dan, John, Wayne

* (0:28) Picking up where we left off from the prior episode. * (3:10) Research and essays, particularly The Pulling Report, countering the satanic panic. * (4:53) The CBN pamphlet on D&D as an example of what was being said about RPGs during the panic. * (11:34) The disappearance of James Egbert. * (20:43) Comparing Egbert's story to Mazes and Monsters. William Dear's The Dungeon Master. * (22:04) It's human nature to need someone to blame. Back to the pamphlet. * (26:29) Some quotes about, "What is D&D?" * (33:56) Don't talk to my XP or my son's XP ever again. * (37:00) The authorized Dark Dungeons movie. * (37:44) Patricia Pulling and the suicide of Irving Lee Pulling. * (45:18) The importance of not minimizing the tragedy, even if you deal with the absurdity with dark humor. The anonymous text service for people needing crisis intervention. * (49:37) The police leaflet on RPGs. The many criteria for knowing when your teenager is in a cult, including, "They're a teenager". Fighting the Zombie. "All I wanted was a Pepsi," from Institutionalized and sampled in How I Could Just Kill a Man. * (59:50) Leaflet's section on what we can do. Dan reads off the list and narrowly avoids having a stroke. * (1:08:35) Conclusions, and the legacy of RPGs. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:29) Happy Jack's fishy music-crafting. * (3:24) Today's topic requires a disclaimer of sorts: Satanic Panic. Jack Chick and, "What's a tract?" * (8:11) Why Chick is relevant: Dark Dungeons. What this episode is and is not about. * (11:12) Why Wayne wasn't affected by the panic. * (12:35) Discussing Jack Chick, himself, and satanic ritual abuse. * (15:20) A tour through the era of panic. How modern people can relate to what occurred. Other moral panics. Though exaggerated, malicious tampering with Halloween candy has happened. * (24:20) The fact that you know it's a d30, Dan, is damning evidence in its own right. * (31:14) Before we get to the documents: A slice of life. Experiences are shared. * (42:43) The FBI, and more experience sharing. * (46:01) Conclusions, and going out on a positive note. * (47:50) Definitely for the quote database: "SUCK A D4, PIG!" Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

An important update on one of our hosts. You can stay posted on the Caring Bridge site. Please send any well wishes to [email protected].