Fear the Boot

* (0:28) Fear the Con coming up June 16th – 18th, 2022. * (2:54) Making a plot that’s personal to the characters, without falling back to cheap shots. * (9:42) If you don’t want purely violent responses, don’t rely on purely violent hooks. * (15:43) An example about a Firbolg. Our two episodes on West Marches games can be found  and . * (23:52) Finding out you were the villain’s stooge. * (32:33) Why overdoing any motivation can end in meta-game problems. * (41:19) Looking at the facts you know about a player-character to create something interesting to explore. * (44:51) Tying in all of the characters, not just one. How involvement creates interest. * (54:13) When the characters don’t yet care about each other. * (59:27) Fear the Boot’s actual plays can be found . Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:29) Introducing Vece. You can find the Skies of Glass playtest . * (1:35) Brodeur continues hurting himself. You can find . * (11:35) What got us thinking about playtesting a roleplaying game.  playtest survey. * (14:43) Why you may not know what you need to ask. * (18:35) Taking feedback seriously, while remembering no one’s opinion is “right”. * (25:58) Testing obscure facets of a game. * (31:58) Playtesting the fluff (i.e. setting, introductory text, explaining the RPG hobby). * (44:16) Deciding the order in which you’ll complete tasks. * (56:19) Making incremental changes instead of over-correcting. * (59:42) Testing the minimum viable product and building up from there. Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Vece, Wayne

* (0:30) Let the bodies hit the floor! * (5:24) Defining the “action economy”. The video of three master fencers versus 50 random people . * (14:57) Consider not using a lone enemy. * (17:48) Using objectives instead of enemies. * (27:37) The erosion of the Game Master’s enjoyment. The idea of “action equity”. * (37:58) The value of a cooperative table, where the GM and players aren’t trying to one-up each other. * (46:22) Setting the tone for your table. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:28) Dan’s situation with his Blades in the Dark character. * (2:21) The “play cycle” of an RPG. * (6:06) Designing a character that works in the play cycle, but not very well outside of it. * (24:54) Why not just play another character or revise the existing character traits? * (32:55) “That’s not what my character would do!” * (37:28) Adding onto what exists. * (48:27) An issue of sympathy. * (50:51) Chris Hussey’s AP for Pinnacle can be found here:  and . Hosts: Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:33) Brodeur’s ongoing work to blind himself. * (2:40) Gaming when down a person. Putting some parameters on the discussion. * (7:53) Avoiding cliffhangers that hinge on a single character. * (11:58) Subtly reframing the scene to obscure the unknowns. * (16:31) Get a few what-if tips from the missing player to help you guide the scene. * (20:33) Being flexible, not just in executing the situation, but also in adjusting the outcome. * (22:44) Using pacing to avoid the issue completely. * (40:54) When the player’s absence is felt by the party, even though there was no cliffhanger. * (47:18) Gatekeeping interactions with the absent character. Owning your choice to create a cliffhanger. * (53:56) Keeping your perspective straight. You can hear . Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan

* (0:24) Maybe combat shouldn’t be played to the point of annihilation. Violence as part of the human experience. * (5:50) The social contract of a fight. Jason Brick’s  show. * (9:43) Playing the enemies sub-optimally, or managing combat according to your strengths as a GM. * (21:18) The “soft” rules that different RPGs offer for resolving combat. * (33:47) The freedom that comes from what’s never seen behind the GM screen. * (38:54) GMing under the . * (44:21) The joy of an un-antagonistic table culture. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:29) Wayne gives a shoutout to Old Man Hussey. (Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a link to the AP he ran.) * (3:15) Brodeur gets us started on the joys of combat in roleplaying games. How initiative balances the spotlight. * (7:05) Why fight at all? * (11:31) Intermixing roleplaying and combat. * (16:09) Rolling back to spotlight management. * (23:10) Creating tension in combat through narrative or numbers. * (32:15) When the game doesn’t allowing for fudging. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan, Wayne

* (0:52) A love that makes Brodeur and Wayne uncomfortable. * (4:37) Actor has a seat at Brodeur’s table but doesn’t seem to enjoy it. * (10:14) The importance of looking for context and motive to understand a behavior. * (18:50) Someone else’s struggles don’t invalidate your boundaries. * (26:33) Getting perspective, possibly with the help of a third party. . * (35:49) Sometimes something has to be broken to create a new opportunity. * (41:05) The power in just talking to someone. * (45:08) The healthy and unhealthy act of venting. Hosts: Brodeur, Dan, Phoenix, Wayne

* (0:27) Where’s Brodeur? * (2:00) Fear the Con Online, June 25th – 27th. You can create and sign up for games . * (4:04) Having patience for people, whether in discomfort or just struggling with old habits dying hard. * (6:42) Neglected gaming spaces and snack stashes. * (13:01) Change up your gaming traditions. * (14:54) Have minimal expectations for your first gathering. * (19:20) People may have fundamentally changed. * (25:43) Put together all of the gaming supplies that weren’t needed online, but are needed in-person. * (36:39) Consider adjusting the plot or chasing a side story. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Julia

* (0:28) And the cat came back…! * (1:13) Fear the Con Online, June 25th – 27th. You can create and sign up for games . * (4:00) As we get close to gaming face-to-face again, we look back at over a year of online gaming. * (5:43) It’s better than not gaming at all, and there’s no commute. * (8:38) The self-consciousness that comes from being on camera. * (16:19) No one has to host the game. * (22:41) You’re not away from your nest. * (26:26) Electronic resources are accessible from the same device you use for online gaming. * (30:06) Better isolated side-talk. * (33:04) You can game with people drawn from a deeper pool. * (34:16) The frustration of technical difficulties and missed social cues. * (39:25) Being home can make you a bit too accessible. The social flow of the game. * (44:11) You don’t get out of the house. * (52:48) The loss of tactile objects and environmental ambience, particularly when technology won’t come close to replacing them. * (58:10) Being stuck to The Chair™. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Julia, Wayne