* (0:28) Welcoming Stu and Kimi from Happy Jack’s family of podcasts.

* (0:49) Fear the Boot tries to pick out a sponsor.

* (3:03) Playing yourself in a roleplaying game. Stu did it in college.

* (8:22) The “show me” test and its relationship to the dice.

* (16:01) Creating the character stats. Overestimating and underestimating. Level-setting.

* (19:56) Avoiding the outliers. Why point-buy systems may be fair but inaccurate.

* (23:32) Determining everyone’s role in character creation. The time traveler’s cheat sheet.

* (32:05) Handling the transition. Dealing with family and friends.

Hosts: Chad, Dan, Kimi, Stu

NOTE: You can see the visit Chris and Dan made to Happy Jack’s on YouTube or via MP3.

* (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