Gaming and BS RPG Podcast by Brett and Sean

04.18.2023

Chasing the Spotlight

Brett and Sean meetup during a Saturday LIVE stream to catch up and talk about spotlight hogging, or rather chasing the spotlight. Join Sean every Saturday at 8am CT LIVE on Youtube https://youtube.com/how2rpg Stay in touch with the community, join the Discord. http://gamingandbs.com/discord Buy Brett's...

01.13.2023

Surprise 2023

Streaming on a Saturday morning, the boys got together to talk about some stuff. === Join Sean on Saturdays at 8am CT: http://how2rpg.com Discord: http://gamingandbs.com/discord Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seanpkelley

11.19.2022

Announcement: BSer Con 2

BSer Con 2: Electric Boogaloo is happening! Back by popular demand, we will be holding our virtual online #ttrpg convention in January 2023. Event submission and badge registration is open now. Head over to http://gamingandbs.com/bsercon for badges, dates, and more!

06.30.2022

Until We Meet Again

The final episode of the show, we chose to do an AMA format. Thank you for all the questions. Special thanks to John for keeping us on the mics for just a little longer. Thank you to all the BSers!...

06.15.2022

What Have We Learned

We look back and reflect upon things we’ve learned over the last 7+ years. Random Encounter Chris Shorb calls in about Are They Lying? Email from my friend Chris D. Follow up email from Roger Brasslett about hanging it up...

06.01.2022

Are They Lying?

How the hell do you deal with lying in your rpgs? Lying NPCs that is, or lying PCs perhaps – not talking about out of game lying (e.g. “I swear it was Sean that took the last beer!”), but lying...

05.12.2022

GBS Finale Trailer

Gaming and BS trailer leading up to the final episode – #384. Submit your questions for the AMA: https://gamingandbs.com/ama Join us LIVE on June 27th at 8pm CT/1am GMT

05.11.2022

RPG Starter Sets

Is getting a rpg starter set worth purchasing or should you go straight to the core book? Announcements Thank you carlclare for the kind review GM Mastermind! Random Encounter Matt aka mgr comments on the last episode Duet Gaming Forrest...

04.26.2022

Duet RPG Play

Duet gaming, or one game master and one player. Announcements End is near. After 7+ years and what will be 384+ episodes of the show, B and I have decided to retire. Random Encounter DM Cojo voicemail on save or...

04.24.2022

Brett GMs, Sean Player

Brett assumes the role as game master as Sean plays two characters in this short adventure. Only this time Brett talks about the decisions he makes and why, and he does it in real-time. Subscribe on iOS or Android...

04.02.2022

Vaesen, An Overview

Vaesen, a nordic horror rpg by Free League Publishing. You will find out why we like this rendition of a curated role-playing game. Fancy talk for what we’re about to divulge. Random Encounter Voicemail from Chris Shorb Voicemail from Todd...

03.19.2022

Using Lore and Setting to Solve Issues

If you want the Players to engage with your lore/setting/cool stuff – you need to make that stuff part of the solution to their problems. The lore must be relevant to the adventure. If they can solve everything with their...

03.04.2022

Story and Drama

Of all of the things that we steal from other art forms (e.g. movies, novels, TV, etc.) for our games, one of the things that would be most helpful would be to understand story structure, drama, and pacing. Developing and...

02.20.2022

Motivation, Believability, Immersion

We talk about making a setting/world believable for us/our players – helping to keep the verisimilitude working. But do we know what we need/want? I mean, what does it take for us to believe? What about the other players in...

01.28.2022

RPG, The Rough Draft

One of the things we like to compare RPGs to is to novels, screenplays, etc. One of the things that we need to really understand and appreciate about this is that those products are HEAVILY edited, managed, and modified before...

01.14.2022

X-over Third Floor Wars

A special crossover episode. This week we feature an episode from Craig Shipman’s podcast Third Floor Wars. In this episode Craig interviews Sage LaTorra, co-creator of Dungeon World. Enjoy. Find more Third Floor Wars: Website: https://thirdfloorwars.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThirdFloorWars Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/thirdfloorwars...

01.08.2022

Rival Adventuring Party

Rival adventuring party in your role-playing game, do you use them? How do you use them? It is obvious to the players they are a rival group? Announcements BSer Con event registration opens Jan 10 at noon CT Random Encounter...

12.30.2021

Random Encounter – 5e Success with Setback

An extended Random Encounter segment as we talk more about 5e success and failure. Announcements Change in release schedule Intro the show – sign up BSer Con Evercon – website Arcadia – website Random Encounter Stephen Dragonspawn phones in a...

12.23.2021

Multiple NPC’s in the Same Scene

Multiple NPC’s in the same scene can cause the game master to have a conversation with themselves. The players will want to know who is who. Thanks Edwin Nagy for inspiration on this one. Announcements BSer Con – submit your...

12.16.2021

When Good Dice Go Bad

What do we do when the dice turn on us? How to have fun even if the randomizer of choice fails us. Announcements BSer Con – event submission closes Jan 3, 2022 Introsignup Die Roll The Wachterhaus Crypt, dnd5e adventure....

12.11.2021

Confusion Ignorance Discovery

One of the things that can be very frustrating for our players is when they feel confused or ignorant. Sometimes though, being ignorant and working towards clarity is pretty necessary for the game to work. Announcements BSer Con – submit...

12.03.2021

RPG Hack Job or No

Do we only want a solid core mechanic and then we lean on outside skills or ideas? In short, how much do we like to tinker/develop mechanics ourselves? We talk about the RPG hack job. Announcements BSer Con – Submit...

11.24.2021

Choose, RPG Setting or System

What makes us interested in a tabletop rpg? Is it the role-playing game setting(s), or is it the rpg system? Announcements BSer Con Random Encounter Gabe comments on ep 366 handling multiple expectations at the table Davy W writes in...

11.12.2021

Multiple Expectations at the RPG Table

What happens when you have more than one set of expectations/desires at the table? Have one person who doesn’t care if their PC dies early or often, another never wants to die, another wants to just have combat encounters, someone...

11.05.2021

Limiting PC Options to Preserve Tone

Maintaining tone in a #ttrpg is one of the hardest things to maintain – Sometimes creating limits to player character generation options can help enforce and maintain this through the campaign. Announcements BSer Con – submit your events. Random Encounter...

10.29.2021

Save or Die!

Brett is running some AD&D and one of the features (bugs?) in this game is the Save or Die situation. Some folks hate this and others enjoy it. Where are we? Announcements BSer Con is underway with registration and event...

10.21.2021

How Do We Organize as GM’s

How are Sean and Brett organizing their GM stuff? campaigns, sessions, etc. Anything not working? How much is a matter of having to use the tools and use the tools (practice)? Thanks to patron Jim I. for the inspiration! Announcements...

10.08.2021

The End is Near

What are the Up and Down sides to knowing when a campaign is going to end? “Well… this is the last session so…” “We only have X more sessions” Does any of this impact how we plan, play, run? Announcements...

09.30.2021

End Goal in Mind

Location Encounters are sometimes a bit of a special beast. How in-depth do we make them? How big? How much time does that party want to spend here? How many game sessions are we ready have in this location? Sean...

09.23.2021

No Right Answer

One of the key things that make a TTRPG a TTRPG is that there is no “Right Answer” for nearly everything. By that I mean – when you have any encounter, there are quite nearly unlimited options for how you...

09.18.2021

Don’t Tell Me What Play

How do we nicely discuss the topic of “you should play X game instead of Y game” so that we don’t come across as snobbish assholes? “I want to play X type of game with Y system” is often met...

09.11.2021

You Meet in a Tavern

It’s a classic rpg trope. You all meet in a tavern, but it doesn’t have to be boring or the same every time you use it. Besides, there are other ways to bring your role-playing game party of characters together....

09.03.2021

Always Be Prepping

Always be prepping rpg’s. Many people don’t think Brett does any prep for his games, but that’s not necessarily true. Announcements Delta Green Experiment – we’ve chosen Hourglass (print / pdf) as our adventure. Next phase: Pick the dates and...

08.27.2021

Picture This

Using an image to portray the scene. Montage boards, throwing a picture down on the table or simply describing it to the players. Announcements Project BS: The Delta Green Experiment Third Floor Wars hosts Streets of Avalon game with Brett. Friday,...

08.21.2021

Player Homework RPG’s

Players in rpg’s don’t read the handouts, or read the GM notes about the setting or home rules, how much homework should they do? Announcements Event registration is under way for Gamehole Con Avalon game – Friday, June 27th at...

08.12.2021

BS To Run The Same RPG

Sean and I have been talking about running the same game with the same adventure to see who’s better… actually, just to compare notes on how things are going, talk about how we’re approaching things, and see if we can...

08.07.2021

Dedicated vs Serious RPG’ers

Sean and I take this hobby seriously – more seriously than some other folks do. What happens when there are differences in dedication between folks in a group? Should folks like Sean and I cut some slack to those who...

07.29.2021

RPG Player Feedback

RPG player feedback is not often considered. It is a little different from giving game masters feedback. We talk about it. Announcements Gamehole Con Random Encounter Stephen Dragonspawn emails us on Retcon Deputy Dragonspawn, of the BSPD I believe that...

07.23.2021

Breaking the Fourth Wall

Getting information to our players and to our GMs can be challenging. We want to do it in character, or as a character. Sometimes it’s just easier to break the 4th wall. Announcements Gamehole Con Random Encounter Timothy Stone calls...

07.17.2021

RPG Retcon

RPG Retcon, revise. A piece of new information that imposes a different interpretation on previously described events. Announcements Sean submitted a game for Gamehole Con Brett has submitted 3 games for Gamehole! Email sent out. You didn’t get it? Sign...

07.08.2021

Pull Mechanics In From Other RPG’s

You appreciate the thing that one rpg does but you prefer to run another game. Why not pull in a mechanic from one system into another? Thanks Cojo for the inspiration. Announcements Sean and Brett submitting games to Gamehole Con...

07.01.2021

The Thing About RPG Editions

Thing about rpg editions is we look back at older editions and find things familiar, that we miss. Newer editions could bring ingenuity, a certain pragmatism or mechanics that make better sense. Announcements Gamehole Con registration opens July 1st! Random...

06.28.2021

What's Gaming and BS RPG Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Gaming and BS RPG Podcast episodes: