Gaming Couch

Don't worry about the length! I swear it is all good stuff.

I'm not going to fill up the description with nitty gritty details. Just listen and enjoy this one. Have a happy New Year everyone. I'll see you all in 2019.

With that in mind I wanted to make a quick little challenge for everyone out there listening. I won't spoil it here in the description. I'll leave it for the episode.

Enjoy the holidays. If you don't celebrate anything this time of year, then just enjoy some time with friends and family. We're so close to a new year and a new beginning.

Yes, I totally got the episode's name from Dark Souls.

No, this is not about Dark Souls.

...anyway. Hi everyone. I know I disappeared for a bit. Sorry for not giving out any update or warning. I just lost the grove for a little and the mind and heart weren't in the right place. I felt releasing any episodes at that time would just lead to bad content, and I didn't want that for the people who listen. I'm back now and feeling better.

You know what also feels better? Some good co-op games. Not like one team versing another but a game where all players work together for the same goal. Having that sense of companionship and team effort just feels so good. Sit at the table, grab some friends and family, and just win.

Episode 22 of Gaming Couch. All of Season 1 we talked about why games are fun to play. At the core of it, a game is fun if we can stay engaged with it. In Dungeons and Dragons, it comes down to the DM to make it an egaging experience. Combat is one of the hardest things to make engaging for players. What comes down to a number of dice rolls can be shaped into a very fun and narrative driven experience for all players, that includes the DM.

I had to try doing this 4 freaking times! Damn this old headset and computer!!!

Anyway, no episode this week. I am in a different state hanging with some friends and playing Frostgrave. Enjoy your Thanksgiving if that is a thing you do. I will see all of you next week!

Episode 21 of Gaming Couch.

A big part in any game, especially in DnD, is the conflict that players have to handle. The bonus to DnD, is that conflict can be handled in many ways. The insane rambling of today is how to make that conflict highly engaging for the players. One of the easiest ways to get players to buy into the game is make their choices matter. Give them a tease of what the main conflict is early on and then let their decisions guide your story. If they know who or what it is they are dealing with they will start taking actions to handle it. Then, all you need to do as a DM is just makethe dungeons and NPCs around that. The players then feel like they are driving the game. You as the DM are just providing the setting and rules.

Episode 20 of Gaming Couch. How do we instill fear in games? Especially a game like DnD? Many times, fear comes from an unknown, a sense of dread and death, or a mix. While playing DnD, you have just that one character. That character that, given poor choices, can die an never come back.

This is agame though. And you don't want your characters to just die, unless the party agreed to play something like that from the beginning. Trying to balance a sense of dread and fear of death, without outright killing them, is a tough thing to achieve. I am no master at this. I just wanted to share a rambling story of a monk lost in the Abyss and what the fera of being hunted has done to him.

Episode 19 of Gaming Couch. Playing a game inside a game can be great for some reason. You no longer are the character you are playing as, you are just you playing a game once again (Though it's still in a another game).

This has some great advantages. I used the game of Chess in DnD as a way to address some concern I had over a player in my game. We say down, played Chess, but stayed in character and acted out this scene. We talked about his concerns for his character and the fatalist way of thinking he has at times. It was really fun for both of us and, if all my rambling is hard to follow, just know it can be a great tool in use in your DnD game.

FOR SOME REASON IT ISN'T LETTING ME PUBLISH PROPERLY.

So here is the short and sweet version:

Playcrafting Halloween Game Expo. Free, at Times Square. Was fun.

Played some cool games. Focusing on just one. Swimsanity! Really AWESOME.

Links:

Swimsanity by Decoy Games Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/decoygames

Their main website: http://www.decoygames.com/

And some love to Never to Return, a card game about escaping scary, spooky, mystical woods: http://nevertoreturngame.com/

Also, saw BOOM! You Win! again. Making great progress and loving it!

Cheers. Normal epsiode still on Sunday. This is a bonus because I love my listeners. Bye.

Episode 18 of Gaming Couch!

In DnD, combat and roleplaying are equally important. If the game you are running has both it is important to find a way to balance it for the players. How can you keep everyone engaged with what is going on in the world, whether they are fighting or not?

I started playing in a campaign that my friend started up as a first time GM. And to keep myself involved at all times I decided to play a Flirty Gunslinger (Fighter Archtype). Now we have sessions where I am pretty much flirting with every women I see and then shooting at everything in dungeons. Makes for a very halirous story! It also keeps both myself and the GM invested in what is going on and engaged with it. Definitly something to learn from it.

Incase you wanted it for your own adventures:

The Gunpowder Codex, homebrewed 5th edition rules for guns: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hn5s2xv1R3qnFCXSlBXM9hONQdAIqIXD/view?usp=sharing

Gunslinger Archtype for Fighters: https://img.fireden.net/tg/image/1452/63/1452630054565.pdf

Enjoy!