GamingPerspectives

     Bonus Episode, an interview of Dave and Matthew from the Effekt of podcast.  Saul and Jolene interview the very likeable chaps from the UK.  Not only do they have a very successful podcast called the Effekt podcast which mainly deals with Swedish RPGs but they discuss all kinds of RPG topics.   They also have been working on a gritty, Western RPG called Tales of the Old West using a version of Free League's Year Zero system.  Their Kickstarter will launch in early September.

    They have a very well done quickstart guide they call their Quick Draw guide.  You can find it here:

    https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/480951/tales-of-the-old-west-quickdraw

    Please check out their KS pre-launch page to sign up to get notified as soon as the Kickstarter launches in early September.

    Here is the Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/effekt/tales-of-the-old-west

     If you want to check out the Actual Play of Tales of the Old West:

https://www.effektap.org/

      For the regular Effekt podcast here is the link:

https://www.effektpodcast.org/

   As Always Thanks for Listening

    Thank you all for Listening

         Saul and Jolene were discussing the Sanity stat in CoC and if any other RPGs used some sort of Sanity stat in games.  

    Music by Nick Andrew, song Sanity

     This episode came about when Saul was reading Reddit Posts and came across the question of what was more important in a RPG, Mechanics or Setting.  Saul noticed many posts that sided with the idea that it was "mechanics" that was more important one of the two.  A few chose setting but they were largely outnumbered by those that thought mechanics were  more important in RPGs.

     Web Art by Jim Foster

      Music by Reno Project,  song System.

      Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0

Jolene read a post from a father of three young daughters who he wanted to run a roleplaying game for but one daughter was very adverse to combat and violence.  Jolene talked to Saul about the post and they discussed the various games they had run for very young and new RPGers.   When their son was young, Saul regularly ran games at local con for kids.  From D&D to Gamma World,  Saul ran "kids" games at con for several years.  Jolene has run games for her son and his friends at home.  She also has run games at local Northern California game cons.

    Thank you all for Listening

    Music by Roland Zimmerman, song  Peacable Milieu

     Saul and Jolene have run and been in various RPGs where planning took place from the simple to the complex.   Saul and Jolene were talking about why certain RPG games, adventures and players tend make plans to deal with situations in RPGs.

     From games like Shandowrun and Cyberpunk to good ole D&D gamers make plans.  Some games players are just inclined to make complex plans such as Shadowrun, Twilight 2000 and others.  These games where players plan also tend to be very lethal.  After their discussion Saul and Jolene decided to do this episode.

    Music by Max Miecchi, song Plan B, off the album Album d Max

          Saul and Jolene were talking about the various Science Fiction RPGs that they had played and GMed.  Saul was talking about his favorite ones and asked Jolene about her favorite Sci-Fi Rpg.  They discussed how the different rules worked for and against liking the various Science Fiction themed RPGs. 

    Music by Joseph Kimbrell, song Jupiter

          Some RPGs try to mimic things in the real world, things from movies books,  and even things that the author remembers.  These things are then added to their RPG as an in game mechanic that really sets that RPG apart from other games.  Saul and Jolene discuss their favorite game mechanics that really make the RPG stand out.

    Music by Kid Attractions, song Mechanical Bull Sale

          Jolene came across a post on Reddit of a new GM asked a question about how emotionally invested other GMs are in their creations for their games.  From NPCs, to actual towns and villages do GMs care about Towns and it's inhabitants.  

    Music by Backyard Dreaming,  song Emotional Connection

A popular way to start out an adventure or campaign is "in media res".   Though most RPG games start off with a common scene of the Tavern or Pub.   This in the beginning type of start is what most gamers know.  Another way is to put the characters in a stressfull situcation from the beginning.  One common way of doing this is the "your all in prison" beginning.  

    Thank you all for Listening

    Music by Keith Hiemericks, song Folsom Prison Blues. 

       The idea of cursed items comes from the very beginnings of RPGs.  Even the Original D&D had a list of cursed items that you could give away to the characters in their treasure loot.   The question is why would a character ever take something that is cursed.  From simple to powerful items many players are willing to risk the chances of touching or using a cursed item because of some perceived benefit for their character.

    Music by Chris Munro, song The Curse

Used Under the Creative Commons License 3.0