Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff

In the Gaming Hut we mull the process of scenario writing, specifically the differences between writing first, or playing first.

Backer Fred Kiesche takes advantage of his Patreon priveleges in Ask Ken and Robin, seeking deeper info on Ken’s current 13th Age campaign, Poikila Hellenistika.

We take our seats in the Cinema Hut to reel off a mere smattering of our favorite character actors of the classic Hollywood studio era.

Finally in Ken’s Time Machine Patreon backer Rich Ranallo demands details on our resident chrono-agent’s involvement in Grover Cleveland’s secret nautical surgery.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

In Atlas Games’ wickedly different cooperative deck-building game Witches of the Revolution, you and your doughty coven fight the American Revolution the way it was really fought: with spells aplenty! Resurrect Ben Franklin, cure Paul Revere of lycanthropy and keep those red-coated witch hunters at bay.

It wasn’t on the maps. No one talked about it. But now you live there. Cthulhu City. Where the mayor goes everywhere with twin sacred jaguars, and the chief of police blinks at your with fishy eyes. Where the cultists run city hall and the investigators are hunted criminals. Cthulhu City, the new Trail of Cthulhu sourcebook from Pelgrane Press, by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan.

In Highway Holocaust you are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. Defend this fragile convoy from H.A.V.O.C. bikers with this exclusive hardcover (with dust jacket and book ribbons), the first choose-your-own-adventure-gamebook in Joe Dever’s post apocalyptic series. From the fine folks at FENIX, now available from Modiphius.

With your Handlers Guide already at your side, it’s time to assemble some operations to spiral your Delta Green operatives into paranoia and Mythos horror. Delta Green: A Night at the Opera features six terrifying adventures from the conspiratorial minds of Dennis Detwiller, Shane Ivey, and Greg Stolze. Preorder before it’s desperately too late!

It’s 2018 and we’re back, starting as usual in the Gaming Hut. Within its cozy confines we answer a question from a mystery backer on achieving genuine emotional investment in roleplaying.

The History Hut unfolds its secret plans at the behest of Patreon backer Antti Elomaa, who wants to know why military operations have such evocative names.

The Narrative Hut looks at the evolution of the American anti-hero from the 30s to today.

Finally, backer Tim Vert checks in with the Consulting Occultist on the status of a possible eclipse child.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

In Atlas Games’ wickedly different cooperative deck-building game Witches of the Revolution, you and your doughty coven fight the American Revolution the way it was really fought: with spells aplenty! Resurrect Ben Franklin, cure Paul Revere of lycanthropy and keep those red-coated witch hunters at bay.

It wasn’t on the maps. No one talked about it. But now you live there. Cthulhu City. Where the mayor goes everywhere with twin sacred jaguars, and the chief of police blinks at your with fishy eyes. Where the cultists run city hall and the investigators are hunted criminals. Cthulhu City, the new Trail of Cthulhu sourcebook from Pelgrane Press, by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan.

For decades Tove Gillbring of Askfageln has been a beacon of Swedish gaming. Now her cancer has returned, and she’s determined to focus the rest of her life on an ultimate burst of creative fireworks. Help her husband Anders make that happen by supporting the LOVE TOVE crowdfunding campaign. Please note that the campaign moved to GoFundMe after this episode was recorded.

Delta Green Game Moderators, take heart! Reinforcements have arrived in the form of the Delta Green Handler’s Guide from Arc Dream Publishing, bursting with operational details, threats and eldritch history to keep your players locked, loaded, and terrified.

Our final episode of 2017 arrives with bells a-jangling in the form of our traditional live show from Dragonmeet. Learn about Stalin and Atlantis, what elements of our work we think other designers have picked up on, which beverages go with which iterations of a beloved nerd franchise, why Nazis are stupid, and much much more.

We’ll be back on January 5th with our first episode of 2018.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

In Atlas Games’ wickedly different cooperative deck-building game Witches of the Revolution, you and your doughty coven fight the American Revolution the way it was really fought: with spells aplenty! Resurrect Ben Franklin, cure Paul Revere of lycanthropy and keep those red-coated witch hunters at bay.

Sink your fangs into an amazing deal as the Dracula Dossier haunts the Bundle of Holding. This bargain is so unbelievable that it can’t see itself in the mirror, and ends on December 27th!

For decades Tove Gillbring of Askfageln has been a beacon of Swedish gaming. Now her cancer has returned, and she’s determined to focus the rest of her life on an ultimate burst of creative fireworks. Help her husband Anders make that happen by supporting the LOVE TOVE crowdfunding campaign. Please note that the campaign moved to GoFundMe after this episode was recorded.

Delta Green Game Moderators, take heart! Reinforcements have arrived in the form of the Delta Green Handler’s Guide from Arc Dream Publishing, bursting with operational details, threats and eldritch history to keep your players locked, loaded, and terrified.

Our throats showing the wear of travel to that most lurghy-inducing of wonderlands, we issue a Travel Advisory on Dragonmeet and the Modigliani show at the Tate Modern in London.

In the Gaming Hut we compare and contrast two ways of structuring mystery scenarios: Robin’s Maze of Clues and Ken’s Ocean of Clues.

Longtime listeners are already bracing themselves for what comes next. The fall of the British pound places a heavy burden on the structural integrity of Ken’s Bookshelf, as he comes back laden with treasures from Treadwell’s, Foyle’s, and the Tate gift shop.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

In Atlas Games’ wickedly different cooperative deck-building game Witches of the Revolution, you and your doughty coven fight the American Revolution the way it was really fought: with spells aplenty! Resurrect Ben Franklin, cure Paul Revere of lycanthropy and keep those red-coated witch hunters at bay.

Sink your fangs into an amazing deal as the Dracula Dossier haunts the Bundle of Holding. This bargain is so unbelievable that it can’t see itself in the mirror, and ends on December 27th!

For decades Tove Gillbring of Askfageln has been a beacon of Swedish gaming. Now her cancer has returned, and she’s determined to focus the rest of her life on an ultimate burst of creative fireworks. Help her husband Anders make that happen by supporting the LOVE TOVE crowdfunding campaign.

Delta Green Game Moderators, take heart! Reinforcements have arrived in the form of the Delta Green Handler’s Guide from Arc Dream Publishing, bursting with operational details, threats and eldritch history to keep your players locked, loaded, and terrified.

Hey, it’s an all-request episode!

Patreon backer Joshua Trowbridge entreats us in the Gaming Hut to return to a perennial puzzler: how to convince change-averse players to try the awesome new thing you want to run for them.

Patreon backer Josh Mannon summons us to the Cartography Hut, to explain that hole where the Kong Mountains used to be.

In Ask Ken and Robin Patreon backer Adam Grotjohn asks Ken and Robin if roleplaying games could be used to teach criminological procedure.

And finally Patreon backer Rick Neal has been hanging out next to Ken’s Time Machine, wanting to know why Time Inc. needed Kaspar Hauser dead.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

In Atlas Games’ wickedly different cooperative deck-building game Witches of the Revolution, you and your doughty coven fight the American Revolution the way it was really fought: with spells aplenty! Resurrect Ben Franklin, cure Paul Revere of lycanthropy and keep those red-coated witch hunters at bay.

The book has been written.The book has been read. Now it rewrites you. Across time it spreads, creating dread new realities. And you’re in all of them. Robin’s epic new GUMSHOE project, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game has concluded its Kickstarter run, but is now available for pre-order at the Pelgrane Store for those who missed it.

In Highway Holocaust you are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. Defend this fragile convoy from H.A.V.O.C. bikers with this exclusive hardcover (with dust jacket and book ribbons), the first choose-your-own-adventure-gamebook in Joe Dever’s post apocalyptic series. From the fine folks at FENIX, now available from Modiphius.

Delta Green Game Moderators, take heart! Reinforcements have arrived in the form of the Delta Green Handler’s Guide from Arc Dream Publishing, bursting with operational details, threats and eldritch history to keep your players locked, loaded, and terrified.

Patreon backer Doc Cross pulls his satin bell-cord to summon us to the Gaming Hut to mull the droll possibilities of P. G. Wodehouse gaming.

In the Tradecraft Hut we journey to the shadowy isle of Malta.

The Food Hut documents Robin’s conversion to the cult of Instant Pot.

And finally the Consulting Occultist fulfills the request of Patreon backer Paul by filling us in on the witches of Chiloe.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

In Atlas Games’ wickedly different cooperative deck-building game Witches of the Revolution, you and your doughty coven fight the American Revolution the way it was really fought: with spells aplenty! Resurrect Ben Franklin, cure Paul Revere of lycanthropy and keep those red-coated witch hunters at bay.

The book has been written.The book has been read. Now it rewrites you. Across time it spreads, creating dread new realities. And you’re in all of them. Robin’s epic new GUMSHOE project, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game has concluded its Kickstarter run, but is now available for pre-order at the Pelgrane Store for those who missed it.

In Highway Holocaust you are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. Defend this fragile convoy from H.A.V.O.C. bikers with this exclusive hardcover (with dust jacket and book ribbons), the first choose-your-own-adventure-gamebook in Joe Dever’s post apocalyptic series. From the fine folks at FENIX, now available from Modiphius.

Delta Green Game Moderators, take heart! Reinforcements have arrived in the form of the Delta Green Handler’s Guide from Arc Dream Publishing, bursting with operational details, threats and eldritch history to keep your players locked, loaded, and terrified.

We’ve installed additional measures in the Gaming Hut to discuss security camera surveillance and how to stop it from wrecking your mystery plots.

Jump scares await in the Horror Hut as we look at the bogeyman and his pals, the evil spirits.

In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, we chat with marketing guru and game designer Wade Rockett.

Which leads us to Ken’s Time Machine and a question from Patreon backer Derek Upham, who wants to know about our chrono-protagonist’s role in causing the Egg Nog Riot.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

In Unknown Armies, Atlas Games’ modern-day, occult roleplaying game, you play the heroically broken people who conspire to fix the world. That conspiracy just got easier, with the arrival of the game on store shelves near you!

The book has been written.The book has been read. Now it rewrites you. Across time it spreads, creating dread new realities. And you’re in all of them. Robin’s epic new GUMSHOE project, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game has concluded its Kickstarter run, but is now available for pre-order at the Pelgrane Store for those who missed it.

In Highway Holocaust you are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. Defend this fragile convoy from H.A.V.O.C. bikers with this exclusive hardcover (with dust jacket and book ribbons), the first choose-your-own-adventure-gamebook in Joe Dever’s post apocalyptic series. From the fine folks at FENIX, now available from Modiphius.

Delta Green Game Moderators, take heart! Reinforcements have arrived in the form of the Delta Green Handler’s Guide from Arc Dream Publishing, bursting with operational details, threats and eldritch history to keep your players locked, loaded, and terrified.

Make sure your copy of this podcast has been properly authenticated, preferably by a person in a pointy hat, as the Gaming Hut looks at forgery in worlds with truth magic.

Get your drama on in How to Write Good as we make sure that your scenes of interaction further the plot, instead of merely commenting on the action.

Then once more run your vicarious paws over the latest acquisitions to adorn Ken’s Bookshelf. Yes, our hero has been to Powell’s again and has the loot to show for it.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

In Unknown Armies, Atlas Games’ modern-day, occult roleplaying game, you play the heroically broken people who conspire to fix the world. That conspiracy just got easier, with the arrival of the game on store shelves near you!

The book has been written.The book has been read. Now it rewrites you. Across time it spreads, creating dread new realities. And you’re in all of them. Robin’s epic new GUMSHOE project, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game has concluded its Kickstarter run, but is now available for pre-order at the Pelgrane Store for those who missed it.

In Highway Holocaust you are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. Defend this fragile convoy from H.A.V.O.C. bikers with this exclusive hardcover (with dust jacket and book ribbons), the first choose-your-own-adventure-gamebook in Joe Dever’s post apocalyptic series. From the fine folks at FENIX, now available from Modiphius.

Delta Green Game Moderators, take heart! Reinforcements have arrived in the form of the Delta Green Handler’s Guide from Arc Dream Publishing, bursting with operational details, threats and eldritch history to keep your players locked, loaded, and terrified.

Gather in the Gaming Hut but keep an eye on who might be creeping up on you with a knife or candlestick as we riff a cast of murder suspects.

Ken then meets you in the Cinema Hut to report on what he saw at this year’s Chicago Film Festival.

In Ask Ken and Robin, Patreon backer Aaron Sapp wants to know how Ken’s famously anti-vampire views square with his work on Vampire 5th Edition.

We end on a Gallic switcheroo as Robin dons the mantle of Consulting Occultist to fulfill a request from Patreon backer Paul to talk about the Rosicrucian magician Josephin Peladan. Watch for his appearance in The Yellow King Roleplaying Game.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

In Unknown Armies, Atlas Games’ modern-day, occult roleplaying game, you play the heroically broken people who conspire to fix the world. That conspiracy just got easier, with the arrival of the game on store shelves near you!

The book has been written.The book has been read. Now it rewrites you. Across time it spreads, creating dread new realities. And you’re in all of them. Robin’s epic new GUMSHOE project, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game has concluded its Kickstarter run, but is now available for pre-order at the Pelgrane Store for those who missed it.

In Highway Holocaust you are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. Defend this fragile convoy from H.A.V.O.C. bikers with this exclusive hardcover (with dust jacket and book ribbons), the first choose-your-own-adventure-gamebook in Joe Dever’s post apocalyptic series. From the fine folks at FENIX, now available from Modiphius.

Delta Green Game Moderators, take heart! Reinforcements have arrived in the form of the Delta Green Handler’s Guide from Arc Dream Publishing, bursting with operational details, threats and eldritch history to keep your players locked, loaded, and terrified.

Evade lasting shame by joining us for tea and scones in the Gaming Hut, where Patreon backer Tom Abella asks us to riff on the subject of social spirals.

Sneak into the Tradecraft Hut for a look back at the career of WWII spy Jeanne Rousseau.

Ken has oft-spoken of the dire Bochcoization. Now Robin turns on the Television Hut to alert all and sundry to its heir, the inexorable Abramsification.

Finally the Eliptony Hut goes cigar-shaped as it unearths the shattering truth behind the Aurora Airship Crash.

Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!

Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.

In Unknown Armies, Atlas Games’ modern-day, occult roleplaying game, you play the heroically broken people who conspire to fix the world. That conspiracy just got easier, with the arrival of the game on store shelves near you!

The book has been written.The book has been read. Now it rewrites you. Across time it spreads, creating dread new realities. And you’re in all of them. Robin’s epic new GUMSHOE project, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game has concluded its Kickstarter run, but is now available for pre-order at the Pelgrane Store for those who missed it.

In Highway Holocaust you are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. Defend this fragile convoy from H.A.V.O.C. bikers with this exclusive hardcover (with dust jacket and book ribbons), the first choose-your-own-adventure-gamebook in Joe Dever’s post apocalyptic series. From the fine folks at FENIX, now available from Modiphius.

John Scott Tynes’ Puppetland is ready to knock the stuffing out of a game store near you in its gorgeous new full-color hardcover edition. Join the good folks at Arc Dream in battling the horrific forces of Punch the Maker-Killer!