Panda's Talking Games

CONTENT WARNING: This episode is specifically a discussion of your ongoing game when one of your players has passed away. For tips on rearranging groups or when a player leaves, check out Episode 41 (Missing Players) or Episode 69 (Should I Stay or Should I Go?). If this topic feels too heavy, we’ll catch you next week!

Show us how you manage your game when your game is mixed up with the loss of a friend. Phil and Senda throw out some ideas about things you may want to consider. Neither of us are experts, so please pick and choose anything that feels right for you in this situation!

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

Show us how you handle relationship disasters in games — whether between PCs or with NPCs! Phil and Senda talk disaster relationships, the axis on which you can slide some of the controls, and how to approach them to make sure they are and remain fun.

We are back from our one week accidental hiatus — Senda came down with a nasty cold and wasn’t able to edit the show last week after we’d recorded! The good news: we are now working with an actual buffer, so hopefully we won’t have dropped episodes in the future. Here’s the show that we planned for you last week!

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

Join Phil and Senda for a quick chit chat! Yes, life got away from us again. As usual for our chit chats, we’re talking what’s giving us life in gaming and outside of gaming.

Phil:

Gaming – pacing in games

Outside of Gaming – G.I. Joe

Senda:

Gaming – character motives/making the character on paper real at the table

Outside of Gaming – The Midnight Lie and The Hollow Heart by Marie Rutkoski

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

CONTENT WARNING: discussion of alcohol and adult substances with mentions of substance abuse.

Show us how you deal with adult substances at your table! Phil and Senda talk about table behavior expectations, and some ideas about how to make sure they’re aligned to hopefully avoid or resolve any issues. A strong note, although we said it in the episode as well: we can only speak from personal experience on this one, not professional expertise — and always, always, if you are not safe in a situation, please get out if you can instead of trying to implement a fix.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

Show us how you get into character for the first time! Phil and Senda talk about some ways to approach that awkward first set up when you are trying to bring a character out for the first time, before you’ve ever had them interact with anyone else before.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

Show us how you start your game, and how you end your game, and how you — well, let’s just talk about table rituals! Phil and Senda chat (at a pretty high level) about rituals at your table (as players, not in game or religious) and how they work in our own groups. For a much more expert look at rituals around playing and designing games, we’d highly recommend you check out Meguey Baker’s post on it!

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

Show us how you manage knowledge imbalance when a player at your table knows more about a setting or situation than you do! Or really, let’s have a conversation about it, shall we?

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

Show us how you wrap up year 6! Our podcast is getting old, just like Phil (Happy birthday, Phil)! On today’s episode, we do a quick recap of year 6, including our three favorite episodes, and where we think we’re going next.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

Show us how you do a mini campaign (vs. a full campaign or a one shot)! Phil and Senda talk mini campaigns, arbitrarily numbered at 3-8 sessions. Or 9. Because math.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

Show us how you drive your game — is it story based or do the characters make it happen? Phil and Senda talk story driven vs. character driven games, and while the concept is not new, we’re newly adding the definition to our lexicon so that we can tackle a question about mini campaigns next week!

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com