Plot Points

What happens when someone who has never seen an episode of Star Trek sits down to play a Star Trek role-playing game?

The Plot Points gang sets out to discover the answer, joined by friend of show Ryan Smith and celebrity gamer Elyse Hobson. While a bone-deep geek, and award-winning Pathfinder player, Elyse has managed to live her entire life never having seen an episode of Star Trek! But that doesn't stop her from taking on the role of Commander Riker in "Border Dispute", an adventure for Modiphius Entertainment's Star Trek Adventures role-playing game.

New to Plot Points? We're the podcast that looks at RPGs as literature, and if you like Star Trek, you should check out our prior episode on Modiphius's game here. 

Plot Points regulars! If you like this actual play, back the 'pod to get more! If we reach $110 per episode by May 31st, we'll do another actual play, patrons choice! Back the 'pod here!

To let us know what you think about this episode, email us at [email protected]!

Thanks to 50 Breaks for the use of their music.

Image courtesy Modiphius Entertainment.

  

 

It broke the internet when Paizo announced a 2nd edition of the beloved behemoth that is the Pathfinder role-playing game, and your friends at Plot Points were interested too! So they went down to scenic and historic Lake Geneva to record what turned out to be an entire seminar by Paizo pundits Jason Buhlman and Stephen Radney-Macfarland on what we can expect in a second edition!  

New to Plot Points? Check out some of our earlier discussions of Pathfinder's We Be Goblins! in a two part episode with part 1 here and part 2 here! We also covered The Phantom Phenomenon in another two part episode with part 1 here and part 2 here.

Thanks listeners for the success of our Patreon! We reached our goal of $75 per episode, and we'll put together an actual play episode of us playing Star Trek Adventures which we talked about in Ep. 96. 

Find us at [email protected] or @PlotPointsPod on Twitter!

Thanks to 50 Breaks for the use of their music.

Image courtesy Paizo Publishing. 

Ben recorded a seminar wherein six game designers who worked on Dungeons and Dragons (Skip Williams, Jon Pickens, Zeb Cook, Ed Stark, Steve Winter, and Mike Mearls) talk about game design. During the talk, current lead designer Mike Mearls may very well have let slip what the next classic D&D game world he will be reviving next! 

New to Plot Points? Check out our first episode which discussed the seminal AD&D module, Ravenloft. Listen to an interview with Tracy and Laura Hickman here, a discussion of Curse of Strahd here, and our look at Eberron here.

Thanks listeners for the success of our Patreon! We reached our goal of $75 per episode, and we'll put together an actual play episode of us playing Star Trek Adventures which we talked about in Ep. 96.  

Find us at [email protected] or @PlotPointsPod on Twitter!

Thanks to 50 Breaks for the use of their music.

Feature image by Larry Elmore and courtesy Wizards of the Coast.

  

Ben, Brad, and Sarah ask, as we come up on 100 episodes, what makes Plot Point the show that it is. We also tackle our first ever question from Patron backer Sarah Ross, who wants to know where a listener to Plot Points should start with the show.

Speaking of Patreon, the 'cast has a Patreon now. If we reach $75 per episode by March 14th, we will produce an actual play podcast of Ben, Brad, and Sarah playing Star Trek Adventures which we talked about in Ep. 96.  

Find us at [email protected] or @PlotPointsPod on Twitter!

Thanks to 50 Breaks for the use of their music.

Image courtesy Johnny Shaman and is in the public domain. 

Ben, Brad, & Sarah talk about Star Trek Adventures, the new game set in the final frontier from Modiphius Entertainment! The gang takes a deep dive on "Rescue at Xerxes IV," the adventure meant to introduce newbies of all stripes to the game. 

Did you know that Plot Points now has a Patreon page? If the podcast gets to $75 per episode by March 14th, the gang will make an actual play podcast of Star Trek Adventures. Back the 'cast to make sure you get more Plot Points!

Find us at [email protected] or @PlotPointsPod on Twitter!

Thanks to 50 Breaks for the use of their music.

Image courtesy Modiphius Entertainment.

 

Writer Rick Heinz was kind enough to invite Ben to participate in his seminar on how not to suck at storytelling. Along with him is storyteller Jason Williams. 

Ben and Rick get into it a little bit, to the delight of all!

Did you know that Plot Points now has a Patreon page? Back the 'cast to make sure you get more Plot Points!

Find us at [email protected] or @PlotPointsPod on Twitter!

 

Image courtesy Spc. Anthony Zane and is in the public domain. 

 

 

Ben has been tormenting himself with the following question: Why aren't there better adventures out there? Even great games often only have mediocre adventures. This has led him to a theory of RPGs entitled "Encounter Theory." He discusses it in this trenchant episode. 

Plot Points now has a Patreon! Support the show, and you'll get more Plot Points!

You might also get NPR-style episodes, like this one!

Ben's writing a book about the sale of TSR to Wizards of the Coast, and Brad and Sarah ask him about it. He talks about how the artist, Gerald Brom, found work at TSR in the late 1980s.

Tales from the Loop from Free League and Modiphius Entertainment is a role-playing game of children and teens exploring high science mysteries. Originally published in Swedish, the game was translated by Modiphius with new material set in the USA written by genius Matt Forbeck.

Brad, Ben, and Sarah talk over their favorite releases of 2017. Some are brand spanking fresh, some we've talked over before, but we are excited as hell for all of them.

Bran wants you to know you can listen to our episode about My Little Pony here, and Cthulhu Confidential here.