After answering a short, fun, and humorous Patreon backer question, Grant and Peter dig into one of the most fascinating, important, and gameable events in all of church history: the First Council of Nicaea. In addition to establishing a lot of church orthodoxy that has lasted to the present day, it also gave us the Nicene Creed, and it was a unique and fascinating event in the history of the world.

Note: Listeners wanting full context for this episode should listen to Episode 89, "Arianism" first, as it provides a lot of the background for the events we cover in this episode.

Links:

Scripture: Isaiah 40:12, John 1:1-5

Grant and Peter Tackle an interesting Patreon supporter question about sandbox games and then move in to the very meaty and historically-important topic of Arianianism, a Christological heresy named after a guy who didn't come up with it, and also responsible for the first council of Nicea.

Links: Our Patreon page, Episode 70: Adoptionism and Ebionism

Scirpture: Proverbs 8:22-23, 1 Corinthians 8:5-6

Rev. Chris Ode joins Peter and Grant in a very personal episode this week! Chris is a Lutheran pastor, and an actor and religious consultant for Zombie Orpheus Entertainment. We cover a lot of ground in this discussion, including: Zombie Orpheus's new project, "Attacking the Darkness" (Kickstarting now!); ZOE's "Dark Dungeons" movie (an adaptation of the original anti-D&D Chick tract); the lingering effects of Dark Dungeons and other anti-RPG material on the Church, gamers, and gaming; scapegoating; and our own Patreon campaign. (We're on Patreon now—check out the video for more information!)

Also mentioned in passing:

Scripture: Isaiah 44:22, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Ephesians 4:31-32

Grant and Peter take a few moments to catch up on-air, and then discuss two exciting upcoming projects, Game to Grow and our upcoming Patreon campaign, before discussing a surprisingly meaty topic: Healing and Injury. The discussion that follows touches on both the gaming-related and spiritual aspects of healing and injury and also discusses why you should be sure to remember that hospitals exist as more than just hit point dispensers in your games.

Links:

Game to Grow

Gameable Pixar Podcast

John Q

Spoon Theory

Scripture: Isaiah 58:11, Matthew 11:2-6, Luke 14:1-6

Grant and Peter discuss Peter's new job, Grant's new hobby, and the impact those sorts of life changes and callings can change the inner lives of your characters, how they can be reflected (or not) mechanically, and how they can affect the way your game progresses.

Links:

One Shot's Tenra Bansho Zero (episode 1)

Tenra Bansho Zero

Bob Ross Official YouTube Channel

Scripture: 2 Samuel 5:5-8, Matthew 4:18-22

Former Methodist minister and current Wizards of the Coast writer James Wyatt joins us to talk about designing pantheons for fantasy settings! James is a long-time D&D writer with a multitude of major credits, and he's currently writing for the Magic: the Gathering creative team. That experience shows in this conversation, which covers the qualities of well-designed pantheons, their essential natures, and a multitude of design details relevant to your campaign world. We also talk about Shadows Over Innistrad and "The Lunarch Inquisition", James's recent story set there; Plane Shift: Zendikar, which turns that Magic: the Gathering setting into a home for D&D 5th Edition adventures; the paradox of the Cross; our first "gaming curriculum" episode; and Thursten. We talk a lot about Thursten. Enjoy!

Scripture: Deuteronomy 10:17, Job 4:15-17, Acts 17:22-26

Grant and Peter discuss the root causes of some common GM problems such as over- or under- prepping, de-protagonizing, and issues with detail and offer their advice on how to address them.

Scripture: Proverbs 28:16, 2 Timothy 2:2

Author and game designer Greg Stolze joins Grant and Peter to talk about Unknown Armies 3rd Edition, its Kickstarter, some of his other work, and personal-scale horror stories! We spend a lot of time talking about Unknown Armies—practically the whole episode, really—and Greg had plenty to say about personal horror and how Unknown Armies reflects that. In particular, we talk about how this sort of horror differs from the "cosmic horror" currently in vogue; how relationships can matter more in personal horror; stress and horror; and more. Enjoy!

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Unknown Armies 3rd Edition Kickstarter campaign (wraps up April 29th)

Scripture: Job 38:4-7, John 15:13, Colossians 3:23-25, Romans 3:10

Not much in the way of news this week, so Grant and Peter get almost straight into the topic: diaspora, the scattering of a people from a common homeland and their desire to return. We discuss what, exactly makes a diaspora and how it can be used for world and character building.

Links:

Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff #129

The Crooked Ladder

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 36:20, Psalm 147:2-4, John 7:33-36, 1 Peter 1:1-2

Grant's second child is here and everybody is doing well!

Grant and Peter discuss some recent news, including Gamerati's taking over of RPGpodcasts.com (a very good thing) and the upcoming Tavern Con and Electric City Comic Con, then get down to discussing the main topic: fear in RPGs. A lot of gaming groups have trouble handling fear in-game. Grant and Peter discuss some common reasons for the trouble and offer a number of potential solutions.

Links:

Tavern Con (no official link yet)

Episode 45 - Unity vs. Uniformity (With Ed Healy)

Stardew Valley

Electric City Comic Con

Gameable Pixar Podcast, Bonus episode 33: The Corpse Bride

Games Store Prophets Bonus Content: Darkest Dungeon

Scripture: Proverbs 9:10, Matthew 10:26-31, John 16:33, Luke 2:10