Side Passages

Our group of wastelanders (and one former Vault dwelling weapons tester) defend the fortified town of Covenant from raiders in the latest chapter of our Fallout 2d20 Actual Play campaign. The raiders defeated, the group gains access to Covenant, where they uncover rumors about a ghoul named Thriftway dealing in slaves for the Enclave.

Fallout 2d20 Campaign Page: An overview of the campaign, plus links to episodes and related game resources.

Fallout 2d20 Resources: Links to community forums, wikis, rules, podcasts, and cheatsheets.

Chapters

0:00 - Intro: Welcome to the Wasteland1:00 - Raiders at the Gates: Defending Covenant4:30 - Entering Covenant: A Safe Haven or a Lie?9:45 - The Barter Extravaganza: Caps, Junk, and Haggling26:00 - The Junk Jet Temptation: A Heavy Investment31:30 - Thriftway’s Shadow: Raiders, Slavery, and the Enclave44:10 - The Alarm Sounds: Lars Returns, Badly Wounded50:15 - A Mission Forms: Tracking Thriftway and Saving the Girl1:03:30 - Outro: Next Stop – The Hunt Begins!

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Watch Fallout 2d20 Chapter 3: Rumors & Raiders on YouTube.

Show Notes

Raiders at the Gates – The team helps Covenant fend off a raider attack and earns the town’s trust.

Covenant’s Secrets – The town appears friendly, but there’s an undercurrent of unease, especially toward ghouls.

The Great Barter Session – A deep dive into Fallout’s economy as the group haggles for ammo, supplies, and a stealth module for Nurse 17.

The Junk Jet Temptation – Lucky Buck eyes a bizarre but deadly weapon.

A Growing Threat – The group hears rumors that the Enclave is buying slaves from Thriftway, but his location remains unknown.

A Sudden Attack – Lars, a local mechanic, returns badly injured, revealing that raiders took his daughter.

A New Mission – With a lead on Thriftway, the party gears up for a rescue operation.

Featured Image Meta

A raider base in Fallout 4. Credit: Bethesda.

Fallout 2d20 uses zones instead of conventional battle maps or theater of the mind to describe where your characters (and their enemies) are in the game world. In this episode, we talk about how Fallout zones work, offer advice on how to use them, and take a peak at some other games that use zones.

After fighting our way through the wasteland, we geek out about Alien: Isolation, the excellent survival horror game now available on the Switch, and the Foundry Virtual Table Top.

Fallout 2d20 Campaign Page: An overview of the campaign, plus links to episodes and related game resources.

Fallout 2d20 Resources: Links to community forums, wikis, rules, podcasts, and cheatsheets.

Chapters

0:00 Intro – Welcome to the Lair of Secrets1:00 What Are Fallout Zones?3:45 How Zones Improve Tactical Combat9:30 Obstacles, Cover & Hazards in Zone-Based Play15:20 Zone-Based Games – Fate, Shadowdark, Alien, and More19:45 Jump Scares - Playing ALIEN: Isolation in the Dark26:30 How Alien: Isolation Preps You for Running an Alien RPG31:10 David’s New Obsession: Foundry VTT34:50 Foundry vs. Roll20 – Which Virtual Tabletop is Better?37:45 Final Thoughts & Sign Off

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Watch Fallout Zones on YouTube.

Show Notes

Main Topic

Overview of zones in Fallout 2d20

What and why?

Abstract way of representing regions and distances in a game.

Half-way between battle map and theatre of the mind … sort of.

Great for RPGs featuring more abstract locales.

Lets you avoid infinite 5-foot-squares.

Fallout 2d20 zones

Reach - Arms reach (within close, but not an actual zone; minor action to close; confusing wording)

Close - Any distance within the zone you’re in.

Medium - Distance of one zone

Long - Distance of two zones

Extreme - Distance of three or more zones

How do they impact movement / weapons?

Difficult terrain: “A zone may be filled with difficult terrain, slowing anyone attempting to cross it.” Fallout 2d20 core rules (p. 38)

Obstacles are similar in that they hinder your movement, but they exist between zones—attempts to move from one zone to another where an obstacle is present may slow your progress.  Fallout 2d20 core rules (p. 38)

Hazards are parts of the environment that inflict damage to creatures caught in them. A hazard may be present in a specific zone, or it may be spread among multiple zones. Fallout 2d20 core rules (p. 39)

How to Represent Zones

Theater of the Mind

How far can you take it in theatre of the mind?

Visual Zones

Use index cards or draw out boxes representing zones. 

Battle Maps

Create your map. Draw lines on it indicating zones

Outside Example:

Zone 1: The near battlefield, on the shores of a stream.

Between zone 1 and 2: the stream that must be crossed

Zone 2: The field on the far side of the stream

Zone 3: A stand of broken boulders & battle tank

Zone 4: The edge of a forest. Hulks of buildings looms in the distance

Inside Example:

Zone 1: The Library

Zone 2: The Entrance Hallway

Zone 3: The Kitchen

Zone 4: The Basement

Zone 5: The Balcony and second for overlooking the dining room

Prior experience with zones in other systems

FATE

Index Card RPG

Professor DM / Dungeon Craft

Alien (Year Zero system)

Forbidden Lands

Adjacent

Shadowdark

Fallout scenarios we ran

The Lab (small scale zones)

Surface Fight (open range)

The Dungeon (larger, longer-range zones)

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages

Makes range more abstracted; in Cyberpunk RED, if I want to give the solo a chance to use his sniper or assault rifle skills, I probably need to scale up my map.

With zones, the distance gets abstracted … and the map doesn’t even need to exist.

Disadvantages

Breaks your brain a little.

Can be hard to conceptualize (particularly if you come from a minis-based game. 

Reach vs. Close

Building-as-a-zone vs. floors as a zone

Banter

ALIEN: Isolation

Released 10 years ago

And now it’s out for Switch!

How to play: On the sofa, in the near dark, with AirPods in.

FoundryVTT

My favorite so far

It has lived up to the hype I have heard from others

Easy to pick up and start running with

Very extensible

Featured Image Meta

The muddled background is the local map for Vault 88 in Fallout 4. Credit: Bethesda.

As our Fallout 2d20 Actual Play campaign continues, the party treks across the wasteland toward the settlement of Covenant. Along the way, they encounter dangers both grotesque and ridiculous, from gutting radioactive bugs for dinner to dodging their own teammates grenades.

And yeah, Steve's still trying to recover his prototype laser pistol from the bandit leader known as Thriftway...

Fallout 2d20 Campaign Page: An overview of the campaign, plus links to episodes and related game resources.

Fallout 2d20 Resources: Links to community forums, wikis, rules, podcasts, and cheatsheets.

Chapters

0:00 - Intro: Welcome Back to the Wasteland1:04 - Meet the Survivors: Ghoul Chemists, Security Officers, and a Nurse Handy3:15 - Scavenging, Cooking, and Campfire Debriefs7:40 - Lucky Buck’s (Un)fortunate Grenade Luck12:30 - Wasteland Travel & Gunfire in the Distance18:05 - Sneaking Into Trouble: Raiders at Covenant22:50 - Explosive Ambush: Baseball Grenades & Laser Blasts30:20 - The Last Stand: Raiders’ Final Moments37:45 - Covenant Welcomes the Survivors45:10 - What’s Next? The Mystery of Thriftway55:20 - Outro: Join Us Again in the Wasteland!

Listen to the Episode

Watch to the Episode

Watch Fallout 2d20 Chapter 2: Covenant Clash on YouTube.

Show Notes

Picking up from last time: The team emerges from their bloatfly battle at Taffington Boathouse, scavenging for supplies and making camp. Character Highlights:

Ghoulardi, the chem-crafting ghoul, prepares a fine (if unsettling) wasteland feast.

Steve NuGunnar, still haunted by the theft of his NewRay 3000, is determined to reclaim it from Thriftway.

Nurse 17 plays both den mother and war machine, tending to the team and disarming Lucky Buck in the most literal sense.

Lucky Buck, ever a source of accidental chaos, makes up for past grenade mishaps with a well-placed explosive.

Svenghoulie, the enigmatic wasteland ghoul, provides a Molotov cocktail mid-battle as a thoughtful gift.

Tense Wasteland Travel: Gunfire in the distance signals trouble near Covenant.

Raider Ambush at Covenant: The team executes a surprise attack, eliminating hostiles with a mix of precision, explosions, and mechanical saws.

A Welcome at Covenant: The settlement's guards thank the party for their assistance, allowing them entry.

On the Horizon: The mystery of Thriftway and his stolen tech looms large, promising more danger ahead.

Featured Image Meta

The town of Covenant, as depicted in Fallout 4. Credit: Bethesda.

On this episode, we delve far from the light to geek out about Shadowdark. The old-school-inspired RPG strips Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition to its essentials, and then adds in some modern sensibilities.

We talk about our favorite mechanics, how it's impacted our other games (looking at you D&D 5th Edition!), and our players' penchant for wandering off into the dark.

PLUS: Squishy wizards! Unlimited spells (if they don't kill you!) Morale failures! AND the upcoming Western Reaches Campaign Setting Kickstarter (link in the comments)

Chapters

0:00 - Intro: Straight into the ShadowDark1:30 - Rolling Old-School Attributes (3D6 in Order!)4:10 - The Darkness is Your Enemy: Why Light Matters7:30 - Inventory Tetris: The Beauty of Gear Slots10:00 - Squishy Wizards and the Horror of 1 HP13:00 - No XP for Combat? Time to Get Creative15:20 - Skills? Where we're going, we don't need skills!18:00 - Morale Checks: Making Enemies Run in Fear20:30 - Unlimited Spells (But at What Cost?)23:00 - Clerical Penance: Displease Your God and Suffer26:00 - Rolling on the Chaos Tables: Why Randomness is Fun28:40 - Limited Rules, Maximum Improv31:00 - Excited for Western Reaches—More ShadowDark Content!32:30 - Final Thoughts & Where to Find Us Online

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Watch d12 Ways ShadowDark is Awesome! on YouTube

Show Notes

Old School Attributes.

Roll 3d6. In order. Re-roll if you all your stats are under 14, re-roll.

No one can see in the dark

But the monsters can.

Where do the monsters lurk?

Gear Slots

Carry a number of items equal to your STR stat or 10.

All gear besides typical clothing fills one gear slot.

Gear that is hard to transport might fill more than one slot.

Squishy heroes

A wizard with 3 hit points? Good luck.

Skills

Easy? You do it.

(It’s infectious … started doing that in D&D too)

Hard? You roll?

Something make it easier? Advantage, Harder? Disadvantage

Morale

Enemies who are reduced to half their number (or half their hit points for a solo enemy) flee if they fail a DC 15 Wisdom check. 

Large Groups. Make one check using the leader's WIS modifier.

Throwback to old school D&D

Your spells can kill you

Dare to roll on the spell failure charts

Magic missile bathes you in purple light?

Unlimited Spells

Just. Keep. Casting.

But do you risk it

Clerical Penance

Inadequate or subversive penance (such as donating your sacrifice to a party member) only displeases your deity further and makes the spell loss permanent.

Embrace the Random

Talents depend on a die, not choice

Limited rules. Maximum improv.

Stripped down version of 5e removes a lot of the game’s specific rules.

Improvise when the specific is needed.

The rules system can fit in your head once you play it enough

It’s in the Goldilocks zone of size

The Western Reaches Kickstarter!

Shadowdark RPG: The Western Reaches Setting

ShadowDark Quickstart

Shadowdark RPG Quickstart Set (PDF)

We kickoff our Fallout 2d20 campaign with the protagonists (not sure we can call them "heroes" just yet) waking up in the Wasteland.

Fallout 2d20 Campaign Page: An overview of the campaign, plus links to episodes and related game resources.

Chapters

0:00 - Intro & Audio Shenanigans3:15 - Meet the Survivors8:40 - Escape from the Hospital Basement14:55 - Reg the Super Mutant Chef22:10 - Journey Through the Wasteland29:30 - EyeBot Encounters & Enclave Paranoia35:50 - The Boathouse Discovery42:15 - Bloatfly Swarm Attack!49:40 - Lucky Buck’s Unfortunate Grenade Fumble55:20 - Steve Learns About Boats & Water1:02:45 - Looting the Boathouse & Finding the Note1:10:30 - What’s the Deal with Thriftway?1:18:15 - Closing Thoughts & What’s Next

Listen to the Episode

Watch to the Episode

Watch Fallout 2d20 Chapter 1: Wasteland Wake-Up (S4E14) on YouTube.

Show Notes

Intro Banter & Setup: The team settles in, adjusting audio, discussing wildlife encounters, and reflecting on the horror of screech owls.

Meet the Survivors:

Ghoulardi – A grizzled ghoul with a quick wit.

Nurse 17 – A pre-war Nurse Handy bot obsessed with Goldfish crackers and proper nap times.

Steve NuGunnar – A Vault-Tec security veteran, utterly baffled by surface life.

Lucky Buck – A shockingly lucky Brotherhood of Steel initiate with questionable grenade etiquette.

Cryogenic Awakening: The group escapes a hospital basement, encountering a radroach-dissecting super mutant chef named Reg, who warns them to leave before his kin arrive.

First Steps in the Wasteland: The survivors are joined by Svenghoulie, a ghoul carrying grenade-stuffed rubber chickens.

The Journey to Covenant Begins: Along the cracked highways, they dodge a suspicious EyeBot blaring patriotic music and explain the concept of boats to a bewildered Steve.

Bloatfly Brawl at the Boathouse: The team arrives at a seemingly abandoned boathouse, only to be swarmed by oversized, irradiated insects.

Lucky Buck’s Unlucky Grenade Incident: Attempting to clear the infestation, Buck fumbles a baseball grenade, obliterating the bloatflies—and nearly taking Steve with him.

Looting the Wreckage: The team scavenges supplies, discovering food, weapons, and a note pointing them toward Covenant and a mysterious Thriftway.

Closing Thoughts & Next Steps: The session ends with a healed-up Steve demanding answers about Thriftway, as the group prepares for what lies ahead.

Featured Image Meta

Cryo-chambers from Fallout 4. Credit: Bethesda.

Ken elaborates on the Attention Economy - how many things people need to keep track of - for D&D 2024, and how it differs from the 2014. (and yeah, this explains his initial reaction to the Blade Ward cantrip back in Episode 5).

He reviews the idea of the Action Economy (how many things a player can do in a round), how it relates to the Attention Economy (how many things a player needs to keep track of), and the implications for speed of play.

Chapters

0:00 - Intro – What is the Attention Economy?1:15 - Action Economy vs. Attention Economy2:45 - How D&D 5E Streamlined Play3:30 - High-Level Play and Complexity Challenges4:20 - D&D 2024 – Exciting or Overwhelming?5:10 - Final Thoughts & Experimenting with the New Rules

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Watch the Episode

Watch The D&D Attention Economy - Greyhawk '76 (Ep. 7) on YouTube.

Ken recaps his group's second session using the D&D 2024 rules, with specific looks at Blade Ward (spiffy spell, won't save you from critical) and Mastery (a character ability that unlocks special characteristics of weapons).

Chapters

0:00 - Welcome to Greyhawk '761:10 - The Burrow Boys Arrive: Ogres, Halflings, and a Goliath3:20 - Trickery and Tragedy: Illusions, Combat, and Critical Failures5:10 - The Standoff Turns Deadly: James Fairheight’s Fate7:00 - D&D 2024 Playtest: What We Learned

Listen to the Episode

Watch the Episode

Watch Enemy Mine - Greyhawk '76 (Ep. 6) on YouTube.

After venturing into the dark with only a torch to guide their way, the Campaigns & Coffee crew talks about their experiences playing the ShadowDark RPG (where they ARE very likely to be eaten by a grue).

They discuss the dungeon-delving, old-school-inspired game’s real-time torch mechanics, its focus on fast-paced and high-stakes decision-making. They also look at encumbrance (no, you can not bring a golf club bag's worth of weapons), spell mechanics, and the game's relentless tension.

Chapters

0:00 – Welcome1:00 – First Impressions of Shadowdark RPG3:05 – Torch Timer: Exciting or Stressful?5:36 – How Shadowdark Brings Back Old-School D&D8:11 – Minimal Planning, Maximum Action12:30 – Encumbrance: You Can’t Carry Everything!16:25 – Spells, Failures, and Magical Chaos18:00 – Fun (and Bad) Player Choices20:46 – The Overlord’s Healthcare Question22:06 – Outro and Final Thoughts

Listen to the Episode

Watch to the Episode

Watch Shadowdark Impressions (Campaigns & Coffee) on YouTube.

Show Notes

David’s Sunday RPG Sessions

Running Shattered Ark and diving into Shadowdark with friends.

First Impressions of Shadowdark

A game that balances intensity and relaxation, depending on playstyle.

Real-Time Mechanics

The torch timer creates urgency, making every decision count.

Roleplaying vs. Action

Less focus on deep character backstories, more on immediate problem-solving.

Using Foundry VTT

Learning the system while displaying maps on the big screen.

Dungeon Delving Emphasis

Shadowdark restores a classic Dungeons & Dragons dungeon-crawling feel.

Comparing to Older D&D Editions

Discussing how early D&D had more encounters and rest limitations.

Encumbrance Matters!

Inventory slots limit loot-hoarding, forcing strategic choices.

Spell System

Spells don’t disappear, but failed rolls can make them unusable or go awry.

Player Stories

Highlights of decision-making, torch anxiety, and unexpected survival.

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Cover art from the ShadowDark core rule book. Credit: The Arcane Library.

On this episode of Lair of Secrets, we present the our guide for new Game Masters, packed with advice, tips, and encouragement for those ready to take the GM seat. We explore choosing the right game, gathering players, preparing efficiently, and rolling with mistakes while ensuring a fun and engaging experience.

Chapter List

0:00 - Welcome to the Lair & GMing 1012:00 - Choosing the Right Game for You & Your Players5:00 - Prepping Smart: Rules, Research & Quickstart Guides8:30 - Finding & Pitching to Players11:45 - One-Shots vs. Campaigns: Starting with Low Commitment14:20 - Tools of the Trade: GM Kits & Digital vs. In-Person Play17:30 - Rolling with Mistakes & Improvising on the Fly20:15 - Setting Expectations & Managing Player Dynamics23:00 - Encouragement for New GMs & The GMUary Initiative25:10 - Closing Thoughts & Join the Lair Community!

Listen to the Episode

Watch to the Episode

Watch The Lair's Guide for New Game Masters (S4E13) on YouTube

Show Notes

Identify games you are interested in

Game that you’ve been playing?

A game you’ve had on your shelf and have been interested in?

Watch videos or listen to podcasts about those games.

Like say … Scum & Villainy or Cyberpunk RED actual plays here at the Lair :) 

Make the Pitch

Read the room and look for:

games that fit the players might like

Sense of whether they want a one shot or something extended

Offer to run one game

With the option to run more if you and the others like it

Offer to run a self-contained game

Fiasco

Honey Heist

Lasers & Feelings

Lady Blackbird

D&D Essentials Kit

Do a test run

Play the game at a convention

Get a feel for how the game is run

Try a solo adventure

See the Dragonbane boxed set and its solo adventure

Do a mini session with people excited for the game to

“kick the tires” of the rules

get used to being the GM

figure out the virtual game table as the GM

What’s your minimal viable game as a new Game Master

Run a one shot

That one shot means there isn’t a long commitment

The one shot can turn into a multi-shot game if everyone is enthusiastic about it

Quickstart rules for games

Pregen characters

This way you know what the character abilities are and how they might be played

What we recommend you reading and setting up

Review the scenario

Take notes about parts that are confusing or not fleshed out.

What we recommend you and your players review before the game:

The basic rules for the game

Rules Cheat Sheet

Find one or make one

Review the characters

Some tools

Index Cards

Notebook

List of names

Pencils. 

Extra dice

Build a tool kit!

Running - Don’t worry. You’ve got this.

Talk with your group and set expectations. Ask the rules lawyer to chill (or to help)

Let the group know that if you can’t find a rule, you’ll make a ruling and move on

Roll with the fumbles (see also: ken makes awesomely bad mothership maps)

Don’t worry about being “right”, work on having fun

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Cover art for the D&D Essentials Kit. Credit: Wizards of the Coast.

Building immersive cities for RPGs takes center stage on this episode, with inspiration from real-world examples like San Antonio's Alamo and Chicago's reversed river.

We dive into tools and techniques for making cities that evolve, feel lived in, and resonate as characters within campaigns. From quirky city rivalries to handling disasters, this episode offers creative advice for dungeon masters and storytellers.

Chapters

0:00 Intro2:10 Real-World Inspiration: San Antonio and the Alamo6:30 Geography and Natural Features in City Design10:45 Tools for RPG City-Building (The Quiet Year, Ex Novo)15:00 How Cities Evolve Over Time20:00 City Rivalries and Personality24:30 Integrating Disasters and Landmarks into City History30:00 Cities in Post-Apocalyptic Settings33:20 Q&A: The Rogue-Polymorphed-Toad Dilemma34:30 Outro

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Watch the Episode

Watch Build Better Cities - Campaigns & Coffee on YouTube

Show Notes

Introduction: Exploring city-building in RPGs inspired by San Antonio's vibrant culture and geography.

Cities: Skylines video game

Key Elements of Real Cities:

San Antonio’s Alamo and its unique building-height regulation.

Chicago’s reversed river and evolving cityscape.

Historical insights from medieval cities to Cyberpunk's Night City.

Domus: Night City: how Cyberpunk 2077’s future megacity was built

Tips for RPG City-Building:

Start with geography and natural features.

Use landmarks, NPCs, and district evolution to build personality.

Recommended tools:

The Quiet Year

Ex Novo

The Game Master's Book of Astonishing Random Tables

Recommended books

Life in a Medieval City

Life in a Medieval Castle

Life in a Medieval Village

A Magical Medieval Society Western Europe

City as a Character:

How rivalries and unique traits shape urban identity.

Integrating disasters and recovery into city evolution.

The 9/11 Memorial in New York City

The Survivor Tree

Q&A Segment: Turning a rogue-turned-toad mishap into a strategic move.