Terrible Warriors

Today in a special feature of Meet The Makers, Justin connects with Francesco Nepitello, the co-creator of The One Ring, to talk about the ongoing kickstarter success for it’s second edition, partnering with Free League Games, and the unique foundations of the Lord of the Rings mythology in crafting their game. From Wargames to Boardgames to Role Playing Games

Francesco shares with us his past and how he came to fall in love with role playing games. From early days in Venice playing wargames with his brother to the lucky happenstance of getting to meet a legendary game designer and coming to recognize the joy in developing games himself. Francesco is also one of the three creators behind the War of the Ring strategy boardgame and in 2011 co-created the first edition of The One Ring.

There And Back Again, A Game Designers Tale

For years fans of The One Ring have been waiting on a second edition, a new book that would streamline the old rules and provide a more cohesive experience and iron out what Francesco himself calls the “fiddly bits” of the game. Promises of a second edition and of a Moria campaign setting have gone unanswered as Francesco and his team have battled through complications with their old publisher. But those days are behind them now as they’ve found a new home with the prestigious Free League Games (Forbidden Lands, Tales from the Loop). Their attention to detail and connections with award winning artists and writers have made a perfect match for Francesco’s desire to serve up the sort Second Edition that The One Ring deserves.

Language Is Key

Francesco recognizes the unique qualities of the Lord of the Rings as a setting and understands that at the core of Tolkien’s work was a love of language. Which is why he shares us how the mechanics of the game are all informed by the language of the game, from the names of skills and stats, to the three core pillars of the game (Journeys, Councils, and Combat). And even if certain other world famous tabletop RPGs also use three pillars to describe their gameplay and dice mechanics that seem suspiciously similar, Francesco will kindly point out that they had it printed in the One Ring before they did. It wouldn’t be the first time Lord of the Rings has helped inspired tabletop games

Kickstarter Is Happening

The One Ring kickstarter is happening right now and you can check out the offerings at kickstarter.com/projects/1192053011/the-one-ring-roleplaying-game-second-edition

You can follow Free League Games on twitter @FreeLeaguePub Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors

Today in a Terrible Warriors Podcast Spotlight, Justin connects with Zack and James from The Light & Tragic Company to talk about their upcoming launch of the Realms of Peril & Glory podcast.

From Audio Drama to Tabletop Adventure

Zack Fortais-Gomm and James Barbarossa are no strangers to podcasts having produced the critically acclaimed sci-fi drama The Orphans and their bringing the contacts they’ve made while producing that show to invite some of Britain’s biggest voice acting stars to join them around the table to play RPGs on RPG.

An Anthology of Games With A Rotating Cast Of Players

Realms of Peril & Glory is not going to be just one setting or one group of players. They’ve already planned out the first three series starting with Zack as GM playing 13th Age, continuing with a D&D 5e setting with James as DM, and later a planned game exploring the world of Nibiru (which we very recently happened to cover in one of our Session Zero episodes). With each new GM or DM running the show the tone and setting and sound of the show will also change so you can expect that Realms of Peril & Glory will be trying out all the different ways people approach the making of actual-play podcasts.

On top of all that James is also composing the music on the podcast (and you can hear small samples of his work at 4:47 and 49:51, which he was kind enough to share with us for use in the show).

Coming This Fall

Normally we like to promote shows you can head out to and listen right now but this was a rare chance to get to talk to two creators as they’re still in the planning stages. They’re hoping to launch Realms of Peril & Glory in the fall of 2021 so be sure to click through to the links at the bottom of these show notes to follow on their development and hopefully we’ll have them back later this year to check in on their progress!

Links

The best way to to find all the links to the RealmsPod would be to head over to their link tree at https://linktr.ee/RealmsPod

And you can follow their other podcast, The Orphans, by visiting Oprhanspod.com or twitter @OrphansAudio

If you want to follow Zack you can find him on twitter @zackfg Besides the two samples from James the rest of our music is licensed through Epidemic Sound Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors

Today in a Terrible Warriors Podcast Spotlight, Justin connects with Ryan Boelter from the Character Creation Cast.

Does What It Says On The Tin

The Character Creation Cast is just what you think it’s gonna be but then goes to be much more than that. Designed to inspect and explore the character creation phase of TTRPGs it’s no surprise that we wanted to sit down with Ryan to talk about his show after we’ve just dipped our toe into this topic with our own Session Zero series. They break each game examination into three parts, creating character and learning the world and it’s rules, interviewing the creators of the game, and then writing fan fiction about the characters they have created but which they’ll never get a chance to actually play a game with.

Character Creation Cast has been ongoing since 2018 and they’ve already explored more than 36 different games and along that way Ryan has picked up some common themes and best examples of what makes character creation in tabletop RPGS so interesting and unique an experience.

Blending The Best Into A Puree Of Game

So what’s one to do with all this collected knowledge? Why not make your tabletop RPG? And call it Chimera and take the best tools and styles of character creation and world building from the most successful games out there and craft a PbtA game that blends genres and character tropes into unique world building exercise? Ryan’s game is still in testing but he shares with us all about the process and thinking that’s been going into Chimera and what to expect from it and along the way Justin may have even helped him devise a wonderful mechanic to help randomize the character generation process! We’ll have to wait and see if his idea makes it past the testing phase.

Safe To Play

While Ryan is taking notes on the best games and systems available out there for players he’s also hoping that more and more games begin to include safety tools into the design process of the game itself and not just bootstrapped on after the game ships. We break down our thoughts on the importance of safety tools, offer some personal stories, and share some great examples of safety mechanics in action that can be done in a way that doesn’t just make your game safer but also will improve your story’s performance and the enjoyment of all the players at your table.

Links

As mentioned in the show you can check out Character Creation Cast at charactercreationcast.com Find out more about Chimera at chimerapbta.com Listen to his episode 8 Kinds of Fun with Jim McClure And follow Ryan on Twitter @lordneptune

And check out Ryan’s sound design work on A Horror Borealis Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors

Life In A Skyless World

Session Zero returns with a dive into the unique world of Nibiru. A colossal space station home to millions of humans and the player characters who have no memory about where they came from.

“From The Core We Hail”

Nibiru first came onto our radar a few years ago when our friends at Modiphius sent us a press release about a game where your characters have no memories and your character sheet, mostly blank at the start of the game, will be filled in over time as you remember your past. What a neat concept! And when we finally decided to explore this game this series we found out very quickly that this game was much more and very different than what we suspected.

Nibiru is home to millions of humans who have lived in this artificial environment for as long as their recorded history. The exact length of time is kept vague but it’s alluded to be in the thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of years. Nibiru provides all the air, water, food, and gravity that humans need to survive and clustered in and around massive hollow spheres called Vaults they have built their city states each with unique cultures and customs. The further from the core of Nibiru, where the gravity is closest to Earth and the majority of humans live in and live in mostly luxury, the more alien and strange and inhospitable becomes. There are a lot of questions about Nibiru and no answers will be found in the rulebook. To answer them you’ll have to explore Nibiru as a Vagabond.

Remember Your Origin Stories

The Vagabonds are a strange class of people in Nibiru. They show up in every corner of the station, always without any memory of where they come from. Confused and vulnerable they find a way to survive among the humans who call this strange station home. And then they begin to recall those memories. And sometimes those memories aren’t always… human. Through playing the game you can declare certain dice rolls to be resolved through a flashback. By remembering something about your past you grant your character a permanent boost to a skill and if you remember enough times you can unlock almost supernatural abilities called Revelations. The quest to uncover your memories will also uncover the secrets of Nibiru, which will always be unique to your game group every time.

This is an incredible world to explore with a journaling-centric character creation mechanic (The MEMOs system) to help you craft a unique story for your characters.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Modiphius Entertainment for sending us a copy of Nibiru back when they were shipping the game and today you can get your own copy now directly from Arukana Media or on DriveThruRPG Today's Terrible Warriors were Justin Ecock and Velvet Duke Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors 

Today in a Terrible Warriors Podcast Spotlight, Justin connects with Russ Moore from Dumb Dragons Productions

Good Old Fashioned D&D

Russ started the Dumbgeons & Dragons podcast as a way to keep his gaming group together and to keep his own productions skills fresh and up to date after he accepted a job oversees. The result was an 80+ episode sprawling adventure set in the Rise of Tiamat module from Dungeons & Dragons. As the show grew in size so did their aspirations, bringing in better production and a more focused approach to their story telling. But, now well into their second season, they haven’t forgotten their humble beginnings and try to stay true to the spirit of the game and enjoyment around their table.

Tempting Fate

Of course it’s hard to do an Actual Play podcast and not be tempted to try other systems, which is where the Facing Fate podcast comes in. As Dumbgeons began to grow so did their appetite for other settings and rule sets. So, in addition to continuing Dumbgeons & Dragons, Russ set out with a new anthology podcast exploring multiple games and their rules. As you might guess from the title their first foray was into a Fate game but since then they’ve also playing PbtA settings like Urban Shadows and are even planning to create their own system for future episodes.

Empowering GMs

Feeling empowered to try new games but coming from a D&D background was the inspiration to join up with Sean Howard, who we interviewed last week, to create the DM to GM podcast. A show dedicated to helping demystify the role of the GM at your game table. The truth is, if you buy a TTRPG you’re probably going to be the run to run it whether you like it or not. So Russ and Sean break down how they run their games, the lessons they’ve learned along the way, and give you the tools you need to feel confident in running your next, and possibly your first, tabletop game. You can follow Russ on Twitter at @russdmore And be sure to follow the three shows mentioned: Dumbgeons & Dragons: @dumbdragoncast Facing Face: @facingfatecast DM to GM: @dmtogmcast

And check out all of Russ’ offerings at DumbDragons.com Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors

Today in a Terrible Warriors Podcast Spotlight, Justin connects with Sean Howard from The End of Time & Other Bothers! You may remember Sean as our uncontrollable stripping scoundrel in the Root: The RPG kickstarter special we hosted in 2019. When he's not turning his clothing into improvised weaponry he's hosting a LOT of really cool podcasts. In particular he's the GM and mastermind behind The End of Time & Other Bothers, an Actual Play podcast using Dungeon World and set in the fictional world of one of Sean's other podcasts, the radio drama Alba Salix.

Along with End of Time he's also responsible for other long form improvised dramas and actual-play shows and in this interview we break down what we love and what we don't love in the intersection of improv and tabletop storytelling. Like most of the conversations I have with Sean this went all over the place and I hope you get something out of it that will inspire and motivate you towards your next game. You can follow Sean on Twitter at @passitalong And you can stay up to date on his podcasts @AlbaSalix or by visiting AlbaSalix.com

Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors

"Life Locked and Failing in a DARK FORT"

We crash back into another Session Zero flailing for our lives in the madness of MÖRK BORG.

"Name Your Character If You Wish. It Will Not Save You"

MÖRK BORG dominated at the 2020 Ennies winning awards in Product of the Year, Best Writing, and Best Layout and Design, along with walking away with silver in Best Game. And once you hold the book in your hand you know exactly why it won in all those categories. MÖRK BORG screams off of every page and draws you into the pitch-black heavy metal world of the apocalypse where your characters’ lives are fleeting and pointless and the stakes are so high no one will triumph for long.

Rather than make a single character each, Justin and Jo made three characters. You see, in MÖRK BORG your characters might not last very long so it’s a good thing that character creation takes literally seconds to complete. Four dice rolls and a very lean equipment management system and you’re back in the game. You can mourn the loss of your previous character later. In MÖRK BORG, the story is told by the setting and collective experience of the players, and interestingly not entirely but the individual characters you play. We had a LOT of fun delving into this session and of all the games we’ve looked into during our Sessions Zero this is the first where we didn’t want to stop and just keep going right into the game itself

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Free League Publishing for sending us a copy of MÖRK BORG to try out and you can get your own copy now at MorkBorg.com or on Drive Thru RPG Today's Terrible Warriors were Justin Ecock and Jo Drummond Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors where today's patrons will receive copies of all our character sheets from today's episode.

Today in a Terrible Warriors Podcast Spotlight, Justin connects with Rev from The Critshow!  The Critshow is in their 3rd season of playing Monster of the Week but that wasn't what they had originally intended to do. Days before they had planned to launch their pathfinder actual play podcast they sat down and recorded a dummy session using Monster of the Week as a stand-in game. After recording the tech demo they realized they had stumbled up the real show they wanted to make.  The Critshow has since expanded to include Tales from the Omniverse, a series travelling between multiple words and game rules, and have invited developers of the games they're playing to join them on the show. Currently their working closely with the creator of Rapscallion as they play through a Patreon exclusive campaign called Perilous Tides.  Rev has put a lot of thought into the show he's producing and the intentions behind that show and I'm sure you're going to love listening to The Critshow as much as I have. 

You can follow the Critshow on twitter @thecritshow And you can follow Rev himself on twitter @RevDeschain

Find out everything you need to know about The Critshow at https://thecritshowpodcast.com/ Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors

In our next Session Zero we plug into Night City and create our crew playing Cyberpunk RED in one of the most iconic RPG settings of all time.

Special thanks to R. Talsorian Games for sending us a copy of Cyberpunk RED to try out and you can get your own copy now on talsorianstore.com Today's Terrible Warriors were Justin Ecock, Brendan Frye, and Velvet Duke

Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors where today's patrons will receive copies of all our character sheets from today's episode.

Corrections

The audio has since been corrected but an original release of this episode made the mistake of saying that CD Projekt Red purchased R. Talsorian Games. This is not true and R. Talsorian remains independently owned by the Pondsmith family.

Today in a Terrible Warriors: Spotlight, Justin connects with Kieran Bennett to talk about this own actual play podcast, For Crits and Giggles Kieran Bennett started Crits & Giggles five years ago with his real world best friends and gaming group. Together they decided to not only play a game of D&D that Kieran would write up for them but that they would also record those games and transform it into a podcast. Inspired by such shows as Geekly Inc's Greetings Adventurers (formerly Drunks&Dragons) they set out to explore the world that Kieran had created and uncover the mystery that surrounded it.

You can follow Kieran on twitter @mrk_bennett

You can follow For Crits & Giggles @forcngpodcast or by visiting forcritsandgiggles.com Music is licensed through Epidemic Sound Follow us on Twitter at @dicewarriors and you can support the show by becoming a patron at patreon.com/terriblewarriors