The Adventuring Party

The Adventuring Party - Episode 596

This week's hosts: Eoin, Savage and Shane.

This week, the party ask why things are the way they are in games, and whether game designers have some explaining to do.

Apologies for the sound quality issues, folks. We have since rectified them, don’t worry.

Show notes:

00:35: Savage begins the attack on the game writers

01:54: Shane points out how gamers hate reading

02:24: ‘It is probable you should probably have it segregated’

03:12: Eoin takes out his stakes and garlic to go hunt Dunning-Kruger again

04:38: Context from the wonderful Dara O’Briain (Language warning)

05:57: Oh! Time to put away the stakes and get out the dead horse sticks!

06:05: The tale of how White Wolf inspired the creation of a completely different system

08:25: WarHammer Fantasy RolePlay (WHFRP), for context

09:40: Savage, you’re writing cheques I can’t cash!

[CHA-CHING! No worries mate. Here are a couple of explanations:

https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Understanding_Bounded_Accuracy_(5e_Guideline)

https://olddungeonmaster.com/2014/08/30/bounded-accuracy/

I found these useful in understanding Bounded Accuracy and why I don't give out +5 swords in a system that shouldn't have them - Savage]

10:24: Our review of Age of Sigmar: Soulbound

10:53: You know who You are

11:44: Damn you Capitalism!

12:01: Pay no attention to the popular Gothic Horror setting behind the curtain!

12:45: The 2d20 System used by Modiphius Games

13:00: I smell a future episode topic...

13:50: Sounds familiar...

16:00: Oh? Are we actually getting to the point of the episode at last?

18:00: Fix Your Fix

19:02: As explained here

19:25: Lot of callbacks this episode

23:58: RAAAAAAngers of ShadowDEEP

26:26: I think it's this one?

26:39: Vlaada Chvatil

28:00: So, at this point we’ve established that Eoin hates game designers, game players, game fans online, and game playtesters. We’ll have to do an episode on game manfacturing and game stores so he can complete the entire game production cycle.

28:29: Our episode on Example Adventures in RPGs

29:29: Oh wow, I can actually hear the derision bubbling out of my voice as I mention OSR again. Maybe I do have a problem....

31:25: But I do like this kind of OSR Think-piecing! Really! Here’s a really good example, arguing that the terrible rules of 1st Ed D&D make way more sense if you just have more characters.

31:55: YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE

33:41: The Multi-Designer Game

35:50: Gah! Moron! Esoterrorists was Robin Laws, Ken Hite wrote Trail of Cthulhu! So embarrassing, right after our interview with the head of Pelgrane Press

------------------------

Want to actually shout at us? Go to SpeakPipe and tell us how you really feel. We might use a clip of your message in future shows so get ready to be super famous!

We have a Discord Server and it rocks! Get in here! - https://discord.gg/VW6NUJe

Find us on Facebook here. Leave a Thumbs Up and we can be internet friends!

Come ear-watch us on Youtube. Leave a comment!

We are on Spotify? Yup, you can listen to us over there too!

Twitter! Follow us on twitter  @adventuringpty Will we follow you back? Are you cool? Maybe!

The hosts can be contacted by good old email at [email protected]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Adventuring Party is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike version 3 licence.

The Adventuring Party - Episode 596

This week's hosts: Eoin, Savage and Shane.

This week, the party ask why things are the way they are in games, and whether game designers have some explaining to do.

Apologies for the sound quality issues, folks. We have since rectified them, don’t worry.

Show notes:

00:35: Savage begins the attack on the game writers

01:54: Shane points out how gamers hate reading

02:24: ‘It is probable you should probably have it segregated’

03:12: Eoin takes out his stakes and garlic to go hunt Dunning-Kruger again

04:38: Context from the wonderful Dara O’Briain (Language warning)

05:57: Oh! Time to put away the stakes and get out the dead horse sticks!

06:05: The tale of how White Wolf inspired the creation of a completely different system

08:25: WarHammer Fantasy RolePlay (WHFRP), for context

09:40: Savage, you’re writing cheques I can’t cash!

[CHA-CHING! No worries mate. Here are a couple of explanations:

https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Understanding_Bounded_Accuracy_(5e_Guideline)

https://olddungeonmaster.com/2014/08/30/bounded-accuracy/

I found these useful in understanding Bounded Accuracy and why I don't give out +5 swords in a system that shouldn't have them - Savage]

10:24: Our review of Age of Sigmar: Soulbound

10:53: You know who You are

11:44: Damn you Capitalism!

12:01: Pay no attention to the popular Gothic Horror setting behind the curtain!

12:45: The 2d20 System used by Modiphius Games

13:00: I smell a future episode topic...

13:50: Sounds familiar...

16:00: Oh? Are we actually getting to the point of the episode at last?

18:00: Fix Your Fix

19:02: As explained here

19:25: Lot of callbacks this episode

23:58: RAAAAAAngers of ShadowDEEP

26:26: I think it's this one?

26:39: Vlaada Chvatil

28:00: So, at this point we’ve established that Eoin hates game designers, game players, game fans online, and game playtesters. We’ll have to do an episode on game manfacturing and game stores so he can complete the entire game production cycle.

28:29: Our episode on Example Adventures in RPGs

29:29: Oh wow, I can actually hear the derision bubbling out of my voice as I mention OSR again. Maybe I do have a problem....

31:25: But I do like this kind of OSR Think-piecing! Really! Here’s a really good example, arguing that the terrible rules of 1st Ed D&D make way more sense if you just have more characters.

31:55: YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE

33:41: The Multi-Designer Game

35:50: Gah! Moron! Esoterrorists was Robin Laws, Ken Hite wrote Trail of Cthulhu! So embarrassing, right after our interview with the head of Pelgrane Press

------------------------

Want to actually shout at us? Go to SpeakPipe and tell us how you really feel. We might use a clip of your message in future shows so get ready to be super famous!

We have a Discord Server and it rocks! Get in here! - https://discord.gg/VW6NUJe

Find us on Facebook here. Leave a Thumbs Up and we can be internet friends!

Come ear-watch us on Youtube. Leave a comment!

We are on Spotify? Yup, you can listen to us over there too!

Twitter! Follow us on twitter  @adventuringpty Will we follow you back? Are you cool? Maybe!

The hosts can be contacted by good old email at [email protected]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Adventuring Party is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike version 3 licence.

This week the party sit down to with Cat Tobin of Pelgrane Press to ask the big questions about how to get ahead in RPG publishing, bigging up the talent, and tea-staining Kickstarter stretch-goals. Grab a drink folks -  this is an epic interview with one of the most interesting up-and-comers in the gaming industry today!

TAP 595 - Cat Tobin & Pelgrane Press Interview

This week the party sit down to with Cat Tobin of Pelgrane Press to ask the big questions about how to get ahead in RPG publishing, bigging up the talent, and tea-staining Kickstarter stretch-goals. Grab a drink folks -  this is an epic interview with one of the most interesting up-and-comers in the gaming industry today!

----------------

Want to actually shout at us? Go to SpeakPipe and tell us how you really feel. We might use a clip of your message in future shows so get ready to be super famous!

We have a Discord Server and it rocks! Get in here! - https://discord.gg/VW6NUJe

Find us on Facebook. Leave a Thumbs Up and we can be internet friends! [https://www.facebook.com/TheAdventuringParty/]

Come ear-watch us on Youtube. Leave a comment! [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJN85ESPc0Wg3kuErxnV9wQ/videos]

We are on Spotify? Yup, you can listen to us over there too! [https://open.spotify.com/show/0HmRd3Tqba9Jk0TIUwVz13?si=EQCChHitSVCC9DuDvYewBQ]

Twitter! Follow us on twitter  @adventuringpty Will we follow you back? Are you cool? Maybe!

The hosts can be contacted by good old email at [email protected]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Adventuring Party is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike version 3 licence.

Title card artwork - Copyright Pelgrane Press. Used without warning. (Sorry Cat!)

The Adventuring Party - Episode 594

This week's hosts: Eoin, Savage and Shane. Special Guest Colin

This week, the party discuss Monsters: Which gribblies are they in a stable relationship with, which are to be courted for a one-shot, and which are to be cast out of the encounter tables.

Show notes:

01:00: Savage explains the rules of this well-known game with a dangerous alternate title.

02:00: Eoin is wedded to the Servitor, from Deadlands.

04:00: Special Guest Colin chooses The Boss Fight as his partner-for-life.

04:49: For those who don’t know, the Tar(r?)asque is the toughest monster in D&D, and before 5th Edition you could only kill it if you brought it to -30hp and then made a Wish to keep it dead. So, it was something you could indeed base an entire campaign around.

06:17: Shane chooses the Oni/Ogre Mage.

06:30: Well AK-tually the Oni is a very broad concept with a lot of intepretations in Japanese Myth, but what I meant was that I think ‘Ogre Mage’ is more indentifiably D&D as a name, while ‘oni’ is a deliberate invoking of a specific real-world culture and might imply too much about this huge muscly blue wizard.

07:10: Now now, there are plenty of Ogre Mage ladies around.

09:40: Savage chooses his zombie harem. Sorry ghosts and Spectres, he’s all about that oozing once-flesh.

10:20: He’s really not picky folks.

11:50: Eoin chooses the Secretly Powerful Surprise Villain as his bit on the side.

12:55: Necromancy is always hot.

13:06: Colin has his eyes on mounting some fine stallions.

14:38: Well I’m already sold on Ghenghis Kobold.

16:15: Shane plans a dalliance with The Shadow.

16:16: Ok actually I meant this.

17:32: ‘Never always wrong’ kinda sums up my feelings on the OSR overall. But also we’ve had two different episodes on it.

19:08: The Alternate Kill Condition monster is only fun if the players can see their impending doom and do something about it. Do not use them en-masse, but rather as an interesting addition to a more conventional fight. Or, indeed, make sure the players have their cleric to hand, and said cleric hasn’t blown their Channel Divinity on +2 to stealth checks or somesuch.

19:36: Anyway, Savage is on the prowl for a massive black pu-....Oh right, the age rating.

19:45: A dir-whatnow? When did we start believing anything Ed Greenwood said?

20:02: If you were wondering why the ‘Guard Dogs’ in Final Fantasy 7 Remake have those weird back tentacles, that’s the result of years of adapting Displacer Beasts from the OD&D books and then photocopying the idea from game to game.

20:22: Now available on Steam!

20:34: I know there’s no reason to keep harping on about Displacer Beast trivia, but I do remember 3.5 had the CR 12 Displacer Beast Pack Lord, and it just seemed so ridiculous a concept yet I feel like I want a 5e version just to have around.

22:03: We’ve suggested a few of these not-technically-in-the-monster-statblock abilities over the course of the episode. I think we can safely say we’re pro-tweaking when you want to make interesting fights.

22:55: Eoin scorns the Accidental TPK Monster, which means he probably disapproves of my dalliance with the Shadow.

23:23: Spoilers for Age of Worms, one of the first Paizo Adventure Paths and one of the last big hurrah’s for the Greyhawk setting. Also spoilers: Manzecorian is meant to be Tenser.

24:26: Also spoilers of Age of Worms: It’s a very hard Adventure Path.

25:52: Yeah, just....a little goes a long way, y’know?

26:11: Colin ain’t up for no Brutes in his 4e.

27:27: Man, its almost like 4e had problems or something...

28:12: I’m sorry, but the Ice Devil just leaves me cold.

28:13: Why is everyone booing me?

28:28: Good thing I did wait, because who would want to mix up the frozen hell of Cania with the frozen hell of Levistus?

30:43: Savage has no eyes for the Beholder.

32:12: I don’t think there’s nessecarily anything wrong with the idea of Beholders as dream-forged scouts of the realms beyond realms, but it is a retcon and it’s not inherently better than them being horrible space monsters sent forth by Mama Shoggoth. I encourage DMs to come up with their own origins for any monsters they see, since the canon is apparently inherently disposable.

------------------------

Want to actually shout at us? Go to SpeakPipe and tell us how you really feel. We might use a clip of your message in future shows so get ready to be super famous!

We have a Discord Server and it rocks! Get in here! - https://discord.gg/VW6NUJe

Find us on Facebook here. Leave a Thumbs Up and we can be internet friends!

Come ear-watch us on Youtube. Leave a comment!

We are on Spotify? Yup, you can listen to us over there too!

Twitter! Follow us on twitter  @adventuringpty Will we follow you back? Are you cool? Maybe!

The hosts can be contacted by good old email at [email protected]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Adventuring Party is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike version 3 licence.

The Adventuring Party - Episode 594

This week's hosts: Eoin, Savage and Shane. Special Guest Colin

This week, the party discuss Monsters: Which gribblies are they in a stable relationship with, which are to be courted for a one-shot, and which are to be cast out of the encounter tables.

Show notes:

01:00: Savage explains the rules of this well-known game with a dangerous alternate title.

02:00: Eoin is wedded to the Servitor, from Deadlands.

04:00: Special Guest Colin chooses The Boss Fight as his partner-for-life.

04:49: For those who don’t know, the Tar(r?)asque is the toughest monster in D&D, and before 5th Edition you could only kill it if you brought it to -30hp and then made a Wish to keep it dead. So, it was something you could indeed base an entire campaign around.

06:17: Shane chooses the Oni/Ogre Mage.

06:30: Well AK-tually the Oni is a very broad concept with a lot of intepretations in Japanese Myth, but what I meant was that I think ‘Ogre Mage’ is more indentifiably D&D as a name, while ‘oni’ is a deliberate invoking of a specific real-world culture and might imply too much about this huge muscly blue wizard.

07:10: Now now, there are plenty of Ogre Mage ladies around.

09:40: Savage chooses his zombie harem. Sorry ghosts and Spectres, he’s all about that oozing once-flesh.

10:20: He’s really not picky folks.

11:50: Eoin chooses the Secretly Powerful Surprise Villain as his bit on the side.

12:55: Necromancy is always hot.

13:06: Colin has his eyes on mounting some fine stallions.

14:38: Well I’m already sold on Ghenghis Kobold.

16:15: Shane plans a dalliance with The Shadow.

16:16: Ok actually I meant this.

17:32: ‘Never always wrong’ kinda sums up my feelings on the OSR overall. But also we’ve had two different episodes on it.

19:08: The Alternate Kill Condition monster is only fun if the players can see their impending doom and do something about it. Do not use them en-masse, but rather as an interesting addition to a more conventional fight. Or, indeed, make sure the players have their cleric to hand, and said cleric hasn’t blown their Channel Divinity on +2 to stealth checks or somesuch.

19:36: Anyway, Savage is on the prowl for a massive black pu-....Oh right, the age rating.

19:45: A dir-whatnow? When did we start believing anything Ed Greenwood said?

20:02: If you were wondering why the ‘Guard Dogs’ in Final Fantasy 7 Remake have those weird back tentacles, that’s the result of years of adapting Displacer Beasts from the OD&D books and then photocopying the idea from game to game.

20:22: Now available on Steam!

20:34: I know there’s no reason to keep harping on about Displacer Beast trivia, but I do remember 3.5 had the CR 12 Displacer Beast Pack Lord, and it just seemed so ridiculous a concept yet I feel like I want a 5e version just to have around.

22:03: We’ve suggested a few of these not-technically-in-the-monster-statblock abilities over the course of the episode. I think we can safely say we’re pro-tweaking when you want to make interesting fights.

22:55: Eoin scorns the Accidental TPK Monster, which means he probably disapproves of my dalliance with the Shadow.

23:23: Spoilers for Age of Worms, one of the first Paizo Adventure Paths and one of the last big hurrah’s for the Greyhawk setting. Also spoilers: Manzecorian is meant to be Tenser.

24:26: Also spoilers of Age of Worms: It’s a very hard Adventure Path.

25:52: Yeah, just....a little goes a long way, y’know?

26:11: Colin ain’t up for no Brutes in his 4e.

27:27: Man, its almost like 4e had problems or something...

28:12: I’m sorry, but the Ice Devil just leaves me cold.

28:13: Why is everyone booing me?

28:28: Good thing I did wait, because who would want to mix up the frozen hell of Cania with the frozen hell of Levistus?

30:43: Savage has no eyes for the Beholder.

32:12: I don’t think there’s nessecarily anything wrong with the idea of Beholders as dream-forged scouts of the realms beyond realms, but it is a retcon and it’s not inherently better than them being horrible space monsters sent forth by Mama Shoggoth. I encourage DMs to come up with their own origins for any monsters they see, since the canon is apparently inherently disposable.

------------------------

Want to actually shout at us? Go to SpeakPipe and tell us how you really feel. We might use a clip of your message in future shows so get ready to be super famous!

We have a Discord Server and it rocks! Get in here! - https://discord.gg/VW6NUJe

Find us on Facebook here. Leave a Thumbs Up and we can be internet friends!

Come ear-watch us on Youtube. Leave a comment!

We are on Spotify? Yup, you can listen to us over there too!

Twitter! Follow us on twitter  @adventuringpty Will we follow you back? Are you cool? Maybe!

The hosts can be contacted by good old email at [email protected]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Adventuring Party is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike version 3 licence.

TAP 593 - Soulbound Review

This week the party takes a look at the Warhammer-Age of Sigmar roleplaying game Soulbound from Cubicle 7 Entertainment.

----------------

Want to actually shout at us? Go to SpeakPipe and tell us how you really feel. We might use a clip of your message in future shows so get ready to be super famous!

We have a Discord Server and it rocks! Get in here! - https://discord.gg/VW6NUJe

Find us on Facebook. Leave a Thumbs Up and we can be internet friends! [https://www.facebook.com/TheAdventuringParty/]

Come ear-watch us on Youtube. Leave a comment! [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJN85ESPc0Wg3kuErxnV9wQ/videos]

We are on Spotify? Yup, you can listen to us over there too! [https://open.spotify.com/show/0HmRd3Tqba9Jk0TIUwVz13?si=EQCChHitSVCC9DuDvYewBQ]

Twitter! Follow us on twitter  @adventuringpty Will we follow you back? Are you cool? Maybe!

The hosts can be contacted by good old email at [email protected]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Adventuring Party is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike version 3 licence.

Title card artwork - The Defeat of Astyages. Designed by Maximilien de Haese, Woven by Jac. van der Borght (1771-1775) Public Domain

TAP 593 - Soulbound Review

This week the party takes a look at the Warhammer-Age of Sigmar roleplaying game Soulbound from Cubicle 7 Entertainment.

----------------

Want to actually shout at us? Go to SpeakPipe and tell us how you really feel. We might use a clip of your message in future shows so get ready to be super famous!

We have a Discord Server and it rocks! Get in here! - https://discord.gg/VW6NUJe

Find us on Facebook. Leave a Thumbs Up and we can be internet friends! [https://www.facebook.com/TheAdventuringParty/]

Come ear-watch us on Youtube. Leave a comment! [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJN85ESPc0Wg3kuErxnV9wQ/videos]

We are on Spotify? Yup, you can listen to us over there too! [https://open.spotify.com/show/0HmRd3Tqba9Jk0TIUwVz13?si=EQCChHitSVCC9DuDvYewBQ]

Twitter! Follow us on twitter  @adventuringpty Will we follow you back? Are you cool? Maybe!

The hosts can be contacted by good old email at [email protected]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Adventuring Party is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike version 3 licence.

Title card artwork - The Defeat of Astyages. Designed by Maximilien de Haese, Woven by Jac. van der Borght (1771-1775) Public Domain

This week the party talk about risk and failure in your game. Players - How do you deal with a set-back to your plans or even worse, losing a fight? GMs - What do you do to keep your game on track when players fail or end up dead? Stay tuned to find out!

TAP 592 - Risk & Failure

This week the party talk about risk and failure in your game. Players - How do you deal with a set-back to your plans or even worse, losing a fight? GMs - What do you do to keep your game on track when players fail or end up dead? Stay tuned to find out!

----------------

Want to actually shout at us? Go to SpeakPipe and tell us how you really feel. We might use a clip of your message in future shows so get ready to be super famous!

We have a Discord Server and it rocks! Get in here! - https://discord.gg/VW6NUJe

Find us on Facebook. Leave a Thumbs Up and we can be internet friends! [https://www.facebook.com/TheAdventuringParty/]

Come ear-watch us on Youtube. Leave a comment! [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJN85ESPc0Wg3kuErxnV9wQ/videos]

We are on Spotify? Yup, you can listen to us over there too! [https://open.spotify.com/show/0HmRd3Tqba9Jk0TIUwVz13?si=EQCChHitSVCC9DuDvYewBQ]

Twitter! Follow us on twitter  @adventuringpty Will we follow you back? Are you cool? Maybe!

The hosts can be contacted by good old email at [email protected]

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The Adventuring Party is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share-Alike version 3 licence.

Title card artwork - The Defeat of Astyages. Designed by Maximilien de Haese, Woven by Jac. van der Borght (1771-1775) Public Domain