The Adventuring Party

Join our hosts for a weekly dive into Irish gaming. We bring you a mixture of discussions, games reviews and event previews/reviews.

This week the party considers the care and attention required when handling a setting and its lore. What changes can be made and how much can be altered before it doesn't feel like the place your players might be familiar with? What sort of change is acceptable and what feels like dropping a space marine into a hobbit hole. Let's find out!

This week the party get to grips with what to do when you are caught short right before a session. Every GM knows what it's like to be stuck for an idea or otherwise unprepared for a game. What do you do when you have no energy, no prep done, the wrong books, a table of rowdy players and only minutes to prepare? What if you are naked?! Let's see how they get themselves out of this one!

This week the party gets together to discuss what we do when we are all alone. Solo gaming has long been the refuge of the game lover who finds themselves with a desire to play but no worthy opponents or collaborators to hand. What is this ludological cast-away to do? Listen in to hear our thoughts and suggestions for the solitary gamer.

This week the party roll out the felt, lay out the terrain and break out the models to review Rangers of Shadow Deep by Joseph A. McCullough. We are joined by special guest Conrad Kinch, a writer, gamer and pipe fancier familiar to many in the Irish gaming community. Pull up a comfortable chair, grab a drink and join us as we share our thoughts on this game of grim adventure and rain-soaked mystery.

This week the party break out the character sheets and raise our shields to Pathfinder 2nd Edition. We have had a chance to sample the unique races and classes offered in this revised edition and sit down to share our thoughts on this intriguing remix of old and new ideas. Does a second edition improve the Pathfinder system and what does it tell us about fantasy roleplaying games in general? Let's find out.

This week the party slip on the rose-tinted goggles +1 (No effect) and take a look back at one of the most devisive editions of Dungeons & Dragons - 4th Ed. Was it a move in the right direction or a departure to parts unknown? Did it leave a lasting mark or has it been edited out of the beloved game of high fantasy and adventure? Let's get out those dog-eared character sheets, dust off our actions points and find out!

This week the party are gathering around the conference table to draft a memo about running an organisation in a tabletop RPG. What aspects of being part of something bigger appeal and to whom? When is the extra effort of drafting an org chart and assigning roles going to advance your parties goals and when is it all just so much busywork? Let's listen in to find out.

This week the party sit down to talk about RPG skill systems. Whether you spend your points or eek out an extra percentage almost every system tackles the measure of apptitude and learning in similar ways. What are we carrying forward as learned behaviours and when should we retrain our thinking on skill systems? Let's find out.

This week the party contemplate the better part of valour. When is the right time for your group to get out of Dodge and when it is right to stick around. Do systems even allow for it? Tune in to find out!