This is a side quest for our podcast, where Ben Burns was kind enough to come on again and talk about his new Kickstarter, "The Zeta Complex" -a product I've been antsy for him to release since playing an early version at North Texas in 2020.  As a bonus, Bill Barsh talks about gearing up to launch his Kickstarter for "Tome of Quests" a remastered anthology of his company's early hits.  We talk (in general) about Kickstarting, trying to get product out, and the pitfalls of shipping.  If you are a small publisher or longing to be, there are plenty of gems of advice thrown out in this discussion.  Otherwise, you get to hear about some great RPG products you're not going to want to miss out on!

In this installment we all have a great time talking low fantasy gaming (and "Low Fantasy Gaming"), West Marches, great Kickstarters/Drivethru bundles, end boss battles, and even get around to talking about L1: The Secret of Bone Hill.  If you've never read/played this classic, or if it's been awhile; join us for a discussion of all its gems and all its blemishes-there's a lot to be mined from this old exemplar!  To end it all, we see if Jason can get his Geek credit with 5 questions dealing with Conan, Paintball, West Marches, and Classic D&D Hexcrawling...  Don't forget to write in before next episode to be matched up as a "at home winner" for the next playing of "Geek Credit."

This episode we are joined by Chris Holmes: artist, writer, hobby game designer, and all-around renaissance man.  Chris recounts his father's, John Eric Holmes, creation of the original D&D basic boxset as well as telling us about his own "made for the con" game designs-that he does as a way to express his interests and creativity.  He tells about an up-coming re-release of his father's Pellucidar books and hangs with us for the This Ol' Dungeon segment where we revisit "The Tower of Zenopus"-also known as the sample dungeon from the Holmes D&D boxset.  So, hang with us for another great episode!

-Oh, don't forget to send us some mail to get entered in for a chance to be the "at home winner" on the next episode's "Geek Credit" segment.  Our address again is [email protected].  Happy gaming folks!

In this episode we had some equipment issues/user errors that lead to a first half containing an interview between Luau Lou and Tim Connelly of the Benchleydale Academy and a second half where the usually crew (Bill, Edwin, and Lou) are together discussing what makes the AD&D 1st Ed rule set unique and then sliding into user mail and OUR FIRST EVER Geek Credit wipeout...  You'll have to listen to find out who didn't make it home with their credentials still hanging in the hall of geekdom...  Don't forget, if you want to get in on Benchleydale-you have to get on Facebook and ask around or approach Tim (or other members) it is a curated group for a reason!  So go find that secret passage into some AD&D goodness...

On this episode Skeeter Green of SGP Games joins us as we talk about the classic Tomb of Horrors and the difference between arbitrary mechanics and deadly mechanics.  Bill joins us (here and there) as he hexcrawls the eastern US and we have our first winner for the "at home" version of Geek Credit.  Remember, you too can get enter for being an "at home player" by simply sending us some mail to read online, or just a message saying you want to be a player.  Send both to "[email protected]" or message us on our Facebook page.  Also, check out Skeeter's recent Kickstarter for the next set of Valley out of Time books: Valley out of Time 3&4

On this mega episode we get to talk city campaigns with legendary podcaster Brett Bloczynski from Gaming and BS.  He tells us all about his Avalon campaign, what makes it work, and gives some great advice on how to bring these urban environments to life for your players.  We got a few Letters from the Homeowners Association, and announce a new "play at home" version of Geek Credit where we will select one at home winner of fabulous RPG prizes IF the guest makes their Geek Credit.  To be part of this, just write in with your name and contact information to: [email protected].  All contributors to the Letters to the Homeowners Association segment will be automatically entered as well.

In this episode we discuss Gamma World's first adventure, GW1: Legion of Gold with Matt Gullett of Long Con and No Class RPG Podcast fame.  We talk a little Hobbit and some RPG art and YES, Bill even gets to report on some actual gaming he's done!  Here's the link to the Long Con, to the No Class Podcast (soon to be on Twitch) and you'll have to keep your eyes peeled for for Matt's Kickstarter, "Caverns of the Dead God."  https://longconrpg.com/ https://soundcloud.com/no-class-rpg-podcast

This is a great one, folks!  We had a blast with the very talented Brian Shutter-a name to watch as he will definitely be making his mark in the industry!  He tells about his epic quest to bring the "cassette-apocalypse" mystique to life in his hot new game, "Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland" (available at Exulted Funeral https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/search?q=neon+lords and DriveThru https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?keywords=neon+lords&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto= ).  Next, we give the "This Ol' Dungeon" treatment to an adventure from one of my favorite systems, Paranoia's "Orcbusters."  Hopefully you'll enjoy this as much as we did!  Oh, don't forget to write in if you figure out the "wizard's names" mystery...  And finally, here's a real cool resource/channel Edwin had mentioned: The Monster Man podcast (https://monsterman.libsyn.com/) hosted by James Holloway (and currently running a crowd funding for an adventure I helped him play test at https://james-holloway.itch.io/the-magonium-mine-murders).

This is actually a stand-in for the TRUE Episode 16, which was a massively good recording with Richard LeBlanc of http://savevsdragon.blogspot.com/  and New Big Dragon Games talking all about random generators for games and including his awesome D30 line available on DriveThru that didn't (explicative) record!  We will cast Charm Person on his merciful heart and get another recording of that episode put together soon.  In the meantime, we made a recording covering another proven winner, "The Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh" and the entire U series with some comparisons to the 5e "Ghosts of Saltmarsh."  This is a fun episode and believe it or not, we didn't even break and hour and a half! (Of course, we cut out 3 segments...).  Anyhow, hope you enjoy this conversation about this great old product and please check out this fan made site for Temple of Elemental Evil directed to us from Ned Leeds (mentioned in the Letters from the Homeowners Association): https://1eonline.info/t/t.htm

On this episode we're joined by Eddie Bartlett of the LongCon and the No Class RPG Podcast AND writer of "Carnage in the Casino" to talk gaming and take on a classic adventure, 'The Temple of Elemental Evil."  You'll get some inside information about starting a con, some ideas about which dungeon elements are most important, and listen to us take turns berating this classic megadungeon...  Ok, calm down! We do point out some of its strong suits and how we would make it playable.  So get comfortable, because just like ToEE, this one's a LONG one!