Advertise on podcast: Fear the Boot, RPG Podcast

* (0:30) Dan runs a game a bit too literally. * (4:12) The intersection of technology and roleplaying in a way that isn’t required by the game. * (7:32) Why multimedia doesn’t pay-off the way it does in other forms of storytelling. * (13:36) The prep time technology adds, and the stability it takes away. * (15:59) The time spent digging up the right asset on-the-spot. * (20:52) The physical space taken up by technology. Playing “follow the leader” at a subconscious level. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne

* (0:29) Why talk about intelligence? The Why Files episode about Cicada 3301. * (9:24) A game takes an unhelpfully long break, only to be replaced by another RPG. * (12:44) The lack of a bottomless “buffet of ideas” in a closed setting. * (14:24) Use minimal starting information to give you room to work. * (18:12) How to run a school (everyone go play Persona 5). * (24:48) Create a wide variety of NPCs and give them their own lives. * (30:38) Keeping the party together, even if it doesn’t quite make sense. * (31:57) PC-specific NPCs, so you know the players are bought it. Hosts: Dan, Mary, Wayne

* (0:22) Picking out the point we became curmudgeons and what exactly that means. * (4:48) Being too set in our ways. * (11:19) The self-destruction that comes with stagnation. * (21:32) Wii have a solution. * (24:32) Ducking new games while at a convention. Playing The Quiet Year on an airplane. * (32:57) The role of pragmatism. Why expand your horizons when no one lets you go there, anyway? * (38:43) There’s always going to be something wrong. * (41:09) A lesson learned from The Why Files. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Wayne

* (0:29) Reintroducing Julia’s husband, Mike. * (2:24) Lowered expectations, inspired by a post-pandemic world. * (7:25) Being a bit more experimental. * (13:18) Playing online instead of returning to the table. * (19:18) Returning to the table instead of playing online. * (23:58) The commonality of not being able to find an active gaming group. * (31:54) Not lower expectations—just different ones. Hosts: Dan, Mary, Mike, Wayne

* (0:29) Thanks to Eric Van Note for Swole Mole! * (3:15) The value of terrible GMing. * (8:42) Everyone is their own most inept critic. Sojourn Volume 2. * (15:28) The worst possible outcome: something being forgettable. * (22:20) Asking Doug to grade his own game. * (25:35) The value of creating art, simply for the act of creation. * (37:04) A few too many contacts in someone’s eyes. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne

* (0:29) Dan prefers affiliated groups, Wayne does not. * (2:15) Cohesion, identity, and help. * (9:35) Affiliations you start with as opposed to those you pick up along the way. * (11:56) The party’s direction and motivation. Affiliating with an ideal. * (20:23) Affiliations create an obvious pool of NPC relationships. * (25:40) External versus internal affiliations, and how they’re not mutually exclusive. * (32:06) Taking extreme positions just to highlight the topic. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Julia, Wayne

* (0:28) An update on the Actual Play. * (4:48) The InSpectres RPG (at least temporarily back in print!) and our AP interlude using its rules. * (8:09) Why play InSpectres as an interlude to the main campaign? Apparently only Dan has heard of Michelle Jenneke. * (12:58) Plus an extra player. * (16:10) The, “yes and,” style of gaming. * (21:31) Assisting new players when they’re stuck. * (26:24) Seeing roleplaying games as a starting point, not a finished product. * (33:43) It’s not just a game; it’s on the mics. * (39:19) No takebacks! Hosts: Dan, Mary, Wayne

* (0:28) Things are getting set for Fear the Con! An intro to RPGs game is available for newcomers. * (2:03) A shared Minecraft server. You can find more information on Discord. * (5:52) Realigning your game with a mid-campaign session zero. Special thanks to Gaming with Gage. * (8:46) Making the case to have one. * (12:59) Remembering the times we did this during the Skies of Glass campaign. * (16:38) Reusing or reviewing the exact same work you did in session zero. * (23:15) Being too specific or too general. Hosts: Dan, Mary, Wayne

* (0:29) Julia ruins everything. * (1:35) Things are getting set for Fear the Con! An intro to RPGs game is available for newcomers. You can also announce your games on Discord. * (9:03) Coming out of a period of deep fatigue. How one game still never missed a week. * (16:18) Spoons and other finite resources. * (20:06) Why it might be best to bite off a bit less. You may not be gaming as much as you think, anyway. * (26:41) Does gaming with strangers help the problem? * (31:37) Kids, you’re already in the real world. * (34:32) Strange schedules and cascading cancellations. * (37:42) Gambling with the eleventh dollar. Hosts: Dan, Julia, Mary, Wayne

* (0:28) Running a game when someone else knows the setting a whole lot better than you do. * (2:07) The lack of pronunciation guides in most games. * (3:16) Narrowing down the task by asking what’s important about the setting to the players. * (7:59) Getting the essence or feel of the setting right. We need a Thug Notes recap of BattleTech lore. * (12:53) Start small and work outward, learning just what you need for each step along the way. * (21:15) Tell your players you only know some canon and therefore will only use some canon. * (24:01) Setting an ending to the canon so you can tell your own story. Breaking continuity early to get it over with. * (28:35) Keeping a chunk of authentic setting. Otherwise, why run it at all? * (33:56) Asking your setting experts to give you limited homework. * (35:09) We look forward to seeing you at Fear the Con! Hosts: Dan, Mary, Wayne

Show links… * StartPlaying Games * Bite Size Tales * Gaming with Gage Hosts: Chris, DJ, Josh, Wayne

* (0:29) The Kickstarter for Fear the Con 2023 is live for one more week! * (1:56) The wonderful confusion new players and GMs bring to a roleplaying game. * (16:59) An imagined internal-consistency is sometimes more fun than an intended one. * (22:17) The burden of your own expectations. * (28:29) When contradictions aren’t actually contradictions. The Law of Non-Contradiction. * (35:16) The emotion of Muscle March. * (36:22) The ideas that mistakes allow us to explore. Hosts: Dan, Julia, Mary, Wayne