Episode 191: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Idle Red Hands

A long time ago in a country far, far away…

Episode CXCI
The Hands Reopen

The Idle Red Hands have vanished. In their absence, well, 2016 happened. Sorry.

A youngish (very -ish) idealist, Jeremy, knows that the world needs the Idle Red Hands and dispatches his best pilot, Alan, to retrieve the old hosts. And Alan messed it up. What do you expect when you send your best pilot? Why not send your best spy or bounty hunter? Maybe have the best pilot fly them where they want to go. Was your best spy too busy engaging in dogfights to do what he was trained to do?

Anyway, one old host returns, but is it the right one? (Disclaimer: Fans of Wayne will be disappointed.) This new alliance reviews The Force Awakens just in time for Rogue One. (Timely as always, Idle Red Hands.)

Episode 190: Festivals

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Idle Red Hands

“Memento mori.” (Remember you will die.)
-the famous phrase whispered in the ear of a victorious general during a triumph
“Shut the f**k up.”
-the less famous response

With hanami (cherry blossom viewing) still fresh in their minds, Wayne and Lyal discuss festivals and the questions you need to ask yourself when including them in your game. We also discuss Savage Rifts (guitar riff), the game that threatens to break the Internet.

Episode 189: Five Games, One Shelf

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Idle Red Hands

In this episode, we pick the five RPGs every role player should have on his or her shelf, including which edition to have. These aren’t our five favourite games or the five most popular games of all time. Nope. These are five games whose mere possession will contribute to your overall gaming experience.

These are the criteria we used. Play along at home.

Innovative
Impact
Representative of a specific type of a game
Widespread
Paid us to mention them (Kidding. No company took us up on our offer.)

Episode 188: Creature Feature: Goblins

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Idle Red Hands

“I’m just a simple goblin. Do you know we don’t have a word for ‘family’ or ‘love’? Suffice to say, I don’t really understand your attachment to the small humans. I have noticed, however, that most of you will do whatever it takes to prevent … misfortune befalling your wee ones. Goblins also don’t have a word for ‘regret,’ but I know you do. Think about the regrets you’ll have if you don’t take my offer.”
-“Glassy” Salo, bootlegger, racketeer, businessman, goblin

In this installment of Creature Features, we look at the lowly goblin. Will you play them as tiny fodder, as roguish antiheroes, or as unchecked capitalists?

Episode 187: Generalist vs. Specialist Players

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Idle Red Hands

The specialist: “How would you make a Jedi in D&D?”
The generalist: “I wouldn’t.”

In this episode, we compare focusing on just one game system (specializing) with playing a wide variety of games (generalizing) to see which is the best approach. Did your approach win?

Episode 186: Warriors: Maori

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Idle Red Hands

“Our people once were warriors. But unlike you, Jake, they were people with mana, pride; people with spirit.”
– Once Were Warriors

Kia ora, mates. This installment of Warriors is about the original Kiwis: the Maori. You won’t be brassed off by this episode. We’re a couple of pakeha, but we give it heaps. This episode is a corker and chock-a-block with elements. Cheers, bros.

Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora!
(Tis death! Tis death! Tis life! Tis life!)

Episode 185: Literature Lessons: Robert E. Howard

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Idle Red Hands

The Red Hands of Idle

The two men met to cast. One spoke with the dangerous ease of a panther, too fiercely supple to be a product of civilization. Nor was his face that of a civilized man: it was as untamed as the primordial ghetto which formed its background. The other was Lyal.

In this installment of Literature Lessons, we look at the work of Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan, Kull, and Soloman Kane.

Episode 184: Creature Feature: Deities

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Chris

“There can be only one!”
-Connor MacLeod, Highlander

Which is probably why we cut our references to Highlander: no one likes solo adventures. What we didn’t cut were Wayne’s frequent references to Dungeons & Dragons, odd coming from such a “fan” of Dungeon World.

In this installment of Creature Features, we discuss playing and playing against deities. After we cut all of the blasphemy, we were left with Thor comics and D&D cosmology.

Episode 183: Magic and Realism

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Idle Red Hands

In a world with jumbo shrimp, deafening silences, and open secrets, we get that some people want realistic magic. In this episode, we discuss magic and realism. While we can’t say that you’ll be able to make the magic in your game realistic after listening to the episode, we can promise that you’ll be able to have it make sense.

Episode 182: 2014 Wrap Up

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Idle Red Hands

In our last (first?) episode of the year, we discuss some of the big stories in the geek and gaming world from 2014. While they may not be the same stories everyone else is talking about, they’re the ones that had the most impact in our little circle across the Pacific.

Idle Red Hands

A Podcast From Japan About Games and Gamer Culture

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