Episode 174: Campaign Confessions: 13th Age Part 2

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

“Warriors, come out to play.”
-Cyrus, The Warriors

In the second part of our 13th Age campaign confessions, we focus on the story, which was inspired by the story of the Ten Thousand and the movie The Warriors. It was a story of heroism, with the leaders of a mercenary company leading their troops to safety (well, half of them). It was a story of camaraderie, except when the leaders complained how their troops were dead weight. It was a story of sacrifice, up until the point when one of the leaders abandoned the others to save his own skin.

Episode 173: Campaign Confessions: 13th Age Part 1

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

We’re back in first non-interview episode since early September and are forced to talk to each other. In this installment of campaign confessions, we discuss 13th Age and Lyal’s adventure. In the first part, you’ll hear our advice on when to do Icon rolls, some examples of One Unique Thing (and an example of someone phoning his in), and our impressions of the game after playing.

We also review the 13th Age Bestiary, although it came out one week after we wrapped up our game. Timing.

Episode 172: Interview: Southlands

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

Wolfgang: “It’s essentially the role-playing campaign for Pathfinder that Indiana Jones would run. Not the Indiana Jones of Raiders or Last Crusades, though: the Temple of Doom Indy. But this Indy didn’t escape and save the children. He failed. He was tortured and broken. Empty and haunted, he can’t numb the pain, but he can share it. Share it with a world of demonic cults, man-eating insect folk, fifty-foot snakes and ruined cities. Oh, and dinosaurs because everyone loves dinosaurs.
Us: “…”
-unedited elevator pitch

In this episode, we interview Wolfgang Baur from Kobold Press about his latest Kickstarter campaign, Southlands: Adventures Beneath Pitiless Sun, the game Steven Spielberg would have made.

Episode 171: Interview: 13th Age in Glorantha

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

Some combinations were never meant to be, such as Burger King body spray, Facebook privacy, and strip clubs buffets. Some were, such as cheese anything, free anything (except U2 albums), and 13th Age in Glorantha.

In this plus-sized episode, we interview Rob Heinsoo, the creative director of Fire Opal Media, and Jeff Richard, the creative director of Moon Design Publications, about their Kickstarter collaborations, 13th Age in Glorantha and The Glorantha Source Book. If you’re a devotee of Glorantha and wondering whether or not 13th Age can do it justice, then this episode is for you. If you’re a fan of 13th Age and wondering why Glorantha is the favorite setting of so many game designers, then this episode is for you too. We even get a few teasers about what we could expect after these two books.

Episode 170: Interview: Spirit of 77

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

“Now, look what we have here before us. We got the Dukes of Hazards sitting next to Foxy Brown. We’ve got Shaft right by the Six Million Dollar Man. Nobody is hard moving nobody. This … is an RPG. And this RPG is the way things ought to be.”
-Idlus, The Warriors

Dave from MonkeyFun Studios joins us to discuss their Powered-by-the-Apocalypse game, Spirit of 77, which is currently on Kickstarter. We don’t interview him so much as strap ourselves into his Dodge Charger as he takes us on a fuel-injected ride. Let’s get down to it, boppers.

Episode 169: Interview: The Sprawl

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

In this episode, we interview Hamish Cameron, the author of The Sprawl, a Powered-by-the-Apocalypse cyberpunk game currently on Kickstarter. Since Hamish is from New Zealand, we’ve provided a Kiwi-English dictionary below.

Kiwi – English
sitting – setting
dick – deck
bin – been
pin – pen
pin – pin (We know.)
Didya git eyes for Chrissmas, bro? – Is there a reason why you’re looking at me, sir?

Episode 168: GM Corner: First Session

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

You never forget your first kiss or your first session as a GM. While we can’t help you with the former (but keep your eyes closed and try not to make too much of a mess of his or her face), we have some advice for the latter. In this first installment of a series for first-time GMs, we discuss the initial preparation that you need to do before your first session, from system to goals.

Drinking game bonus: Take a drink whenever we confuse “player” and “character”.

Episode 167: Creature Feature: Police

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when an unarmed man comes towards you?
Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when protesters complain about you?

Media now give you no break
Citizens now give you no break
Not soldier man give you no break (Just guns and APCs)
Not even the DOJ now give you no breaks
– New theme to Cops

In this installment of Creature Features, we discuss the police and how to play them as protagonists and antagonists.

Episode 166: Rogues: Blackmail

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

“Why would I pay you $100,000?”
“Because if you don’t, the world will know what’s in your … closet.”
“So? I’ve been out of the closet for years.”
“That’s not the closet I was referring to, Brenyax Windwalker the LARPer.”

In this installment of Rogues, Wayne and Lyal discuss blackmail, which is surprisingly still around in this age of the overshare.

Episode 165: Creature Feature: Kaiju

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

Citizen A: Thank you, Reptilon! Thank you for saving our city from Neo-Varlos!
Citizen B: Saving our city? Look around, it’s nothing but rubble now.
Citizen A: Yes, but Reptilon destroyed those buildings by accident.
Citizen B: As opposed to Neo-Varlos who was intentionally trying to destroy them?
Citizen A: Exactly. Even though the results are the same, intention is all that matters in a kaiju battle.

A big creature feature this week as Chris, Wayne, and Lyal discuss kaiju (giant monsters). We draw out common elements and inspiration from the new Godzilla movie, as well as some old classics such as Gamera and the original King of the Monsters, Gojira. (Lyal also frequently mentions Yonggary, which is, according to him, the absolute worst movie ever made.) Then we stomp over to using these city-sized beasts as antagonists, events, and protagonists. It’s a truly titanic episode!

Idle Red Hands

A Podcast From Japan About Games and Gamer Culture

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