Episode 41: Cartoons

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

Idle Red H.A.N.D.S. (Hero Action and Network Defense Squad) is the code name for Japan’s daring, highly trained special mission force. Its purpose: to defend gamer freedom against the Active Blue T.O.E.s (Terrorist Organization of Evil), a ruthless terrorist organization of, uh, evil determined to rule the Internet.

In this episode, the Idle Red H.A.N.D.S. discuss the cartoons they watched as kids and which elements they could use in their games. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Correction: The name of the Visionary Darkling Lord discussed is Cravex, not Craven. Who knew that a cartoon could be so subtle?

Episode 40: 777: The Number of the East

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

7 continents. 7 horrors. 7 minutes each.

Episode 39: Creature Feature: Vampidemic

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

Mae: The light that’s leaving that star right now will take a billion years to get down here. You want to know why you’ve never met a girl like me before?
Caleb: Yeah. Why?
Mae: Because I’ll still be here when the light from that star gets down here to earth in a billion years.
– Near Dark

“We don’t cry at twilight. We don’t give interviews. We aren’t anyone’s children, day or night. We’re your fears, your desires, your taboos. We’re your worst nightmare and most delicious dream.” – Prince Idle the Red Hand

In this episode, we put the “red” in Idle Red Hands.

Episode 38: Torture and Interrogation

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

“Look, I get it. You guys thought that without Chris you could squeeze two topics into one episode. One less host means less talking. Does that sound about right?”
“Uh, yeah. Something like that.”
“There’s just one thing: you guys always knew it would run long! Chris wasn’t the reason episodes ran long in the past. If anything, his ability to kill a conversation kept the episode times down. So, when did you realize he wasn’t the problem, before or after you killed him?”
“Wu-what? We never thought he was a problem.”
“Oh, so you killed him for nothing.”

Episode 37: Literature Lesson: Lovecrafted

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

We opin the Month o’ Horror with aower debut Literature Lesson. In this un, we look at H.P. Lovecraft and haow te use ’is queer themes in yer games. Naow, dis Lovecraft feller kin set a body thinkin’, an’ when we git ta thinkin’, we git ta talkin’. Thar’s plenty here ta stir ye up an’ make yer blood tickle. See ef ye kin find aower leetle soorprises fer ye.

Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. I ain’t never heerd nothing like this befer, but ’tis paowerful stuff. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. Naow, don’t that beat all. Queer haow suthin’ gits a holt on ye. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh…

Episode 36: Time for War

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

War. Huh. Yeah.
What is it good for?
-”War” Edwin Starr

Well, a plus-sized podcast episode for a start.
In this episode, we look at the three stages of war, the buildup, during and the aftermath, and the kinds of stories you can play in them. We also discuss how a focus on technology can make for some pretty intriguing games no matter which era you play in.

Episode 35: Secrets and Lies

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

In this episode, we talk about how to best use lying and secrecy in your games.

The secrets of this episode:

Wayne’s d100 joke was originally Lyal’s. It was also originally funny.
Wayne has never seen Goodfellas, and Lyal has never seen Family Guy. This actually won’t seem like much of a secret after you listen to the episode.
Chris initially had a joke where he said the episode was about fantasy. Get it? It was a lie. It’s no secret why this “joke” never made it in.

Episode 34: Pantheon Pandemonium: Norse Play

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

Praise not the day until evening has come; praise not a woman until she is burnt; praise not a sword until it is tried; praise not a maiden until she is married; praise not ice until it is crossed; praise not beer until it is drunk; praise a podcast any time. -Norse proverb (well, most of it)

In this episode, we discuss the Norse pantheon. We also uncover startling parallels between the Aesir and a certain American subculture.

Episode 33: Addicted to Hands

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

Get your Idle Red Hands fix here. The first taste is free and so is the second taste. Hold on, all tastes are free. We would make really bad drug dealers.

In this episode, we look at addiction. Since we live in a country with extremely harsh drug laws (and darn glad of it, officer), we don’t have a lot of advice for the method role players out there. Instead, we discuss different types of addiction and how to include them in your game.

Episode 32: Creature Feature: Cyborgs

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

LIST CREATURE FEATURE: CYBORG PRIME DIRECTIVES

1: DISCUSS CYBORGS, REAL AND FICTIONAL
2: DISCUSS HOW TO USE CYBORGS AS PROTAGONISTS
3: DISCUSS HOW TO USE CYBORGS AS ANTAGONISTS
4: [CLASSIFIED] (I think it has something to do with anime or transsexuals.)

Special Note: The Medal of Honor recipient mentioned in the episode is Leroy Petry. He received the award for his actions during a firefight in Afghanistan.