Episode 178: Warriors: Persian Immortals

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

“They hold it unlawful to talk of anything which it is unlawful to do. The most disgraceful thing in the world, they think, is to tell a lie.”
–On the Customs of the Persians, Herodotus

In this installment of Warriors, we honour the Persians by only speaking the truth about their elite soldiers, the Immortals. This means that they were probably called the “Companions” instead of the “Immortals,” and that they were regular men in purple and yellow robes instead of dual katana-wielding orc ninjas. Who knew Zach Snyder took some creative liberties with them?

Episode 93: Antiheroes

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Idle Red Hands

“In the roar of an engine, he lost everything. And became a shell of a man, a burnt out, desolate man, a man haunted by the demons of his past, a man who wandered out into the wasteland.”
– The Road Warrior

The selfish rogues, the emotional voids, the cold-blooded killers. These are the antiheroes of literature, TV and the movies. We’ve all played these characters at some point or another, but are we doing it right? Listen up to find out.

Episode 72: Pantheon Pandemonium: Egypt

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Idle Red Hands

A lion, crocodile and hippopotamus walks into a bar. Oh, did I mention that this is just one demon?
In this addition to Pantheon Pandemonium, we look at the Egyptians. As you would expect, we don’t talk about pyramids and mummies barely get a mention. Instead, we discuss ma’at, ka, ba, the Book of the Dead, some hippopotamus-lion-crocodile demon, and gay marriage.

Plus: D&D Next Diary

Episode 55: Warriors: Hoplites

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Idle Red Hands

This. Is. Kansai!
In this episode, we debut the first in our Warriors series. This series will take a warrior type from history and discuss key elements that you can use to make any character in any game setting a little more alive. First up, Hoplites. Are you ready to make your character worthy to stand with swift-footed Achilles and the cunning Odysseus?

Episode 49: Knights and Samurai

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

We spent 2011 painstakingly researching the cultures and wars that shaped the knight and samurai in order to give you an hour of solid entertainment. It would take us longer to list all of the topics we cover in the episode than the actual running time. (I’m not sure how that’s mathematically possible, but it’s true.) We even manage to squeeze in some Roman history, if Spartacus: Blood and Sand counts as history.

Happy New Year!

Episode 47: Christmas Wish List

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Idle Red Hands

Lyal knew a guy who gave his girlfriend a picture of himself for Christmas. In that spirit, here’s our gift to you: an episode of us talking about what we want for Christmas. We discuss what games we’d like to receive, what games we’d like to see made and what games we’d like to actually play next. So, listen to find out what RPGs and board games you need to get this Christmas.

Merry Christmas! (We had to talk Chris out of dropping the t.)

Correction: The new expansion for the Privateer Press miniatures game Hordes is “Hordes: Domination“, not Dominion as incorrectly stated by Wayne. Let’s hope Santa puts the correct thing under his tree anyway.

Episode 18: Sands of Twine

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Lyal

There are three things you don’t bring up at the Idle Red Hands dinner table: religion, politics, and the definition of a sandbox game. (Actually, you could probably bring up the first two.)

In this episode, we compare sandbox games to ball of twine games, and the analogies and metaphors fly. (Hey! Another metaphor.) I think we even manage to work in a snowclone. We talk about what these types of games are (and, boy, does that get heated, metaphorically speaking) and the pitfalls (metaphor) to avoid.

Idle Red Hands

A Podcast From Japan About Games and Gamer Culture

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