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 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 137: Review: The God-Machine Chronicle Part 1

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

This is how you do edition rage, Internet: you don’t.

In this episode, World of Darkness superfans Wayne and Lyal review The God-Machine Chronicle, which includes the World of Darkness rules update. Chris also claims to be a fan. Yet, he can never remember the rules, and when it comes time to record the episode, his daughter gets “sick”.

This turned out to be a really long episode, so we broke it into two parts. This part covers most of the character rules. The “story” rules (e.g., combat) and the setting will be discussed in Part 2.

Episode 124: Conventions & Innovations

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Idle Red Hands

With Wayne back from Strategicon‘s Gateway 2013 and Lyal fresh off of reading books on the history of role-playing games, we decide to combine these for this episode’s topic. We look at the innovations that role-playing games brought to gaming and how these can be found in today’s convention games. Since we’re talk about conventions, we cover an eighties cartoon, zombies, neck beards, teenage girls (Wait. What?) and One Direction (Which convention did Wayne go to?).

Episode 111: Warriors: Mongolian Horsemen‏

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Idle Red Hands

Genghis Khan is the name, I’m ahead of my game
Still, drinking from teats, still with hoof beats
Still not loving the Caliphs (Uh hun)
Still rock my kharash in battle and a seige
Still got love for the steeeppes, repping one one one
Still the hooves bang, still arrows twang
Since I left, ain’t too much changed, still

Got a whole Tumen ridin’ at my back, you won’t even see when I’m coming to attack
Cause you think that we be a fleein’, yeah looks like we be retreatin’
But soon you’ll be seein’; that it’s you who is get beaten
You think we all dressed in fur, but I got fine lacquer armor and a bling silk shirt.

Still history won’t be bored,
Still have all the rage we have stored,
Still yo you gonna get served,
Still by the Mongol Horde!
Since I left, ain’t too much changed, still

For our next installment of Warriors, we look at the Mongolian Horsemen. A group who, even 700 years later, still represents the idea of an unstoppable, all conquering juggernaut.

Episode 86: Generalization vs. Specialization

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Idle Red Hands

“More choices, more problems.”
– game designer

In this episode, we look at whether it’s best to play a jack-of-all-trades or a master of one. We also compare how to build generalists in different systems: level, point buy, and life path.

Episode 78: Non-D&D Fantasy

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Idle Red Hands

Should D&D be everyone’s gateway into RPGs?

After about ten minutes of listening to us talk about D&D, you may start to question the “Non-D&D” part of the title, but we do move on to other games. We look at Exalted, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, Runequest, and Dragon Age. We evaluate each game’s system, setting, and presentation. We also discuss which ones would be good gateway games. At the end, we talk about an out-of-print game that presented fantasy races in new and badass ways.

Episode 76: Rogues: Black Marketeers

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Idle Red Hands

“In the criminal Idle Red Hands system, Rogues will be separated into two separate yet equally important groups: the crimes and the people who commit them. These are their stories.”

The month of debuts gets another debut! This time, it’s Rogues, a look at criminals and the crimes they commit. We look at the proud noble tradition of deal dealers, gunrunners and pimps (and those guys that sold jeans and Beatles records in the Soviet Union). Believe it or not, we actually suggest how to play black marketeers. Chris tries to cheat by recommending a “black” marketeer who provides food to the starving, but Wayne and Lyal put a stop to that nonsense.

Episode 62: Warriors: Legionaries

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Idle Red Hands

“Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war!”
– William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

We don’t let slip dogs, however. We let slip men, manly men, men’s men. Roman men whose virtus strained against the chains of disciplina. Men who could march all day and then spend three hours setting up camp, until their short, sweaty tunics clung to their broad shoulders and powerful backs. Men with thick, stubby fingers and stocky bodies covered in coarse, black hair. (Hmmm, this shouldn’t be turning me on, should it?)

In this installment of Warriors, we answer the age-old question of “Who da man?”

Episode 58: Creature Feature: Bankers

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Idle Red Hands

The only thing too big to fail is a dragon, and if we had dragon bankers, we bet people wouldn’t be so keen to Occupy Wall Street. You want to pass on this episode? Passing’s for quarterbacks, and I don’t see a number on your back. So, listen up and join the 1%.

Also, a review of Descent: Journeys in the Dark.

Idle Red Hands

A Podcast From Japan About Games and Gamer Culture

Tag Archives: GURPS (RPG)