Episode 156: Encounters

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

During this episode, listeners may encounter the following (roll d100):

01-10 Boredom
11-20 Lame jokes
21-30 Extremely late movie reviews
30-80 Chris & Wayne fighting
81-90 Tangents
91-98 The ghost of Lyal, sighing
99-00 Interesting, lively conversation

In another Lyal-less episode, Chris and Wayne discuss encounters (both random and planned). Should encounters in RPGs be balanced, or should they follow the fiction of the setting? How to plan encounters, and how to make them interesting, balanced or not. This episode was inspired, in part, by an awesome (and angry) article by the Angry DM.

Episode 147: Campaign Confessions: Pathfinder Part 2

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

“Crafting a mystery can be tricky. Too easy and your players get bored. Too hard and your players get frustrated and, yes, bored. When in doubt, err on the side of hard and turn a blind eye when the paladin starts torturing NPCs for clues.”
– Michael West(en), burned Rogue/Illusionist

In part 2, we discuss Chris’s story, “Best Served Cold”.

Episode 146: Campaign Confessions: Pathfinder Part 1

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Idle Red Hands

“Fighting a dragon is always a challenge. They are the kind of problem that calls for an A-10 Thunderbolt II and lots of rockets. Unfortunately, these things won’t be invented for another thousand years or so. In a pinch, you can get by with some household cleansers, rope, and magic, the duct tape of the fantasy world.”
-Michael West(en), Burned Rogue/Illusionist

In Part 1 of our latest Campaign Confessions, we give our thoughts on the Pathfinder system.

Episode 128: (Re)Introductions

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Idle Red Hands

Well, hello again. Meet the Idle Red Hands for the second time. Even after two years, their stories on how they got started in gaming remain the same. From the drug-infested, Magic-playing ghettos of Philly to the cheese-eating, cheese-wearing wasteland of Wisconsin to the nuclear-fearing, sparkly-scarf-loving ground zero of West Germany, these three gamers found and fell in love with the hobby.

Listen for the answers to these questions:

Is Heroquest is an RPG?
Who was the “inspiration” for the Punisher?
How many stolen D&D products has Chris bought?

Episode 125: Creature Feature: The Inquisition

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Idle Red Hands

In our first episode of our third annual Month of Horror, we look at the Inquisition. Sodomy, bigamy, heresy, and witch, uh, sorcery; this episode has it all. We discuss how to play an inquisitor as an antagonist (easy) and how to play them as a protagonist (not so easy).

Special guest appearances by one of Lyal’s cats and some of his dishes. He has since been brought in for questioning on suspicion of witchcraft.

Episode 123: Cosmic Heroes

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Idle Red Hands

“In blackest day, in darkest night, may the force be with you.”
-Idle Red Hands

Go big or go home. This week we tackle a galactic sized topic with “Cosmic Heroes”. Marvel’s Nova Corps, D.C.’s Green Lantern Corps, the Jedi and other heroes – in spaaaaaaaace.

Episode 117: RPG Rookies: Pathfinder

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Idle Red Hands

Today’s a training day, new player. Show you around; give you a taste of the business. I got 4 games pending people’s schedules, 3 active campaigns, another 25 in my notes that I can’t think of a decent act two for. I GM five players. That’s five different personalities. Five sets of problems. You can be number six if you act now. But I ain’t holding no hands, okay? I ain’t baby-sitting. You got today and today only to show me who and what you’re made of. You don’t like Scottish accents, get the frak away from my table. Go get you a nice, wimpy desk game, chasing Mario’s kart or something, you hear me?

In our second installment of RPG Rookies, we go over the things players and gamemasters need to discuss when starting up a new game, using our upcoming Pathfinder game as an example.

Episode 115: Creature Feature: Sin-Eaters

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Idle Red Hands

Have a bunch of hungry of listeners and only one hour to prepare? Well, if you have a corpse in the fridge and a few human foibles in the cupboard, you can satisfy even the most demanding guest with this zesty variation of our Creature Feature series.

Sin-eater Steaks

1 corpse, brined in the tears of a condemned man
a splash of wasted ability
seven vulgarities, diced
1 cup of the last words of a dying man (For a low-fat alternative, use the last words of a toddler.)

Cover the corpse in a sauce made from the ingredients.
Pass through the flames of Hell until the sinner recants or the meat is pink in the middle.
Slice into steaks and serve with sprigs of parsley, uh, from the damned.

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 57: Narrative Structure

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Idle Red Hands

Is Savage Worlds better than Marvel Heroic Roleplaying: Basic Game?

[Three sentences before.]
In this episode, we discuss narrative techniques from movies and novels that you can use to make your games more fun. We look at in media res, flashbacks, flash forwards, flash sideways, epistolary novels, and reverse chronology. We also offer advice for new gamemasters, including which games are good to start with. Is Savage Worlds better than Marvel Heroic Roleplaying: Basic Game?

Idle Red Hands

A Podcast From Japan About Games and Gamer Culture

Tag Archives: Pathfinder (RPG)