Undercommon Taste

This week, we're talking about Monster of the Week! Join us as we discuss the Powered by the Apocalypse system, monster hunting, and game mechanics, and highlight some of our favorite playbooks in the base ruleset.   At about the 30 minute mark, we mention a game where you play as cats. It's called "Magical Kitties Save the Day", by Atlas Games, and you can find it here: https://www.atlas-games.co...

This week, we're talking about Kids on Bikes! Join us as we discuss the themes and mechanics of the game, and culminate with trying our hand at character creation. Hurricane Helene hit our region of East Tennessee hard. While we both got out safe and sound, many folks in nearby communities weren't so lucky. If you want to help in this area specifically, please consider making a donation to the Eas...

This week, we (mostly) finish our discussion of the changes to the classes in the new D&D 2024 ruleset. Join us as we discuss quality of life improvements, forget to mention the rogue, and James voices his... opinions. As mentioned in the episode, one of the sources we're using to get our information about the new 2024 ruleset is the YouTube channel Treantmonk's Temple. You can find this chann...

This week, we welcome back Michael Ross from The RPG Academy and Rob Hilferty from Worldbuild With Us to play Michael's Ennie-nominated game Action 12 Cinema to celebrate our podcast's fourth anniversary. Join us for the second part of our play session, where we complete the Production Phase of the game, engaging in bad B-movie hijinks to discover the identity of the leader of the Vampires gang an...

This week, we welcome back Michael Ross from The RPG Academy and Rob Hilferty from Worldbuild With Us to play Michael's Ennie-nominated game Action 12 Cinema to celebrate our podcast's fourth anniversary. Join us for this, the first part of our play session, where we complete the Pre-Production Phase of the game, establishing the details of the crazy B-budget action film we will be playing through...

This week, we're continuing our look at the rules changes for the D&D 5e 2024 ruleset. Join us as we talk about the changes to spellcasting, weapon properties, and - despite our best efforts - as many classes as we can manage in the time allowed.  As mentioned in the episode, one of the sources we're using to get our information about the new 2024 ruleset is the YouTube channel Treantmonk's Te...

This week, we start taking a look at some of the new rules changes announced for the latest version of Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. Join us as we discuss what's new, what's gone, and what's been clarified. As mentioned in the episode, one of the sources we're using to get our information about the new 2024 ruleset is the YouTube channel Treantmonk's Temple. You can find this channel at youtub...

This week, we begin our transition away from Fallout and back into our biomes series by talking about wastelands. Join us as we discuss types of wastelands, examples of wastelands from both media and the real world, and some ideas on how to implement different types of wastelands into your games.   Near the end of the episode, I mentioned a product (and then inserted a correction to get the produc...

This week, we wrap up our conversation about the Fallout TTRPG by Modiphius. Join us as we discuss the creatures and characters of the Fallout RPG, how to modify them, and how we would build some of the creatures from Fallout lore that didn't make it into the book.   As mentioned previously, Modiphius has a free quickstart guide for the Fallout RPG available on their website. It contains all of th...

This week, we welcome back returning guest Jon, host of the Tale of the Manticore podcast. We discuss the show, his worldbuilding process, his game One Shot in the Dark, and his worldbuilding aide Pendulum.     You can find Jon's show on taleofthemanticore.podbean.com , on YouTube @taleofthemanticore , or on your podcatcher of choice. You can also find the show, and Jon's supplemental material for...

This week, we're returning to Fallout to talk about some of the established factions found within the universe. Join us as we discuss Vault-Tec, the Enclave, the Brotherhood of Steel, the NCR, and raiders, as well as ways to implement them on the table when running the Fallout RPG.   As mentioned last week, Modiphius has a free quickstart guide for the Fallout RPG available on their website. It co...

This week, we're breaking out our copies of the Fallout RPG by Modiphius Games. Join us as we give our first impressions of the system, along with some talk about character creation and the basic mechanics of Fallout's 2d20 system.   As mentioned in the episode, Modiphius has a free quickstart guide for the Fallout RPG available on their website. It contains all of the basic rules needed to play t...

This week, we're joined by returning guest Sam Leigh to discuss her newest game, Death of the Author. Join us as we discuss solo games and meta narratives, and spend way more time than we realize creating an amazing monster in the Monster Mashup.   As mentioned, Sam is a returning guest. You can find her on Twitter (@GoblinMixtape), or on Tiktok at tiktok.com/@goblinmixtape . You can also find her...

This week, we're continuing our exploration of TTRPG biomes by exploring islands and maritime settings with special guest Eric Holden from The Goblin's Corner podcast. Join us as we discuss the hazards, features, and plot points you can hit in an island-hopping adventure.    Eric's podcast, The Goblin's Corner, is another TTRPG podcast devoted to worldbuilding, game lore, and storyteller tips and...

This week, we're joined by returning guest Iko, host of The Lost Bay Podcast and game designer behind the gothic horror TTRPG The Lost Bay. Join us as we continue our discussion of The Lost Bay, how it has expanded since our last conversation, and where it's going next.  To hear more about The Lost Bay from a mechanical perspective, check out Iko's last visit in Episode 123: https://www.podbean.co...

This week, we continue our series on biomes by talking about foothills - that lumpy region between where the land is pokey and where the land is flat. Join us as we discuss terrain, creatures, settlements, and other elements to help you get the most out of this highly versatile biome.   We're now on BlueSky! If you're also on the app, find us @undercommontaste and give us a follow! Find links to a...

This week, we're continuing our new series on biomes with the coastal! Join us as we talk about freshwater coastlines, sea shores, and everything in between, along with what you might find as you go with the flow or bury your toes in the sand.   A couple of updates, pertaining to friends of the show: The Tome of Intangible Treasures, which Josh from Lone Colossus Games discussed with us last week,...

This week, we welcome Josh from Lone Colossus Games back to discuss his newest project, Tome of Intangible Treasures! Join us as we talk about the project and the story-driven rewards it contains. As of this episode's release, the project has already fully funded on BackerKit, *and* hit 4 stretch goals. Here's a link to the project's landing page: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/lone-colossus...

This week, we're starting a new project talking about different environmental settings, and we're kicking it off with urban settings! Join us as we discuss some of the elements that set urban settings apart from the wilderness, as well as some ideas for what you might run into in an urban game.    We're going to have another live interview coming up on Friday, March 1st at 9PM Eastern/6PM Pacific...

This week, we continue our discussion of poisons in your TTRPG, specifically in D&D 5e. Join us as we talk about how to harvest and utilize poisons and toxins in your game (disclaimer: AND ONLY IN YOUR GAME).    Here's a link to the poison crafting guide by /u/J_Kim_ on Reddit: Crafting Poisons (Because It Doesn't Always Have to Suck)   The Solo But Not Alone 4 bundle is now live on Itch! Ther...

This week, we're talking about poisons in D&D. Join us as we discuss poisons through the editions, our complaints about how they've been implemented in 5th edition, and some ideas (and some hot takes) for ways to improve poison implementation in your games.   The Solo But Not Alone 4 bundle is now live on Itch! There are 125 items in the bundle, which starts at $10, and all profits go directly...

This week, we welcome special guest Cat to discuss the Solo But Not Alone 4 charity bundle on Itch. Join us as we talk about solo games, mental health, and seagulls.    The Solo But Not Alone 4 bundle is now live on Itch! There are 125 items in the bundle, which starts at $10, and all profits go directly to the mental health awareness charity Take This ( takethis.org , Twitter @TakeThisOrg ). You...

This week, we're shifting gears a bit to talk about one of our favorite video game franchises and the TTRPG spawned by it: Fallout! Join us as we discuss some of the mechanics of Fallout: the Roleplaying Game by Modiphius, some of the themes and elements that can make your game feel like a Fallout game, and an overview of the Atompunk genre as a whole.   As we mention in the intro, this is our las...

This week, we're talking about holidays and festivals! Join us as we discuss different types of holidays and how to build your own for your home game.   We're now on BlueSky! If you're also on the app, find us @undercommontaste and give us a follow! Find links to all of our social media, episodes, Patreon, Itch store, and Discord via our Linktree:  linktr.ee/undercommontaste Our theme song is Mass...

This week, we're talking about a Christmas movie with strong Halloween vibes: Gremlins! Join us as we discuss the creatures from the film, how we would translate them to the gaming table, and ALL OF THE SPOILERS for this 40+ year old movie.   We're now on BlueSky! If you're also on the app, find us @undercommontaste and give us a follow! Find links to all of our social media, episodes, Patreon, It...