Fear the Boot

* (0:18) after this episode was recorded but before it was released. * (1:14) Fear the Con Online, coming up on June 19th – 20th. The promo video  and the signup site . * (2:35) Brodeur got some inside info regarding Gen Con. The article he wrote prior to getting this info . * (4:46) The letter from Gen Con to key vendors. * (8:02) Fear the Boot makes the call! * (16:40) C...

* (0:29) Fear the Con Online, coming up on June 19th – 20th. The promo video  and the signup site . * (7:41) Fear the Con 2021 has been locked in for June 25th – 26th, 2021. * (9:39) A question about henchmen, courtesy of Jesse Sierke. Setting some boundaries on the discussion. * (12:56) How many is too many, particularly if you’re not trying to run an empire-building or administrat...

* (1:05) A message from Matt about some issues with a GM. * (2:21) Player creativity can spook the GM into responding in frustrating ways. * (13:35) Reasons why GMs find themselves in this situation. * (21:47) The role of player empathy in fixing the problem. * (30:10) Buying time to rethink instead of immediately reacting. * (34:28) Outsourcing the solution by asking players for more input. * (39...

* (0:36) Adapting the show to current realities. * (1:52) The history of West Marches and the context of the advice we gave. Ben’s  on his game. Another contribution of his to the hobby: . * (11:17) More information on the Skies of Glass play-test document, slated for release  on April 21st. * (14:28) The mental and social impact of COVID, including what you can do for you...

* (0:46) Repeating  regarding Fear the Con 2020. * (2:14) New content and general improvements . * (7:10) Explaining what a West Marches style game is. The West Marches game through GamersTable can be found  in the Star Trek Adventures area. * (17:08) The nature of character relationships in an ever-shifting party. * (19:06) Sharing information between the participants. *...

* (0:41) Some unfortunate news about Fear the Con 2020. A blog post with some more information is coming soon. * (4:14) Brodeur’s new endeavor  (as of this episode, the site is still very heavily under construction). * (7:55) Dan and Brodeur go to GAMA Expo! The usual relationship between tabletop games and conventions. * (14:57) Why the con-to-game relationship seems to be breaking down...

* (0:24) Betrayal to the . * (4:40) Why Wayne abuses utility powers. * (6:19) Chad passes judgment. It might be easier to say, “no,” upfront than to have the fight later. * (13:02) Fear of the unknown. Wayne’s confessional mini-show, now available . * (16:53) Getting Dale’s perspective as a publisher of game supplements. You can find . * (24:25) Dale’s advice for the splat-averse. *...

* (0:24) Putting Dale in the hotseat as a Game Master. * (10:01) Pitching the same idea to Chad and Wayne as theoretical players. * (17:13) Judging the regularity of and motivation for playing unusual characters. * (23:52) Kicking the pitch back to Dale again. * (32:46) The unique problems of playing from splat you wrote. * (38:17) Flipping the script and using splat to empower other characters.&n...

* (0:24) Why Chad doesn’t have a strong opinion on splat. Getting to the player’s real reason for the request. Allowing unusual requests as a form of collaborative world-building. * (4:20) Why Chad’s games more easily accommodate weird ideas. * (7:22) Re-skinning existing content instead of creating new content. Abusing splat. * (8:17) Not trusting the players to self-moderate. * (19:54) Why Dale,...

* (0:28) Our history with podcasts and…iPods…? * (4:44) Fear the Con  is ready to go. Fear the Boot . Getting some old hosts back and relocating the recording studio. * (12:42) A disagreement over splat books creates a show. * (19:41) Around the table, asking who thinks what about splat books. * (21:26) Knowing the content or at least trusting its creators. * (25:04) Splat as a reli...

* (0:25) Introducing Kimi from , , and Golden Lasso Girl (, ). * (7:07) The Decuma Kickstarter, which . * (11:03) What Decuma is meant to do, and how it plays. * (16:20) Establishing characters and a setting so we can do a live demo. * (20:41) Playing the game demo, starting with character connection cards. A side note on how to shuffle a tarot deck. * (26:55) What we got from...

* (0:29) Laura in Chad’s shoes. Dogs in the hood. * (8:18) Fear the Con’s  and ready for your games! * (12:10) Wayne is in the process of improving . * (17:01) Why there are certain games we won’t run or won’t play. * (18:06) Why Wayne won’t run Battletech, and Dan won’t play Mechwarrior. * (19:00) Why Wayne won’t run Blades in the Dark, but Laura will. * (19:37) Why Dan won’t run D...

* (0:22) A very important number. * (8:45) Lura, Chad, Stacy, Cathy, and Karen. * (15:38) Why Lura isn’t allowed on Fear the Boot anymore. * (22:25) Why Julia is still allowed on Fear the Boot. * (31:58) Fear the Con’s shifting demographics. You can sign-up to attend . * (36:42) Cucks, clucks, pedants, and show prep. * (42:12) Wayne misses his own dinner. * (53:03) How Chad controls a room. H...

* (0:28) The joys of having a host rotation again. * (3:10) Errata in tabletop games, and why we’re grateful when companies release them. * (9:34) How publishers can do errata wrong. * (17:39) Chad’s Dresden character makes him realize things he ought to know to accurately portray his character’s life experiences. The  podcast. * (24:04) Researching the minimum viable product. * (30:30)...

* (0:25) Holiday postmortem of our games. Wayne wastes money on nasty food. * (2:49) The case for and against soup, and the dark gluttony of Palladium books. * (9:21) Chad’s  for soups and stews. * (17:13) The  and old-time cooking. * (20:24) Reporting on a bit of holiday loot. * (21:18) The . * (22:42)  espresso. * (23:57) , and ebony dice . * (26:56)&...

* (0:29) The holidays came in like a wrecking ball! * (2:01) Wayne’s Family Feud survey is still up for answers! * (3:24) Gnarl is here to save your Christmas! Available on Amazon and Audible. * (5:54) Chad’s opinions save the show! * (7:26) No one likes distractions. * (10:10) Why Chad doesn’t like basements. * (16:43) Wayne’s aversion to cluttered tables. * (25:04) Chad’...

* (0:23) Wayne’s Family Feud survey. * (3:09) Love for D&D and its sister games. * (5:24) A conversation with Chris Hussey about the strata of podcasts. * (10:46) What D&D has come to represent within the hobby. Gamers Table’s weekly Big 20 show (previous episodes here). * (19:31) Gaming as an aspect of a person’s identity. * (29:02) Handling the preconceptions in a construc...

* (0:29) The Audacity that can end the show! * (1:30) A topic from Jesse, with two parameters from Dan. * (5:42) Watch out for any real-world impact between the players. * (18:28) Managing your own reaction to the bully character. * (19:25) The attitude behind, “That’s what my character would do.” * (21:57) The in-character consequences of playing a bully. * (28:34) Targeting the penalties at the...

* (0:28) A big THANK YOU to everyone that backed Fear the Con! * (2:43) Gamers Table’s weekly Big 20 show (previous episodes here). * (5:22) Blades in the Dark gives way to a Traveller game. Working through Traveller’s character creation system. * (16:10) Finding the patterns—and inventing the story—created by the random rolls. * (28:19) How the individual character patterns affect...

* (0:29) Introducing Laura. The episode where we first setup this topic. * (1:24) Fear the Con has funded! Start getting your games listed! * (2:18) Chris Hussey’s Savage Worlds setting book, The Wolverines Take the Highway to the Danger Zone. * (9:21) Why Laura GMed, and how she felt about the prospect of running a game. * (14:30) Where she got her early help. The Blind GM. *...

* (0:31) Fear the Con’s Kickstarter and Con Planner site. * (1:45) We’d appreciate it if you gave us a review on whatever site or app you use to consume the show! * (4:13) Wayne brings some sample characters for us to interpret on the fly, inspired by his experience with pre-generated characters in a one-shot game. * (9:48) The D&D sheet Dan was reading from. Pari...

* (0:24) Knowing why you’re changing the game, and by extension, whether it’s worth doing. * (6:50) Describing damage. Hit points versus wounds versus shock. * (15:57) Remaking characters in another system, mid-game. * (31:23) Finding an existing system that fits what you’re looking for. * (34:55) RPGs as a spectator sport. Or not. * (40:45) More on the Venn diagram project clock. * (43:14) Fear t...

* (0:28) Fear the Con 2020’s Kickstarter, with added rewards for people that can’t attend. * (3:38) Wayne does something cool, tells Dan about it, gives Dan a poster from it, and then forgets all of it. * (9:38) Hijacking versus homebrewing. “Have to” versus “want to.” * (12:21) Deciding what attributes are important to a story and, by extension, what needs to be reflected in the system. * (1...

* (0:29) Fear the Con’s Kickstarter! * (6:12) An encounter in the Actual Play that felt inorganic to the flow of the main plot. * (14:25) Being aware of what knits your campaign together. * (19:42) Making a side plot compelling from the outset, even if it doesn’t seem relevant at first. * (29:29) Noting what players care about in the meta-game. * (33:09) Going for the quiet players...

* (0:29) Fear the Con 2020’s Kickstarter is live! * (4:50) When the party is split, it can make it easier to talk to an NPC. * (8:21) A split party creating a game of telephone. * (13:02) Giving characters their own chance to shine. * (21:55) Team-building and RP in the party’s reunion. * (23:12) The countdown to problems when the party separates. * (29:54) Two approaches for how the GM can r...