Fear the Boot

An important update on one of our hosts. You can stay posted on the Caring Bridge site . Please send any well wishes to nevertellmetheodds99@gmail.com.

* (0:40) Arch-nemeses of today and times gone by. The crazy stuff people do in their sleep. * (15:20) Chad's gaming topic: Character defining moments. Dan presents a large example. * (25:35) Brodeur does not top that. What can a GM do? Dan presents a counter-example. * (34:40) Tale of woe and reform aside, Dan answers the question. * (36:25) Another example of a GM intervention, so to speak. Even...

* (0:31) A big thanks to our Patreon backers . * (1:32) NPC AI. Having non-player characters make decisions according to predetermined parameters. Our episode on quitting the field . * (5:43) Why this isn't just "deciding". * (6:41) The mechanical or rules-based approach. * (7:38) The parameterized or character-based approach. * (21:06) The psychology of fear, and the call of the void. * (23:59) M...

* (0:39) Fear the Con 10 , June 22-24, 2017. Fear the Con 9 is lost, probably will be found-footage later. * (4:30) Brodeur goes to Archon for the aftermath of the cosplay. * (6:38) Pete introduces Brodeur to a new game, Dreamchaser . Dan comes up with "Four Hours at IKEA". * (19:24) Setting hard and soft goals for a game. * (26:07) The thinking behind the group template. * (30:04) The distinction...

* (0:30) Pat is going to kill us all. * (17:03) The horror of the unknown. * (19:25) How Pat surpassed R. Lee Ermey. * (21:43) Creating expectation and setting a mood. * (23:47) Comedy = Expectation + Subversion. The human ability to cope with the known. * (26:56) The escape room: An objective-based, time-limited, puzzle game. * (28:11) The benefit to having extra people in puzzle situations. Expe...

* (0:18) It's just Dan and Chad today. Whatever happened to Julia? * (3:38) Behaviors tolerated and untolerated. Organization psychology. The book,  Zapp! * (5:20) The four styles of leadership, as applied to roleplaying. Situational Leadership ( with pictures  or on Wikipedia  or on the official site ). * (9:48) Let it be written that here, on this date, Chad said in episode 69, "It's always bett...

* (0:24) The Mic-er Conspiracy, and editing what people say. * (2:26) Dan has a story! * (10:12) How Dan's story ties into gaming. The Facebook thread on the topic. Chekhov's Gun . * (15:24) The difference in how we search for meaning in life versus how we do so in an RPG. * (19:21) A tangent about Tarantino and the Rules of Eating in cinema. Everyday events that don't matter to the plot. * (22:15...

NOTE: This episode is the second half of a recording that began with the prior episode. * (0:24) Spiders of my Mind, a game about psychotic murderers and an insane asylum. The day and night cycle. * (18:01) Brodeur asks: What attracted you to this setting? Pat is creepy and was super into a cat. * (25:14) Chad is diligent in crediting the source of the flashbacks mechanic: Mikel Matthews. * (30:11...

NOTE: The raw recording was enough for two shows, but the topic change left for rather uneven times. This is the first portion, and it's rather short. The upcoming second portion changes topics and is much longer. * (0:31) Why Wayne isn't on the mics. * (1:09) Dan runs the register. Automats . * (4:52) Dan gets going, and Brodeur shares his Kickstarter idea. * (6:22) A conspiracy theory is formed....

* (0:29) Getting Chris to St. Louis. Lovecraft stories and Easter Eggs in Fallout. * (6:24) The seven intelligences . * (9:43) Presenting information in the right way to a particular person. Examples from movies and RPGs. * (13:00) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:  Path of Exile is superior to Diablo 3. * (15:35) Pat as an analytical player. * (21:45) Wayne and Dan as additive players. * (28:13) Brodeur's GW...

* (0:28) Andy Warhol gets trolled by Dennis Hopper  through Strasbergian emotional memory. * (4:30) Dropped glasses become art , perhaps because of Yoko Ono's famous picture ? * (5:41) Chad has an idea to pitch. * (9:20) Telling good stories without alienating the people they're about. Catching Pat in his refractory period. * (17:11) Chad owns MorningSkye.com and can't seem to opt out of the sale...

* (0:24) Dan will record, anyway. The Pimp's Prayer (NSFW) . Brodeur can't cry. Tyromancy , the cheese magic. * (6:39) The lowest form of horror. The 1979 movie, Zombie . The silent film, Un Chien Andalou . Hobo with a Shotgun . * (17:32) A time jump in Brodeur's RPG. * (21:32) Geoff Johns uses physics to make Aquaman a good character. The war between Amazons and Atlanteans . (Correction: The indi...

* (0:27) The Facebook post explaining our site difficulties. * (1:32) The Inkwell Ideas' Kickstarter for Hexographer 2 . * (3:14) The cognitive dissonance of many gamers regarding fairness and success. Hosts: Dan

* (0:28) Fear the Boot's crossover with Dead Games Society . Gaming resources that are not sourcebooks. * (3:43) A sad farewell and all our love to Mark. * (4:39) Everyone begs for new chairs. Brodeur plans to steal from Good Will. * (6:10) Game-relevant table talk. Meta-gaming and immersion. * (17:41) When can a character speak and for how long? * (24:59) Action timing in Blades in the Dark. * (3...

* (0:29) A loose sound card, Patreon , falling pants, and attack chairs. * (3:42) The TSA, full-body scanners, and having to take your belt off. Wave of babies . * (8:14) RPG people tricks, starting with Dan trolling. * (10:46) Wayne getting the feel of a game. * (12:16) Brodeur interviews himself. * (14:04) Dan CAN judge you. But he rehearses his lines, too. * (16:28) Voices and the methods by wh...

* (0:22) Horrible things you can do with Pokémon GO. * (1:04) Augmented Reality and Alternate Reality Games . Drug addiction. * (7:34) Wayne's wrestling efed. Gnarl's adventures on Twitter . * (17:53) Wayne's wrestler's name. * (26:18) The psychology of roleplaying. The freedom that a mask grants, particularly when it's a fully articulated gnoll mask. * (32:30) What would Brodeur say if he had Twi...

* (0:33) Moon , Dredd , and Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition . * (8:25) Dan comes up with one nice thing to say about the movie, Battleship . Also, they're  voxels , not pixels . * (12:58) Chad recommends The Seventh Seal . * (14:15) Dan's Gnollsona days are to be in their peak soon. * (15:30) All the things worse than gamer categories. The Sokal affair and other uses of world salad. * (18:59) T...

* (0:31) The end of Brodeur's honeymoon with 5th edition D&D and his endless honeymoon with a Marilith. * (4:32) Brodeur denies, as all subs do, that he wants to bang the Marilith. * (14:21) When the whole thing needs to go. * (16:08) Topic of this episode: Sound and music. MyNoise . * (23:17) Issues with sound. Blending soundscapes together. The value of sounds people aren't aware of. Frederic Ch...

* (1:19) The requisite disclaimers. * (1:57) How mental health affects gaming, as the person with the condition. * (2:26) Attendance issues. * (5:15) Accepting that some issues can't be dealt with or accommodated in the context of gaming. * (7:02) Some ideas for accommodating attendance issues when you can. * (10:53) Beating yourself up during the game. * (12:12) Accommodating mid-game issues. * (...

* (0:39) Mental health as a topic, why we're talking about it, and some important disclaimers. * (8:49) Why this relates so closely to gaming. * (13:47) Dan's history and issues. * (18:41) The uniqueness of the conditions when compared to "normal" thoughts. The courage of getting treatment. * (26:04) The anatomy of a panic attack. * (27:24) PTSD can come from any serious trauma. * (28:54) Brodeur'...

* (0:40) Pulp Gamer isn't gone—just the network. * (1:30) Drucon. Special thanks to Adam, Bob, and Derek. * (2:43) Introducing Aisha and thanks to our Patreon backers . Her history with roleplaying games and video games. * (15:32) How some hosts are hard to edit. * (19:58) Our main topic: Old school ideas that still have value. * (27:22) The use of common sense regarding random charts. * (30:37) S...

* (0:31) With Pulp Gamer closing their network, Fear the Boot is now a proud member of the RPG Academy network of shows . * (1:20) TsunamiCon in Wichita, KS, from October 7th to 9th. You can find their page here  and  support their Kickstarter here . * (4:07) Where's Dan? Wayne went to a shibari event once... Also, duct tape is not to be used for bondage. * (5:02) After effects of the index card s...

* (2:29) Chad's garage sale find. You can find the relevant images here . * (10:46) On the formation of "The White Box", the first complete D&D set. * (14:46) Dan reads the sample roleplaying text in his bedroom voice. * (17:40) A touching foreword from Tom Moldvay. * (20:08) A page of Inspirational Reading. * (21:35) The RPGA form and the Roll20 Survey . * (26:14) Where it all went wrong. * (28:3...

* (1:24) Patreon milestones coming up , including a live-stream Shadowrun AP. * (2:36) Dan played D&D 5E, and he liked it. Pat thinks it should feel wrong, but it feels so right, instead. * (14:48) Improving games by using the Stoplight. * (18:11) Removing the red lights to preserve feelings. * (20:25) Pat's take on the advantages of open communication. * (24:00) Phrasing the suggestions to be fut...

* (0:29) Fear the Boot is now 10 years old! * (4:39) The three promises of Fear the Boot: no ads in the show, no politics or religion, and never putting primary content behind a pay wall. * (9:35) Ways we want to improve the show over the next 10 years. * (12:40) If you want to help the show, Fear the Boot's Patreon, milestones, and backer rewards can be found here . * (18:05) Some thanks to the h...