Fear the Boot

* (1:19) St. Louis food trucks.  The real name of Panera Bread .  An upcoming food truck rally at  Laumeier Sculpture Park . * (8:11) Chad’s coyote character radically alters the course of a game.  The courtesy of handling such shifts in light of plans made by the Game Master or other players. * (21:34) Rolling with such sudden changes when you’re running the game. * (35:53) The relationship betwe...

* (0:40) The Nazi Occult by Ken Hite. * (3:13) Fear the Minicon: East.  It will be hosted in Raleigh, NC on August 10th at Game Theory .  You can find the details and get signed up here . * (4:20) Fear the Con 7 will most likely be June 12th – 14th of 2014. * (8:17) Our biggest faults as Game Masters and how we overcame (or are working to overcome) them. * (22:00) The nature of crunch within a rol...

* (0:50) A big thanks to Nick for the bonus episode intro music! * (1:15) If you can’t get Happy Jacks, you probably need to update your feed.  You can find more info here . * (1:55) A big congrats to Jake and Erick! * (2:50) Postcard winners, you have not been forgotten. * (4:46) Wayne and his soap babies at Fear the Con 6. * (6:63) Pat and the nuclear football. * (19:45) Chris’ poor choice of t-...

* (0:24) Chad forgets how to podcast. * (2:28) Chris meets a person and is impressed by the event. * (8:38) Telling a story at varying levels of epic-ness.  What it means for a story to be epic.  The importance of the small stories, even when told in the context of larger events.  Keeping the players connected to the characters and not just the plot arc.  You can find the Dark Dungeons tract here...

* (0:30) Fear the Con 6 !  Sign up for the games you want to run or play.  Also, be sure to get your ticket ordered so we can give you a badge on Wing Night and skip the lines on Friday morning. * (2:03) A discussion about why Tex and Dan used to hate Chris leads into some insight on the work Chris did for FASA and the rejection letter he got for a Shadowrun adventure about Mars.  Yes, you read th...

* (0:28) You can find Fear the Con 6 t-shirts and other items on our CafePress store . * (0:57) Issues of responsibility.   Within a roleplaying group, who buys the books?  How do you fairly divide materials and labor?  Whether hosting the event or running the game should count toward those social obligations. * (36:48) Handling mass combat in a game while still making the players feel like their...

* (0:20) How Shadowrun 5th edition is adapting to the shifting relevance of cyberpunk’s central themes.  The personal information site I mentioned is Radaris . * (12:04) The matrix and its way of breaking up the party.  The steps Catalyst is taking to make deckers a bigger part of the primary story instead of an isolated side game. * (25:09) The organization of the team creating 5th edition. * (27...

* (0:40) A toast to Spc. David Tyler Proctor. * (1:43) You can find information on Fear the Con 6’s official charities here . * (4:18) Introducing our guest, Mark Dynna. * (5:54) What Shadowrun’s PACs are and why we love them. * (8:26) Shadowrun 5th edition as a case study on how large and mid-sized game companies develop their flagship products. * (10:55) How Mark got started in game development....

* (0:43) Dan was a guest host over at The Established Facts.  You can find that episode here . * (2:38) The Kickstarter for Hyperreality . * (6:05) Dan versus Grey Goose.  Dan wins. * (9:38) Chris versus audio.  Nobody wins. * (11:51) Giving players really advanced notice of a game session. * (15:27) Chris invites someone to a game in all the wrong ways. * (24:40) The surprising number of non-nerd...

* (0:30) The Orson Welles recordings.  You can find the original here and the surprisingly similar parody here . * (1:29) Thoughts and prayers for Jake and his brother, Erick.  You can send wishes to his forum account, Pinofski .  (You’ll need to be logged in to our forums for that link to work.) * (2:26) Registration for Fear the Con is still up and running.  Also Iron Man 3 and the Sober Driver...

* (0:28) I don’t even know how to describe this.  Even Wayne was at a loss for words. * (9:14) A shout-out to the guys who have put out a Matrix RPG . * (10:40) Sign-up for our own convention, Fear the Con , is still running. * (10:49) If you’re interested in a convention on the east coast, be sure to check out 1d4Con in Winchester, Virginia, Friday, April 26th to Sunday, April 28th. * (11:51) And...

* (0:17) Dan doesn’t know his own show. * (1:44) Introducing the one question personality tests. * (4:32) People that don’t own TVs. * (6:10) Red, green, or blue? * (8:52) Protoss, Terran, or Zerg? * (10:05) Dwarf, human, or elf? * (12:15) Zombie apocalypse or alien invasion? * (13:22) Summer or winter? * (16:47) Fighter, wizard, cleric, or thief? * (18:20) Fantasy, steampunk, or sci-fi?   Our Mon...

* (0:29) Nut up and GM! * (3:35) An update on the postcard contest. * (4:17) Fear the Con is coming up.  If you’re arriving early for the tourism, please send an email to Dan with your contact information, arrival time, and method of travel, so we can keep you in the loop.  Failing that, we’ll also be updating our Twitter feed with event information as we migrate about the area. * (7:57) Playing a...

* (0:24) The traits to expect from a good editor.  Determining the kinds of edits you’re looking for.  Separating style and other subjective choices from genuine problems with the writing. * (9:32) Choosing traditional publication versus self-publication. * (18:08) Name placement on a list or bookstore shelf. * (20:17) The importance of marketing your book and yourself as an author.  How name reco...

* (0:27) Introducing our guests and setting up the discussion.  You can find the relevant links at the bottom of this post. * (11:18) What motivated each author to get started. * (17:18) Tips for seeing a project through to completion.  Collaboration, accountability to an audience, and the danger of relying on a “future self”.  The importance of small, realistic milestones. * (28:45) The closest t...

* (1:05) Dan blames Chris for the burpee .   Jackie Joyner-Kersee and fartleks . * (5:49) Fear the Fruit . * (6:38) Boots the Pegasus t-shirt orders . * (7:38) Signup for Fear the Con 6 rolls on, and tickets are now available for purchase! * (9:45) The death of a bard.  Just how much a Game Master should warn a player about the risks they’re taking. * (19:36) Why Pat should play Skyrim: naked mods...

* (0:28) Registration is running for Fear the Con 6 . * (0:57) John makes a Shadowrun character. * (7:26) The various models roleplaying games use for representing damage to your character.  Shaken, stunned, and otherwise losing control of your character. * (11:49) What damage actually represents: injuries versus the loss of will to fight. * (13:53) The relationship between damage, the duration of...

* (0:51) Sign-up is open for Fear the Con 6 !  There are some changes to the scheduling this year, which are detailed in the podcast.  Ticket sales will be available soon. * (5:37) Chad takes umbrage with Wayne’s comments about spelling errors in his games.  If you want to check out his free one-shotters, you can grab them right here . * (8:55) The movies of 2013.   Django .  Trying to see movies...

* (1:15) Voting for the postcards contest rolls on!  Be sure to get your votes in here . * (1:37) Gaming New Years resolutions for 2013. * (22:01) The various approaches to personal wealth and the broader economy of a roleplaying game. * (25:44) A quick update on the new things we’ve learned about soap baby. * (27:14) Back to your regularly schedule episode… * (29:17) The methods for determining a...

* (0:05) This was originally going to be the next Bedtime Stories before Wayne happened.  Regardless, we start with Julia’s misunderstanding of what we mean by “bedtime stories”. * (1:23) You can find Chad’s free games through Morning Skye Studio . * (2:29) Dan guest hosted on two other shows: Dragonlance Canticle and MasterCast . * (3:17) Julia gets pantsed. * (5:26) Dan goes to first grade with...

You can find a transcript of this show  here ! * (0:20) John’s  Bloodmoon Goblins  Pathfinder supplement is now available for sale as a PDF, with print soon to follow. * (2:22) The  ecology and agenda of monsters in Pathfinder Online. * (3:42) The nature of existing (and eventually expanded) “theme park” content as opposed to the “sandbox” content. * (6:08) The reason we need to ask hard questions...

You can find a transcript of this show  here ! If you’re interested in backing the Pathfinder Online Kickstarter, you can do so here . * (0:43) The postcards contest is ready for your vote to pick the grand prize winner!   Get your votes in here ! * (1:08) Some breaking news on the Pathfinder MMO: Mark tells us about the upcoming “Guild Land Rush”. * (5:26) Introducing Mark Kalmes.  City of Heroes...

* (0:28) If you want to ask Maniah about a Boots the Pegasus t-shirt, you can find that information on our forums . * (1:50) You can find the details on Fear the Fruit here . * (2:27) Voting on the postcard grand prize winner will begin soon!  I’m just waiting on one more show to get me their winning card. * (3:28) Derpy Hooves, Bruticus, Orson Welles and the green peaness , the Pros and Cons podc...

* (0:28) Announcing our pick for the Postcards from the Dungeon contest !  You’ll be able to see the postcard we picked when the poll goes live later this week. * (2:32) The existence or absence of critical miss rules in various systems, and whether they’re needed to add parity to critical hits. * (20:18) Why GMs should not make obfuscation and frustration their go-to method of building a plot.  T...

If you need an extra dose of Fear the Boot this week, Dan was a guest on two other podcasts.  First, he appeared on Saving the Game to talk about the moral dimension of folklore and re-imagining tabletop fantasy in a monotheistic paradigm.  Second, he appeared on Pros & Cons to talk about the nitty gritty of hosting a convention. As a side note, while Pros & Cons has a similar “no politics, no rel...