Fear the Boot

* A report on the Ziggurat Con donation drive.  You can find more details on the forums here . * Fear the Boot will be attending a general reception for the gaming podcasters and listeners at Gencon on Saturday, August 18th, from 7:00pm – 9:00pm. * An update on the World of Warcraft and Everquest II guilds. * Gamers and sports. * Balancing a game for setting accuracy versus fairness. * How electro...

Like all Fear the Boot bonus episodes, this show is neither edited nor on our usual subject.  So if this is your first time here, we recommend checking out a regular episode first. This episode is a review of Anime Central, which was attended by Adam and Melina.  Adam also put together a short film, which you can find here . While there’s no profanity or explicit material in this episode, it does...

* The D&D play-by-DVD game, Scourge of Worlds .  Pictures of the woman that voice-acted Lidda can be found here . * The Rifts challenge. * World Wide Wing Night 2, final reminder. * Supporting your local gaming shop. * Should Game Masters cheat? * Answering Andrew’s email on how to handle enemies in an RPG. * Running a low-magic fantasy game. Hosts: Adam, Chad, Dan (If you want to know what it sou...

* Why Dan hates Woodson Terrace, Missouri.  The “350” clip referred to can be found here . * The final reminder for Ziggurat Con donations.  This Saturday is the cut-off for donations. * World Wide Wing Night 2 is still coming up on Friday, May 18th. * Dragon and Dungeon magazines shutting down, redux.  The voice mail we’re discussing can be found here , should you want to hear the whole thing.  Y...

In this interview we talk with Shamus Young, author of the web comic, DM of the Rings , a parody of Lord of the Rings , presented as if the movie was the plot of an RPG. His website: http://www.shamusyoung.com His comic: http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=14 During the show, we mention an episode we recorded 30 minutes ago.  That show is episode 51, which will be released next week. H...

Though we’ve gotten out of the habit, we want to do something different every 10th episode.  Since episode 50 falls pretty close to our one-year anniversary, we spend this show looking back on the first year of the show. I assure you this is not a highlight reel of clips from previous shows, nor do we rehash old topics.  Instead we talk about the things that have happened off mic, the phases the s...

* Contacting Fear the Boot. * A reminder on Ziggurat con .  The 60-second promo is located here . * Chad and Dan, revisit their favorite RPGs, this time sticking to store-bought products. * Dragon and Dungeon magazine shutting down.  The future of RPG media. * Building affinity between your players and an NPC. * Running a roleplaying game in the steampunk genre. * A reminder on World Wide Wing Nig...

* Though it will have minimal impact on the show, we’ve changed our recording date from Saturday to Monday.  Release will still be on Wednesdays. * We’re accepting donations to prepare gaming kits that will be sent down to Ziggurat Con , a gaming convention for soldiers in Iraq.  You can donate using the “Make a Donation” button at the top of our site.  If you prefer to send a check or other donat...

* A discussion of 300.  We promise, there are no spoilers. * Picking a Star Wars fighter. * A conversation about costuming leads into an ode to the Brotherhood of Nod. * DuckTales.  Yes, you read that right. * Running a sci-fi roleplaying game. Hosts: Adam, Chad, Dan, John

* Chris Engler is joining a charity bowling contest that will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters.  If RPG podcast listeners will pledge enough money, several companies (including Highmoon Media and Sword’s Edge ) have pledged to give away a ton of RPG-related prizes.  You can find the details on his website or in our forums . * A Bloodbowl League is forming, using a Java client so you can play onlin...

* Chad: The Travesty contest reminder. * Gaming groups through local libraries, redux. * The editions of D&D. * Using maps for combat in an RPG. * Running a horror game. Hosts: Adam, Chad, Dan, John, Mike

* The Brownsburg Library D&D group and using your library to promote RPG play. * A big “thank you” to the community for the donations for Skye. * Gamer Traveler podcast. * Chad: The Travesty contest reminder. * SciFi Smackdown podcast. * Fear the Boot’s EQ2 and WoW guilds. * The fandom surrounding modern TV shows. * Layout and organization of your new roleplaying game. * Skies of Glass Q&A. Hosts:...

* Chad and Dawn’s baby * Chad: The Travesty contest.  Enter here! * Whether rolling dice is unfair to unlucky players. * The future of Fear the Boot. * Designing expansions for your roleplaying game. * Copyright protection. * Skies of Glass Q&A Hosts: Adam, Dan, Mike, John

* Who wants a body massage ? * Do Adam and John sound too much alike? * Boardgaming. * Chad calls 911. * BBS games.  The instance of Legend of the Green Dragon I signed up with can be found here . * John’s three criteria for a good movie. * Handling wounds, healing, and death in your RPG design. * Skies of Glass Q&A.

In the second interview episode, we talk with Mike West from Lionhead Studios. Mike contributed to script development for Fable and is currently the lead script developer for Fable 2. Our conversation focuses on storytelling in video games, but also includes discussion of the relationship between video games and tabletop games, the future of the video game market, and the chances of small shops su...

* Hurting yourself while playing video games. * Fear the Boot would like to thank… Accidental Survivors Dragons Landing Inn Harping Monkey Pulp Gamer Fanboy Smackdown Geeklabel * The timing and purpose of resource documents. * Bringing FTB up to date on current games. * The new World of Darkness. * Why people more readily accept non-realism in fantasy versus sci-fi. * Designing a combat system for...

* Fear the Boot store update. * A preview of the upcoming interviews. * The backlog of resource documents. * Gaming comics. * Players and GMs make the game. * Designing character advancement for your new roleplaying game. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Mike

The resource document for this episode will be rather extensive, so it won’t be up along with this episode, but it should be posted by the end of the week. * John’s date report. * Chad’s comments on gaming in the window of a shop in the mall. * Why Mike hasn’t GM-ed in years, and whether GMs make the best players. * Considerations when designing character creation for a new roleplaying game. * Ski...

Since starting this podcast, Fear the Boot has made contact with quite a few professionals in the gaming market.  Rather than let these opportunities go to waste, we decided to start a new interview series.  For our kick-off show, we chat with Ryan Dancey about his experience working for Wizards of the Coast, the data he’s seen on the gaming population, and the future of the hobby. If you’d like t...

During the show, we make a few jokes about an “oooooh” noise.  During the show I said I would link the video that comes from, so here it is .  Please be aware it includes foul language. * Katie, I can’t understand the email address in your voicemail. * A writer’s critique group is running on our forum.  To join, send a private message (on the forum) to Tony, who both heads up the critique group an...

Like all Fear the Boot bonus episodes, this show is neither edited nor on our usual subject.  So if this is your first time here, we recommend checking out a regular episode first. This particular episode is primarily about “gamer shame”, meaning the embarrassment most gamers feel about their chosen hobby.  However, before we get into that, we spend a few minutes talking about turn-based strategy...

* A review of World Wide Wing Night. * Our take on Wizards of the Coast’s D&D club sponsorship program.  You can find the article we’re discussing here . * Based on some feedback we’ve gotten, we return to the subject of RPG art.  The RPG publishers we mention are Highmoon Media and Sword’s Edge Publishing . * We continue the game design series with a discussion of social rules for your roleplayin...

This episode was intended to be a warm-up for Mike, a new host we’re bringing on at FTB to help out with several new efforts we’re preparing to launch.  However, true to form, we spend most of the show chasing tangents, the largest of which is a discussion on pipes and cigars. Mike was a bit nervous behind the mic, but that’s alright.  Off the mic he’s just as belligerent as the rest of us, so I k...

For this episode, we welcome guest host, Chris Hussey, an author that used to work for FASA. * Character advancement: why is it emotionally integral to the RPG experience? * A reminder about World Wide Wing Night.  Details can be found here . * Designing the basic model for characters in a new roleplaying game. Hosts: Adam, Chad, Chris, Dan, John

Before I get to the show notes, a listener asked us to mention an upcoming gaming con.  I didn’t get the note in time for the recording, so I’ll mention it here instead.  The con is Chattacon in Chattanooga, Tennessee, January 26 – 28.  You can find more information at Chattacon.org . With that done, on to the show… * The future of the gaming industry.  The Ryan Dancey article we mention can be fo...