Fluff N Crunch

What do you, as a GM, do when your players fail? How do you handle the story, the game, and the people around you when the dice don't play nicely? We discuss some of the issues with player failure and offer some ideas on how to deal with it both from the table and interpersonal management side of things, and the game/mechanical side. #ttrpg #gamemaster #playerfailure #characterfailure Note: th...

I think so...but it's my game so I could be a little biased. Regardless, Chris and I discuss the fear mechanic - how it works, how it will support a proper horror vibe in a story...and Chris offers a revision that I'm going to try out in my next two playtests. #rpg #tabletop #horror Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX Subscribe on to our podcast: https://podcasters.spo...

In our ongoing joint project to develop our own #tabletop #rpg games and systems, we discuss here some ideas Chris has for dice mechanics and, to my surprise, I end up liking a dice pool idea that involves different die types in each roll. Tune into hear the details. Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX Subscribe on to our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fluffn...

Art in TTRPG books is important…but why? How? To whom? Is it a deal-breaker for purchases or a barrier to entry to the hobby? We figure out the answers. RPG art article link: https://www.blackgate.com/2014/02/12/art-of-the-genre-the-top-10-rpg-artists-of-the-past-40-years-2/ Amazon documentary: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B07Q334KBS/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r Join our friendly Discord: https...

Now that we've discussed norms in character creation systems, we're going to look at some options and ideas for what we're going to use in the #ttrpgs we are each developing. #ttrpgs #characters #chargen RPG art article link: https://www.blackgate.com/2014/02/12/art-of-the-genre-the-top-10-rpg-artists-of-the-past-40-years-2/ Amazon documentary: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0...

Herein we begin our examination of general approaches to character generation in #ttrpgs as part of our work to develop our own games.#ttrpgs #characters #chargen Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX Subscribe on to our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fluffncrunch Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@fluffncrunchpod Subscribe to our email...

I think the title says it all. Chris attended UK Games Expo, and I went on vacation. He's got some interesting news about the experience, some new games he played, designers with whom he spoke, and we talk about the value of attending game conventions. #ukgamesexpo #gameconventionsThe Mandalorian: Adventures - https://store.asmodee.com/products/the-mandalorian-adventuresAltered CCG: https://ww...

Herein we offer and discuss our ideas for the games we each are going to write, kicking around setting ideas that point toward the sorts of stories the games will help tell and will inform the sorts of system decisions we’ll each have to make. If you’re interested in game design, and what we think is a vital issue - the nexus of system, setting, and story - this episode is for you. Join our friend...

Beyond just a heap of dice, what is a "dice pool" and what advantages and maybe challenges this type of resolution mechanic offer for #ttrpgs ? We dive into the topic by spotlighting several different games, past and current, that use dice pools, and share our ideas about the possibilities a true dice pool offers players and GMs. #dice #rpgs #tabletoprpg Join our friendly Discord: https:...

Mechanics…what makes RPGs games, and often a source of either interest or frustration, depending on how they work. In this first part of a series, We look at the most basic type of resolution mechanic: generate a number and compare it against another number. What systems use this? What opportunities and limitations does it present? What form of it do we like best? We ended up surprising ourselves...

Herein we point out how DnD 5e falls flat in system, settings, and stories, and we offer ideas on how to fix a game that WOTC has done its best in the last few years to ruin. The original TTRPG deserves better than vanilla settings and boring rules, and we have some ideas. #dnd #wotc #ttrpg #fixdnd #eberron #forgottenrealms #greyhawk Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX Subscri...

In response to a listener request, we discuss the issue of crunch - of rules complexity and density in #ttrpgs. We talk about a few games that have a reputation for being too crunchy, and discuss in depth five games with which we have experience and believe are both crunchy and playable. #traveller #anima #conan #2d20 #shadowrun Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX Subscribe on...

What’s Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound all about as a #TTRPG? What’s the foundation of the setting, how does the system work, what kinds of stories can be told in it? Herein we discuss this expansive RPG from Cubicle 7, building on our recent discussion of the Warhammer universe. Check out the game at https://cubicle7games.com/our-games/age-of-sigmar-soulbound #warhammer #ageofsigmar #ttrpg #cu...

We talk about the Fallout tabletop RPG in this episode - given all the #Fallout related talk of late, with the Amazon show, it was high time we hit this title. We talk about how it differs from other #2d20 games, how well it models the video game property, and point out one glaring issues with the core rules. Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX Subscribe on to our podcast: htt...

#Modiphius released free quickstart rules and adventure PDF for Star Trek Adventures 2e today...and we made time to react to it! We discuss what's in the document, some of the most salient rules changes from 1e, and what we think players and GMs can expect from this new version of a great game. #startrek #startrekgaming #startrekadventures Download the PDF: https://www.startrekttrpg.com/ Read...

Herein we discuss Modiphius’ community publishing program, available on DriveThruRPG, based on our own experiences and survey results from other content creators who’ve published various full games under the license. WB Program Homepage: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/4329/modiphius/category/44299/2d20-world-builders Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX Subscribe...

In Chris’s debut solo episode, he discusses recent reveals for Warhammer’s Age of Sigmar minis game. We will drop these episodes as regular bonus content, on Saturdays. Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX  Subscribe on to our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fluffncrunch Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@fluffncrunchpod Subscribe to our...

Warhammer 40,000 Wrath & Glory RPG offers several tiers of play to help you dial in the type and scope of story you want to play in this massive, iconic world. In this episode we discuss what makes this game unique in the areas we love so much: system, setting, and story. We look into what kinds of stories you can play within the setting, and at how the d6 dice pool system helps to model the p...

This week I interview Richard, the designer of Frightshow Classics, a line of d100-based horror adventures available on DriveThruRPG, and created in the spirit (and system) of Pacesetter’s Chill 1e and the Cryptworld. If you’re looking for easy-to-run stories that offer a great 70s/80s/Kolchak the Night Stalker vibe, look no further… Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX Subscri...

Would either of these well-known properties make for a good tabletop RPG setting? If so, is there a system out there already that would fit the mood and themes of the property? We dig into both in this episode and try to answer these questions. And for free, we've thrown in a compelling argument that the 1997 Starship Troopers film is a heaping pile of trash and that you should ignore it as a...

Warhammer is huge - it’s fantasy, it’s an iconic dark future, it’s miniatures, and rpgs. And in this episode we tackle a top-level overview of it so that we can, in future episodes, make sense of the individual rpgs in the line. #warhammer #40k #darkfuture #spacemarines #chaos Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX Subscribe on to our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/s...

I’m joined today by John Houlihan, the Creative Lead for the Achtung! Cthulhu RPG, and we talk about - and unbox - the new Starter Set for the game. This box includes abbreviated rules, a 60-page adventure, six pregenerated characters, maps, tokens, and more, and I think it would be great for someone new to the game or for someone who’s been playing it for years. We also discuss the upcoming D-Day...

Just when you thought your collection of Star Trek Adventures books was complete, Modiphius drops the news that they're coming out with a second edition of the rules later this year! The book promises more world content, "streamlined" rules, and compatibility with the current edition. Deftly avoiding baseless conjecture, we offer up our wishlists of what we would like to see in this...

Here i am today with Al Spader, lead writer for Modiphius' upcoming Federation-Klingon Tactical Campaign, to talk about what story content, new rules, character options, and other ideas are in this book and how you can use it in your Star Trek Adventures campaign. We discuss the tactical campaign subsystem in some detail and talk a lot about the story possibilities in this 200+ page volume, av...

10 months after our first discussion of AI usage in and related to TTPRGs, we revisit the subject, reviewing some of the tool available now, and diving into the politics of AI usage. #ttrpg #ai #midjourney #chatgpt Join our friendly Discord: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX Subscribe on to our podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fluffncrunch Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www....