Fluff N Crunch

Hither came a discussion of formal downtime systems, a thing not often found in RPGs; and in detail we chronicle the exploits of the Carousing system in Modiphius' Conan RPG. Continue the discussion on our Discord right here . And if you're interested in a one-page cheat sheet for Carousing, you can download it here .

Virtually all RPGs have systems by which "experience" is gained and spent, and, beneath the hood, they're almost all the same, offering only variations on the same theme. We discuss this aspect of gaming, and offer some ideas about how to approach the issue differently.

Our discussion about and survey of the system and setting for Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of, and our thoughts on what sorts of stories you could run with it. We also discuss how the mechanics of this game are different from more recent Modiphius products...and yet, appropriate to Conan. Check out Modiphius' two free Conan quickstarts here .

What's the optimal party size? How have party size expectations, rules, and norms changed over time? We discuss this and offer some ideas about managing big and small parties.

Infinity, based off a miniatures skirmish game, debuted in 2017 as a result of a Kickstarter. Very much on the crunchy end of the system spectrum, it overlaps mechanically a great deal with both Conan and Mutant Chronicles in its presentation of a transhuman/cyberpunk future. You can read Chris's actual play summaries, which we mentioned in the episode, here , and see the full line of Modiphius pr...

Or airplane rides, or trains, or whatever...this is Chris's hack of pieces and parts of various systems to use as a simple ruleset for roadtrips with his family. You can look at the rough draft of the rules here .

An overview of the setting, system particulars, and our take on story ideas for the grand daddy of 2d20 games, the Diesel Punk Mutant Chronicles. And if you want to pick up the massive MC PDF bundle (from which we get zero kickbacks), check it out here .

This is the permanent Discord link (and so is this: https://discord.gg/5AtydRUDjX). Join us at our troll-free server where we discuss the sorts of things we talk about on the show, trade ideas, and don't give in to the darker impulses of social media and Internet relations.

We've seen plenty of RPG properties mined for various kinds of video games, and we've seen the latter used as fodder for movies, books, and other media...so how about turning a video game, of some sort, into a TTRPG? It's been tried, and with the 2d20 SRD out, and the ever-ready GM who wants to create something new for the table, we decided to dig into this topic. When is it worth the work, and wh...

Herein we discuss the high points of 2d20 - what we really like about it. If you're considering trying the system listen to this. If you want evidence and ideas for getting your non-compliant friends to get onboard, listen to this.

Herein we discuss those systems - at least some of the systems - that claim to be applicable to and useful in any genre of play.

Herein Chris and Jeremy discuss their ideas for projects they'd like to begin using the new SRD, and commit to producing some content for the community.

What is this thing called "balance" and why do so many game systems attempt to ensure it in character and encounter design? We pick at this issue and offer our thoughts.

Herein Chris and Jeremy review and reflect on the newly-released SRD and the good things it can provide players and GMs (especially GMs). SRD via DriveThruRPG

Herein Chris and Jeremy present their review of the new Homeworld RPG from Modiphius, discussing the system, setting, and story possibilities presented in this 340-some page book. There's been a lot of discussion on the official Discord about errors, typos, and inconsistencies in this book; however, we do not address these...if you want those lists, go to the Discord and prepare to read.

Herein we discuss our ideas for using 2d20 for a Supers game, with most of this episode focused on powers and how to account for them mechanically. We'll have a linked document of our notes ready within the next few weeks and will discuss it in a future episode. Here's the link to our shabby notes - we'll flesh these out more over the next few weeks.

Chris has decided to go back to his college roots and run Vampire, and after wrestling with the decision over which version to run, he has settled on 5th edition. Herein we discuss a little of the history of Vampire as a setting and system, compare changes to the rules and settings over the last 30 years, and focus on some of the particulars of 5th ed as he begins his campaign set in Las Vegas.

Herein we discuss the Homeworld Quickstart/Free RPG Day materials, including the rules, adventure, and what seem like the direction of this game.

Chris and I met over a year ago, and started recording FnC shortly thereafter, and upon reaching this, our 50th episode, we decided to look back on what we've done, what we think of it, and what we'd like to do over the next 50+ episodes. It might include some rambling and reminiscing, so be warned. 

Chris and Jeremy frame the basic needs of a Supers mod for 2d20, discussing stats, skills, and starting to discuss powers. Part Two will follow within the next few weeks.

Chris is nearly done running CoS, and I ran it when it first came out. Herein we discuss the story and how it interacts with the current 5e rules and DnD player norms. If you've not listened to our episode on running investigation-heavy stories , we call back to some of those ideas, by implication, in this episode. Our older episode on running published adventures is also implied.

I (Jeremy) am going run the Dracula Dossier for my group, but I'm not hip on Gumshoe as a system after having run it a decent amount. The challenge, then, is whether or not 2d20 can be modified to emulate the necessary tropes for Jason Bourne meets Dracula. Can it? Let's see.

In Chris' first solo episode, he works through a list of well-known and lesser-known Supers RPGs from over the years, addressing some of their strengths and shortcomings, and then foreshadows future commentary on the new Marvel RPG, and expresses some hope for the future of Supers games.

We had the pleasure of talking with Nathan Dowdell, the 2d20 System Manager for Modiphius Entertainment. Our discussion ranged from how he and his team have modified the core system to fit various existing properties, to some talk about the upcoming SRD, to other ideas related to 2d20 and gaming in general.

Kickstarted in 2015 and fulfilled in 2020, the Cortex Prime toolkit hardback presents the Cortex system and myriad options for how you might use it in your games. Chris and I discuss what we think of the core mechanic and, more importantly, what else is in the book, how it might be used, and for whom this might be an interesting purchase.