Fluff N Crunch

Since Chris was sick this week, I decided to offer short reviews of several of Modiphius' published A!C adventures, with commentary and suggestions for GMs who might want to run them.

In this one I interview Chris about the new Marvel supers game, and I get an earful. Below are links to his blog, wherein you can see examples of the infamous Archetype Tables, and read about his suggestions for improving the game (that is, making it playable). Post 1: Overview Post 2: Comparisons and Conclusions

Herein I seek feedback on a very rough draft of a more traditional fantasy magic system for use with 2d20. It's rough, and I think I'm coming away with some good ideas to improve it.

As GMs, we draw inspiration for ideas - and life ideas whole-cloth - from books, movies, tv, and mythology. I propose another valid source: the lyrics and album covers of many Metal bands. Below are linked some of those mentioned in the episode, and a few others. Lyrics Iron Maiden, " Sun and Steel " Iron Maiden, " The Wicker Man " Iron Maiden, " The Duellists " Iron Maiden, " The Prophecy " Judas...

I think that says it...herein we discuss what we'd like to see in a fantasy core rulebook...not tied to an existing property or setting.

Our mainly GM-focused discussion of the differences in planning and management needs between one-offs, adventures, and campaigns.

In this episode we discuss the highly narrative Dishonored 2d20 RPG, and talk about what we like and dislike about it as a setting, as a vehicle for storytelling, and as a version of our favorite system.

Investigations and mysteries are interesting, can be a lot of fun, and are also a challenge to plan and run. Digging into our long experience of mistakes in trying to do this, Chris and I discuss what we believe to be the biggest pitfalls to avoid in planning and running these. In the episode I refer to Chill 3e and some potentially useful (free) materials related to that game available on DriveTh...

What is Star Trek without problem solving through gonzo science, engineering, and medicine? We think not much, and Modiphius agrees, as evidenced by their inclusion of a subsystem for using a riff on the scientific method within the game. It's simple and story and character focused if done well, and you should go out of your way to put it to use. In this episode we explain and discuss it, run thro...

TTRPGs have gone through a lot of development over the last 45+ years, and over that time we've seen different views on when and how to use the dice...when to call for rolls, what those rolls should be used to accomplish, and even when to hide and possibly fudge rolls (by the GM, of course...GMs fudge; players cheat!). In this episode Chris and I talk a little about that evolution, and focus mostl...

In this episode we discuss how to get people to play a 2d20 game, and then how to explain and make sense of the most important mechanics during that first session.

Part 2 of our discussion of the challenges of running original adventures and campaigns in story-heavy settings, wherein we move on from easier settings to more difficult ones - that is, those with little daylight between story and setting, like Dune or The Expanse.

Part 1 of our discussion of the challenges of running original adventures and campaigns in story-heavy settings. In this episode we first discuss those settings with established stories that don't present too much of a challenge to writing original adventures, and offer some opportunities, then move on to those settings where there is less daylight between story and setting.

This is a long one, in which we work through a combat encounter and provide running rules and gameplay commentary throughout. We made a mistake, however, with the rules and I went back and plugged in a few interludes of commentary to smooth things out and set up our recognition of the mistake, which we talked about at the end of the episode. One bit of advice for running combat in AC: make sure yo...

The episode in which we discuss the comparative merits and challenges in using published vs. homebrew adventures and campaigns, which led us quite organically to some realizations about us as GMs - and probably GMs in general - from which we drew what we believe is solid advice for those of us who spend most of our gaming time 'behind the screen.' Find us on Facebook or email us at fluffncrunch@tu...

The episode in which we discuss range, space, and distance, and how it's handled through theater of the mind and minis-based games, as well as how 2d20s concept of 'zones' can work well with either. And feel free to contact us directly through our new email: fluffncrunch@tutanota.com

What are Chris and I looking forward to, individually, in gaming over 2022? What releases have our interest, and what do we hope to do with our respective groups? We discuss these, and some Covid, in this episode.

We take shots at the game and the system a lot, we know, and so we thought it was time to devote an episode to explaining ourselves to you. Spoiler: we actually think there is quite a lot to like about 5e...and yet...

Recorded while Jeremy and Chris could not harmonize their schedules, this episode includes our first guest host, John - military combat veteran and current law enforcement officer - whose life experiences color his views on gaming and game rules. We had an interesting discussion of the core mechanic and how we think it's a significant improvement over the stock Year Zero Engine, and spent time on...

After about six months of podcasting and a lot of gaming, we decided to look back on all of 2021 and reflect on the good.

A follow-up to our favorites discussion, herein we talk about some of our worst gaming experiences by system. And don't get your nose out of joint over these - we all have games we've played that we just didn't like, for some reason or another. On the upside, consider this: if some of your favorites are some of our least favorites, we will never compete over the last copy.

Herein Chris and I go full-frontal op-ed, sharing our fondest and best game memories by system.

I played a lot of PF 1e when it replaced DnD 4e at our table, and it was great...up to about 6th level. Having moved away from PF when DnD 5e came out, I have to date only give PF 2e a cursory glance. Chris, on the other hand, has played and run it and promises that there are many noteworthy improvements in 2e...and so we took this episode to talk about the newest version of the system.

A notional combat encounter between Conan and pirate cultists and their vile leader...

The first in a series of 'notional combat encounters' we're going to work through for different 2d20 games, to help nail down how combat flows and what options are available, and also to compare combat between the different games.