GamingPerspectives

     Ever gamer has a special relationship with dice.  And table top gamers are no different or possibly more fervent with their dice.  Usually they can never have enough or couple always use another set.  Saul and Jolene talk about their dice.  Are all superstitious?  Probably.  They go on to discuss dice trays and dice towers, and it seems that most gamers have strong opinions as to whether they...

     Continuing our Pre-Kublacon interviews, we got Vern R. to join us this time.  Vern is the RPG Coordinator for Kublacon and Pacificon.   He is a LONG time gamer and has played with many excellent gamers from the SF Bay Area.  A local kid Vern grew up in the heart of what would become Silicon Valley.  His gamer story is filled with long treks to hobby game stores and was even impacted by the Sa...

            This is a bonus special announcement episode by Mark S. of DunDraCon.    In Feb. 14-17th, 2020 DDC will be at the San Ramon Marriot where it has been for the last 28 years.  But in 2021 DunDraCon is moving to the Santa Clara Marriot in Santa Clara.  We wanted to put this news out as quickly as possible so we give you the interview announcement without editing.  Mark shares with us the...

     In this episode we discuss our play test of John Carter of Mars rpg.  It is published by Modiphius and uses the 2D20 system.  This is a "streamlined" version of the 2D20 system used in Mutant Chronicles 3rd Edition, Conan RPG, Star Trek Adventures and the Infinity RPG.  Saul and Jolene played this with their friend Steve and our collective kids.  Saul gave a quick introduction to the setting,...

     This week Saul and Jolene talk about the four letter word in some RPG circles, Metagaming.  In this episode both Saul and Jolene give their definition of what metagaming is.   Is metagaming terrible?  It is just bad?  Or is it a legitimate way of playing rpgs?  Saul and Jolene tackle this topic though it is a very subjective one.  Give it a listen and see what is too much metagaming for Saul...

     In this Episode we continue the Pre-Kublacon interviews, this one is with Alicia H.   She is a long time gamer, gaming from back when she was a kid and starting RPGs when she was in Jr. High School.  Saul saw her for many years but only thought that she played boardgames since that is all that he saw her play.  But it turns out she is a RPG gamer from a young age.  So in this episode Saul fin...

     Another episode in our Pre-Kublacon interview series we talk to Wendy-Ann and John who are in charge of Pathfinder Society for the Bay Area.  Wendy-Ann and John do an amazing job being representatives for Paizo organized play.  They are the Venture Captains for the South Bay.  Wendy-Ann and John are the people in charge of Organized play at Kublacon.  They do an amazing job by running over a...

     In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk about knowing the rules for a rpg game.  How important is it, how necessary is it for a GM to know the all the rules?  What about the players?  Saul and Jolene talk about their trials and tribulations of knowing the rules to rpgs they have run in the past.  They talk about running new Role Playing Games at your home game and at game conventions.  They disc...

      When you interview someone that has been around hobby gaming longer than you been alive you never know what you going to get.  We did know we were going to get a wealth of information about local gaming conventions.  We discover why Mark is one if not the only person that GM's Arduin at Dundracon, because of his special connection to that classic rpg.  Also as the event planner for DDC,  Mar...

         Another bonus interview episode this time is with Kublacon GM Mike G.  He has been running games at local cons for many years and he is one GM that is not afraid to play new or different games.  We learn about his early intro into rpgs and why he likes to play rpgs that are a bit off the beaten path.  Mike also shares with us how his gaming con experience has changed for the better becaus...

     In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about Shadowrun 5th Edition.  Saul started running Shadowrun back in the early 1990's.  He ran a campaign that lasted a couple summers.  He loved the setting which was a mix of William Gibson's Neuromancer and the magical world of Tolkien.  Jolene discovered Shadowrun last year at a Gaming Flea market where she encountered a few Shadowrun books and asked m...

     In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk about a "Bad GM".  They discuss things you should do as a player when you have this problem in a RPG.  First is identify the problem.  Then get consensus with your fellow players.  Then once the problem in confirmed then its time to be an adult, and have that kind of conversation.  This is much more complicated issue so Saul and Jolene discuss the many dif...

      Matt joins us on our 2nd Pre-Kublacon interview.  It is strange to think that over the last 35 years Saul and Matt had crossed paths many times but only really got to know each other by going to local game cons in Bay Area.   Matt shares with Saul and Jolene quite a bit of his history and how a kid from North Dakota came to the Golden State and settled in the Bay Area.  Matt is a popular GM...

     Kublacon the convention that takes place here in the Bay Area in Northern California over the Memorial Day Weekend is the biggest game con on the West Coast.  Saul and Jolene decided to ask GM, Con-attendees why they like gaming cons and Kublacon specifically.  The first one to be interviewed was Honda C., she started playing while in Jr High School but stopped in High School as her gaming fr...

     In this week's podcast, Saul and Jolene talk about Deadlands.  A classic rpg by Pinnacle.  Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying game was first published in 1996.  It is a world that diverges from our own at the Battle of Gettysburg.  Soldiers killed in that battle rose from the dead.  Also a huge Earthquake caused most of California to collaspe into the Pacific Ocean.  Raven a Native America...

     Saul and Jolene discuss this useful tool to utilize when running RPGs.  What it an X-Card? When should you use it? Why should you use it?  Saul and Jolene talk about these topics and Saul remembers when he thought he didn't need to use such a tool because he didn't run "those" type of games.  As usual Saul deviates from the topic, but there is some relevance to his meandering stories.        ...

     In this episode we decided to change things up a little and discuss a skirmish/miniature game called Gaslands by Osprey Publishing.  This neat little miniature game that uses Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars uses an easy set of rules to play.  The setting is a near post apocalyptic setting where deadly races are televised across the Earth.  At a local game con, Dundracon, Saul played with his good...

     In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk about Magic Items in your campaign.  They discuss what thoughts and processes they use to come up with magical items.  First decision for the GM is how much magic is in your world.  Whether its a home brew world or one that you buy this first decision has a great impact on the amount of magic in your world and therefore the amount and type of magical items...

     Fresh from going to Dundracon, Saul and Jolene talk about one of the most influential literary works that has influenced Fantasy Role Playing Games.  Middle-Earth the world created by J. R.R. Tolkien is one of the most well known worlds in the fantasy genre.   Saul proposes that if it were not for The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings books that RPGs as we know them probably would not have exi...

      We got all kinds of people to join us on the microphone as we recorded Live at DunDraCon on Sunday.       We would like to especially thank David Jones for coming back to us to tell us what his DDC experience had been.  We had a Pre-DDC interview where we got to know David.   Mike E. the executive producer of Kublacon and shared us new things happening at his game convention.  We got Dundrco...

     Saul and Jolene attend one of the favorite local gaming conventions called DunDraCon, which was nice enough to give us room in their very busy and packed to the gills convention to do a live recording of our podcast.  For us we learned a great deal about setting up our podcast for live recording.  But it was a lot of fun and we got some great comments by con attendees that stopped by our tabl...

    The Last but not least of the Pre-Dundracon interviews, this one is with Ezra Denney.  I got to know these GM's by going to local gaming conventions.  Ezra is one of the best at running games that uses a lot of improvisation, which is not an easy skill to develop.  I had the pleasure of playing in one of his Paranoia games at Big Bad Con about 5 years ago and it is the best Paranoia game I hav...

      The Second Interview with a GM that is attending and running games at Dundracon.  Shannon is a very accomplished GM and usually has many people trying to get into his very well regarded games.         Saul and Jolene will be doing a live recording from Dundracon on Sat and Sun.  Hope to see you all there.       Thanks to Shannon for taking time out of his busy schedule to do this interview w...

    Saul and Jolene are taking Gaming Perspectives on the road when they attend DunDraCon taking place over President's Day weekend.  This is the first GM David Jones.  He will be running a Tales From the Loop game on Friday Night.  You can see the DDC program online.       We would like to thank David for taking time to do this interview.          See you at DunDraCon!!!    

     Saul and Jolene discuss what systems are good for running mystery adventures.   Saul really likes the Gumshoe line of RPGs which are specifically made for running mystery games.  Also good for mystery games is the Fate Core system as it is not a combat heavy game.  Jolene reminds Saul that he had run a couple mystery games using Pathfinder and 5th Edition D&D.   Other subjects relating to mys...