Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff

In the Gaming Hut we look at that essential tool in the GM’s arsenal, the ability to bend world logic toward the fun. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Eric Park, the Cartography Hut looks at the alleged travels and maps of Nicolo Zeno. The Food Hut studies a cake of mythic import Henri […]

The Gaming Hut situates itself in a dense woodland for beloved Patreon backer Ben A’s request for tips on a historical time slip scenario. Ken issues a Travel Advisory on his recent trip to Roswell. Listeners love transportation infrastructure, as estimable backer John Scheib proves once again by convening the Architecture Hut for the eldritch […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Sikander asks us to tackle a scenario where the PCs have to figure out whether their boss’ secrecy is sinister or mundanely selfish. The Crime Blotter reviews the case of Barbara “Golden Boos” Erni, the 18th century thief who robbed Swiss inns aided by her prodigious strength and […]

In Gaming Hut we discuss organizing one’s game mastering notes. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Sam Rutzick, the Horror Hut asks if Jacobin oppressor turned Napoleonic secret policeman Joseph Fouché was a vampire, and why he committed all those acts of vampirism. Only the combined efforts of the Cinema Hut and the Tradecraft […]

In the Gaming Hut we ask what it means for a rule to work. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Nicola Wilson, the Archaeology Hut investigates the chopping up of the alleged mummy of Constantine XI. Anyone who has Fun with Science knows the weird phenomenon of species with dwarf males. Ken and Robin […]

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen we gather the suspects in the Gaming Hut to ask how to make the revelation as compelling as the mystery. Estimable backer Benjamin Rawls beckons us into the Narrative Hut to wonder why some genres assume certain plot structures yet others do not. If you live in […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at optional rules. What does it mean to designate a rule as optional, and what rules are we likely to put in that bucket? The History Hut profiles 19th century utopian sect leader Barthélemy-Prosper Enfantin, who advocated for free love and the Suez Canal. Prompted from a question by […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks us to tell him more about the 2023 Irish weird folk music film All You Need Is Death, and how to use it as inspiration for a modern horror campaign. Ripped from the Headlines finds ghosts in a VR game for kids where you play […]

  The Gaming Hut gets a round table as beloved Patreon backer James Kiley seeks tips on mashing up Pendragon with Call of Cthulhu. At the behest of estimable backer Chad Ward, the Food Hut looks at the role a humble cured meat played in schism and war, in the Affair of the Sausages. Doughty […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at the optional scene paradox in adventure writing. The Weapon Hut gives us a rare chance to un-fun ruin, as we debunk claims that debunk the flail. In the Word Hut Robin tests Ken’s knowledge of the often cheeky nicknames given to historical figures. Finally we step into the […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Tom Abella seeks tips on compiling historical reading lists to players. We don elaborate ruffs in the Tradecraft Hut to profile Jacobean spymaster Robert Cecil. Today we look at them as soulful giants of the sea, but to the medieval mind whales were terrifying, diabolical beasts worthy of […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Joshua Randall seeks tips on setting up a new campaign for success. Our latest Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else segment features Ken’s chat with Daniel Harms, author of The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana  and editor of the definitive edition of the 19th century American grimoire The Long-Lost Friend. […]

In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Jörgen Blomberg suggests that there’s something F20 games handle even worse than falling damage—injuries from exposure. We brave the chill with our thoughts on the subject. Not all western folk heroes became folk heroes. The Crime Blotter looks at the case of robber and ambusher Big Nose George […]

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Charles Picard, the Gaming Hut ponders cultural diaspora in F20 settings. The Archaeology Hut looks at a recent discovery in Denmark, an Iron Age house built on a foundation of weapons and armor. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features our chat with Nerdburger Games’ Craig Campbell, […]

In the Gaming Hut Robin discusses his recently concluded Golden Age DC superheroes versus the Cthulhu mythos game. Travel Advisory recalls our visit to the British Museum’s current Silk Roads exhibition. If we’re thinking about stuff that happened while we were in London, longtime listeners know what that means: Ken’s Bookshelf lovingly lists the purchases […]

As is our seasonal custom, we close our year with a live episode recorded at London’s Dragonmeet. At the show’s final outing in its longtime Hammersmith Novotel venue, Ken pulls off a revolutionary nerdtrope, and we field questions on the dangers of Tarot deck accumulation, the world’s ineluctable spiral into chaos, and tricking Brussels sprouts […]

Make sure your ropes are securely fastened as the Gaming Hut asks: have we been doing falling damage wrong? In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, we talk to tabletop game designer of DIE: the Roleplaying Game fame (and sure, comics writer extraordinaire) Kieron Gillen. The Mythology Hut gets festive for an encounter with […]

In The Business of Gaming we check in on the state of crowdfunding through the lens of the recently concluded Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition campaign. There are ants, ants, ants as big as well they’re quite small really but they’ve nearly completed a program of global conquest so Fun With Science takes a look […]

Ready your picks and jimmies as the Gaming Hut seeks fail forwards for one of the trickiest cases of all, the locked door. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken (and some crows) talk to fantasy, horror and SF writer Molly Tanzer. The Culture Hut covers the enigmatic, influential and Eliptony-adjacent theater experimenter […]

Get ready for more detail on the shag carpet than ever before as the Gaming Hut looks at the love some players have for non-interactive narration of their environment. The Crime Blotter investigates the 60s heroin trade and how it forms the linchpin of The Borellus Connection. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Gene […]

In the Gaming Hut we imagine an F20 world where powerful undead don’t just drain levels, they sell them to the highest bidder. The Archaeology Hut checks out the latest tests on the Well-Man, a body found at Norway’s Sverresborg Castle who matches an account from an 800 year old Norse saga. Finally Ken’s Bookshelf […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Mark Waterhouse asks what could possibly go wrong if we let players perform their own in-world divinations. At the behest of estimable backer Martin Rundkvist the Tradecraft Hut investigates the heroic career of Polish-born WWII British operative Krystyna Skarbek. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features our […]

The Gaming Hut looks at the most despised medieval occupations and wonders what would happen if you actually wanted to reflect this in your F20 world. The History Hut covers a very strange fashion fracas, the 1922 New York City straw hat riots. In the Mythos Hut we dial up the scare factor on the […]

In the Gaming Hut we discuss the challenge of revised edition design. When you encounter an element you wouldn’t build into a new system, how do you decide whether to replace it, or to respect the legacy and leave it in? The Horror Hut gets reflective as beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks for a […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Ryan McClelland argues that the Sailor is a fine Occupation that ought to be in Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition (now on Backerkit) and urges us to rebut him by listing even more such Occupations. With the 1930s still in mind, the Crime Blotter pulls the dossier on the […]