Lair Of Secrets

In Episode 2 of the Lair of Secrets podcast, we brainstorm ideas for a rebooted Savage Ringworld campaign, which mashes up high concept science fiction with the Savage Worlds role-playing game. We also delve back into cyberspace with Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk RED, say good-bye to Nintendo 3DS (or at least, its eShop), visit the Rivers of London book series, and figure out how to organize our co...

As summer ends, the podcast turns it attention to Spelljammer, the fantasy-in-space setting for Dungeons & Dragons. Ken and David look Wizards of the Coast's new 3-book release and discuss David's Spelljammer Academy mini-campaign based on WotC's free Roll20 release. They also talk about the resurgence of all things cyberpunk, including the Cyberpunk RED role-playing game and the Tales from the RE...

In the final episode of Season 2, we talk about exploring strange new worlds, meeting new civilizations, and then … blowing them up. We also delve into the game Nobody Saves the World, undertake an ursine caper to steal some honey, geek out about the Obi-wan streaming series, and look back on the season that was. The Brick RoomLEGO Star WarsKen played through the original games with his kids when...

It's summer, so let's grab some books, head to the beach/lake/mountains and read! Main Topic: Summer Reading List The Empire's Ruin (Ashes of the Unhewn Throne, Book 1) by Brian Staveley (Ken's pick)Follow up-to Staveley's Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, in which an Empire tries to survive against conspiracies within and enemies without, as well as an ancient threat returned to dominate the world....

Welcome to the Lair of Secrets! On this episode, we delve into retro gaming, review David's expanded reading list, talk about building computers, and explore the weird and dark world of MÖRK BORG. Moar Books! David's local library has partnered with a larger library network, so he can get access to more ebooks. Lord of Light by Roger ZelaznyThe Kaiju Preservation Society by John ScalziThud! by Ter...

Join the cast of our Scum and Villainy campaign as we look back on six episodes of mysteries, pirates, and - of course - ghosts. We talk about the campaign's highs and lows, and delve into our thoughts on the Scum and Villainy game itself. This episode is part of our Scum and Villainy actual play campaign. Learn about the characters, view the chapter list, and check out Scum and Villainy game reso...

The "Emerald Heart Job" - the concluding chapter of our Scum and Villainy campaign - finds our heroes going up against the Ghosts and their nefarious plans to use the Emerald Heart artifacts to destroy a gate. This episode is part of our Scum and Villainy actual play campaign. Learn about the characters, view the chapter list, and check out Scum and Villainy game resources on the campaign homepage...

During "The Rescue Job" the crew is tasked with liberating a prisoner with vital information about the Ghosts ... and their nefarious plans for the artifacts known as "Emerald Hearts". This episode is part of our Scum and Villainy actual play campaign. Learn about the characters, view the chapter list, and check out Scum and Villainy game resources on the campaign homepage. Featured Image Meta The...

On this episode of Lair of Secrets, our loyal denizens are preparing the deepest level of the dungeon to imprison whomever thought up "Natural Scrolling" for the Mac. Meanwhile, David ventured to the Ohio frontier with his family to watch his youngest win 2nd place in the world in Winter Guard A Class! Feature: Talking with the Younger Generation Tonight we are joined by David's eldest daughter Is...

During The Cargo Job (Chapter 4 of our Scum and Villainy campaign) the crew is tasked with recovering "living cargo" from a smuggler's ship. The goal is to snatch the cargo, which belongs to the ethereal scientists/villains known as the Ghosts, and deliver it to a safe location. The crew's plan involves pretending to be border patrol agents and confiscating the cargo ... but as always, things don'...

Chapter 3 of our Scum and Villainy campaign sees the crew take on The Racing Job, in which they attempt to smuggle a highly-altered racing ship through the Iota system. Along the way, they have a close encounter with a mysterious comet, realize the importance of check lists, and successfully navigate an asteroid (never tell us the odds). This episode is part of our Scum and Villainy actual play ca...

On this episode of Lair of Secrets, we talk about one of the most rewarding (and occasionally challenging) experiences a geek parent can have: playing role-playing games with your kids. Main Topic: Gaming with Kids For this episode's topic, we have another former Overlord of The Secret Lair, Kris Johnson. He’s a middle aged geek dad like ourselves, former podcaster, and all around great dad. Over...

Our Scum and Villainy campaign returns with The Ghostly Job, as the crew is paid by a very peculiar scientist to track a researcher to her laboratory and learn about her research. Little do the crew know that their target is a former member of the Church of the Emerald Heart, which ceased to exist years earlier after being hunted down and destroyed. This episode is part of our Scum and Villainy ac...

We kick off our Scum and Villainy Actual play with The Nebula Job, in which the crew of the Stardancer is hired to pick up a box floating in the middle of a nebula ... but you know it can't be that easy. This episode is part of our Scum and Villainy actual play campaign. Learn about the characters, view the chapter list, and check out Scum and Villainy game resources on the campaign homepage. Feat...

On this occasionally rambling episode of Lair of Secrets, Ken and David are joined by long-time friend and gamer (and former occupant of a certain secret lair), Overlord Chris Miller. We talk about our gaming lives in the Before Times, the rise of virtual gaming, and look at what might come in the post-pandemic era. Main Topic: Gaming Before, During, and After the Pandemic The Before TimesWhat did...

Grab a sandwich and a Mountain Dew and join us for this episode's topic: lunch tie gaming The typical role-playing game session lasts 4-5 hours and happens once a week. Sometimes they're more frequent, sometimes they're a little longer, but a four-hour Friday night hangout is pretty typical. With a lunchtime game, sessions may happen a couple of times a week but only last an hour We delve into wha...

On this episode of the Lair of Secrets, we talk about the concluding season (and book) of The Expanse, geek out about Kobold Press's Tome of Beasts 3 monster compilation, conclude John Scalzi's The Collapsing Empire trilogy, and explore the new xenobiology update for Astroneer. For our main topic, we talk about the session zero for our Scum and Villainy campaign, in which we figure out the setting...

Unfortunately, we had some flooding in the area of the Lair where Ken was recording. So if it sounds like he was underwater for a time, he was! We feel the audio is listenable at least, so we've left it in. As we continue preparing for our Scum and Villainy campaign, we turn our attention to the intricacies of worldbuilding. We talk about how we define world building, getting buy-in from players,...

Alien gods walk among us. To further their agenda, we've jumped forward in time to praise their machinations ... and promote the new edition of Godsend Agenda, now on Kickstarter. IntroductionsToday we’ve got a guest, coming all the way from Las Vegas, Nevada, Jerry Grayson. He’s a friend and here to talk about his latest Kickstarter project: The new edition of Godsend Agenda, a game of super hero...

Adventure prep for role-playing games is the main topic of this episode of The Lair of Secrets podcast. We discuss the dangers of too much prep vs. too little prep, and seek the Goldilocks prep time in between. After tackling individual adventures, we discuss prepping for a new campaign and tools to help with that. Finally, we apply what we've been discussing to our upcoming Scum and Villainy camp...

Welcome to the new year ... and a new episode of the Lair of Secrets. The main topic for this episode is "Stealing liberally from other game systems to enhance the ones you’re playing". We look at game mechanics like bennies (Savage Worlds), aspects (Fate), skill challenges (Dungeons & Dragons), plot points (Cortex) and more! Meanwhile, David Moore is almost caught up on the sleep he lost during h...

Welcome to The Lair of Secrets podcast, the podcast about gaming and being a geek by two middle-aged geek dads. Yeah, we said middle-aged ... because "forty-something" wasn't quite accurate anymore. This episode finds Ken Newquist caught in a maze of endless meetings, all alike, while David Moore finds that his week went somewhere ... he's just not sure where. Might have to check some of the caver...

The old After Serenity and The Game Master Show feeds have still hung around since both of those podcasts that I (David) created have pod-faded. Since the content of the Lair of Secrets might be of interest to the audiences of those former podcasts, I am redirecting their feeds to this one. So if you were still subscribed to either of those podcasts and are now getting this one, thank you and welc...

Season 2 of The Lair of Secrets kicks off with a bang (and the muttering of a few spells) as David and Ken interview Matt Forbeck and Marty Forbeck about their Shotguns & Sorcery for 5E Kickstarter. The Kickstarter funded within hours of its launch and runs until 10 p.m. EST, Tuesday, November 16, 2021. Shotguns & Sorcery is a fantasy noir setting featuring a city, a dragon, and lots of zombies. I...

Welcome to the Lair of Secrets podcast! The podcast about gaming and being a geek by two forty-something geek dads. Ken Newquist is a video game-completing machine who's probably staying up too late (again). Meanwhile, David Moore is no longer a forty-something geek dad. Summer’s EndKen went to Philmont … but we dedicated a whole episode to that, so he won’t mention it again. For the first time in...