Nerdcognito

The gang digs into NPCs this week!  Talking about how to make effective and memorable characters, what to avoid in NPC creation, and how to sidestep tropes and the "predictable" nature of this important piece of the TTRPG/DnD puzzle.  The news of the week tips off with us not touching the WotC AI piece, simply because it's all just conjecture at this point in time.  After the news, the gang digs i...

It's release week for The Village of Greenhaven!  Hear Kyle and Bert dig in and ask RD about Greenhaven, learn about it's creation, and what the system-agnostic supplement can do for your table!  There is a list in the news, and it involves the BEAR!  Lastly, inspired by the rotten advice in the news for Dungeon Masters, the guys each give some advice for GMs to help smooth over some bumpy roads t...

This week, the gang is haunted by three spirits!  That's right -- 2023's Ghosts of Past, Present and Future frame the whole show.  What were the personal touches, opinions, and events that shaped each?  Plus, the "future" brings a glimpse of what each of the guys is hoping for and predicts in the coming year! ----more---- Don't forget to get your Gatekeeping Is Good shirt on Amazon! Support the sh...

Well, unless you've been in the remote woods like Bert (and even  he knew about it) you've heard about the WotC cuts.  We talk about the human price of these cuts, each host having varying and predicable degrees of empathy.  What does the future hold for Wizards?  After the news, the guys discuss how the Nerdcognito core TTRPG group went back to the basics... high fantasy... and what a wonderful e...

The boys try to cleanse the room and open the show by looking at the "Bro-holy" document that is Appendix N, and then each of the guys adds a line item to the list of required reading!  The news presents everything from the huge MCDM kickoff to a quite chilly topic.  After the news, Hunter aka Ultra-American TTRPGer stops in to tell his side of the Haunted Table story.  Did Haunted Table act with...

Oh my goodness!  What a week of woke!  Starting with Wizards of the Coast redacting lore and modifying language to be less "problematic" and ending with Goodman Games caving to SparkleTroll diversity lunacy and destroying the Dungeon Crawl Classics base, it has been a wild ride.  RD and Kyle talk about it all and try to bring some perspective into the cultural breakdown that we are witnessing.  Af...

With major publishers now putting content restrictions in print about what subjects players may or may not talk about during the game, the guys examine how we got here and why or why not dictating content is acceptable.  Hint: It's not.  The news brings Bert another surreal not-quite-horse moment about how nuts some segments of the hobby have become.  Lastly, the gang talks about what might make a...

What a ride!  THANK YOU ALL for allowing us into your ears each week!  This episode we bring back the OG co-host, Just Mike (with his bad audio and all), and the entire gang strolls down memory lane and revisits topics from shows gone by.  Everything including Brandi Braids, predicting WotC's fall from grace, safety tools, DTRPG ousting The Red Room, and the guys outlining their "perfect" game.  Y...

Who doesn't love the horny bard?  The orphaned princess?  The mad wizard?  Answer: after thousands of iterations, everyone.  This week the guys look at tropes in the TTRPG sphere and discuss both the good and the bad elements of their presence.  Bert is surly, but that doesn't prevent the news from presenting yet another game that makes Kyle spin.  After the news, the team has a frank conversation...

Why do the same (lame) topics of "controversy" keep coming up in the TTRPG space?  Because... it's the "Controversy Carousel!"  The only way un-creatives can put themselves and their terrible ideology over!  After a few go-rounds, the guys talk about a serious accusation and blowup in the OSR over potential reverse racism from a game group finding app.  Lastly, the gang goes through the news and t...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  We've all had to do it -- whether we like it or not.  Sometimes, THAT player has to GO.  The guys discuss why and how you may need to remove a player from a gaming group.  RD goes off the rails dreaming about Heather Graham during the news.  After, the boys toss out a favorite, disturbing monster for your Halloween game and rattle of "worst" horror sequels (yes, there are a lot!)...