Nerdcognito

Bert is crafting a one-shot for new players to the TTRPG hobby and discusses considerations and creation strategies with RD.  What do you take into account for your one-shots?  The news starts with the hotness and ends with Ryan hot and steaming over Swedish furniture moguls.  After he simmers down, the boys look at the latest example of the "inclusive" racism in the hobby that the SparkleTrolls h...

Bert and Ryan chit chat about the "Rule of Cool."  With some misunderstandings between the boys regarding exactly WHAT the ROC actually IS, the one thing we can take away is that it seems to create more problems than it is worth.  The news is stacked this week!  After slogging through the collection of articles, the boys discuss your game table and how to effectively not let the Holiday Season scr...

Missed your Twitter dose of Ryan David? You're not the only one. After a successful "game the reporting algorithm" campaign, Twitter suspended RD's account. He provides the deets to Bert and the world, and it's NOT AT ALL what we were expecting.  The boys then tackle the news before talking about how board game expansion manuals can be better and brainstorming how to bring a "Hitman" assassin-styl...

This week, our favorite segment of the TTRPG hobby, the SparkleTrolls, went on the offensive and did their best to "shame" and "cancel" creators aligned with the OSR.  Before we tell our tale (yes, we were targeted too!) we tackle the Character Creation process and talk about what to do when you have a great DM that is terrible at organizing events.  Sandwiched in-between is a healthy dose of nerd...

Prolific author and founder of BasedCon, Robert Kroese swings by to report on the success of this year's con and discuss his upcoming series The Cross-Time Crusade and annual Kickstarter.  The news this week includes a list of "creepy" board games, which inspires the guys, particularly RD, to talk about the Horror genre, Fall, and their love of getting spooked and the season.  A little off-book, b...

This week we open by talking about what to do with "that guy" and how a group can deal with and recover from punting a bad player.  The news spans television, retro arcade gaming, and Star Wars this week; it still is a downer.  After the news, Bert talks to RD about the current "in development" TTRPG that he is finally putting together, Auras: The Roleplaying Game.  Learn about the inspiration for...

Back after fighting the 'VID on multiple fronts, the guys hit the ground running by taking a deep look at the current hotness in the #boardgame world, Sleeping Gods.  Does it live up to the hype?  The news is bizarre and, as always, does not disappoint.  After the news, the guys discuss the use (or neglect) of illness and disease in #DnD / #TTRPGs, inspired by their recent brushes with the virus t...

This week, Bert is lost in the woods so Ryan invites friend of the show Erik Jensen to sit in as co-host.  The two then go into detail about the latest capitulation from WotC.  Changing lore, editing digital content, and hypersensitivity to the opinion of those who desire to be offended rarely works out well, and Wizards once again feels the burn -- this time from the folks they were trying to app...

This week, the guys talk as Bert prepares for a much-needed vacation.  Of course, "What games did you pack?" gets asked and the duo discuss their thoughts on taking board games on vacay -- and recommend some easy-travelling titles.  Soldering though a news segment ending with a #SparkleTroll list, Ryan is excited to welcome a guest to the show.  Richard Davis of Explorer's Guild Publishing stops b...

Ryan and Bert are honored to be joined by a great cross-segment of the gaming hobby spanning #OSR mainstays to #5e Content Creators to discuss the #WotC announcement of #OneDnD.  Hear the thoughts and opinions of Developer/Designer of The Chronicles of Aeres Greg Lambert, YouTube sensation Viktor Gorchev, Erik Jensen of the Wampus Country blog, and streamer Kevin of MagicUserGames added in with th...

Ryan and Bert start strong by talking about low-level TTRPG encounters.  How do you make these just as memorable as the final showdown with the BBEG?  There is a lot of news this week, and the guys slog through before talking about dropping a game on a group of casuals.  In a social situation with "non-gamers" what are the best games you can use to give them the first taste? ----more---- The News:...

Joe Hardin from Biggus Geekus swings by and talks about the censorship state of our hobby, specifically the impact on indie developers that don't bend the knee to the woke mob.  Joe highlights the thought behind the idea to launch Big Geek Emporium as an alternative marketplace to those who dictate content and segregate creators.  After the news, Bert and Ryan talk about how the "system transition...

After a week without power and modern conveniences, the guys return to talk all sorts of nerdy goodness!  Starting out with discussion of hordes (zombie or otherwise) in D&D, the boys then talk about when fan "upgrades" to board games go too far.  Sifting through the best of two weeks worth of news gets tiring, and Ryan tells Bert his plan to convert the gaming groups' coyboys to TTRPG charact...

Ryan starts out all by himself, but Bert quickly arrives in time to talk about... DriveThruMerger!?!  Roll20 and DriveThruRPG announce a partnership... what does this mean for the TTRPG hobby, pushing folks towards online gaming, and indie creators?  The boys roll through some news, which throws the boys back into their late teen years (RD worked... where?).  Afterwards, another "old" 2019 release...

This week, real world fates altered our schedule and prevented a full episode from releasing.  Fear not, the boys were able to rally as Ryan had some concerns about the extraction of all that was compelling from the character of Dr. M'Benga on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.  He forced Bert to (finally) watch some NuTrek -- hear what the guys had to say about the first season's eighth episode, The...

The boys clear a board game from the shelf of shame... It's Brass Birmingham!  One of the top three games according to "the Geek" gets the Nerdcognito review and rundown.  While you are listening to the guys talk about this gem of an economic simulator, charge up that controller because we have an all video game news week.  Lastly, Ryan and Bert tackle the concept of "Main Character Syndrome" in T...

We are back from vacation and..... buried in two weeks worth of news!  Hear us dig out as we get caught up on all that went down in the Nerddom while Ryan was arguing with his folks and Bert was kicking back! ----more---- The News: Upcoming Board Game Skyrise Looks Beeeeee-ewe-tee-fulllllll! Introversion is building spaceships Free Photoshop, thanks Adobe Beavis and Butthead Do the Universe DIY (n...

A long time ago in a galaxy... yep.  Now a handful of episodes in, the guys give their thoughts on Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi.  With good and bad (and a lot of hand-wringing on the internet) will the boys keep watching?  The news this week spans TTRPGs, anime, board games, and a dash of Cornholio.  Afterwards, the attack and hatred of the OSR gets exposed and lit up with the Reverend Ryan David man...

Ryan David and Bert salute our fallen military heroes, followed by chatter about the best military representations across nerd culture.  The news dives into the shallow end of crypto before ending with everyone's favorite "frozen dairy dessert."  On the flip side, the boys have a little personal story time, discussing the origins of some of the nerdier aspects of the other's personalities.  Ryan t...

Bringing new folks to the gaming table is always a daunting task.  The Nerdcognito group is growing and we need to put the new players through their paces.  What's a good "trial" board game for some new peeps?  It sounds like Cthulhu might be rising at board game night!  After a title has been decided, the guys do their best sifting through with a less-than-banner nerdy news week.  Wrapping things...

This week, the guys invite you to experience a blast from the past; Ry and Bert give you some "must watch" (and some must NOT watch) sci-fi films from the radical 1990s!  The news, as always, does not disappoint as there are updates and events that went down in the geeky world this week.  Finally, the boys have discourse about the latest thing that the woke SparkleTrolls want to remove from your T...

The new co-op board game, Alien: Fate of the Nostromo hit the Nerdcognito table.  What do the boys think of this brush with the Xenomorph?  Get the complete rundown and review of this cost-friendly addition to your game shelf.  The guys get distracted (squirrel!) during the news and slide into a chinwag about the Star Trek Butthurt Brigade (i.e. the folks that hate any new anything in Trek), movie...

The Woke Wizards of the Coast are re-imagining Dragonlance and Spelljammer.  Things don't look good and RD has already jumped off the bandwagon.  This spins into a conversation regarding the need for TRUE "diversity" in the creation of TTRPG content; meaning that different philosophies need to be brought back into the fold of creation as opposed to a "hivemind" team ala modern WotC.  Bert and Ryan...

The fickle finger of fate has pointed at the bros this week and KO'ed Bert and Mike.  Ryan, determined to release something, tackles the top three Nerdy News stories this week -- solo. The News: Old Gods of Appalachia --- The TTRPG! A Plea for Portal 3  (Make it happen, Gabe!) Diablo 2: Resurrected Breaks All Kinds of Records   This Episode's Host: Ryan David

Bert and Ryan dig deep in their memories of the best "classic" video games that deserve a reboot or reimagining.  Did your favorite game make the cut?  A news week filled with announcements stuns the guys and Ry's head blows up over some of his nostalgia dying.  Finally, the guys talk about the pros and cons about playing at a table with experienced gamers versus noobs.  As always, perspective abo...