Save for Half podcast

Here’s something a bit…unexpected. A podcast about a print APA??? This episode the Halfling Four discuss issue #9 of the (mostly) print Amateur Press Association ‘zine Anchorite! How do you review an APA? Very carefully, but your Fab Four discuss the good, the bad, and the weird NPCs within. Come for the game articles, stay for the singing! No hosts were harmed in the making of t...

Get ready for spells to make opponents (and DMs) cringe with fear! This supplement for a popular unnamed Fantasy RPG of 1979 says ‘Hold my beer!’ to only 9 levels of Magic User spells. No, we have 15 levels! Come for the Flaming Black (Fill in the Blank) spells, stay for the exploding eyeballs! No PC Magic-Users were harmed in the making of this podcast, because it was all Thump damage...

We’ve all been there. A truck spills toxic waste, waste goes into the sewers, turtles are mutated into Ninja Fighting Warriors, and are then trained by a rat. Its an oft told tale, and this show the Halflings delve into that 1980s Palladium license (when it was affordable) of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into their Palladium RPG system. Come for the dark brooding reptiles, stay for the lack...

…or would that be Apocalypti? I forget my Latin, but one thing Doc Benny and Boom Mike don’t forget is how many varieties of zombie apocs there are out there! We discuss everything from the novel I am Legend to crazy-fast zombies of movies of today, to RPGs and even a few video games. We also ask that age-old question of “Just how many days does it take to train a 12-year old to...

“What’s This?” You ask? No, probably you didn’t but work with me here! It’s the North Texas RPG Con 2026 Sideshow, double sized for 2 guests. That’s right, not only is BadMike “Satan” in the house, but also the God Emperor of NTRPG himself, Gary “Trains Run on Time” Oliver! There will be thrills, Chills, Excitement, Adventure…and a...

Welcome to the first game review of 2026, and it’s a doozy. Fantasy Wargaming: The Highest Level of All, edited by Bruce Galloway, and published in 1981, is famous (notorious?) for clunky rules, odd premises, and far too much about how terrible the Dark Ages were. Despite no Halflings or Hobbits in the game, your Fab 4 Halflings review the game and blame DM Mike for choosing it after years o...

We really should check our email more often. As an example of this, we provide a show where we catch up with Fall 2025 emails and discuss our goals for the new year. What will we say? What will we plan? Why will you care? Find out in the first Save for Half episode of 2025…er…2026! No emails were harmed in the making of this podcast, because we only barely found them in time!   &n...

Welcome Wastelanders to lucky episode 13 of the Found in the Ruins podcast! This time around your bunker buddies are reviewing the 2022 Korean television series “All of Us Are Dead”—a series on a zombie outbreak and a high school’s reaction to it. As you might imagine, it’s not quite what you’d think! So, take a listen and keep in mind we are spoiler-rich! Especially...

The last episode (64) was about the Best of the Dragon , so it’s only right that this episode is about the Best of Stuff. What stuff? The stuff we decide to talk about of course! Our first cons, gaming styles, Combat vs. Role-Playing, and of course the most important things of all, LadderTech! No Player Characters were harmed in the making of this podcast, because those darn PCs thought of w...

This episode is the Best of the Best that’s Best! Best what? Why Best of Dragon magazine, volume 1! This covers the run of Strategic Review and the first few Dragon magazines, as only your Halfling Horde of 4 can bring it to you! Languages, researching wizards, Heavy Giants, and Nazis shooting at Trolls! What more could you ask for, Dear Listener? No Mutants were harmed in the making of this...

It was MURDER! Then again, isn’t it always? The Halflings delve into the mysteries of murders, semi-lightweight Elder Gods, and worst of all small town book clubs! Join us if you dare for snooping old ladies, gardening, knitting, murder mystery books, and fighting Evil Midwives in this RPG about meddling grandmas outdoing meddling grandkids and finding out just who that Elder God behind the...

Greetings Wastelanders! It’s the return of the FITR Zombie Smackdown! In this corner is 1971’s The Omega Man with “glistening” Charlton Heston in his Honkey Paradise. Machine guns, Halloween masks, and convenient lighting abound! In this corner is 2007’s I Am Legend with Will Smith. It has Home Alone -style traps, dodgy medical ethics, and CGI night(ish) monsters! All...

Yew’uns better scoot a boot t’wards this here review of the Old West that once shot a man for snorin’ too loud… Save for Half! This episode we discuss Tall Tales, a B/X version of the Wild West as only the OSR can bring it to you. Guns, Steely Nerve …and a shocking lack of ladders are what you can expect in this September Spectacular! No Varmints were harmed in the ma...

It’s that time of year again! Your Fab Foursome (well, 3 anyway) discuss this year’s North Texas RPG Con and its gaming goodness. Danger! Excitement! Semi-open pools! And the answer to the question that baffles us all… Who put the doughnuts on the Save For Half table? No Mummies were harmed in the making of this podcast, though we certainly tried!     Links mentioned in...

Your Post-Apoc duo Boom Mike and Doc Benny are joined once again by that guy who’s a little too fond of BBQ Pork; Doc Jared! We discuss growing up in the Cold War and our favorite RPGs from that period, notably Aftermath and Gamma World. Nostalgia leads to more modern games such as the recent edition of The Morrow Project and our 2 1/2 year campaign to battle The Great Yazoo for control of t...

< Insert Waka-chica/Waka-chica/Waka-chica > It’s time to hit the mean streets of San Francisco with Barnaby Jones and Police Woman to save Starsky and Hutch in Vega$! We’ve got the TV goodness of the 1970s with Urban Knights, a RPG based on the television shows and movies of that unforgettable decade. Rogue cops, drug busts, and wild outfits are the norm and death the exception,...

Welcome to the Bunker, Wastelanders! This time your hosts with the mosts Boom Mike and Doc Benny talk with the Post-Apocalyptic author Lee Beard on her Young Adult book Radio Nowhere ; a viral apocalypse that was written well before Covid. We talk about the PA genre, her sequel and third book in the works, and the most important question of all…what wouldn’t you eat in the wastelands?...

Behold! We review a book, and it’s…a thing. Your Fab Foursome delve into this informative and controversial book of essays discussing various aspects of Dungeons and Dragons from 1974 to 2024—and beyond? Sit back, grab a cold one and join the SfH Book Club’s first (and possibly last!) meeting! No authors were harmed in the making of this podcast, though Demi-Humans were certainly...

It’s time to look back at the nightmare that the year 2000 brought us. No, not Y2K; the inevitable war between the US and the USSR in Europe! Don’t remember that? Neither do we! Which is why “Bam Shane” from the Shane Plays podcast is here to help us understand that terrible time in Poland when Command told us, “Good luck. You’re on your own!” So, take a l...

Yes! Our favorite Australian Game Designer is in the house! Pauli Kidd the author of several Dungeons & Dragons novels such as White Plume Mountain , Descent into the Depths of the Earth , and Queen of the Demonweb Pits joins your halflings to discuss what she’s been up to over the past few years. We discuss her fiction, games, and many adventures! No authors were harmed in the making of...

This episode we celebrate 2025 by looking back…to 1979? That’s right, author, game designer, and all around excellent person Pauli Kidd has released her first setting and megadungeon for those wishing a taste of Old School goodness. We discuss the location, the wilderness encounter areas, and the interesting NPCs….and kill them. Not really, but it is Old School so who knows? Come for t...

It’s a new dawn….of the dead? This time the Dyspeptic Duo of Boom Mike and Doc Benny talk the second movie smackdown of the show; Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978) versus Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead (2004)! Thrills, chills, shuttle buses and pies thrown at zombies abound in this episode of Found in the Ruins. Come for the green makeup, stay for the zombie babies! So, take...

What’s this? Not just another retro-clone, the White Box Cyclopedia takes an innovative path that moves the White Box to new heights of simplicity and adventure! Coming to a Kickstarter near you, the Fab 4 Halflings talk with the author James Spahn about his ideas, his development of the game, and most importantly…why are there no ladders on the equipment list? No Halflings were harmed...

If you’re stuck on Band Aid brand, cuz Band Aid’s stuck on you…then you’ll enjoy this episode of Found in the Ruins! Boom Mike and Doc Benny are joined again by Doc Jared for some discussions on medical treatment in the Post-Apoc, both how it’s portrayed and ‘reality’ for what it’s worth. Come for the medical debate, stay for the Snake Oil tonics! So...

Living up to our “modern games inspired by them” tag line, we’re covering a relatively new kid on the block (???) of the RPG scene, the Shadowdark game by Kelsey Dionne. This award winning RPG took Kickstarter by storm and marries Old School mindsets with New School mechanics to reach a level that even DM Mike can’t “Bah” (though DM Corbett might)! Thrill to the...