Shane Plays Geek Talk

Werewolf movies (over 30 of them, from 1913 through now) with my favorite Curmudgeonly Movie Buff Chris Holmes, and Levi Combs of Planet X Games. Some werewolf history and lore (do you know where the silver bullets and full moon lore came from?). What is the strangest way to become a werewolf (and is it a fetish)? What was the first werewolf movie? Which werewolf does Shane think looks like an ann...

Shane and fellow GL fan Bill Brackeen geek out on Green Lantern and the Lanterns TV show. Green Lantern trivia (Golden Age, Silver Age, and beyond). The two most well-known Green Lantern oaths and interesting variations. What is the real-life inspiration for the lantern concept? The many things a GL power ring can do besides make constructs. Thoughts on the Emerald Twilight arc (and some behind-th...

Professor Matt Barton of Matt Chat joins Shane for a gabfest on CRPGs and other things video gamey, plus a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. EverQuest and World of Warcraft still have players. What is Mr. T's connection to WoW, and are fools involved? A cruise through player activity stats for various MMOs, plus which MMO has (or had) the highest player base. Playing tabletop RPGs on a virtual tabletop versus in...

Bill Barsh of Pacesetter Games holds forth on Pacesetter Games updates and the 50th Anniversary of Palace of the Vampire Queen, the first module ever published for Dungeons & Dragons. Palace of the Vampire Queen isn't just the first published D&D module; it's also the first published megadungeon. What are Pacesetter's plans for the 50th anniversary of Palace of the Vampire Queen? (hint: they're co...

Video game developer Johnny Wood-Brooks discusses his career and No One Left To Die, his new quirky retro indie video game. An update on his Classic Ultima Online project. An overview of his 20+ year career in video games, including Midway, Turbine, Standing Stone, and ZeniMax. How he got into the industry (and what method he used to "cheat"). What programming language is still surprisingly domina...

Fellow movie buffs Chris Holmes and Stephen Clements join for an electrifying ambulation through the gothic corridors of over 30 Frankenstein movies, past and present. Chris and Shane disagree on the merits and content of the original Frankenstein novel. Shane has thoughts on spoilers and people expecting them to apply forever. There's Iconic, and then there's iconic. What Frankenstein movie was s...

The second of two interviews with game designer Ken St. Andre, this time focusing on his video game design history (see part one for discussion around his tabletop RPG design). Games discussed in this episode: Tunnels & Trolls: Crusaders of Khazan, Adventure Construction Set, Wasteland (without which there would be no Fallout), and Wasteland 2. Ken's favorite Christopher Reeve Superman movie. One...

The one and only, amazing, science fiction and fantasy writer, game designer, and poet, John M. Ford (aka "Mike") with Dr. Victor Raymond. A very quick Tékumel update. John M. Ford won a prestigious award for a Christmas card. In addition to his novel writing, he also wrote for RPGs, including Traveller, GURPS, Star Trek, Paranoia, and Ghostbusters. Paranoia is a joyful HOOT. John M. Ford's take o...

Historic RPG designer Ken St. Andre (Tunnels & Trolls, Starfaring, Monsters! Monsters!, Stormbringer, more) joins for this episode. The game that shall not be named. Is it wise to go into dungeons as an adventurer, or do you just need luck? The practicality of six-siders versus Platonic solids. The most powerful buttons in the universe. Who's tougher, the Romulans or the Klingons? Marbles were the...

Neal Hallford joins to discuss his new book Heroes of Might and Magic: 30th Anniversary Retrospective. The history of HoM&M games is, in many ways, an "epic story" that tells the history of the video game industry and the related human drama in general. Since it's Neal, we also meander into other interesting things, including Planet's Edge, Betrayal at Krondor, and Dungeon Siege (including why the...

The Quatermass Experiment, the highly influential series considered the "birth of TV Sci-Fi", with Toby Hadoke (Quatermass Experiment megafan, Doctor Who megafan, special features do-er, author, and standup comedian… he just sits around and twiddles his thumbs, does Toby). Toby's written the definitive book on the first Quatermass Experiment serial! Some Doctor Who discussion. "Behind the sofa." T...

Sink your teeth into a slew of vampire movies from 1922 through 2025 that may or may not suck with returning movie lovers Chris Holmes and Michael Stewart (Save for Half podcast, Found in the Ruins podcast), plus we chew a bit on Stoker's Dracula novel. From England to Transylvania to Germany to Italy to Spain to Japan and beyond… those bloodsuckers are everywhere!! Which vampire flicks made us th...

TSR and Wizards of the Coast veteran Steve Winter (Steve achieved one of the longest tenures across both companies). Steve plays guitar. Steve likes Shadowdark RPG, and is also interested in Knave, Savage Worlds, and Cthulhu / horror games. Steve has a definite favorite version of D&D (he finds it elegant and intuitive). Deep character backstory doesn't equal plot armor. Sometimes we get too used...

A RAD-SATURATED BONUS EPISODE! The Cold War gone hot! "Bam" Shane joins "Doc" Benny and "Boom" Mike on the Found in the Ruins podcast to execute maneuvers on the Twilight: 2000 RPG and reconnoiter other groovy post-apocalyptic stuff like PA books and movies. This is episode 9 of Found in the Ruins. Thanks to the FitR hosts for the invite! We had fun and soaked up some mad rads.  Shane Plays Geek T...

Shane waxes eloquent (ok, he might rant mildly) on several aspects of the mainstream comic book industry including the direct market business model, variant covers, multiple characters with the same name, and constant status quo changes (plus the overuse of the word "iconic" these days, which isn't comics-related but Shane kvetches about it anyway). A mini-review and comparison of DC's Absolute Un...

Game developers Hannah and Joseph Williams join to chat about their new "Dark Crystal"-like CRPG Banquet For Fools. Shane jokingly laments a missing element from the game, but Joseph promises they won't duck out from putting it in. Now that ten years have passed, how do they feel Serpent in the Staglands performed? Thoughts on Mechajammer (previously Copper Dreams) and the hopes versus the reality...

Star Trek Video Games: An Unofficial Guide to the Final Frontier with author Mat Bradley-Tschirgi. There are a LOT of Star Trek video games and Mat had some hard decisions and set boundaries on what games to cover in his book (by the way, a "notable" game doesn't necessarily mean a good game). What is Mat's favorite and least favorite Star Trek game? Star Trek has one of the saddest stories of vap...

RPG and tabletop gaming historian Jon Peterson returns for a fantastic conversation on D&D and RPG history, and his related current books and projects. A new edition of Playing at the World and Dungeons & Dragons - the Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977 are on the shelves. D&D 4E has its hardcore fans. Jon has a seriously impressive collection of documents related to RPG history. Jon's first on-scr...

Merle M. Rasmussen, the man in the tux himself, joins to talk about the Top Secret RPG and his game design career. What was his first (mistaken) understanding of what D&D was? Memories of working at TSR. A no-nonsense discussion about the financials of his agreement with TSR for Top Secret. Financial lessons he has learned in his career. The perils of lead poisoning in making miniatures (and accid...

Shane, Chris Holmes, and Mike Stewart aka DM Mike (Save for Half podcast, Found in the Ruins podcast) shamble relentlessly through over 40 zombie and zombie-ish flicks in their inhuman hunger for horror. Plus a brief detour into the best on-screen Joker and multiple bad zombie jokes. True or false: Marcel Marceau starred in a zombie flick. What is Shane's most annoying zombie movie? What would you...

Preston Poulter of Pocket Jacks Comics joins to talk comic books, the current status of his Comicsgate trademark lawsuit, and his reasons for pursuing it. Plus the economics and challenges of self-publishing comics, some tabletop RPG chat and we learn what a pocket jack is. Shane gets upstaged during the bad joke of the week. Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #276 - 4/29/2024 Like what you hear? Suppo...

Wide-ranging geekout with David Finn of Signal of Doom!! Lots of comic book and MCU chat (like, a lot). Pi Day. Doctor Who, old and new. Google Gemini vs. ChatGPT. Judge Dredd satirizes fascism but can tell multi-layered stories. Godzilla finally wins an Oscar. Godzilla as a metaphor. The essence of the Punisher. It's been a while, but Shane rants a bit (and David loves it). The Krakoan X-Men scar...

Despite what you might think from its famous box art, Greyhawk (the first D&D setting published by TSR) isn't just knights and chivalry… so what is it then? Major Greyhawk fan Allan T. Grohe Jr. aka "grodog" joins to fill us in on all the setting's fantastic details! Also: Greyhawk is a setting with plenty of room to homebrew within the established details. Why the name Greyhawk? Some discussion o...

Strat-O-Matic Baseball might be one of the biggest games you've never heard of, and three-time champion William "Bill" Meinhardt joins to share his passion for playing it. How long has the game been around, and how many people play it? What's the one mechanic Bill wishes was in this beloved game? Is there a link between Strat-O-Matic Baseball and Fantasy (Rotisserie) Baseball? Is there a link betw...

Star Fleet Battles is the Star Trek-based wargame that's been in constant publication since 1979, leading to an expanded range of games and lore known as the Star Fleet Universe. SFB fan, expert, and contributor Bill Barsh of Pacesetter Games and Simulations joins to talk all about it and take us into the final frontier of wargames! Is SFB for wargamers, Trekkies, or both? Which SFB weapons do Sha...