Storyteller Conclave

Fighting a group of Orcs, goblins, or running from a fleet of pirate ships all come with a certain sense of banter and conflict. But when players decide to raise that conflict within the team, the results can’t be controlled by the Storyteller. Feelings can be hurt, friendships soured, and games broken up all over something being taken too far. This week Sara and Rob talk about inner party conflic...

Each RPG has a feel and tone when it comes to how its rules play into the way the story is told. D&D, White Wolf, 7th Sea, and Mouse Guard all have very different takes on what a challenge is, how you can overcome it, and what the results are to the story. Some of these systems focus heavily on the narrative, and allow for a broad interpretation of how the rules play out, whereas others strive...

Set a billion years in the future, Numenara offers a glimpse of a distant civilization in “the Ninth World.” Using the Cypher system it explores the idea that a character starts with a sentence. In this week’s episode, Sara and Rob dive into Monte Cook’s unique world and explore what it has to offer. Listen to us live, every Wednesday night at 7pm EST, at http://www.mixlr.com/storyteller-con...

There are a number of ways a TTRPG game can go sideways. Perhaps the players killed your main villain in Session 1. Perhaps your players are fighting, and cannot be civil at the table together. Perhaps you believed every contingency was covered in your game preparations, but the players chose the one option you DIDN’T think of. This week, Sara & Rob discuss how to recover from the unexpected t...

One of the best aspects of roleplaying is that we can experience, in some small way, things that may be outside of our grasp. Usually, that means fantasy or sci-fi stories, like battling dragons, delving into ancient crypts, or fighting mega-corporations with our cyber-enhanced bodies. For some, though, roleplay can be an excellent tool to explore ourselves and our psyches as well. Perhaps there i...

Space has always captivated our imaginations. From Star Trek, to Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, The Expanse, the list goes on! This week, Sara & Rob are joined by award winning author and YouTuber Seth Skorkowsky to discuss the topic of Space Opera stories! Listen to us live, every Wednesday night at 7pm EST, at http://www.mixlr.com/storyteller-conclave . Find us on Twitter (@st_con...

Traveller has been blazing across space since 1977. This sci-fi setting opened the doors to exploration, planet and space battles, and interstellar trading all while focusing on achievements, discoveries, wealth, titles, and political power. Traveller has robots, psionics, and ancient unknown civilizations to discover. So blast off this week with Sara and Rob as they review the long history and un...

When we sit down at the table we see a sheet with numbers, details, and items. But all too often we come up blank when trying to fill in the personality and tone of who they really are. How does one become their character? Is it just you in a different world or setting, a persona you wish you could be, or something fake and ingenuine that could be mistaken as insulting? This week’s episode R...

Storyteller Conclave is 2 years old! It seems like only yesterday we were sitting together in a coffee shop, talking for hours about storytelling techniques, and only half-joking about starting a talk show of some sort. We’ve moved out of the original studio, and weathered (currently weathering?) a pandemic. Even through all that, we’ve managed to produce a show a week for over 100 episodes! Join...

During this pandemic, many of us are turning to digital tools to continue telling our stories, and the use of digital maps has exploded! There are many great map-making tools available, but using them can be intimidating for those who lack artistic talent. Well, great news! Map making doesn’t require artistic talent! This episode, Sara and Rob discuss the map making tools that are available, and h...

As Magpie games describe it, “Along with your fellow dragons, you and your clutchmates will protect Dragonia from the Darkness and discover the true value of friendship.” Is it the “my little pony” of RPGs? Perhaps it is…but what is wrong with that? You are playing baby dragons and friendship is the key to making your characters’ magic work, but that doesn’t mean it’s just for little kids. J...

We all have times when we are not at our best. We finish a session, perhaps even on a good note, but days later just lose the drive to schedule the next. Or we approach the date for our next session and just don’t have the energy or state of mind to pull it together. This week Sara and Rob revisit ways to prepare and move beyond storyteller burnout.  Listen to us live, every Wednesday night at 7pm...

To celebrate our 100th episode, Sara & Rob take a retrospective look at the last year of COVID lockdown, and what it has taught us about gaming in the digital age using online tools. Gaming online has been around for a while via services like Roll20, but with quarantine forcing everyone to exercise those options, it has certainly placed it more into the spotlight. We discuss what we’ve learned...

As storytellers we are presented with the task of designing a story that others will be helping write, where randomness and fate will come into play and alter the flow. The question is, how do you carve it up into sessions and episodes that your players can enjoy, and what do you put into each session to make it feel like a story? This week Sara and Rob will examine what it takes to make your game...

Typically, the Player Characters drive the plots of our Tabletop RPGs forward. And they should! The story is ABOUT them and their adventures, after all! The world should react to them and their choices accordingly. However, this isn’t always the case… Sometimes, the “hunters” become the “hunted,” and – for better or worse – the characters are put in a position to react to the plot happ...

Legend of the 5 Rings by @FFGames has a long and storied past in the #TTRPG world. Starting in 1995 with both RPG and card game, it brings us to the world of Rokugan, a fantasy analogue to feudal Japan. Join Rob & Sara as we explore this complex game in another System Spotlight. Listen to us live, every Wednesday night at 7pm EST, at http://www.mixlr.com/storyteller-conclave . Find us on Twitt...

Storytelling is a tool as old as society itself, and has been used to convey all fashions of emotions, ideas, and lessons. For as long as we have been using stories to uplift, though, we have also told darker tales – of caution, of horror, and of triumph over primeval darkness. What is it that draws us to stories of Dark Fantasy? Do we see validation of our darker aspects in the stories? Do...

Fantasy stories often ignore the small details. Does the archer run out of arrows? Does the fighter have to repair his armor after the 30th fight? And how big is the bag of ammo the twin submachine gun toting Troll is carrying? But the drama can come when the small things matter. Perhaps having one more arrow, or a few less holes, or being forced to use those guns as blunt objects of destruction....

A shiny red button of ultimate destruction seems like a terrible idea, but is it? In this episode of StC, Sara and Rob explore what it means to give your players a single use item, something ultimately powerful but only once, and what it can mean for your story. Listen to us live, every Wednesday night at 7pm EST, at http://www.mixlr.com/storyteller-conclave . Find us on Twitter (@st_conclave) – I...

Giant Robots, a cloned alien race, ancient powerful masters of the universe, and a young pop star? Yes, all of this is part of a fantastic world of Robotech. This week Rob and Sara will be dusting off the epic space opera that is Robotech and discussing Palladium’s take, as well as where it has moved on to. Listen to us live, every Wednesday night at 7pm EST, at http://www.mixlr.com/storyteller-co...

Many video games share the title of RPG with their tabletop / pen & paper counterparts. However, video games and TTRPGs differ in significant ways. What can we learn from our digital cousins, though? This week, Sara & Rob discuss the various lessons we can learn from video game RPGs to enrich our TTRPG experiences! Listen to us live, every Wednesday night at 7pm EST, at http://www.mixlr.co...

Creating a new story can be daunting, but even more so when you add in all the things you “think” you need. A deep rich world, a cast of NPCs, and a deep meaningful plot that connects with each player on every adventure. But the truth is most of that is just flavor. Episodic storytelling gives you the ease of moving into an adventure with a fresh step each time without mucking in the d...

When we start out gaming our minds are filled with ideas, plans, and worry. Do I have the right books, dice, maps? Is the group going to show up? And do we have enough soda? But rarely to we take the time later to recall what it was we really needed to know. In this episode, Sara and Rob return to their roots and recall really what was necessary to start a game. Listen to us live, every Wednesday...

In another System Spotlight, Sara & Rob discuss Rules-Light systems, including Warrior Rogue & Mage by Stargazer Games and Dread by The Impossible Dream. WR&M is an amazingly light fantasy game system, and Dread is possibly the best Survival Horror game system ever created, using a Jenga tower for tests! Listen to us live, every Wednesday night at 7pm EST, at http://www.mixlr.com/story...

Regardless of what level of table top gaming you are in, either just a beginner or veteran, there are items you need or really want to pickup. Be it dice, bags, towers, vaults, books, tablets, tables or projectors we all have things we have collected or are looking to get. Sara and Rob get back to the basics of what started their gaming and what they have found. As well as some things they would l...