Tycho's Tales

We chat about our first time playing Call of Cthulhu - mechanics like sanity and luck, skills and percentile dice, and the horror aspect - with more than a few digressions along the way. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more...

Inspired by our very own award-winning episode "A barrage of bad opinions", we keep the hot takes coming about topics like roleplaying in the third person, rolling for hit points, ranged weapons and puzzles. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message o...

We talk about ways to successfully introduce new players to tabletop RPGs. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Episodes are released every Tuesday at 5 pm GMT (or, for the Kiwis,...

We chat with Tegan about her experience playing D&D, and her character: the showgirl fighter Daisy Chainmail. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Episodes are released every T...

We played our first session of Pathfinder 2e the other day, and we share our thoughts (as 5e players) on the system. In addition to our general impressions, we talk about skills; the three-action economy; recall knowledge; hidden rolls; shields; and the accessibility of rules. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons...

Quickfire this-or-that questions: Allomancy vs Feruchemy; Dexterity vs Wisdom saves; elf vs human vs dwarf; dark vs light campaigns; diplomacy vs violence; Wizard vs Bard; Mistborn vs Stormlight Archives magic; greatsword vs greataxe; rolling stats vs points buy; roleplay vs combat. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & D...

We talk about what makes a good character backstory; whether it's okay for the GM to fill in some details; updating your backstory; plot-advancing characters; and bringing new characters into an existing party. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or...

Guys, it's an average-length episode I swear. We talk about NPCs giving out information, and dice. Wow, that sounds boring. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Episodes are r...

We talk about Pathfinder, and making character-focused adventures; and also speculate wildly about the Cosmere RPG. This episode contains some spoilers for the second Mistborn trilogy. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more ab...

We talk about some recent instances of intra-party conflict (when some of our player characters had... disagreements with one another), the benefits and potential drawbacks of that sort of roleplay, and how to navigate it so that everyone still has fun at the table.  Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathf...

We make up a dumb spell-of-the-week: https://tychostales.com/articles/sharizes-charm-differential-etherealness/ Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Episodes are released every Tue...

This episode contains a bunch of spoilers for The Wheel of Time. Obviously :) Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Episodes are released every Tuesday at 5 pm GMT (or, for the Kiwi...

We talk about Michael E. Shea's excellent essay on spiral campaign development, from the Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding Volume 2 (Kobold Press). Michael also goes by Sly Flourish, and you can find a version of this essay on his website: https://slyflourish.com/spiral_campaign_building.html . Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dun...

We continue our chat with Matt about his experience playing D&D for the first time; character sheet nostalgia; player preparation etiquette; and, for some reason, again, LARPing. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more abou...

We're joined by special guest Matt to chat about his first time playing D&D. We talk about how difficult it is to get into roleplaying; discovering creativity; bad habits; and the possibly apocryphal Ocean Schlaggermine. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a te...

We talk about the horrific film Mazes and Monsters; one-shots; guest appearances; and roleplaying serious characters. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Episodes are released eve...

We're back with new listener mail about The Lord of the Rings; we complain with no self-awareness or irony about negativity and clickbait from TTRPG content creators; and Walt gets some suspicious beads. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an emai...

We talk about metagaming, different types of encounters, healing in tabletop and video RPGs, and low-stakes combat. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Episodes are released every...

We're about to make characters for a new campaign, so we talk about how we think about character motivations, alignment and backstories; how you should use your own personality; the relationship between min-maxing and roleplaying; and why it's always a work in progress.  Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dra...

We talk about spells we'd like to take in real life, and why The Lord of the Rings is still so damn good. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Episodes are released every Tues...

We talk about the relative value of a life; inherent evil in modern fantasy; and RPGs as vehicles for moral questions. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Episodes are released ev...

The story of the first time I used the classic Cleric feature, Divine Intervention. Note that my interpretation of a d100 is inconsistent with rules as written; I've written at length about why I think the official rules are bonkers.  Referenced in this episode:  Power Word: Spill   Bob World Builder   Dragon of Icespire Peak   Storm Lord's Wrath   Tycho's Tales is an informal discu...

We make a level two Fighter using the 2024 rules. It's recommended only to listen to this episode if you have a great disdain for your own time. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/a...

We talk about audiobooks, Discworld, The Name of the Wind, Game of Thrones, the Stormlight Archive and Cosmere RPG, and other nerdy things.  Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Ep...

We talk about our recent one-shot, The Hangover. Tycho's Tales is an informal discussion podcast about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Get in touch by sending us a text message or an email , and find out more about us at https://tychostales.com/about . Episodes are released every Tuesday at 5 pm GMT (or, for the Kiwis, every Wednesday at 6 am NZ...