What Would The Smart Party Do?

Episode 88 - B. Dave Walters Interview (aka Shine on You Crazy Diamond) Live gaming actor, streamer, DM, comic author, life coach and all round great guy B. Dave Walters has more strings to his bow than a harpist. You may know him from LA By Night, The Uncommon Trust, D&D, or various Geek & Sundry or other outlets (Top Ten links below). Gaz and Guest Host and good friend of the show Iain McAlliste...

Bonus Episode - Dragonmeet Seminar A special treat dear listeners! This week the lads were down in London Village to attend Dragonmeet - a one day convention. They teamed up with old pals The Good Friends of Jackson Elias to have a verbal wrestle on whether all RPGs were essentially just customised versions of Dungeons & Dragons. Due to live recording in fluid environment, some sections of audio m...

Episode 87 - Rob Schwalb Interview (aka All Hail the Demon Lord) Rob Schwalb, our special guest this time is a veritable game-producing machine, prolific output for Shadow of the Demon Lord is added to by Occult Philosophy in Kickstarter. One of the designers of D&D, involved in everything from A Song of Ice and Fire to WFRP second edition - Rob has plenty to talk about and intriguing thoughts int...

Episode 86 - Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan Interview The prolific and talented Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan joins the lads for some gaming chat and excellent advice on writing scenarios. We cover the writing process, collaborating with others, creating specifically for convention games and why gaming books should be useful at the table, among other things. A lot of what Gar says makes perfect sense and our glori...

Episode 85 - Shane Ivey Interview The guys chat to Arc Dream head honcho Shane Ivey about the Ennie-award-winning Delta Green, GODLIKE, British small press games, publishing in the modern world many other things. Not only a prolific producer of games, but well-read fan of RPGs too, Shane has plenty to say on what's happening on Arc Dream and tidbits on other games and insights into how to run a ga...

Episode 84 - Spire & One Page RPGs (with Grant Howitt and Christopher Taylor) A cornucopia of voices on this edition, as Baz is unavailable, but Iain McAllister from Brainwaves podcast and The Giant Brain blog in on board to help interview Grant Howitt and Christopher Taylor of Rowan Rook & Decard best known for Spire RPG and one sheet RPGs such as Jason Statham's Big Vacation . Join the Strata Ki...

Episode 83 - Designing Scenarios Scenarios are what it's all about! Thanks to glorious supporters on Patreon, The Smart Party have pumped out a couple of adventures - one whimsical from Baz and another more gritty from Gaz. This week the lads chat about the process of designing their own scenarios and some of the tips and tricks they've learned from their own writing and reading (and playing) othe...

Episode 82 - First Time DM Experience It's been many long years for Baz and Gaz, hazy memories of early games lost to the mists of time. What was it like to run that very first game? Well, that lads can't remember, that's for sure, so this time they're joined by delightful guest Nina (@humanbard) to talk about her first time behind the DM screen. Our guest has been playing for many years, and done...

Episode 81 - Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000AD (Interview with Russ Morrissey) Attention thrill-seekers! Russ Morrissey, designer of the W.O.I.N system joins the lads to talk about his new take on Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000AD . A nostalgiac trip to the early days of gaming, inside scoops and future products, a view of the system, chat about how to make a successful Kickstarter and more...

Episode 80 - Patrick Stuart Interview (a.k.a Picard is my nemesis) More Ennie Award Winning guestage this week, with Patrick Stuart joining the lads. Author of such gems as Maze of the Blue Medusa, Veins of the Earth and many more, Patrick provides insightful chat on his writing process, inspiration and all things gaming from Warhmmer to OSR. Follow what Patrick is doing by checking his blog or ge...

Episode 79 - Troika! Daniel Sell Interview Good friend of the show Ennie Award Winning Daniel Sell returns (last time was Episode 13!) to talk about his revamp of Troika! which definitely isn't Fighting Fantasy, winning Ennie awards and his delightfully hands-off publishing style. Fans of Hipster Planescape are in for a treat, as is anyone who likes something just a little bit different than the u...

Episode 78 - Teachers & Teaching This week the lads are joined by educators Pete Atkinson and Neil Gow to talk about how teaching influences gaming, or vice versa. Is the noble art of pedagogy something that helps or hinders young minds when it comes to playing games? With a teacher of primary, secondary and further education on board, the assembled classroom discusses what lesson we can all learn...

Episode 77 - Satine Phoenix Interview Community Manager of Dungeons & Dragons, co-creator of Maze Arcana (with Ruty Rutenberg) and all around great ambassador of D&D and gaming in general Satine Phoenix joins the lads for some great chat on D&D, communities, sending people to sleep, D&D around the world, gaming in a castle and all sorts. Strap yourselves in for some delightful conv...

Bonus Episode - UK Games Expo Chat Not too long ago it was the highlight of the UK gaming calendar UK Games Expo and Gaz went round chatting to all kinds of lovely gaming folk to find out what's going on in the wonderful world of gaming. Here's some awesome #content from his travels. [02:10] Paul Baldowski from All Rolled Up, Cthulhu Hack and other fame All Rolled Up [06:20] Sam, from award-winnin...

Episode 76 - Jonathan Tweet Interview Legendary game designer and writer, Jonathan Tweet joins the lads this week, with news of his reboot of Over the Edge which you can still grab on Kickstarter if you're quick , great insights on D&D, Everyway, Ars Magica and much more. We get in a bunch of questions from our dear listeners and generous supporters and a couple of our own war stories too! Want to...

Episode 75 - Ennies Nominee Review The gremlins got into the sound engine again this week and it's all gone a bit tinny. Never mind, the content is still golden! Maybe electrum. The lads discuss the Ennie Awards happening at Gen Con weekend. What's with the nominees, the process, the missing games? All is far grist for the mill - get the expert opinion on this year's entries while the GenCon masse...

Episode 74 - DIY Gaming (a.k.a. It's Only Got to be Good Enough) Back by popular demand! The Smart Party presents DIY gaming – what do they mean by this? A bit of reminiscing about how it used to be “back in the day”, a dash of OSR and writing your own stuff, and advice to stop creating and start playing! Already building your own stuff? Give the lads your view via Facebook , on the Twitters: @the...

Bonus Episode - Runequest Actual Play As a special feature, here's some actual play of the Free RPG Day adventure which is still available at the Chaosium site . The lads along with Mat Hart (currently warming up to release Dungeons & Doggies read more on Facebook here ) faced the perils of Glorantha, as realised by Dirk the Dice from The Grognard Files . Something different to keep you going...

Episode 73 - UK Games Expo Preview (a.k.a. Bring Back The Beer Bus) Spring has sprung, and that can mean only one thing, it's nearly time for UK Games Expo ! The lads are stalwarts of the show, and joined by fellow podcaster, reviewer and Expo veteran Iain McAllister of the Giant Brain to talk about what's hot, top tips and generally enthuse about the event. You can read more detail of his Top Ten...

Episode 72 - Downtime Abbey (a.k.a. You're Not My Supervisor) What to do with those pesky players when they're not delving in dungeons? How to convince the GM you need time to fanny around and go shopping for booster potions with real characters? Two sides of the same copper piece my friends, this week the lads talk about downtime or what goes on in games when you're not doing the core activity (b...

Episode 71 - New GM Advice (a.k.a. Your Job Is To Lose Every Fight) How do you go about running your first game? Do you want to be a DM, GM, LM, Referee or Keeper? Perhaps you've played for years but never run a game, maybe you've never gamed at all, is could be you tried running games and didn't really get on with it. Fear not! The Smart Party are here to help. The lads go through how to go about...

Episode 70 - Dungeons and Dragons (a.k.a. There's this new game called D&D) There's a new hwatness on the streets that you may not have heard of. It's called Dungeons & Dragons and has loads of editions apparently. Who knew? Baz and Gaz have managed a couple of sessions (after finally making a save versus paralysis), and what's more have been on the same side of the DM screen for once. Baz...

Episode 69 - Urban Fantasy with Paul Mitchener (a.k.a. Liminal Advertising) Special Guest time once more and the prolific Dr Mitch is on again. The lads talk about his new Urban Fantasy game, and indeed – what is Urban Fantasy? Does American Gods count? What about Young Adult novels? Liminal is out on Kickstarter with a bunch of stretch goals, all introducing different writers, Jason Behnke’s art...

Episode 68 - Roleplaying Games of the 90s (a.k.a. Gaming Like It's 1999) Let's party like it's 1999! Why not the whole decade? The lads take a trip down memory lane to go over the 90s (which only last decade right?) and talk through some of the key products, what's still hot and what's not - and maybe which games deserve another day (or never really got the day they deserved) in the sunshine. The...

Episode 67 - Greg Stolze Interview Gaming Legend Greg Stolze joins the lads for a great chat about his many games and what he's up to in 2018. Unknown Armies, Over The Edge, Godlike, Feng Shui, REIGN, Temintation Shock, short stories and novels - Greg has an impressive portfolio and plenty to talk about, so dive in and enjoy! You can hear about about Temination Shock on Greg's Soundcloud and read...