GamingPerspectives

       In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss the question every gamer hears from their significant other, "Why Another Edition?"  You already have that roleplaying game. Its crazy that you have multiple RPGs of the same genre but another edition of the same game? That's Crazy!!!       Now Saul and Jolene won't argue that it isn't crazy but there are reasons why a gamer would want yet "another ed...

      First of all Happy New Year to you all.  Hope you all had a great holiday season.   So in this episode Saul and Jolene talk about virtual table tops specifically Roll20.      Saul who has been on Roll20 since 2013 shares the trials and tribulations of online rpg gaming.  From connection issues to last minute games and cancellations, they are all problems that can sideline a rpg game online....

     Once again Saul and Jolene tackle a subject that a listener had posted on their Facebook Page.  That question was would Fantasy Structures be built differently than in our real world history.  As usual Saul went a bit off the rails on this subject where Dwarf Commandos were brought up as were the lair of those "sneaky boogers" the Beholder.     As always Jolene tries to rein in Saul and have...

     From a post on MeWe seeking advice GMing their first game, this episode was born.  In this episode Saul and Jolene cover some ideas that might prove helpful for a person running their very first RPG.     Saul and Jolene prioritized the tips differently but pretty much agreed on what they thought were the best few tips to give to a new GM.  Some of these ideas might even prove helpful for long...

     Saul and Jolene asked the Webosphere, if there were any topics they wanted covered by the podcast.  One topic was posted on the Gaming Perspectives Facebook page was journals.  Now Saul didn't have an exact idea what the poster, Michael, exactly meant by "journals" but that didn't stop Saul from answering the question anyway.      As always Jolene was had to corral Saul from meandering too fa...

     Almost every RPG gamer knows about Metagaming.   In the current era, metagaming is considered the ban of any "true" roleplayer.  With a little research and thinking about the subject Jolene found that not all metagaming is bad?  What thought Saul, what are you doing challenging something that all gamers now hold has the "truth" that all metagaming is bad.         Jolene discusses how in some...

       Saul and Jolene discuss Women at the Gaming Table.  Here Saul relates how growing up there were no girls or women at his gaming table.  Even when Saul went to his first gaming convention women were very few.  It was not until the 1995 that he was in a gaming group that had not one but two women.        Jolene starting gaming because of her younger brother.  But then they moved to a new town...

     In this Episode Saul and Jolene talk about a RPG that goes back to 1985, King Arthur Pendragon.  Since it debut in 1985 with a box set it has seen a few editions, the latest being Pendragon 5.2.   Saul and Jolene are interested in this game but each for different reasons.       Saul owes liking and playing D&D back in 1978 to the King Arthur stories.  From books he read to a Disney Cartoon mo...

     A while back John Wick, no not the Keanu John Wick, the creator of 7th Seas RPG and others, stated in his blog that Dungeons and Dragons was not a Role playing game.  Saul brought this up to Jolene and the following discussion was had.     What did John Wick mean that D&D wasn't and RPG?  Millions of people have been playing D&D and they have been thinking, believing and knowing that they wer...

     In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about the new RPG engine by Free League they are calling the Year Zero Engine.  It is the system that was introduced in Mutant Year Zero RPG and was used in the subsequent other publications.  This New Zero system was tweaked and used in Coriolis, Tales From the Loop and Forbidden Lands RPGs.      Free League decided to streamline the rules, clean them up...

            Saul and Jolene discuss the GMPC, the game master player character.  Saul saw a poll on social media about how often should a GM use a GMPC.  All the possible answers varied from always, sometimes, and use only infrequently.  Saul was surprised to see of those that replied that a vast number of people said it was totally okay to do. They all had their "reasons" for using a GMPC.  Jolen...

          Hobby Game Stores have evolved from the small mom and pop store of the 1970's and 80's.  Saul and Jolene discuss how they have had to evolve from those small hobby shop game stores that have mainly gone the way of the dinosaurs.  In today's small profit margins and competition from online sales they can't, like other retail establishments, do business the same old way.           Saul rel...

         After the interview with Mark Schynert where he mentioned Arduin Grimoire, Saul got many questions on social media about Mark Schynert's involvement with Arduin Grimoire and its creator David Hargrave.  Saul and Jolene decided to invite him back to the microphone to talk exclusively about Arduin and creator Dave Hargrave.  David passed away in 1988 while he was working on his beloved Ardu...

               In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about the upcoming Alien RPG by Free League, the creators of Mutant Year Zero, Tales From the Loop and others.  Saul got the Cinematic Starter Kit which is a 173 page PDF that contains all the rules to run an Alien one-shot.  From the rules, adventure and pregen characters this PDF contains everything to run a 4-5 hour session.        Saul really...

     In this episode we talk with Stephen Price again as our first recording was half eaten by the podcast gods.  In this episode we talk about the new game con called Rising Phoenix Game Con in Milford Massachusetts coming in April 17-19 2020.   From the beginnings the group putting this game convention wanted it to be a bit different.  They want their attendees to be immersed in the gaming world...

     Saul and Jolene talk about miniatures in gaming from RPGs to Wargames to Boardgames.  Miniatures are one of the first accessories for games.  They not only make the games look cool but they are very useful in all aspects of hobby gaming.  Saul and Jolene talk about how useful miniatures can be and some problems with miniatures.     As always thanks for listening and please share our podcast w...

     In this episode Saul and Jolene talk to Jayson and Ron Smith the creators of Wizardz Bluff.  Saul and Jolene met Jayson and Ron at Kublacon this past year as they were demoing their game Wizardz Bluff which will be going live on Kickstarter on October 15th.  We decided to chat with them how they started gaming and how that went from players to game creators.  These two brothers have a love of...

     In this week's episode is about Monte Cook's free PDF called "Consent In Gaming."  Saul and Jolene talk about this pdf that is only 13 pages but is a very important addition to the gaming hobby. Saul talks about how his perspective has changed over the years and how he may not have needed or felt he needed this years ago but is very especially pertinent  in this new era of rpgs and the new pl...

      In this episode Saul and Jolene talk about Good Games that had problems.  Yes even games that went well can have problems.  The main point of this discussion is that we can learn from the problems we have in our games.         Jolene remembers her son's Chess teacher sharing that there are only Winners and Learners.  Losing was not a word he used because he said if you learn you don't lose. ...

     In this episode Saul and Jolene interview Christoffer Sevaldsen the creator of The Black Void RPG.  Saul and Jolene ask about Christoffer gaming roots, and find that like many gamers he started playing at a young age.  Saul of course shows his knowledge of world geography and confuses Sweden for Denmark.  Christoffer discusses his path from homebrew to publishing a completely original role-pl...

     In this episode Saul and Jolene discuss the idea of Game Balance in RPGs.  What does it mean, how is it employed and does it matter?  Saul, as always, talks about his early RPG experiences and how game balance just kind of happened organically.  As always Jolene reigns in Saul's trip down memory lane and bring his back to the topic.       Thank you for listening and all we ask is that you sha...

      A mistake in an email sent by Modiphius announcing a newly published RPG called The Black Void, leads to Saul running a "One-Shot" of the new rpg with a call by the players to keep playing in that game.   Saul and Jolene decided to talk about and give a quick overview of The Black Void rpg. The Black Void is self described as an esoteric fantasy RPG by Christoffer Sevaldsen.  The book itself...

      The Dream of many a gamer is that of Getting Paid to Play.  Well at least in this case getting paid to GM a game.  Saul always considered this kind of a pipe dream and not very possible.  Then Saul read an article about a GM in San Francisco that gets paid over 500 dollars a session.  Saul was reminded, by Jolene, about Becky Thomas of The Roleplay Workshop who has been making a living of GM...

     In this bonus episode Saul and Jolene recorded this episode of Gaming Perspectives at Pacificon on August 31,2019.  In our second day we were joined by Gabriel Vega the producer of the show and we have a very candid talk with "Mondo" about his life running the show and outside the Pacificon Game Expo.  We also get a treat as he sings his song about attending cons.        We were also lucky to...

     Saul and Jolene talk about their interest in Live Action Role Playing games.  Over the years Saul's ideas and feeling toward LARPs has changed from thinking it a strange and weird offshoot of Roleplaying games.  Over the years with Jolene's insight, Saul realizes that he has indeed played in three of his friend's home brewed LARP.  Dressing up as become part of the fun.  The last hurdle would...