The Bear's Grove: Recent Episodes
Sam Chupp
Adult level discussion of role playing as a storytelling art by Sam Chupp, co-creator of Wraith: the Oblivion and Changeling: the Dreaming
A World Building Wednesday where we create a religion and fabricate a new deity on the spot! Use this as an example to make your own!
Continuing the World building Wednesday tradition by talking about cities in your fantasy world
Super long episode, sorry! Sam gives a report on the play he's been involved with lately. Covered are the games Pathfinder 2E, Monster of the Week, D&D 5E, and his work on PsiKids.
Sam goes into the ins and outs of creating cities in a world building context, this is part one of a three-part series
Sam talks a little bit about the current kerfuffle having to do with the ogl and Wizards of the Coast
Sam talks about milestones in general as a World building element on this world building episode of The Bears Grove.
Sam talks about games he's been playing. His ProGM page is https//startplaying.games/gm/sambearpoet
Sam has advice for players on how to twine your characters' backgrounds to make them feel more connected.
Image is by https://www.flickr.com/photos/...@N08
Sam talks about romantic fantasy. What does it add to the game? How can you do it safely? What kind of levels of romance can you bring? The podcast mentions the game "Good Society" https://storybrewersroleplaying.com/good-society/ and Roll For Romance (https://rollforromance.com/) The Book of the Kiss is available here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/313234/The-Book-of-the-Kiss?cPath=22399_35615 and there are instructions at the end of this podcast as to how to receive a half-off coupon!
Magic swords are a fantasy staple. On this World Building Wednesday, I go into the many aspects of swords in fantasy worlds. I remember the movie that I was talking about! It was Hawk the Slayer!
A few tips as to how to overcome the Critical Role Effect when dealing with a new player.
Alignment has been a bear of a problem for a long time for D&D players; it is one of the clunkiest parts of the current game. I speak of some alternatives to alignment in this podcast. This is the chart I mentioned: https://www.gamersdecide.com/sites/default/files/styles/news_images/public/alignmentarticle.jpg
It's World building Wednesday, where I invite you to think about aspects of a world to help you create your own. Today's topic is food. Reference is https://www.patreon.com/lumpley
Being a GM can be a thankless task and is frequently a lot of work so that others can have fun. In this episode Sam talks about the many ways a player group could support their GM.
Should a GM for a #ttrpg provide a sandbox for the players to play in, or a linear story to lead them along?
Sam talks about collaboration with players to cater to their desires. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/412232/Foreword-Mercenaries
In this episode I talk about big picture game design and the idea that every system has trade offs you must address. I talk about the game SRD called Four Points by Penflower Ink available here https://penflower-ink.itch.io/four-points-rpg-system-srd cover graphic by https://unsplash.com/photos/uKlneQRwaxY?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink
Reference Script Change on Beau's https://thoughty.itch.io/script-change and don't forget to donate a little something if you use it.
Sam discusses the concept of stance in ttrpgs. Mentioned is https://pca.st/podcast/4a4d1d20-d6f3-013a-d9ac-0acc26574db2 and https://ttrpg.substack.com
In this episode Sam talks about the Mastodon microblogging platform and his ideas for a board game / ttrpg hybrid model
In this first episode of a new season I am talking about CATS and how it may really help you organize a new gaming group and the play at the table.
Concept, Aim, Topics, and Subject Matter is not my idea but I have been studying and thinking about it a lot! Here's the link to the blog for it : https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/blog/sharing-the-cognitive-load