How We Play: Recent Episodes
David Leaman
This month we talk about Apocalypse World, and about the role of sex and intimacy in role-playing games. Guests this week are Mike, Anna, Colin and Jake. I apologize for the audio quality of this episode -- we're working on improving our audio setup.
- Apocalypse World
- Some people juggle geese
- Dungeon World
- Feng Shui (see also Feng Shui 2)
- Group Date
- Monsterhearts
This month we played Ribbon Drive, a GMless game by Avery McDaldno. We discuss relationship-building, both in-game and in real life. Many thanks to my guest Ashleigh.
- Ribbon Drive
- Endgame LARP
- How We Play Episode 10: Microscope, World-building
This month we played Urban Shadows, an urban fantasy game based on Apocalypse World. We discuss pickup games, large gaming groups and game-hopping with respect to Urban Shadows and in general. Many thanks to my guests: Jen and John.
Show links:
- Urban Shadows, from Magpie Games
- Atomic Robo RPG
- The Big Red Couch
This month we played The Prison, a LARP about social class and oppression. We discuss the game, and social commentary in RPGs. Many thanks to my guests: Ashleigh, Jonathon, Amelia, Anna and Mikael.
Show links:
- The Prison
- Episode 6: The Tribunal, casting
- M vs. M
- Episode 11: Microscope, world building
This month we played Under My Skin. Join us as we discuss in-game relationships: how are they formed? How are they managed? What can we learn from this game, and what other relationship-related lessons have we learned from other games? What happens when in-game relationships interact with real-world relationships? This episode's guests are Jonna Hind, Steven desJardins and Stelio Passaris.
Show links:
- Under My Skin, available as a pay-what-you-want PDF
- Emily Care Boss' other games
- Diaspora
- Apocalypse World
- Monsterhearts
- Dresden Files RPG
- Fate Core
- Music by Jason Pfaff
In this episode we discuss Microscope, and examine how it aids in the process of world-building. What does it mean to build worlds collaboratively? What other world-building exercises are there?
Show links:
- Microscope RPG, by Lame Mage Productions
- Music by Jason Pfaff
In this episode we have two discussion segments, with two sets of guests.
In the first segment we talk about novice gamers. What did new gamers expect coming into the game, and what drew them in in the first place? What learning curves exist? What pitfalls exist for GMs and experienced players when gaming with first-timers? Many thanks to Sonya and Hermina for joining me for this segment.
In the second segment we talk about playing a game with existing fictional canon. What is it like to play a game in an existing fictional universe? What are some of the challenges when you aren't familiar with the source material? Many thanks to Marcus, Courtney and Susie for returning to the show for this segment.
Show links:
- War of Ashes
- Fate Core on evihat.com
- Fate Accelerated on evilhat.com
- Fairytale LARP
- How We Play, episode 7: Pathfinder, Fantasy Grounds
- The GUMSHOE system
- The Dresden Files
- The (old) Dresden Files RPG
- World of Darkness games
- Rob Donoghue's blog
Music by Jason Pfaff, released under the CC BY-SA license.
This month we have a special episode for you. At Fan Expo Canada Dave joined five others for a panel called Finding Your RPG Style, organized by the good people at Toronto Area Gamers (TAG). From the panel description:
Every tabletop RPGs is different, and finding the one that fits your style can improve your gaming experiences. How much do you like to prepare? What type of material do you like to prepare? Should there be a Game Master? How much control over the game and the world should each player have? Our panelists will review common styles of roleplaying, and suggest games you should play to meet the needs of your RPG style. Note: We've tried to clean up the audio as well as possible, but there is some unavoidable noise and interference. Apologies for any unintelligible bits, but this whole discussion was so much fun we couldn't leave it out.
Guests: * Rob Deobald * Jonathan Lavallée from Firestorm Ink (@firestormink) * Geoff Bottone of Saturday Morning Games * Kate, co-organizer of TAG * Alexander Florov, co-organizer of TAG
Show links: * Fan Expo Canada * Toronto Area Gamers: on Meetup, on Facebook, Google Plus. * 1000 Monkeys, 1000 Typewriters * Avery McDaldno * Games mentioned: + D&D + Apocalypse World + Dungeon World + Monsterhearts + Fiasco + Critical!: Go Westerly + Fate Core + Ars Magica + Psi*Run + In a Wicked Age + Deliria
This month we played War of Ashes, a new Fate Accelerated game in playtest. We talk about collaborative campaign and character creation: what does the collaboration bring to the game? Does it hinder the fun at all? What do we mean by character-driven plot versus event-driven?
Guests: * Alex * Jenn * Marcus * Susie * Jake (official heckler)
Show links: * The War of Ashes miniatures game * WoA minis tutorial video * The Muppet Show: Viking Muppets * Art credits for War of Ashes: + Jonathan Hoffman + Jennifer Bach + David Weinman + Joshua Qualtieri
This episode we played a game of Pathfinder using Fantasy Grounds, a virtual tabletop. What sorts of software do you use to make your game more fun?
Guests: * Doug Davison * Emily * Tara * Torsten
Show links: * Fantasy Grounds * Progress Quest * Dungeons and Dragons Tactics (PSP game) * Language plugin for FG * Torsten's campaign website * Designs by Dave * Wiki software and providers: + MediaWiki + Obsidian Portal + Wikia * Storium * Wiimote whiteboard: original project and newer version
Augmented Reality * Structure Sensor Kickstarter * FG Con 5 October 17-19 2014 * Fan Expo August 28-31 2014
This month we talk about casting choices, in particular in this month's game, The Tribunal. When should a GM consider assigning roles to players instead of letting them pick? When mustn't a GM do that? How can we cast players in a responsible way?
The game: The Tribunal, a Nordic LARP by J. Tuomas Harviainen
Hosts: Angela, Dave and Mikael
Episode links:
- Hammer Games.
- Hammer Games on Facebook.
- Hamilton LARP on Facebook.
- The Association for the advancement of rights for Fairytale Creatures.
Music by Jason Pfaff, released under the CC BY-SA license.
This month we talk about our playtest of Do: Fate of the Flying temple, and discuss young gamers. How are their needs addressed by the industry? How is RPGing different when there are kids in the group? And much more.
The game: Do: Fate of the Flying Temple by Sean Nittner (beta playtest version), a new adaptation of the excellent slapstick fantasy game Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple by Daniel Solis.
Hosts:Dave, and Mikael
Guests:Derek, Elise, Mike and Noa
Episode links:
- YA fiction: Sally Slick and the Steel Syndicate.
- Role Blocks.
- Dave's custom Do:FotFT character sheet
Music by Jason Pfaff, released under the CC BY-SA license.
This month we played Fate Accelerated Edition and explore the consequences of having lots of leeway in character and plot development. We discuss character immersion and on-the-fly gaming.
The game: Fate Accelerated Edition, in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire
Hosts: Dave, Mikael
Guests: Courtney, Emily, Marcus, Susie
Episode links:
- Fate Accelerated Edition
- Campaign website (if you're curious)
- Apocalypse World
Music by Jason Pfaff, released under the CC BY-SA license.
This episode we play Psi*Run, and look at its narrative structure. How does the structure of the game affect the story? How does narrative structure affect the experience of gaming, and how is this different for one-shot, short-run and campaign-length games?
The game: Psi*Run
Hosts:Angela, Dave, and Mikael
Guests:Cats, Jake and Kona the dog
Sound effects:Kona (scratching, begging), Cats (doggie treat bag noises), Mikael (cell phone)
Episode links:
- Psi*Run at Night Sky Games.
- The Walking Eye: actual play part 1, actual play part 2, review, interview with Meguey Baker.
- Fiasco
- Kriegszeppelin Valkyrie may be found in Worlds on Fire, an expansion for Fate Core.
- Escape: The Curse of the Temple
Music by Jason Pfaff, released under the CC BY-SA license.
This episode we play Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, and examine how well this system models the feel of a comic book story. This leads into a discussion of game content: when the subject matter is gory, sexual, disturbing or otherwise potentially objectionable, how do we handle this?
The game: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, from Margaret Weis Productions. As of this post there is no link on the publisher's page, but see the RPGGeek page.
Hosts:Dave and Mikael
Guests:Hans and Kel (plus Jake very briefly)
Episode links:
- Marvel Heroic on RPGGeek
- Making Superman Truly Invulnerable In Fate Core, by Ryan M. Danks
- Super-mathematics
Music by Jason Pfaff, released under the CC BY-SA license.
This episode: we play a Nordic LARP. We discuss this game and LARPs in general: rules, GMing challenges, immersion, and what does "high-bleed" mean?
The game: The Hirelings, a Nordic LARP about D&D-ish treasure hunters
Hosts:Angela, Dave, Leanne and Mikael
Guests: Jake and Mark
Episode links:
- Johanna Koljonen introduces Nordic larp.
- Nordic Larp for Noobs
- Despite being suspiciously similar to our show name, we'll assume that Why We Play – An introduction to Nordic Larp is not intentionally copying us.
Music by Jason Pfaff, released under the CC BY-SA license.