Panda's Talking Games: Recent Episodes

Senda Linaugh and Phil Vecchione

Queer gamers talking about table top role playing games and making outtakes! Join pandas Phil and Senda every Wednesday talking about TTRPGs and answering listener questions.

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Show us what Gygax considered a master player! Do we agree? Do you?! Phil and Senda talk through the first 9 steps to being a Master Player according to Gary Gygax/s 1987 book Role Playing Mastery.

As a refresher, here are the first 9 points:

Study the rules of your chosen role-playing game.
Learn the goal(s) of the game.
Discover the spirit of the game, and make it your credo in play.
Know the genre in which the game is set, and study it often.
Remember that the real you and your game persona are different.
Know your team’s PCs and those who play them.
Know the campaign in which you play.
Understand the role of the game master and assist its fulfillment.
Role-play your character fully and correctly.

Here are the last 8 points that we cover on today’s episode:

  • Always seek to contribute the most to the team’s success.
  • Put forth your personal best during play.
  • Play as frequently as possible.
  • Play various characters as often as possible in as many different circumstances as possible.
  • Play outside your group’s campaign frequently.
  • Play in tournaments
  • Make yourself aware of the gaming community and contribute to it.
  • Continue to learn and grow even after you achieve mastery

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda

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Show us what Gygax considered a master player! Do we agree? Do you?! Phil and Senda talk through the first 9 steps to being a Master Player according to Gary Gygax/s 1987 book Role Playing Mastery.

Here are the first 9 points:

Study the rules of your chosen role-playing game.
Learn the goal(s) of the game.
Discover the spirit of the game, and make it your credo in play.
Know the genre in which the game is set, and study it often.
Remember that the real you and your game persona are different.
Know your team’s PCs and those who play them.
Know the campaign in which you play.
Understand the role of the game master and assist its fulfillment.
Role-play your character fully and correctly.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda

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Show us how you balance a player that is much much more proactive than the rest of your table! Phil and Senda cover when it’s actually a problem and some ideas on how to address it.

THERE WILL BE NO NEW EPISODE NEXT WEEK, OCTOBER 30th! We’ll be back in November!

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you find people…to be new gamers! Phil and Senda talk introducing people to gaming and finding the kind of people who a) would be interested and b) would be interested in the kind of gaming you are interested in.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda

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Show us how you find a new gaming group! Phil and Senda talk approaches to finding people and how to figure out who you might be looking for.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you make gaming goals happen! Phil and Senda follow up on their gaming goals from last episode, including an extemporaneous brain storm on positive feedback at the table.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda

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Episode 365 – after a whole year of numbered episodes, it’s like a New Year’s resolution? Phil and Senda talk personal goals for gaming – for how they play, facilitate, and engage with the industry and community.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Today we answered a grab bag of questions all submitted by folks whose names start with J! Coincidence? We think….yes absolutely didn’t notice it until partway through the show. Today’s questions cover analysis paralysis and hustle vs. play.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda

Note: we had an audio issue on the original release of this episode which has now been fixed. Many thanks to Ryan, editor extraordinaire!

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Show us how you manage the conversation when you realize your game has lost momentum! Phil and Senda use their own campaign as a live demo to put their money where their mouth is and talk (like they always advise) about their ongoing game night and what to do with it.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Today we’re addressing some of our smaller questions!

  • Realism vs. Playability in Combat
  • Spotlight sharing at the table
  • How to pick con games

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Show us how you play an evil game! Phil and Senda talk how to make it work and the pitfalls of chaos vs. purpose in an evil game.

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Show us how you make a good player goal! Phil and Senda talk what and why, and how a strong “why” can make even a generic or potentially boring “what” really interesting. It’s also back to one shots and campaigns!

Check out Starscape from Golden Lasso Games on kickstarter right now! Found family and space travel, oh my! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/goldenlassogames/starscape?ref=discovery

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how major life changes might change your gaming! Phil and Senda speak from experience on many of these. Have you experienced changes in your gaming due to changes in your life?

Check out Starscape from Golden Lasso Games on kickstarter right now! Found family and space travel, oh my! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/goldenlassogames/starscape?ref=discovery

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you make space in your game for different kinds of “fun” when different things give energy to different folks at your table! Senda and Phil talk about “fun,” defining it for yourself, and how to create space for your fun and other people’s as a GM and as a player.

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Show us how you add a romantic sideplot, without sidelining your main plot! Phil and Senda talk involved players, uninvolved players, and GMs as well as spotlight sharing and setting up the proximity of the characters involved in the romance.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you can get a board game friend to try TTRPGs — and maybe when it’s not a good idea! Phil and Senda talk about some of the signs that your friend’s fun comes from parts of board games that TTRPGs are good at, and how to identify when they might not be.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you share your world building! One very traditional approach to facilitating games is for the GM to be in charge of all the world building, so Phil and Senda are here to talk about the spectrum of shared world building responsibilities and some ways to approach it.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you embody an NPC at the table when advance prep is your stronger skill, or show us how you prep for a character when improv is where you excel! Phil and Senda talk small actions, mindset, and approaches to embodying NPCs, whether you’re doing some of that work up front or making it up as you go.

The podcast episode Senda referenced in the episode is from One Shot’s First Watch Podcast, and is now only available to One Shot patrons. You can hear James talk about voices on our editor Ryan’s show, though! Check it out here: https://oneshotpodcast.com/character-creation-cast/character-evolution-cast-e01-voices-with-james-damato/

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you mechanically handle downtime! Phil and Senda talk through Phil’s homebrew approach to downtime mechanics in Mutants in the Now, and how to create or apply something to any game you’re playing that doesn’t have a downtime mechanic built in.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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MicroRPGs, how we personally start doing game design, and contract work vs. hobby time, oh my! Phil and Senda sit down to answer a series of questions on game design and playtesting when you have limited play test resources.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you tell stories in your session — structure that story! It was our 7 year podaversary and we completely forgot, so we’re taking this one to do a topic that Phil had been thinking about a lot as he planned one of his current games. How do you structure a session?

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Show us how you…do a bunch of littler topics! It’s been a little while since we’ve done a topic round up! On today’s episode we talk about:

  • The value of discussing game theory with people you also play games with
  • Rolling GMs (vs. round table, vs. troupe style)
  • Tips for how to prepare to GM at a US convention

Check out the Lumberjils kickstarter here! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unrulydesigns/lumberjills-a-war-birds-game?ref=discovery

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you use daydreaming as GM prep! Phil and Senda talk daydreaming, both intentional/focused and not, as well as where we do it best and when and how you might want to write it down.

Misdirected Mark has officially become the Polygamerous Podcast Network! You can read more here: https://polygamero.us/misdirected-mark-productions-is-becoming-the-polygamous-podcast-network/

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you get the old group back together! Phil went on a trip and did some game prep for a very unique and specific circumstance, and we’re going to talk about it.

Welcome to the Polygamerous Podcast Network! Misdirected Mark is officially becoming the PGN. You can read more here: https://polygamero.us/misdirected-mark-productions-is-becoming-the-polygamous-podcast-network/

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda

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Show us how you run or play a game when you’ve only dabbled in a particular IP! Phil and Senda talk being the GM or being a player when you’re not the expert in something like Star Wars, Marvel, or Lord of the Rings.

Welcome to the Polygamerous Podcast Network! Misdirected Mark is officially becoming the PGN. You can read more here: https://polygamero.us/misdirected-mark-productions-is-becoming-the-polygamous-podcast-network/

Please note that as of April 15th, our feeds will change over to the new feeds at polygamero.us.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Hey friends! We ran into a crunch and needed to turn out a lower stakes episode this week, so here we present to you (drum roll please!) a chit chat! If this is your first time listening, you may wish to go back or forward an episode to hear our normal show style. In this chit chat, we talk giving us life in gaming and lessons you might be able to glean from it (Senda got to play Shab al-Hiri Roach and Phil wrote mad libs) as well as what’s giving us life in general.

Senda’s per page fundraising for the Trans Rights Read-a-thon (fundraising until Mar 29 2024 and she is FOUR BOOKS IN) can be found here: https://go.rallyup.com/trr2024senda

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how much of a game you can replace before you may as well write your own! Senda and Phil chat about the Ship of Theseus syndrome of games (if you replace all the parts, is it still the same game?) as well as when it might make sense to write your own game and when it wouldn’t (most of the time, in our opinion).

Link! Senda’s per page reading fundraising for the Trans Rights Read-a-thon can be found here: https://go.rallyup.com/trr2024senda

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you get emotional investment in one shots and the beginnings of campaigns! Phil and Senda talk player and GM responsibilities and faking it til you make it, along with some other ideas to get you started.

Link! Senda’s per page fundraising for the Trans Rights Read-a-thon can be found here: https://go.rallyup.com/trr2024senda

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you handle conditions and agency! Character agency vs. player agency — is there a difference? Phil and Senda talk agency and conditions, and when conditions have the potential to infringe on player agency.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Who’s an NPC? How can we categorize them? Let’s talk non-player characters (and the sometimes spectrum)!

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Show us how you run a game when you are less than enthusiastic about it…maybe? Phil and Senda talk running games as a gift or favor for folks (when you are not a professional GM), how to get onboard or find a way to be onboard, and when it’s maybe not worth it.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you breathe life into your setting at the table! How do you make a setting feel alive, engaging, and evocative? Phil and Senda discuss in this off the cuff episode.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you make an encounter (in whatever context) challenging without being too challenging! Phil and Senda talk GM knowledge vs. NPC knowledge, planning challenges and encounters, and not nerfing your players special powers on the reg.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you introduce a new setting to players! Phil and Senda talk setting considerations, ways to do setting introductions without turning on the firehose, and recommendations for getting folks up to speed quickly.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us your gaming plans for 2024! We’re taking the gentle on ramp after our holiday and talking about some of our aspirations for the new year, both gaming and personally. What are some of your gaming aspirations?

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you use leading questions in your games! Phil and Senda talk leading questions, as well as how and when to use them effectively. Unfortunately two thing happened this episode: 1. Phil’s mic started doing some very strange things. We were not able to save the bamboo lounge. 2. Phil hurt his back and was in pain as we got this recorded, so we were not able to do a take two. Many many thanks to Ryan, our editor and the cohost of Character Cache, for saving the day!

This is our last episode for the year. We will return after our holiday hiatus in January! In the meantime, please feel free to send us your questions or topics as always: http://misdirectedmark.com/panda . We can’t wait to hear from you!

There is no bamboo lounge today.

Our additional music this episode was used under a Creative Commons license as follows:

Music: Christmas Tape Lo Fi by WinnieTheMoog
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7133-christmas-tape-lo-fi
Licensed under CC BY 4.0: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

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Show us what you’re grateful for in gaming this year! Phil and Senda record a quick episode before American Thanksgiving to tease apart some of the things we are really grateful for this year when it comes to our gaming lives.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you….okay. Hang on a sec.

[The screech of a soap box being dragged out from a closet]

Real talk. There’s a lot of discourse currently occurring about bleed on a number of social media platforms. We don’t usually jump in on discourse (and have managed not to on social media directly) but we have THOUGHTS, dammit. We are not here to tear apart the original cause of the discourse, but we are concerned about the direction that it’s taken that bleed is bad, destructive, dangerous, and unsafe at all times. This discourse requires a more nuanced conversation, and fortunately we have this hour long format to take a stab at it!

If you want to see some good thoughts directly about the current discourse, check out https://www.tiktok.com/@rufflejax on Tiktok.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you slide some character beats into an action oriented game! Phil and Senda talk about the spectrum that is character driven games and action driven games, and how to push your slider a little more into the middle when the game you’re playing is intended to be action oriented. Also, hope y’all enjoyed Acadecon, we were super late on addressing this topic! XD

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you play more games! Phil and Senda….both had quite a few weeks there, but we’re happy to be on mics again, even if we kept it pretty short. This week, we talk about some ideas for getting more games to the table — a constant struggle for the polygamerous among us! If you have more ideas, let us know, because we need help with this too!

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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No cliffhangers today! Phil and Senda talk about the second part of the question regarding GM brain and anxiety — some common GM anxieties and ideas about how to address them (besides just the old advice to practice). Are there other specific anxieties that haunt you at the table? Drop us a line!

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you can use improv at the table to alleviate your recall anxiety! Phil and Senda talk improv and GM anxiety at the table, with a helping of other resources for practicing improv for gaming specifically.

References:

Improv for Gamers by Karen Twelves

Episode 127 – Improve your Improv (yikes! That was a LONG time ago!)

Perchance

Never Unprepared

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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We’re bringing it back!

Way back before the pandemic, Phil and Senda were well on their way to kickstarting this game. We’ve just picked it back up again and we’re working hard! We were a little overworked to have our standard topic today, so we had a chit chat instead. If this is your first episode, you may wish to go forward or backwards on episode to hear our normal show set up.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you manage being REALLY into your game when not everyone is! Phil and Senda talk about the disparity of time spent thinking about a game between player […]

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Finishing up last week’s topic (barely!), we’re bringing it home by merging in the discussion of GM brain with GM style and GM supports. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! […]

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Show us how you find the right kind of game for your GM brain! Thanks to a comment about a quick aside from a few episodes ago where Senda mentioned in passing that her attachment to improv GMing has more to do with ADHD recall than with a lack of desire or ability to prep, we’re on the case. Phil and Senda take a stab at generalized categorization of things that may be easy or hard, and things that may give you energy or take energy to use as a starting point. Spoilers — there will be a part 2 because we ran out of time!

In case you are following along at home and it’s easier to have the categories written down, they are:

  • Creative
  • Analytical
  • Executive
  • Recall

Meal train for the Baker family: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/lk908w/

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you set a scene to give it genre feel and manage pacing! Phil and Senda talk scene setting — pacing, description and set up, spotlight, and participants — for genre emulation and tone creation.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

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Show us how you take your memorable or influential gaming experiences forward into your future games! Phil and Senda revisit last week’s topic to talk about exactly how we carried […]

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Show us your memorable gaming moments! Phil and Senda answer a request to talk about memorable gaming moments. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find […]

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Show us how players can support a brand new GM! Phil and Senda talk through some of the responsibilities that the GM stereotypically takes on and how players can either […]

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Show us how you queer up your game when it isn’t written that way! Phil and Senda talk queer themes (and a little personal history) and some of the ways […]

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Show us how you manage mid game changes to your game’s tone or content that are caused by out of game, real world stuff! This hasn’t actually happened to Phil […]

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Iiiit’s a chit chat! Due to some life, we’re doing a chit chat today instead of our normal discussion episode style. Additionally, there will be no new episode next Wednesday, […]

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Show us how you roll your dice — open, or closed — and show us how you uninvite people from your group! Phil and Senda answer two questions from J.T. […]

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Show us how you use a GMPC! GMPCs get a bad wrap a lot, and for good reason. Phil and Senda talk when they’re actually pretty great and helpful, and […]

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Show us how you playtest! Phil and Senda talk playtesting (a discussion topic we received from multiple requests). We approach it based on an idealized version of how we’ve playtested […]

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It’s time…for a chit chat! If this is your first time listening, this is not our standard format. In a chit chat, we talk about things that are giving us life in gaming, and things that are giving us life outside of gaming. On today’s episode, we talk about getting into a new mission in our game of Long Live The Queen, solo journaling games, World Anvil, Fringe, and Pair eyewear.

If you want to hear our standard episode format, go back one (or probably forward one)!

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you…answer multiple questions! Phil and Senda talk connecting published adventures to each other or to your homebrew, and clues in mysteries without railroading (and why mysteries can feel railroad-y).

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you handle non-physical damage! Phil and Senda talk emotional conditions from Masks specifically and non-physical damage, how to use it in games that already have it and how to implement it in games that don’t have it.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you deal with the death of a character in game — emotionally and logically! Senda and Phil talk fall out from various types of character death and how it comes about.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you manage safety breaks in your game. Phil and Senda talk about how to deal with safety breaks even when everyone at the table is acting in good faith and things still go sideways.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you manage the emotional fall out of dropped games — especially when they stack up! Phil and Senda talk ideas for dealing with the mechanical why of games being dropped and thoughts on dealing with the emotional drop of a cancelled game (especially last minute).

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you use camera shots in your game — and when you show your players things from a camera angle their characters can’t see! Senda and Phil talk camera angles, descriptions, teasers, and other “off camera” work.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you take inspiration from actual plays — without getting disappointed or let down but real table play! Phil and Senda talk about how to take inspiration from actual play and why it should be just that –inspiration, not your aspiration or expected table play. We also talk about how to take the things that you like from that actual play media and work to incorporate them into your game (again, as inspiration!).

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Today is a grab bag! We answer two quick questions: How to purge your physical TTRPG book collection and our current thoughts on conventions.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you know if your game mechanics are a good fit — or how you make a graceful change if they’re not! Senda and Phil talk about how to tell if your game fits what you’re doing as well as some approaches for transitioning to a different system if you need to, or readjusting to fit to the game if that’s the preference.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you hit those beginnings hard and knock out those endings! Senda and Phil talk intros and outs, suggestions for how to make them impactful, and some tips on what to avoid.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you keep skill challenges interesting! Senda and Phil talk skill challenge challenges (see what I did there?), suggestions for when and how to use them, and some tips on what to avoid. Also, Captain Kirk is climbing a mountain. Why is he climbing the mountain? https://youtu.be/HU2ftCitvyQ

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Due to some life stuff, we had to record a quick chit chat! If you are listening for the first time, this is not our standard format, but it is the format that we use when life gets in the way of our standard style.

This chit chat: what’s giving us life in gaming – Brindlewood Bay, Game group rearranging, and world building

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you maximize your prep to game play time! Phil and Senda talk prep, prepping the most important stuff, and pacing the game to fill the time you want it to.

Book resources (also available on Amazon):

Never Unprepared: The Complete Gamemaster’s Guide to Session Prep – https://enginepublishing.com/never-unprepared-the-complete-game-masters-guide-to-session-prep or in print – https://studio2publishing.com/products/never-unprepared-the-complete-game-master-s-guide-to-session-pr?_pos=1&_sid=31ad7d6d4&_ss=r

Eureka: 501 Adventure Plots to Inspire Game Masters – https://enginepublishing.com/eureka-501-adventure-plots-to-inspire-game-masters or in print – https://studio2publishing.com/products/eureka-501-adventure-plots-to-inspire-game-masters?_pos=1&_sid=e97975586&_ss=r

Masks: 1,000 Memorable NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game – https://enginepublishing.com/masks-1000-memorable-npcs-for-any-roleplaying-game or in print – https://studio2publishing.com/products/masks-1-000-memorable-npcs-for-any-roleplaying-game-softcover?_pos=1&_sid=f5b184f87&_ss=r

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you de-role after you play! Phil and Send chat about de-roling for sessions and campaigns, with things you may wish to consider and tips on potential ways to de-role.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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It’s episode 300, and we’re talking about epilogues! Show us how and when you use an epilogue! Senda and Phil talk the when, who, and how of epilogues, and a little bit about being 300 episodes into a podcast.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you manage sharing playing NPCs at your table! Phil and Senda talk about how to draw boundaries when there’s spillage between NPCs you want/don’t mind sharing with your player and NPCs you need to control.

Apologies for the late show — the hotel wifi was a challenge in trying to get the audio uploaded! We will be back on schedule again next week (Wednesdays).

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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We’re back from holiday hiatus! Phil and Senda attempt to remember how to do that thing we do weekly, and then take a deep dive on request into a conversation about house rules — the good, the bad, and some categorization.

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you deal with prisoners in your game! Do your players get stuck debating for hours? Senda and Phil talk about a gaming horror story we received (names and details redacted just in case) and what it made us think about in terms of avoiding this issue or mitigating hours of debate at your table.

Additionally, we are taking our holiday hiatus! This will be the last episode that drops this year (December 7). You’ll hear from us again starting on January 11 2023! Happy Holidays, all!

Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.

Find us on the internet:

Twitter: @PandasTalkGames

Forums: http://forums.misdirectedmark.com

and panda(at)misdirectedmark.com

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Show us how you manage clue distribution and railroading in a mystery game! Phil and Senda talk clues, railroads, prepped and ad hoc mysteries, and the two mystery games we […]

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Phil and Senda chat about…the chit chat we were going to have last week if only Senda weren’t sick! As usual for our chit chat episodes, we talked giving us […]

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Show us how you manage conflict, bad behavior, and close relationships at the table! Phil and Senda chat about what to do when a family member (or other close trusted […]

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Show us how you handle game ending or ruining decisions aat your table! Phil and Senda chat about when a game goes completely sideways and how to realign yours and […]

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Show us how you handle analysis paralysis! Senda and Phil talk some reasons why analysis paralysis can happen, and some ideas about how to address them. (Hint: it’s not always […]

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Show us how you handle the LEROY JENKINS! Phil and Senda talk about why this kind of move happens, how to prevent it when it’s not so good, and how […]

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Show us how you make the other folks at your table shine! Phil and Senda talk about shining moments, which is more than just spotlight or even niche maintenance. Bamboo […]

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Show us how you choose when to drive as a GM, or when you let the players drive! Phil and Senda talk about the give and take of proactive and […]

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We have hit our 300 episode limit on our RSS feed, and our first episodes are dropping off! If you are new to the show and want a quick introduction […]

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Show us how you manage age (and experience) gaps at the table! Phil and Senda chat about managing tables with mixed age groups, having managed to be inspired by a […]

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Sometimes, life comes at you fast — and then sometimes you also get to go on vacation! Today’s episode is a chit chat (not our standard format), but we are […]

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How do you know when you’re being too clever? There’s no perfect way to know, but we’re going to talk through some things to consider! NOTE! We will be taking […]

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Show us how you like your mini campaigns (again)! We talked about mini campaigns pretty recently (check out 268) but we still had this question sitting in the backlog — […]

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Phil and Senda are flying with no show notes and no topic! If this is your first intro to our show, this is not our normal format. You may want […]

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Show us how you manage a player/GM conspiracy at the table! Phil and Senda use a cautionary tale of Phil’s GMing past to illustrate some potential pitfalls and how you […]

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Show us how you manage treating (or bribing) at your game table! Today’s episode had some serious time constraints. Also, welcome to Wednesdays! This podcast supports the bodily autonomy of […]

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Show us how you handle mistakes at the table! Phil and Senda talk about managing significant mistakes (not minor, and not big like a safety break) at the table, and […]

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Show us how you analyze media as if it were a game! Phil and Senda talk about consuming stories in other mediums as if they were games, and how you […]

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On today’s episode, Phil and Senda talk about failing forward, how it differs from success with consequence or complication, and using it in your game! How do you tell if […]

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A bit late for the US holiday, but better late than never! Phil and Senda are having a chit chat as scheduling was very up in the air this last […]

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CONTENT WARNING: This episode is specifically a discussion of your ongoing game when one of your players has passed away. For tips on rearranging groups or when a player leaves, […]

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Show us how you handle relationship disasters in games — whether between PCs or with NPCs! Phil and Senda talk disaster relationships, the axis on which you can slide some […]

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Join Phil and Senda for a quick chit chat! Yes, life got away from us again. As usual for our chit chats, we’re talking what’s giving us life in gaming […]

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CONTENT WARNING: discussion of alcohol and adult substances with mentions of substance abuse. Show us how you deal with adult substances at your table! Phil and Senda talk about table […]

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Show us how you get into character for the first time! Phil and Senda talk about some ways to approach that awkward first set up when you are trying to […]

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Show us how you start your game, and how you end your game, and how you — well, let’s just talk about table rituals! Phil and Senda chat (at a […]

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Show us how you manage knowledge imbalance when a player at your table knows more about a setting or situation than you do! Or really, let’s have a conversation about […]

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Show us how you wrap up year 6! Our podcast is getting old, just like Phil (Happy birthday, Phil)! On today’s episode, we do a quick recap of year 6, […]

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Show us how you do a mini campaign (vs. a full campaign or a one shot)! Phil and Senda talk mini campaigns, arbitrarily numbered at 3-8 sessions. Or 9. Because […]

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Show us how you drive your game — is it story based or do the characters make it happen? Phil and Senda talk story driven vs. character driven games, and […]

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Show us your gaming journey! Senda and Phil talk about gaming journeys, why you might care about yours, and some ways to consider your assumptions and biases about games. Find […]

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Show us what you do with your unfulfilled/unrequited character concepts! Phil and Senda talk about how unfulfilled concepts happen, ways that you can try to hang on to them, and […]

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Senda and Phil talk about managing the social aspects of trying new games or playing lots of games with an existing group (spoilers: it’s about communication). Find us on the […]

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It’s a January Chit Chat! Phil and Senda chat about what’s giving them life in gaming and outside of gaming (spoilers: books and food). There’s a bit of Thirsty Sword […]

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Show us how you edit your best laid plans when the campaign has already started! Senda and Phil chat about potential pitfalls and some ways to edit your story that’s […]

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Show us how you stuff one game inside another and cook it up for gaming! Senda and Phil talk about using side games and main games to create specific experiences […]

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Show us how you make a good plot! Phil and Senda sit down with an email about nerves setting up a new plot, and dive in on some advice to […]

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Things are getting a little wild around here — so it’s back to a chit chat for us! If you’re new here, that means we drop our normal show format […]

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Show us how you do a one on one session zero for a campaign! No really! We haven’t done one before! Senda was in Buffalo, so we did one in […]

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Show us how you approach a one on one GM-ful game! Well, really, let us chat since we weren’t sure we were going to get to record this week at […]

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Show us how you set up family dynamics in your game! Phil and Senda talk family dynamics and specific safety conversations you might want to have when setting up PCs […]

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Show us how you design non combat conflict for your campaign! Phil and Senda talk non combat conflict. A quick heads up: there will NOT be an episode on Monday, […]

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Show us how you manage changes in your campaign and game tone! Senda and Phil talk managing big changes and how they can effect your tone, and taking time to […]

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Things got away from us this week — so we’re back with a chit chat! Phil and Senda talk what’s giving them life in gaming, and what’s giving them life […]

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Show us how you pick a game to run when nothing feels quite right! Also, where do you want to grab dinner…? Phil and Senda tackle these two topics in […]

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Show us how you stay engaged with a solo RPG! Senda and Phil talk solo RPGs, excitement, engagement, and identifying ways to keep the interest going. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon […]

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Show us how (or if) you debrief your campaigns! Phil and Senda talk campaign debriefs and ways to approach them. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more […]

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Show us how you handle pacing as a player! Phil and Senda sit down to chat about the companion topic to 250, the one that people don’t address very much […]

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Show us how you pace your story as a GM — in one shots and campaigns! That’s right, for our 250th episode we revisit our classic format of one shots […]

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Show us how you manage genre hopping all in one game! Phil and Senda sit down to talk about the specific needs of games that hop genres and which ones […]

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Show us your favorite GMless story game! Phil and Senda talk GMless, collaborative story games — some of our favorites, why and when they’re great, and tips on how to […]

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Show us how you determine if your game is bumming you out instead of pumping you up! Phil and Senda talk some of the reasons your game might not feel […]

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Show us how you use NPC relationships — without stressing them! Phil and Senda talk through some ideas about embedding NPCs without making them pressure points for the PCs. Bamboo […]

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Show us how you “decrunchify” a mechanics heavy game — ie how to shift the balance to encourage more role play in conjunction with the heavier mechanics. Bamboo Lounge for […]

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Show us your favorite zero prep games to run! Phil and Senda talk games that are written to be low prep, and how to make a game that you like […]

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Show us how you manage your notes, as a player or as a GM! Phil and Senda talk about note taking, when we take notes, and how and with what, […]

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Show us your favorite character or campaign that you never got to play through! Phil and Senda talk through their own unrequited characters and campaigns. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers […]

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Show us how you run narrative combat! Phil and Senda are here with some tips and tricks and pitfalls to running narrative combat successfully, including (of course) some definitions about […]

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We’re back with another grab bag episode — two topics from twitter and one soap box from Phil! We talk more about our in development spark short hand for short […]

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It’s a grab bag episode for May! We answer three listener questions in quick succession because they were fun. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. […]

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Show us how you acquire games — to play or to collect! Phil and Senda talk about collecting games, playing games, and how and why we keep and purchase games. […]

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Show us how you take your sheaf of loose chapters and turn them into an actual end product — small rpg publisher style! Phil and Senda talk about their personal […]

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By request, Phil and Senda jump in on talking about their particular experiences in RPG publishing: Phil as a publisher of RPGs, and Senda as a designer who has and […]

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Show us how you use description on demand! When is it a good idea to use it, how can you make it effective, and when might you want to avoid […]

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Show us how you FINISH designing a game! Phil and Senda talk feedback, alphas, betas, ashcans, and quickstarts, based on our personal experience. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find […]

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Show us how you design a game! Senda and Phil start a brief overview of what the process has, historically, looked like for us, to be finished in PART 2. […]

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It was a wild few days and the end result was that even though we had some neat potential topics, we just didn’t have the spell slots to put them […]

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Show us how you hide and conceal emotions at the gaming table! Senda and Phil talk showing and hiding emotions as PCs and NPCs both expressively and mechanically. Senda even […]

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It’s another chit chat episode! When things go a little wild in the real world but we still want to get an episode out to you, sometimes that means we […]

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Show us how you play preludes (and flashbacks) in your games! Phil and Senda talk what preludes can do for you and some tips on how to implement them. Bamboo […]

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Show us how you create and encourage role play as a GM and as a player! Phil and Senda talk about how to create opportunities and the right environment for […]

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Show us how you manage bad PC/NPC romances in your games! Senda and Phil talk about what makes up a bad romance (or at least how we’ll be talking about […]

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Show us how you’re managing attention in online gaming! Whether it’s your attention or your players’, there’s no doubt that it’s trickier to manage in online gaming than at the […]

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Show us how you make travel interesting! Phil and Senda talk about different ways to keep travel interesting, from just not doing it, to ways to make time feel like […]

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Show us what you will need to feel safe going to conventions again! Please note, we are not healthcare professionals, security professionals, or convention organizers, so this is just what […]

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Welcome back to a chit chat episode! When the world goes a little to wild, we settle down with a stick of bamboo and just chat! We’ll be back to […]

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Show us how you organize your physical books! Since we’d talked about organizing your digital collection (and some folks have recently moved), we got a question about what to think […]

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Show us how you break up with a player. Phil and Senda talk through the difficult process of splitting a player off of a group — construct your own mix […]

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One more grab bag to see us through the holidays — hope you all had delightful Solstices, Christmases, Hanukkahs, or Kwanzaas (ongoing)! Bonus outtakes for Patreon backers today! Find these […]

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Show us how you…do one more grab bag before the holidays! On tonight’s episode, we talk about giving gifts in play as a player and GM, learning crunchier games effectively, […]

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Three more grab bag questions as we cruise into the holidays! Also, jingle bells courtesy of JarredGibbs (you’ll know when you hear it). Bonus outtakes for Patreon backers today! Find […]

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Show us your gaming rituals for starting or ending a session! Phil and Senda talk ritualizing aspects of your play time to help set expectations, enforce social contracts, and transition […]

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Show us how you’re managing your online games! Although we’ve talked about it in chit chats and off and on throughout the pandemic, we got a request to actually just […]

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It’s a grab bag! We haven’t done one of these in a while since there’s no convention travel this year. We’re covering three questions: getting players to play more background […]

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Show us what your favorite short form games are! Phil and Senda chat about old and new favorite short form games…many, many short form games. Bonus outtakes for Patreon backers […]

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Show us how you’re taking stock of your gaming as we go into the holidays and the continuing pandemic! Phil and Senda talk about evaluating you current gaming habits to […]

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Show us how you do (or don’t) use meta game talk as a GM at your table! So sorry for the late drop — life definitely got in the way […]

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Show us how you manage your digital RPG files! Phil has professional experience in this and Senda is terrible at maintaining the structure that she created. Join us for some […]

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Show us how you manage the layers of the game! Senda and Phil take a fly by on the old MMP game layers (with a few updates), what they are, […]

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Show us how you manage your GMing stagefright! Phil and Senda talk about those butterflies (uh, were they cocoons?) in your stomach before you’re up in front of players, ways […]

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Show us how you manage spotlight time as a GM and as a player when you have personal plots! Senda and Phil talk spotlight management and graceful plot sharing, and […]

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Show us how you manage when you’re not bring your A game to the table! Senda and Phil talk managing a session when you’re not up to your personal standards, […]

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Phil and Senda have a chit chat episode because it was a rough week! What’s giving us life in gaming this week – collaborative world building and well built premade […]

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Show us whose job it is to make things happen at the table! Phil and Senda talk player responsibility and good player basics. What are your best “be a good […]

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Show us how you define some panda terminology! Thanks again to ShadowWarl1 for this topic idea. Phil and Senda finish out another list of 6 or 7 definitions, but as […]

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Show us how you … define a bunch of random terminology that we use all the time! Shadowwarl1 on twitter asked us to define some terms we’ve commonly used so […]

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Show us how you use consent revoking/reactive safety tools effectively in your games! Phil and Senda share some thoughts on effectively implementing and effectively using consent revoking safety tools like […]

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Show us how you would talk about creating a culture of player improvement the way that we typically talk about GM improvement. Phil and Senda chat about what that might […]

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Another Chit Chat for us — you know the drill, friends! That means this is 90% unedited. This week we talked games and food, of course, as food seems to […]

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Show us your favorite games for first time GMs and first time players! Phil and Senda talk some of their favorite games for both categories and why they picked those […]

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Another chit chat — this one inspired by some of the twitter chatter last week about Powered by the Apocalypse games, and their relevancy to current game design. Bonus outtakes […]

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Show us some more examples of reskinning! Thanks to Joe for sending us this one — we’re revisiting reskinning plots in different genres. Bonus outtakes for Patreon backers today! Find […]

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Another chit chat as Phil comes out of his harrowing work project! Next week, we are hoping to do some random question answering, so drop us your quick questions! Bonus […]

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Senda and her guest host Pandi try to fill in for Phil and fail. Come back next week! There are no bonus outtakes because Pandi FAILED ME. Find us on […]

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Our 7th Chit Chat. We talk what’s giving us life in gaming: writing letters and superheroes. As per usual with the Chit Chats, this episode is largely unedited and will […]

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Our 6th Chit Chat. We talk what’s giving us life in gaming and we (with precautions) saw people in in real life! As per usual with the Chit Chats, this […]

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Our 5th Chit Chat. Giving us life in gaming, we talk about sound as a game mechanic and being a proactive player. Then we added what was giving us life […]

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Chit Chat the fourth! We are continuing the chit chats as Senda has ongoing cat care on her shoulders. On this week’s chit chat, we talk what’s giving us life […]

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Chit Chat the third! We may be having these a little more than anticipated as Senda is dealing with a sick pet. Phil and Senda chat about gaming in the […]

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Another chit chat episode while Phil and Senda take a breather! As a quick reminder, that means that this episode is 95% unedited, so you will find all the outtakes […]

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Hi Friends! We’re doing something a bit different this episode. It’s hard to keep up spoons for creativity and editing in our current climate, but we also didn’t want to […]

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Show us how you handle in game character introductions! Phil and Senda talk managing tropes of all the characters meeting or being forced together in one shots as a GM […]

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Show us how you manage collaborative world building in the beginning and middle of one shots! Phil and Senda talk collaborative world building in the time constraints of a one […]

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Show us how you celebrate 200 episodes by trying to pretend that you can do the anniversary stuff and STILL ANSWER A QUESTION somehow! Phil and Senda talk about campaign […]

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Show us how you run games in genres you’re not familiar with! Phil and Senda talk faking it and picking it up quickly to run games in genres that aren’t […]

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Show us how you manage relationship triangles in your game! Phil and Senda talk about triangles, how to use them, and how to keep them fun, whether it’s all PCs […]

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Show us how you keep your game going in this time of physical distancing! Phil and Senda talk about some things to consider as you move online and quick tips […]

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Show us how you run a dungeon crawl without being boring! Phil and Senda talk about what pieces make up our idea of a dungeon crawl to help you pick […]

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Show us how you manage your cliche use in games! Senda and Phil chat about tropes, shticks, and cliches; why you might want to avoid cliches, and when you might […]

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Show us how you manage mind altering effects in games! Phil and Senda talk about some of the ways they are problematic and some possible ways to mitigate or manage […]

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Show us how you handle lines and veils as a living documents — recorded live on twitch! Senda and Phil talk about their (current and evolving) thoughts on lines and […]

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Show us how you run an impromptu (esque) RPG game day! Phil and Senda talk about their trip to WI for Weregator’s surprise birthday party and how they managed running […]

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Show us how youuuuuuu do a grab bag or the B show! Phil and Senda talk players who don’t show up, props, and inspiration. Also, movies with bad rotten tomato […]

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Show us how you manage transactional complications as a player and as a GM! Phil and Senda talk about setting table expectations, how to use transactional complications effectively, and how […]

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Show us how you manage an online game! From recruitment to note taking, Senda and Phil are here with some thoughts on running one shots and campaigns online. Also, way […]

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Show us how you implement the hero’s journey in one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda talk about this classic story structure and ways you can make it work in […]

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Show us how you hard frame a scene! Phil and Senda talk hard openings and hard endings for scenes when you need to keep a story clipping along. Also, Phil […]

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Show us how you handle splitting the party in story games! Phil and Senda talk pros and cons and some tips for being split up and for when you’re not […]

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Show us how you co-GM! Phil and Senda have been deflecting this question for YEARS now, but…we think we can now approach it! This is the third and final episode […]

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Show us how you co-GM! Phil and Senda have been deflecting this question for YEARS now, but…we think we can now approach it! This is the second part of our […]

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Show us how you co-GM! Phil and Senda have been deflecting this question for YEARS now, but…we think we can now approach it! This is the first part of our […]

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Show us how you manage an open table! Phil and Senda talk running games when you have fluctuating attendance with many characters, such as at a school or a game […]

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Well friends…we recorded a good, long, normal episode this week — and then discovered that the audio was mangled beyond retrieval. So instead we bring you this super short, COMPLETELY […]

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It’s a Grab Bag! We’re on our way back from Metatopia today, so Senda and Phil talk about not letting your next campaign steal steam from the current one, balancing […]

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Phil and Senda sit down to answer three quick questions for a November Grab bag — the first of two this month, as we’ll be at Metatopia coming up 11/7! […]

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Show us how you avoid the too-much-planning and analysis paralysis in your games! Phil and Senda talk creating urgency, adding stakes, and how to mitigate the issues of players who […]

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Show us how you port rules from other games in to your current game! Phil and Senda talk porting integrated and non-integrated rules in to your ongoing campaign, as well […]

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Show us how you set up a mystery game! Phil and Senda talk mysteries, making a clue map and a what’s really going on here document, as well as prepping […]

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Show us how you get Indie gamers to play traditional games and vice versa! Phil and Senda break down some generalities about what differentiates the stereotypes of these games and […]

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Show us how….Senda forgets to queue the episode before leaving for con! Also on this episode, we talk good pregens for cons and one shots and how to manage surprise […]

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Phil and Senda answer three listener questions in quick succession! We talk co-GMing, adding drama/relationships/bonds to more traditional RPGs, and recycling your content and ideas. Also, one hit wonders Definitely […]

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Show us how you read a table! Phil and Senda talk passively reading game tables and actively soliciting feedback, and how the two combine for the most effective table reading. […]

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Show us how you implement collaborative world building! Phil and Senda talk collaborative world building in your session 0 and when you are mid game. Also, lots more music, not […]

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Show us how you get the Right Stuff to Hang Tough as a new GM! Phil and Senda talk tips for new GMs from ABomb, and trust us — You […]

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Show us how you…take an easy week? Phil and Senda answer three quick questions from TerrordactylU on twitter: balancing mechanics vs. immersion, when props are good vs. bad, and the […]

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Show us how you manage character bonds, especially when they’re not mechanically part of your game! Phil and Senda talk bonds, bonding, bond…other stuff? Also, the beefness scale, the 90s, […]

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Show us how you reward the behavior you want to see in your game — mechanically! Phil and Senda brainstorm live about how to answer the third of Jared’s questions […]

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Show us how you approach your new game idea! Phil and Senda talk Jared Sorrenson’s three questions you can answer to narrow down your game idea, and use their budding […]

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Show us how you make a recap show useful (hopefully)! Phil and Senda talk briefly about their Queen City Conquest experiences and what they learned or remembered from running and […]

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Show us how you….play Turning Point?? With the release of the quickstart, Phil and Senda are here to talk about Turning Point, what it is, how it got here, and […]

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Show us how you balance immersion and mechanics! Phil and Senda talk maintaining immersion, keeping mechanics from being interruptive, and the layers/levels of play. Also, Phil hates his headphones. Like, […]

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Show us how you create intrigue without creating confusion! Phil and Senda talk about intrigue, confusion, and red herrings, as well as a lot of purple smoke, magical bogs, and […]

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Show us how you…record an episode the day after you’re back from con? Here’s what Senda and Phil did at Origins! Also, hot chicken takeover. Bonus outtakes for Patreon backers […]

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Show us how you manage cooking and bag mechanics in RPGs! It’s a couple of quick questions because we’re on our way home from Origins today! Bonus outtakes for Patreon […]

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Show us how you get ready for Origins! Also, taking the hook when it’s bad, or dealing with bad adventure hooks, and the Ditch Lilies everyday carry. Phil and Senda […]

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Show us why GMing advice? Phil and Senda talk about why GMing advice matters and the Encoded Designs acquisition of Engine Publishing as an imprint. Also, Phil’s Boston trip, Senda’s […]

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One more grab bag episode for May as we cover for Phil’s trip to Boston! In this episode, we answer questions about sharing the spotlight and taking the hook. Please […]

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Show us how you do a grab bag for May when travel interferes with your recording schedule! On today’s episode, we answer two questions: How to have satisfying session arcs […]

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Show us how playing can make you a better GM and GMing can make you a better player! Phil and Senda talk about how being in each position at the […]

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Show us how you adjust your life for games! Phil and Senda talk part 2 of balancing games and life. Also, Panda’s Talking Bags. Lots of bags. And pouches. Bonus […]

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Show us how you adjust your gaming for your life! This is part one of a two parter we ACTUALLY ANTICIPATED. Go us! Phil and Senda talk about adjusting your […]

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Show us how pilots and midseason episodes can inspire one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda talk parallels between how script writers write for pilots vs. mid-season episodes as their […]

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Show us how you set up and make a space for romance in your games! Phil and Senda talk creating safe spaces for romance with consent, boundaries and expectations, and […]

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Show us how you celebrate a podversary with no fooling! Phil and Senda talk getting your players to do homework between games (thanks to Jim Likes Games), our favorite episodes, […]

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Show us how you…somehow manage to still record a show while con dropping like mad! Phil and Senda talk Breakout 2019 in Toronto, what we played (all games in development), […]

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Senda and Phil are at Breakout this week instead of recording — so here’s another grab bag episode for your amusement! On this grab bag, we answer questions about favorite […]

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Show us how you do a grab bag because COOON! Phil and Senda answer fun short questions in this grab bag episode in preparation for Breakout 2019. Will we see […]

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Show us how you decide to run published adventures or write your own — especially if it’s your first game! Phil and Senda talk about running your first game and […]

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Show us how you run a game for demo purposes vs. just for entertainment! Phil and Senda talk the balance of entertainment and demo modes for con games as well […]

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Show us how you manage a group that lacks leadership! Phil and Senda talk about leading and supporting roles (in games and in life), types of leadership, and how to […]

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Show us how you structure you sessions, one shots, campaigns, or adventures! Phil and Senda talk through the various adventure structures, including linear, branching, railroad, and sandbox. Also, origami butterflies, […]

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Show us your pros and cons for broad and narrow, strong and weak game situations! Phil and Senda talk situation a la Jason Pitre’s four structures (http://www.genesisoflegend.com/2018/06/fourstructures) in terms of […]

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Show us how you playtest your games! Phil and Senda are joined by Bonus Experience’s Monica and Rai to talk playesting, giving feedback, and accepting feedback. Also, PBMOs, we fail […]

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Phil and Senda talk hacking Powered by the Apocalypse — making your own moves and playbooks. Also, sheep pits, minecraft, Senda forgets to put the blurb in, who sees your […]

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Show us how you…still get an episode out when you’re both on the road all week! This week’s show is unedited except for music and clipping our very beginning nonsense and […]

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Welcome to the new year folks. We have a bit of a treat for you all this week as we got together with many of the different hosts of our […]

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Show us what you do when your players get stuck! Phil and Senda talk about some quick tips and tricks as a GM or as players when the story gets […]

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Hello listeners of Misdirected Mark Productions. I’m here with this short message to let you know about The Streets of Avalon Kickstarter by Encoded Designs. Some of you may be […]

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Show us how you deal with problematic content! Phil and Senda answer a listener question about problematic content and how to include it (if you have a good reason) in […]

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Show us how you handle environmental challenges as a GM and as a player! Phil and Senda talk environmental challenges in light of Anadara’s current precarious situation in Dungeon World. […]

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Show us how you manage non-violent encounters instead of combat! Phil and Senda talk encounters with combat potential and how to make other options viable. Also, we fail at the […]

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Show us how you….talk about games when it’s the middle of busy holiday stuff! We really will get back to answering questions here any week now. In the meantime, Anadara […]

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Show us how you…had so much fun talking about Metatopia you ran out of time to do any AP…? Phil and Senda talk through the rest of Metatopia, including the […]

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Show us how you…do a show while dropping! Phil and Senda talk through the first part of their Metatopia 2019 experience, what they playtested. Funny stories for next week! Also […]

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Show us how you…plan ahead for Metatopia so as not to miss any scheduled releases! Phil and Senda are just traveling back today, so this episode was recorded two weeks […]

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Show us how you create an evocative opening! Phil and Senda talk through a few of their favorite opening options, then finally truly begin the Legacy weapon with an opening […]

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Show us how you handle manage 1 on 1 play when your game might be built for a party! Phil and Senda talk about ways to manage the power differentials […]

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Show us how you session 0! Phil and Senda talk about a little pivot we’ll be making to the show to accommodate our crazy lives: we will be splitting the […]

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Show us how you learn to improv GM! Phil and Senda talk about tips and ways to ease in to improv GMing coming from a more traditional prep background. Also, […]

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Show us how much backstory is too much backstory! Senda and Phil talk about backstory for PCs, NPCs, and how to be effective with it in one shots and campaigns. […]

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Show us how you QCC’d! Phil and Senda talk about what they ran at QCC 2018 and what lessons they took away from each of those game experiences. Also, Phil […]

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Show us how you run a panel when you make the audience come up with all the topics! Phil and Senda answer audience questions at QCC 2018 in Buffalo. All […]

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It’s a grab bag! Phil and Senda talk running tight plots at one shots, handling paradigm shifts in games, and what kind of designs we’re currently in to. Past Phil […]

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Show us how you play and GM reactively and proactively in one shots and campaigns! So many moving parts in this one that Senda and Phil both talk about one […]

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That’s right, it’s another grab bag! The QCC is nearly here and in a desperate attempt to not be last minute scrambling or missing an episode, our valiant hosts return […]

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Hi friends! This month leading up to the Queen City Conquest, where both Phil and Senda will be in attendance, is super hectic! We’ll be doing a bunch of fun […]

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Show us how you cootie catcher a magical girl! Phil and Senda are joined by Emily Reinhart of Third Act Publishing to talk about her new game on kickstarter now, […]

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Someone left the garbage bins open at the Panda’s Talking Games studio, and look who came wandering in! On this episode, Eric and Rob rummage ’round the rubbish and come […]

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Show us how you manage out of control campaigns! Since we talked about in session table control issues last week but went a little out of control ourselves, we’re finishing […]

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Show us how you handle an out of control table (or podcast?) at a convention! Phil and Senda talk about signs of the table being out of control, how to […]

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Show us what you…like to snack on for conventions and at home? Phil and Senda talk way too much about snacks before jumping in on how to make “good” puzzles […]

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Iiiit’s the July Grab Bag part one! Senda’s going on vacation so this needed to be faster to edit. On today’s episode, we cover mashing up magical girls with cyberpunk, […]

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Show us how you handle different power levels in one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda talk about the pros and cons of starting at low levels, medium levels, or […]

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Show us how you prep differently for one shots at cons vs. one shots at home! Phil and Senda talk about generality and accessibility vs. specificity and customization, time frames, […]

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Show us how you con! Phil and Senda are just back from Origins, and they talk through the experience of running games at a convention that are in development, as […]

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One more grab bag while Senda and Phil are at Origins! When you are hearing this, we will be in transit home. One today’s grab bag we answer Ditch Lily […]

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Iiiit’s a grab bag because we’re heading in to Origins! Hope to see you there! On tonight’s show, Senda and Phil talk time to produce a game, sandboxes, magical girl […]

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Show us how you ship rules with settings! Phil and Senda talk merging settings with different rules as one shots vs. the considerations of campaigns. Also, we saw Solo but […]

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Show us how you handle the fallout from your one shot turning in to a campaign! We answer @our_lady_irony’s questions about her time travel campaign. Alternative titles for this episode: […]

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Apparently Phil was busy this week, so we have yet another grab bag episode! On this episode, Senda and Phil talk physics vs. genre modeling, pop culture homages, and of […]

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Show us how you…still manage to record an episode even if it’s cursed?! Phil and Senda talk three listener questions on today’s show: RPG design as software sprints, what games […]

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Show us how you handle relationship set up past your session 0 in a game! Phil and Senda talk creating relationships when you need to drop a new PC in […]

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Show us how you up your descriptive game! Phil and Senda answer listener @gmgerrymander’s question — how do you get players to be more descriptive about their actions? Also, Cowboy […]

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Show us how you….actually, please really just don’t. Phil and Senda talk about the bait and switch, how GMs think they’re being clever, and why players hate it. There’s one […]

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Show us how you handle stakes in one shots and campaigns! Senda and Phil talk stakes as character, session, arc, and campaign stakes, and how you use those to drive […]

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Show us how you handle episodic campaigns for small play time and imperfect attendance! Phil and Senda answer listener David’s question about handling individual sessions as one shots while still […]

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Show us how you like to put your closet bars — in single rows high up, or split in half? Phil and Senda talk closet organization (because it’s April Fool’s). […]

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Show us how you handle Panda’s LIVE!!!! Senda and Phil talk about Breakout Con as they recorded this episode live, in front of a studio audience. All outtakes are in […]

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Show us how you handle that sinking feeling in your stomach when you’re getting in to your GM groove! Senda and Phil tackle a number of reasons that GMing can […]

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The great ask us anything continues with  fantastic email from Evan! Senda has a parable about stealing form the party and gets to say the Phil line (“So I wrote […]

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Phil and Senda continue the great AMA, delayed one week due to website/feed implosion! On today’s episode, we answer questions from Angela, Blake Ryan, and Sniezak, covering our GMing improvement […]

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The great AMA continues! For this episode and probably through the end of February, so anything random you want to hear about, now is the time! On today’s episode, we […]

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If you didn’t hear about it, Phil broke his arm! It’s messed with our standard show set up a bit, so we’re taking a few weeks to do a looser, […]

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If you didn’t hear about it, Phil broke his arm! It’s messed with our standard show set up a bit, so we’re taking a few weeks to do a looser, […]

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Show us…well, me…how you find new gaming friends when you move or need to start over! Phil is out with a broken arm. He is healing up, but sent a […]

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Show us how you handle social issues vs. escapism in gaming! Phil and Senda talk pros and cons of each and their personal styles in game. Also, it was finally […]

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Show us why you play new editions or old editions of games! Phil and Senda are back for 2018, and starting off talking about old games and new games, and […]

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I pass the playtest. I shall diminish, and pass in to the west.   Show us how you playtest in one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda talk about the […]

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Show us how you like to design games!Phil and Senda try (and FAIL) to crunch two design topics in to one show, and so this is part I: wherein we […]

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Show us how you handle PC relationships! Senda and Phil talk PC relationships, why they’re important, and how to approach them in one shots and campaigns. Also, cookie cat, waveform […]

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Show us how you handle heel/face turns in one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda talk about how to pull this kind of turn off in one shots, and the […]

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Show us what you think of third party products! Senda and Phil talk pros and cons of third party products. Also, cough breaks, Phil’s sick brain does very bad things, […]

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Part two of our accidental two parter! Senda and Phil talk about the games that they brought to Metatopia, the experiences of those playtests, and gush more about how cool […]

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Senda and Phil went to Metatopia! It was our first time, so of course we’re talking about it! A LOT! More than we thought! Despite the amount of exclamation points […]

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TOPIC ROUND UP PART II! Senda and Phil talk how to give advice to a GM who doesn’t know they need advice and feels on organized play. Also, dinosaur universities. […]

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It’s time for our yearly topic round up! Sometimes, there are topics we can’t quite wrap our brains around in to our format for whatever reason., but we don’t want […]

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Show us how you handle human like and inhuman species at your table! Phil and Senda talk cultural extrapolation when we share many features (like opposable thumbs) and when we […]

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Show us how you handle lone wolves at your table! Senda and Phil talk about lone wolves in terms of character and lone wolves in terms of players. Also, we […]

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Show us how you deal with stuff you might not want in your game…? Phil and Senda talk about dealing with sensitive and triggering topics when they come up in […]

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Show us how strict or lax you are running games! Senda and Phil talk about four of the eight (Phil promises there are eight) different axis we might be able […]

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Show us how you think of small to medium conventions vs. large and mega conventions! Also known as, we recorded this the week after the Queen City Conquest! There are […]

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Show us how you handle denouement in one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda talk denouement as it applies to con games and one shots vs. the fractal of denouement […]

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Show us how you handle older and younger characters at your table! Phil and Senda talk playing characters outside of the average age range for a PC. Also, giggle scripting, […]

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Show us how you handle meta gaming as players and GMs! Phil and Senda talk through how to avoid meta gaming, how to keep ideas in the fiction, and how […]

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Show us how you handle character death, whether it’s one character or the dreaded TPK! Phil and Senda talk about character death and occasionally, accidentally, player death. Also, I shouldn’t […]

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Show us how you use holidays in your one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda talk through ways to use holidays and festivals as set decorations, stake raisers, and for […]

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Show us how you ease in to sharing narrative control! Senda and Phil talk about the challenges of playing with shared narrative control if you are accustomed to a more […]

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Show us how you decide if you should stay in a game or go, as a player or a GM! Phil and Senda tackle the basics of what to weigh […]

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Show us how you handle kids at your table in one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda use their first hand child rearing experience to talk about the challenges and […]

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Show us how you handle set piece encounters in one shots and campaigns! One Shot Network’s James D’Amato joins us to talk about set piece encounters in light of his […]

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Show us how you use props in one shots and campaigns! Senda and Phil talk through some of their favorite instances of props and simple costume pieces in their gaming […]

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Show us how you…drop after a con? Phil and Senda talk Origins, what they liked and some of what they did, and then settle in to a discussion of the […]

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Show us how you make Powered by the Apocalypse games shine as one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda talk running PbtA and what parts make it very suitable for […]

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Show us how you handle a mistake in your game! Senda and Phil talk mistake magnitude, how fast you catch it, retconning, and just moving on. There’s also milky juice, […]

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Show us what your favorite types of fun are! Phil and Senda talk through their top four types of fun from the eight kinds of specified and defined fun (Phil […]

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Show us how you like to use maps in your one shots vs. campaigns! Eli Kurtz (mythicgazatteer.com) joins Senda and Phil to talk maps, coastlines, details, and more! Also, he […]

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Show us how you use henchmen in one shots and campaigns! We talk allies, animal companions, and henchmen, why you might think of using them, and how you may use […]

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Show us how you hack systems vs. create new systems to support genre! PK Sullivan, with many design credits to his name, joins us to talk about magical girls and […]

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Show us how you handle the arc of your villains in one shots and campaigns! Complete with telepathic jokes and the editing delete song. Bonus outtakes available for Patrons today! […]

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Show us how you handle organizing people to come to your game, game day, or convention! Senda and Phil talk some basics about getting people to show up and the […]

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Show us how you organize your materials to run one shots and campaigns, at home and on the go! Phil and Senda tackle this topic on their continuing journey down […]

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Show us how you figure out what to do next when you have some time. We take on planning. Also, Chris edited this episode so if the outakes sound a little […]

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Show us how you play to the strengths of collaborative vs. directed games! We take on redefining what we call GMless vs. standard games, and talk about strengths and weaknesses […]

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Show us how you deal with unbalanced power levels in your party — like when an encounter for your barbarian will TPK everyone else. We also discussed at length why […]

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Show us how you survive ONE YEAR of crazy silly shows about role playing games/one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda reminisce and go long about favorite shows, favorite shticks, […]

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Show us how you’d run cartoons as RPGs! In the second half of our Phil Solo episodes, Phil tackles favorite cartoons and how he’d run them as role playing games. […]

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Show us how you make a podcast when one of you doesn’t have a voice….? Guess Phil’s flying solo (Phil Solo – get it?)! On today’s episode, Phil tackles a […]

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Show us how you deal with non-ideal numbers of players at the table! Senda talks large tables, and Phil talks small ones. There was also a bit about kender, Phil […]

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Show us how you handle none XP rewards and advancement! Phil and Senda talk about narrative and mechanical rewards in one shots and campaigns. Also there is a deep dive […]

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Show us how you handle romance in one shots and campaigns! Phil and Senda talk about the story arc of romance and how to use it in both types of […]

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Show us how you play a character of a different gender? Phil and Senda have an awkward conversation about trying to filter societal gender constructs in to some kind of advice […]

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Show us how you handle gaming with your significant other! What if they’ve never played a game before, but want to try? What if they’re an old hand? What if […]

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Show us how you run low level one shots and campaigns! What kind of games do lower power characters create and play in? Also, murder bears and a deep dive […]

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Show us how you deal with players who don’t play to genre! Phil and Senda talk about the reasons people play against genre, and how to handle each of those […]

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Phil and Senda show us how they handle debriefs in their one shots and campaigns! We also talk about debriefs and conventions, make professional cat noises (very professional), and fail […]

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Show us how you handle the X Card at your table. We talk basic safety and lessons we’ve learned from personal experience.  We managed to keep it short and sweet […]

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Show us how you encourage your players to improv and participate in improv at your table! Phil and Senda answer a listener email, then chat about new year’s gaming resolutions. […]

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Show us how you handle empty seats at your table! Senda and Phil tackle the issue of missing players in one shots/convention play vs. campaign play. Some of the issues […]

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Hi pandas! We admit it — we dropped the ball. Life happened and recording did not. We’ll be back next week with more one shot and campaign (and outtake) goodness, […]

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Everyone’s got a comfort zone they fall in to with PCs — show us yours!  Phil and Senda talk about their comfort zones, how to mitigate the annoyance of other […]

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Hey pandas! So last week was Thanksgiving here in the US, and while we thought we had everything planned out so that we would still be on schedule, life came up […]

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Show us how you find the right game for you…you show me yours I’ll show you mine? Phil and Senda talk through key things they currently look for in games, even […]

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Senda and Phil show us how they handle leveling up characters mid session! It’s not something we’ve done a lot but we tackle it anyway. Why would you plan to […]

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We stalked another game designer! This time we found Strix, on third of the magical matrix behind the current Kickstarter Bluebeard’s Bride. Strix does all the things on the internet […]

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Show us how you flip your one shots in to campaigns! Phil and Senda talk about what happens when you decide to turn your one shot in to a campaign, […]

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One Shots vs. Shorter One Shots Show us how you prep for short one shots and….normal one shots? Senda and Phil field a prep and length question about running 1-2 […]

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Show us how you deal with problem players in one shots and campaigns….no one wants to face it but it’s better to have a plan! Some ideas on handling issues […]

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Show us how you design awesome one shots! I mean really, Grant, show us how you design those awesome one shots, please? Phil and Senda sit down with game designer […]

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Show us your favorite ways to use leading and open questions! Phil and Senda sit down to talk about the difference between the two and do a little workshopping on […]

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Show us how you avoid hitting GM burn out! Phil and Senda talk about the different ways we tend to burn out running one shots vs. campaigns, some common strategies […]

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Show us how you handle prepped NPCs vs. on the fly NPCs! Phil and Senda wrangle some thoughts on how to create characters with appropriate depth in both cases, some […]

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Show us how you run evil games! Phil and Senda talk about how to try to get an evil game off the ground and how to keep it going. Then […]

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Show us how you run games with specific good alignment constraints! In part one of a two part special on running Good aligned and Bad aligned campaigns, Phil and Senda […]

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Show me how to handle and cultivate rainmakers at your game table! Senda and Phil take a stab at how to cultivate, spot, control, and be the rainmaker at a […]

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Show us how you switch up your prep between campaigns and one shots! What are the challenges when you’re most accustomed to one form over the other? Phil and Senda […]

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Show us how you teach games to new players!  This topic was partially covered by episodes 11: Gateway Games and Adherence to Rules, so we’re covering some pieces we may […]

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Show us how you use music in your games! Senda and Phil talk music for background, engagement, and inspiration. ….And we may have had some trouble recording the intro. LA! […]

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Gen KAAAAAAAHHHHHNNNNNN! Show us how you do your conventions! Senda and Phil break up the usual pattern a little to talk about attending Gen Con as a newb and an […]

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Show me how you get your players to really engage with our villains! On this week’s Talking Games, Phil and Senda are talking through their techniques to get players to […]

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Show me how you deal with broken characters at your table! Phil and Senda talk through different ways to avoid and resolve broken characters at your game table in this […]

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Show me watcha use for gaming inspiration! On today’s episode Senda and Phil are talking about what inspires their one shots and campaigns. And there is a new waveform song! […]

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Show me watcha got when it comes to getting players to fill out your games. That’s what Senda and Phil are chatting about on this installment of TG AKA Panda. […]

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Show me whatcha got when it comes to playing games in brief. Senda and Phil have the answers on this weeks Talking Games. One Last Job. One Last Job. One […]

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Show me where you got because it’s about the place this week on Talking Games starring Senda & Phil as they get into locations and their importance to the game. […]

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Show me whatcha got when you start in the middle of the action. It’s all about In Media Res on this installment of Talking Games starring Senda and Phil. Find […]

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Show me whatcha got when it comes to feeling like you did a thing. That’s what Senda and Phil are showing us on this installment of Talking Games. I love […]

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It’s time to show us whatcha got when it comes to smooshing genre’s together and Senda and Phil are the pair who’s gonna show us on this weeks Talking Games. […]

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How do you get your players engaged in a one shot or a campaign? Senda and Phil have all the answers on this weeks Talking Games Starring (I got it […]

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Show me whatcha got about games to bring new people into the hobby. It’s gateway games staring Senda and Phil. Find us on the internet! Twitter: @pandastalkgames Facebook: facebook.com/pandastalkgames and […]

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Show me watcha got on how characters fill out and flesh out during play. That’s what we get to hear about on this weeks Talking Games staring Senda and Phil. […]

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The final count down has started and things need to get wrapped up. That’s what Phil and Senda are showing us this week so pop on your record player or […]

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Things be wild, wacky, and insane with these games. Senda and Phil get into the ludicrosity, new word, of crazy games in one shots and campaigns this week. Find us […]

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Show me whatcha got. It’s Rules our stars Senda and Phil are showing us this week and how they handle them in one shots and campaigns this week. So tune […]

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It’s time to show me whatcha got once again as we get into Jargon in games. Dr. Darcy once again joins the show with Phil and they use all kinds […]

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Show me whatcha got when it comes to handling PCs in campaigns and one shots. This week Senda had some things to do so we bring in doctor herself, the […]

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It’s time to show me what you got when it comes to preparing your games in a one shot or a campaign. So let’s get talking with Senda & Phil. […]

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Hello everyone. It’s time to talk about Character Gen be it one shots or campaigns, pregens or created by the players. So lets listen in as Senda and Phil show […]

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Project Panda is back as are Senda & Phil to talk about Big Bads in this edition of Talking Games. Time to tune in and hear what Bad Guys do […]

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Welcome to the first show of Project Panda or Talking Games: Staring Senda and Phil or Phil and Senda. You decide which you like best. In short this show takes […]