Playing With Advantage: Recent Episodes
The Hive Mind Studio
Playing With Advantage is an insightful, entertaining, and often idiotic podcast about the various aspects of the tabletop role-playing genre. Starring Kenneth Moffett and James Bardwell.
New episodes weekly!
The guys are joined by our new cohost, the amazing Nyghtrayne!!
The Party discusses Homebrewing, not that kind, as a Game Master. Do you play completely by the rules or do you adjust or create your own rules? Listen in as they discuss the ways they have homebrewed and what rules they modify in their homebrewing.
Exploration, Social-Interaction, and Combat. These are the foundations that a TTRPG is built upon. Listen as the guys discuss how to use these points to create an immersive experience that is fun for all.
The guys share various stories from their personal RPG experiences, both good and bad. Also, a big announcement that all of us at PWA cannot wait to share!
Whether it be the dark lone wolf character whose parents died before they were born, or the sheltered naïve youth who simply wants to be where the people are; backstories are an intricate part of any TTRPG character. Listen in as the guys discuss creating a character’s backstory and its importance to the game as a whole.
With the opening of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the guys discuss how TTRPGs have been portrayed across various media platforms. From the hit series Stranger Things, to the Dungeons and Dragons movie of 2000 (also a strange thing), see how TTRPGs have shaped the media culture of today.
INTRODUCTIONS!! An invitation to an interesting, informative, innovative, and informal interpretations of instruction indicative of inner-contemplation. For inquisitive instructors of games; this initiative, though innately idiotic, seeks to impart information and instigate inspiration to insure imaginary Investment, Immersion, and Interest!
The guys reach deep into the blackness of space to discuss the Alien TTRPG system published by Free League Games. Listen as they discuss this horror/sci-fi based system, and don’t worry….I’m sure that pain in your chest is only excitement.
As always, we hope that our insight and knowledge will help you play with an advantage!
A non-player character (NPC) is a character that is controlled by the game's GM/DM rather than the players. NPCs serve a number of purposes in tabletop role-playing games. When creating NPCs, investment and emersion are key. Join Moffett, James, and Brody as they share their tips and tricks to creating the perfect NPC for your tabletop roleplaying game. It is our hope that this peek behind the curtain will give you the opportunity to play an NPC with advantage.
A character’s alignment determines their behavior and responses to situations. Do you think alignment is more of a spectrum or is it fixed in stone? As Moffett and James discuss alignment, they will explain how it can be used and misused. To play with an advantage, we hope our take on alignment will help you realign your perspective!
CHAOS!
A chaotic player can be fun, entertaining, and beneficial. Poorly executed, it can also damage relationships between party members and between the players themselves. In order to make a chaotic character cohesive with your fellow players and the game, keep in mind that there is a time, a place, and a level of intensity in which you must maintain. It is important to avoid stereotypes when playing a chaotic character, and we are here to give you some suggestions for being a true agent of chaos without compromising other players' enjoyment. As always, we hope our suggestions help you play with an advantage!
Fear not listeners!
We want to give more ‘flavor’ to the character creating process rather than boring you with facts and statistics. Character creation is one of the most exciting aspects of a tabletop role-playing game. Some people spend hours working out a character concept, and it is not always an easy process. There is more to creating a character than just coming up with one. In addition to being playable within the game's context, the character must also be enjoyable to play. Your character's core stats can also greatly influence their personality and characteristics. Moffett, James, and Brody share their tips and tricks for creating characters, whether they're player characters or non-player characters. As always, we hope that our insight will help you play with an advantage!
They are big, bad, and usually quite evil. Whether it's a book, a movie, or an adventure, villains are a recurring theme. Also known as BBEGs in tabletop roleplaying games. However, what makes a memorable villain? Is it how EVIL they are or is it more complex than that? In this episode, Moffett, James, and Brody share their most feared/loved villains. Former players still react emotionally when they hear the names of NPCs they once encountered.
As always, we hope the information in today’s episode will give you an advantage in creating your perfect BBEG!
In today’s episode, we discuss gatekeeping vs safekeeping within the tabletop roleplaying game community. Sharing our experiences and stories related to the subject. At the end of the day, players and dungeon masters should be able to sit down at a table and not worry whether or not they will have fun. Instead, we want everyone to ask, "How much fun am I about to have?!”
Unfortunately, we were left unsupervised in the studio today...
The guys bring on a special guest to offer their sincerest (and overdue) apologies to the man himself, George!
In our conversation, we reminisce about the fun we've had playing TTRPGs with each other and how some of our fondest memories were created. We also ask George a few questions about his experiences DMing and playing as a PC.
Something wicked this way comes…
Bec is joining us today to help Moffett and Brody discuss horror elements in tabletop role-playing games. Some of you may recognize them from Southern D&D’s live stream!
Horror stories provoke fear and shock with their exploration of the unknown. We will discuss how we, as Dungeon Masters, implement the horror element into some of our settings through various methods. We also talk about the many different genres of horror that can be utilized in a TTRPG.
It is also important to discuss boundaries and expectations being set before the game can begin. It is crucial that players are upfront with any DM about what they are alright with vs what is not acceptable. It's a game, after all, so respecting each other and enjoying it should be the top priorities.
We hope that our exploration of this topic gives you an advantage when playing/planning your next horror-themed TTRPG!
Players can be crucial in creating and shaping the game’s story. Today, we discuss moments when we, as DMs, allowed players to express creative ideas and strategies, even when the rules as written needed to be viewed differently or interpreted differently. Of course, all actions have consciences, but sometimes those moments are some of the best experiences at the table. It is our hope that these stories will inspire you to occasionally think outside the box as a DM or player.
The dreaded player death.
In the words of James Bardwell, “Character deaths are like salt to a really good dish. Ya know? Too much of it can ruin it, but if you put just the right amount in there it just really explodes what that dish is”.
A character’s death doesn't have to be a terrible thing. It can be an impactful event that sparks new avenues in the adventure. It can also be requested by the player themselves for a fresh start. Join us as we gather around the table to discuss how we each handle character deaths and total party kills. The tear-jerking moments of past campaigns and meaningful outcomes that follow.
We hope that our discussion on how to handle player deaths and TPKs will help you play with an advantage!
If you build it, they will come.
In this episode, we talk about world-building. How do they do it? More importantly, how can you do it?
The eldritch one is still in the room. Pls send help.
In today's episode, we welcome an extraordinary guest... Brody, the creator of Stigande: Scars of Midgar!
We sit down to discuss the dos and don'ts of table etiquette. We also go over red flags for both players and game masters. Stay tuned until the end to hear a few horror stories!
A Continuation of Episode 5, Please enjoy.
In this week's episode, we talk about ridiculous tales from our experiences at the table. Join us as we share our most valued memories, as well as our most absurd stories.
First and foremost...
We are very sorry for the delay on this episode!
Our production warlock and techgoblin were adjusting to new jobs and drastic schedule changes. Thank you for your understanding!
In this week's episode, we talk about ridiculous tales from our experiences at the table. Join us as we share our most valued memories, as well as our most absurd stories.
In this episode, we examine the history of the infamous satanic panic and how tabletop role-playing games became stigmatized as gateways to the occult. Along with examining the events which led to TTRPGs' terrible reputation, we examine the actions that continued to fuel it.
TTRPGs continue to make progress in eradicating the occultism stigma. As people realize TTRPGs bring people together and foster long-lasting friendships, TTRPGs are becoming increasingly popular. We hope that the knowledge from today's episode will help you play with an advantage!
Today’s episode discusses the importance of a session zero before starting any tabletop role-playing game. Team building, setting boundaries, and table etiquette are just some of the topics we cover. A proper session zero builds the foundation for every TTRPG experience and allows everyone to align their expectations for the game. We hit a few hard topics and share some of our previous experiences. The knowledge you gain from today’s episode will hopefully help you play with an advantage!
For better or worse, technology has made a significant impact on tabletop role-playing games. What are the advantages and disadvantages technology brings to TTRPGs? Will technology eventually be the downfall of your local game store? Has technology made playing TTRPGs easier? Join us in this week’s episode as we discuss all of these topics, and hopefully, our second episode will help you play with an advantage!
Join us as we go back in time and discuss the beginning of tabletop role-playing games. We talk about what TTRPGs are and how you can begin playing. We hope that our first episode helps you play with an advantage!
Welcome to our session zero! Get to know us as we present our nerdy resumes and our first experiences getting into tabletop role-playing games. A few topics we cover in this episode are zero sessions, the bare necessities, roleplay aspects, character death, and how real-world emotions come out in-game. We hope that our session zero helps you play with an advantage!