Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff: Recent Episodes
Kenneth Hite and Robin D Laws
The Gaming Hut’s Hamlet’s GM Screen series continues with the handoff, the moment when the players deal with the scenario’s initial choices.
In the Horror Hut we enter a hazy borderland, attempting to pin down the distinction between liminal and reality horror.
How to Write Good asks when, if ever, one should use the word seems.
Finally we sidle up to Ken’s Time Machine to learn which historical icons figured out that Ken was a visitor from the future.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.
Our Hamlet’s GM Screen series continues in the Gaming Hut with a look at the prelude sequence in an adventure where the PCs poke around town shopping and bartering.
Keeping us in mind of the upcoming Nations and Cannons: Dark and Bloody Ground Kickstarter, the History Hut tells the tale of river pirate James Rivington.
Beloved colleague Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan enters the cozy confines of Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else for a chat about his new GUMSHOE game Merryshire Detective Club, now on Backerkit.
Finally the Eliptony Hut wonders what’s up with alleged psychohistorian Jiang Xueqin, who successfully predicted that people would call him the Chinese Nostradamus.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.
We open in the Preamble Hut for an important announcement. This year, along with the rest of the Pelgrane Press crew, we will be attending Tabletop Scotland in Edinburgh. The show runs from September 4 to 6; we’ll both be there with a live show. Note that we will not be at Dragonmeet in November as we have been for so many years. Tabletop Scotland is your chance to see us in the UK in 2026.
Our series inspired by Robin’s new book Hamlet’s GM Screen continues in the Gaming Hut with a look the beats of scenario premises.
The Archaeology Hut finds unexpected answers to the question: how did Elgin get his marbles?
The Stock Character Hut undergoes a journey from innocence to experience as we examine the Kid.
Wrapping up, the Consulting Occultist looks at the occult side of Renaissance polymath and automaton builder Athanasius Kircher.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.
The Gaming Hut tour through Robin’s new book Hamlet’s GM Screen resumes with a look at the beats of Session Zero.
The Tradecraft Hut peers into the dossier of Revolutionary War era newspaper publisher James Rivington, who may have been a spy for the Patriots.
Pendragon line developer David Larkins takes a seat in the special guest chair as Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine finds out what the world would look like if Portugal had retained its independence after 1580.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.
Beloved Patreon backer Hyperlexic summons us to the Gaming Hut to propose alternate eras for Fall of DELTA Green.
Fun with Science reveals the gnarly details of animal attack forensics.
Estimable backer Mike Coleman Asks Ken and Robin how they prune their book and DVD libraries.
Finally the Conspiracy Corner looks at the latest team-up of urban legend and paranoia, the fear that pilots are dropping ticks out of planes.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.
Our Gaming Hut tour of concepts from Robin’s new book Hamlet’s GM Screen continues with a look at up and down beats, the lifeblood of narrative engagement.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken chats with Than Gibson and Derek White about their Darkspace RPG.
The Word Hut quizzes Ken on slang terms that came into use in the Revolutionary War period. Would Nations and Cannons characters use them, or do they come along a little later?
Finally the Eliptony Hut gets into crank linguistics with the Sun-Language theory of Hermann Feodor Kvergić.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.
Gaming Hut starts a deep dive into Robin’s imminent book Hamlet’s GM Screen, by looking at the types of narrative beats as they appear at the gaming table.
Ripped from the Headlines dons hazmat suits to look at a recent case of unauthorized biolabs.
In the Horror Hut beloved Patreon backer Kristian Groenseth asks what ingredients he should be sure to add to a terrifying mythos he’s cooking up.
Finally the Consulting Occultist profiles Chicago-based mail order woo-purveyor Sydney Flowers.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.
Among My Many Hats presents Robin’s new book Hamlet’s GM Screen, coming in July from Pelgrane Press.
The Monster Hut looks around the corner at that long-necked yokai, the rokurokubi, and its sometimes entirely detachable head.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken talks to Jared Twing about his game Of Hearth & the Harrowing.
Finally the Conspiracy Corner takes a hard squint at the dead and missing scientists flap.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.
The Gaming Hut picks up on our previous general discussion of tuning pregens to a scenario by finding hooks for Trail of Cthulhu Investigators about to enter an old dark house.
Beloved Patreon backer Alex Gill convenes the Book Hut for an explanation of a tome sometimes translated as The Book of Mad Desire for the Knowledge of Written Symbols.
Fun with Science checks out the extraction of DNA from parchment manuscripts.
Finally our resident chrononaut hops into Ken’s Time Machine to decide whether to undo or protect the Cadaver Synod.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Delve into epic fantasy adventure with one player and one GM in The Paragon Blade. Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan tunes GUMSHOE One-2-One for a mighty barbarian, skulking thief, and covert magician. Take your trusty companion and legendary artifact with you to pick it up at the Pelgrane web store or a discerning retailer near you.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.
Want to make sure that your players feel their successes? The Gaming Hut pitches in by looking at the difference between permissions and rewards.
Beloved Patreon backer Andrew Bates revs up Ask Ken and Robin for the secret truth of Toronto raccoons.
Finally the mythic land of Michigan surrenders its treasures to our resident bibliomane in the latest Ken’s Bookshelf.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Delve into epic fantasy adventure with one player and one GM in The Paragon Blade. Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan tunes GUMSHOE One-2-One for a mighty barbarian, skulking thief, and covert magician. Take your trusty companion and legendary artifact with you to pick it up at the Pelgrane web store or a discerning retailer near you.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
In the Gaming Hut we get started quickly by asking how much background detail players want in a pregenerated character.
Making good on a promise from episode 696, the Archaeology Hut checks out another possible inspiration for the labyrinth, the complex at Gortyn.
Beloved Patreon backer Nicolaj convenes the Narrative Hut for a look at melodrama and how it differs from drama.
Finally the Eliptony Hut gives you what you need to know to discourse knowledgeably about the recent drop of Pentagon UFO files.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Ken and Robin celebrate the astounding 700th episode milestone of their eponymous podcast by once again answering listeners’ LIGHTNING ROUNNNNDD!!! questions.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
We’re really in the Gaming Hut,honest, as beloved Patreon backer Ben Brighoff asks for deepfake plot hooks.
Estimable backer Alexander Arebalo requests an Architecture Hut look at Berkeley CA’s People’s Park.
The Stock Character Hut looks at the history and symbolism of the big lug.
Finally the Consulting Occultist fulfills a previous promise to cover Arabic geomancy.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
The Gaming Hut looks at the key difference in scenario design, between what happens to the player characters, and what they can do.
The Tradecraft Hut checks into a classic London spy world location, St. Ermin’s Hotel.
Still in London, the Food Hut unpeels the 1633 banana astonishment.
Finally Conspiracy Corner engages in flightless Canadian content by unpacking the curious tale of the British Columbia ostrich cull.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Taking inspiration from a previously dropped idle phrase, the Gaming Hut proudly presents Dinosaur Flying Aces.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Jake Maas, a home state edition of the Crime Blotter investigates Chinese mob involvement in Oklahoma grow farms.
Estimable backer Mark K convenes the Cinema Hut to ask Robin to expand his comment about the structural issues of movie whodunnits.
Finally, the Eliptony Hut seizes the chance to cover a fresh new example of alleged US military super-tech, the Ghost Murmur Device.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
The Gaming Hut advises players assigned the role of ringer or traitor.
The Archaeology Hut tours the Papoura Hill Circular Structure in Crete, recently added to the list of possible inspirations for the labyrinth myth.
Ripped from the Headlines looks at Nepal’s fake mountain rescue scam.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine reveals what 11th century England looks like without one of history’s most notable murderous weasels, Eadric Streona.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
In the Gaming Hut we wonder what encumbrance rules would look like if they were fun.
The History Hut profiles a figure who appears in Ballad Hunters, the servant who passed herself off as a Javanese royal, Princess Caraboo.
The Horror Hut looks at the installation horror sub-genre.
Finally the Consulting Occultist gives us the lowdown on frequently arrested Elizabethan magician Simon Forman.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
The Gaming Hut provides tips for staying true to the path of the doom as a player in Page Turners.
The Monster Hut ventures into the forest for a meeting with its protector, the curupira.
Finally Ken’s Bookshelf paws over a mere half of the plunder from Ken’s recent Bay area shopping excursions.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
In the Gaming Hut Ken recaps his just-concluded, seven year long FALL OF DELTA GREEN campaign.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Sam Harris, the Culture Hut reveals why there had to be two separate blues titans named Sonny Boy Williamson.
The Narrative Hut wonders if a credible motivation for murder is necessary for a proper whodunnit.
Finally the Eliptony Hut profiles Edwardian parapsychologist Harry Price.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
From the depths a new Megabundle arises, with enough savings to drive a boat through. Grab the Trail of Cthulhu Megabundle from Bundle of Holding before it sinks beneath the waves. $17.95 for eight titles including the core book, or beat the current threshold to add another seven.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Manfred Gabriel, the Gaming Hut shows how to keep the heat on the PCs when they’re on the run.
Whether he’s a legend, an alias, a symbol, or as in Ballad Hunters, a supernatural being, the Mythology Hut knows all about General Ned Ludd.
The Stock Character Hut withers under the gaze of the stern matriarch.
Finally, under orders from estimable backer Anders Gabrielsson, Ken’s Time Machine arranges the wider adoption of Sherlock Holmes’ favored martial art, bartitsu.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
The Gaming Hut entertains a salty take as we wonder whether GMs who say rules don’t matter are actually using them in the first place.
Beloved Patreon backer Pagurus unrolls a Cartography Hut segment on maps and deception, as revealed in Mark Monmonier’s How to Lie With Maps.
Equally beloved backer Irène Delse invokes her Tell Me More powers for a Book Hut segment on the theft rings that preyed on northeastern US libraries in the 1930s, as detailed in Travis McDade’s Thieves of Book Row.
Finally the Consulting Occultist regales you with miracles attributed to Pythagoras.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
The Gaming Hut takes you through the process of devising a supporting cast for a Page Turners scenario.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer bt, the Crime Blotter ponders the ritual significance of the flower-bedecked effigy at the funeral of Chicago mobster Mike Merlo.
Finally, as is their wont at awards time in the Cinema Hut, Ken and Robin share their top ten movies of 2025.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
In the Gaming Hut we explain why idiot plotting is an even bigger problem in tabletop rpgs than fiction or movies.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Ginge the Tradecraft Hut rips the lid off of the submarine exploit that was Project Azorian.
The Mythology Hut goes to the woods to reveal the surprising truth about the Green Man.
Finally the Eliptony Hut profiles recently departed pseudoarcheaology promoter Erich von Daniken.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, now available from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
In the Gaming Hut we create a Page Turners protagonist.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Charles Picard the Architecture Hut examines the work of Julia Taylor, from the Chapel of the Chimes to Hearst Castle.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Robin talks to Tristan Zimmerman about his game Ballad Hunters, a GUMSHOE Labs game Kickstarting soon from Pelgrane Press.
Finally estimable backer Sam Harris assigns Ken’s Time Machine to find out what would have happened if Sun Records music producer Sam Phillips’ peace overture to Cuba had worked out as he hoped.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
The Gaming Hut starts us off with a contemplation of introductory adventures.
The Horror Hut unearths the surely vampiric backstory of a loin-cloth clad 4th century Saracen warrior whose spectacular blood-drinking turned the Visigoths from the gates of Constantinople.
The Stock Character Hut celebrates the release of Page Turners with a look at the disapproving father.
Finally at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio the Consulting Occultist reveals all about the magic of chess.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
We start in the Gaming Hut by looking at providing clues to players.
In the History Hut we ask which saint had the highest body count. Was it Norway’s heavily armed St. Olaf, or someone else?
Finally the Ken’s Bookshelf recalls a previously undocumented raid on NYC’s Strand Books.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Roleplayers need new GMs and thanks to Atlas Games they have the purr-fect way to celebrate New GMs month, as if it is a piece of paper tied to a string: the Magical Kitties Roleplaying Game. Go to NewGameMasterMonth.com to sign up for the totally free seminar.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Before beloved Patreon backer Sikander can betray us, the Gaming Hut answers his question about the Mr. Johnson trope in roleplaying games.
Special guests Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and James Wallis join us in the Mythology Hut for a paradoxology quiz. Which weird beliefs from ancient Greek and Roman texts are authentic to those texts, and which were made up by Robin to fool our contestants?
How to Write Good shows you how to write compelling exposition, by giving it emotional significance.
Finally at the behest of estimable backers Paul and Clio Bushland, the Eliptony Hut studies the Greenbrier Ghost case, alleged to be the only instance of testimony from beyond the grave leading to a murder conviction.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Roleplayers need new GMs and thanks to Atlas Games they have the purr-fect way to celebrate New GMs month, as if it is a piece of paper tied to a string: the Magical Kitties Roleplaying Game. Go to NewGameMasterMonth.com to sign up for the totally free seminar.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.
RecommendedBlue Moon (Film, US, Richard Linklater, 2025) Needy lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) struggles to keep his insecurities in check at the Sardi’s after-party celebrating the Broadway opening of Oklahoma!, for which his erstwhile partner Richard Rogers (Andrew Scott) replaced him with a new, less brilliant, more reliable collaborator. Contemporary acting’s greatest talker masterfully and movingly holds court as Linklater uses close-ups and movement to alchemize an apparently stagey script into crackling cinema.—RDL
Chain Reactions (Film, US, Alexandre O. Philippe, 2025) Five horror authorities—comedian Patton Oswalt, critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, writer Stephen King and filmmakers Takashi Miike and Karyn Kusama—discuss the personal and cultural impact of Tobe Hooper’s convention-shattering Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In a fruitful formal move, Philippe, rather than intersperse the commentary of many talking heads, shapes each interview into its own separate spoken essay.—RDL
Good News (Film, South Korea, Byun Sung-hyun, 2025) When excitable young Red Army Faction hijackers try to divert an outbound Tokyo flight to Pyongyang, an oddball KCIA fixer (Sul Kyung-gu) enlists a straight arrow army air traffic controller (Hong Kyung) in a scheme to land them in the south. Satirical docudrama takes jabs at official opportunism while also bubbling away as a process thriller.—RDL
Left-Handed Girl (Film, Taiwan/US, Shih-Ching Tsou, 2025) A beleaguered noodle stall owner (Janel Tsai) with two daughters, one a headstrong young adult (Shih-Yuan Ma), the other an adorable moppet who has been convinced one of her hands serves the devil (Nina Ye), struggles to get by in Taipei. Brightly digital slice-of-life drama ineluctably builds into a classic explosion of family secrets. Tsou makes her feature debut after acting for many years as producing partner of Sean Baker, who serves here as co-writer and editor.—RDL
The Secret Agent (Film, Brazil/France/Germany/Netherlands, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2025) A man (Wagner Moura) hiding out in Recife, Brazil, during the military dictatorship tries to keep attention off him long enough to get out of the country with his son. Deliberately told in several narrative modes, including weird urban legend, 70s crime flick, and bald (almost soap-operatic) declamation, this movie depends on Moura’s chameleon, low-key acting for the viewer’s trust. Throughout, Mendonça Filho plays with film and time, layering information slowly, but always communicating the most through his shots. I suspect this will repay multiple viewings.—KH
Till Death Do Us Part (Fiction, John Dickson Carr, 1944) Richard Markham discovers his fiancee is a serial killer, or is she? And if she’s innocent, who killed the man who fingered her, with her own supposed m.o.? (Which is of course a seeming suicide in a locked room.) Carr pulls at least four complete narrative U-turns in this short novel, with Gideon Fell simply outraced rather than out-thought by the killer. A vertiginous tour de force of misdirection, its sheer artificiality of structure almost foreshadows the admittedly contrived solution to the murder.—KH
GoodShort Night of Glass Dolls (Film, Italy/Yugoslavia, Aldo Lado, 1971) American reporter Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel) is found dead in Prague—but he’s actually alive inside his corpse, and trying desperately to remember how he got killed! With a setup like that and Barbara Bach as the mandatory vanished girlfriend, this plays less like a typical giallo and more like a conspiracy thriller, although the stop-and-start pacing mitigates the thrill quotient. I hear the new 4K version cleans up the muddy dialogue dubbing, which would be a distinct improvement.—KH
Swoon (Film, US, Tom Kalin, 1992) Sexually obsessed with uncaring sociopath Richard Loeb (Daniel Schlachet), weak-willed ornithology student Nathan Leopold (Craig Chester) joins him in the thrill murder of a local boy. The first Leopold & Loeb film to foreground the killers’ sexuality (although Compulsion hints at it as strongly as 1959 would allow) suffers from an inevitable lapse in focus after the two are sentenced and separated. Kalin makes a virtue of his scanty budget, weaving artificialities and staginess into his stark black-and-white shots and theatrical performances.—KH
OkayThe Running Man (Film, US, Edgar Wright, 2025) In an authoritarian near future, a screwed-over prole (Glen Powell) agrees to become the target in a deadly reality show run by a slick exec (Josh Brolin.) Satirical action remake is fun when it feels like an Edgar Wright movie, which isn’t often enough. Casting Powell as angry and intense leaves no room for the breezy charm essential to his star power.—RDL
Seeing is Believing (Fiction, John Dickson Carr, 1941) Under hypnosis, and watched by four witnesses, Victoria Fane kills her husband with a dagger that minutes ago was harmless rubber. For once, Henry Merrivale isn’t the worst thing about a ‘Carter Dickson’ novel, although he’s plenty insufferable here. In addition to a fairly unbelievable howdunit, Carr also profoundly cheats in the opening section, ruining the whodunit as well. It’s a shame because the murder setup itself is vastly clever and original, but it’s wasted.—KH
In the Gaming Hut we reluctantly rouse ourselves to answer beloved Patreon backer Toonspew’s request for a look at the Church of the Sub-Genius.
At the request of estimable backer Neon Fox, the History Hut finds the real story between the alleged temporal straddling of the S. S. Warrimoo.
In the Food Hut we flavor the podcast with a dash of bitters.
Finally Conspiracy Corner is just asking questions about the island of Bermeja, which some say was killed by the CIA.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Roleplayers need new GMs and thanks to Atlas Games they have the purr-fect way to celebrate New GMs month, as if it is a piece of paper tied to a string: the Magical Kitties Roleplaying Game. Go to NewGameMasterMonth.com to sign up for the totally free seminar.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
In the Gaming Hut we look at the sorts of stories that work as Page Turners scenarios.
The Archaeology Hut digs into the case of the Russian archaeologist arrested in Poland for damaging the Crimean site of Myrmekion.
In Ask Ken and Robin, beloved Patreon backer Fred Kiesche asks Robin to talk about his role as Creative Director at Pelgrane Press.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine peers into the alternate timeline where Bugsy Siegel wasn’t talked out of rubbing out Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Goering at an Italian party.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Roleplayers need new GMs and thanks to Atlas Games they have the purr-fect way to celebrate New GMs month, as if it is a piece of paper tied to a string: the Magical Kitties Roleplaying Game. Go to NewGameMasterMonth.com to sign up for the totally free seminar.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order. For a limited time use promo code CANNON at checkout for 17.75% percent off and free PDFs of your books.
The Gaming Hut follows up a previous pedagogical segment by wondering what a course syllabus for tabletop rpg development and editing might look cover.
The Crime Blotter peers at the surprisingly long list of criminal forensics techniques that fail to meet scientific standards.
The Stock Character Hut looks at that perennial force for narrative chaos, the wastrel.
Finally the Eliptony Hut makes good on our earlier prediction that we would profile cartographic prophet of pole shifting Gordon-Michael Scallion.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Roleplayers need new GMs and thanks to Atlas Games they have the purr-fect way to celebrate New GMs month, as if it is a piece of paper tied to a string: the Magical Kitties Roleplaying Game. Go to NewGameMasterMonth.com to sign up for the totally free seminar.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order. For a limited time use promo code CANNON at checkout for 17.75% percent off and free PDFs of your books.
As you may have heard in our previous episode, a mysterious technical event ate our recording of our live episode at this year’s Dragonmeet. In the face of this tragedy we prevail with a not at all convincing recreation of the in-person event, with better sound quality and much worse applause.
The Nerdtrope Deck demands that Ken explain the connection between Moses and Space Opera.
Reconstructed Gaming Hut questions include how games reflect the current zeitgeist, ideal GM screens, overcoming first time GM jitters, and non-traditional cultist plots.
Other huts dealt with the iconic nature of ducks, fantasy film guilty pleasures, the Dubai pistachio fad, and nice things to put in bread.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order. For a limited time use promo code CANNON at checkout for 17.75% percent off and free PDFs of your books.
The Gaming Hut wonders what would happen in an F20 world where the smoke from burned magic scrolls produced a potent intoxication?
Thanks to the Secret Maps exhibition at the British Library, the Travel Advisory veers into the Cartography Hut.
Which means we must be back from London, occasioning our annual UK edition of Ken’s Bookshelf—this time with a shocking twist!
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order. For a limited time use promo code CANNON at checkout for 17.75% percent off and free PDFs of your books.
Beloved Patreon backer Ben A. takes the Gaming Hut to New York’s Chinatown in 1973 for tips on a game that mixes triads with the Bruce Lee legacy.
Estimable backer Philip Masters gains access to the Tradecraft Hut for an account of a recently busted spy ring run by previous subject Jan Marsalek.
How to Write Good provides tips on cutting an rpg submission when you’ve run over the assigned word count.
Finally the Consulting Occultist fills us in on Douglas MacArthur’s role in Korean shamanism.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order. For a limited time use promo code CANNON at checkout for 17.75% percent off and free PDFs of your books.
In the Gaming Hut we look at a core part of the rpg designer’s skill set, table sense, or the ability to predict what players will do with your material.
The Mythology Hut tells the story of a historical figure reputed to turn invisible, Qin Dynasty consort Zhongli Chun.
The Word Hut hosts a game of Jonson, Marlowe, or Shakespeare, in which Ken must guess which Elizabethan playwright claims the first attested use of various common words.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine answers the question: which of Morton the Regent’s murders would, if prevented, exert the greatest change on the timeline?
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order. For a limited time use promo code CANNON at checkout for 17.75% percent off and free PDFs of your books.
Beloved Patreon backer Darcy Casselman summons us to the Gaming Hut in search of tips on playing a gestalt or troupe-style leader character, such as a starship captain.
The Architecture Hut peers at Sibiu, Transylvania, the town of 7,300 eyes.
Try to keep a lid on it as the Stock Character Hut looks at the hothead.
Finally the Ken’s Time Machine finds out what happens when Magellan fails to quell a 1520 mutiny against him.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
In the Gaming Hut we examine the principle of design by subtraction.
The Crime Blotter investigates the career of thief turned detective Eugène-Francois Vidocq.
We wrap up the Cinema Hut Fantasy Film Essentials series with some late-breaking indie titles and a look back at what we learned.
Finally the Eliptony Hut tunes into Bernard Kazhinsky’s brain radio.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
Do the hours you spend not listening to this podcast leave you listless and bored? Never fear, because for a limited time you can get much more Ken with the Ken Writes About Stuff deal from the Bundle of Holding, good until November 26.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
The Gaming Hut continues its preview of Robin’s new game Page Turners with a demonstration of scene calling choices.
The History Hut takes a garden stroll to look at ornamental hermits.
A great wasteland is traversed in the Cinema Hut as the Fantasy Film Essentials series shoots from 2011 to nearly the present day.
Finally at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Irène Delse, Fun with Science reveals the real truth behind the Grue Jay.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
With the print run imminent for Page Turners, Robin’s new game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, the Gaming Hut takes it for a spin, with Ken defining the unmet needs of his jazz age protagonist.
Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features Ken’s chat with Matt Orr of Wet Ink Games.
The Cinema Hut Fantasy Essentials Series reaches this century, and the trilogy that brought the genre to its apex—and maybe also killed it?
Finally the Consulting Occultist, at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Jason Thompson, looks at the esoteric side of filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. CW: sexual assault.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
The Gaming Hut pays tribute to Halloween by envisioning a game pitting classic monsters against the non-Euclidean horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos.
The Cinema Hut Fantasy Film Essentials series rounds out the 1990s.
And the loss of Portland bibliophiles is our hero’s gain as Ken’s Bookshelf groans with his recent Powell’s Books purchases.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
Now that Ken has finally seen it, beloved Patreon backer Justin Mohareb can pitch his Kpop Demon Hunters question to the Gaming Hut: how could it be used as a game, and how would that be a Feng Shui campaign?
Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features a chat with Richard Ruane, designer of Sherwood and Moonlight on Rosewood Beach.
Fantasy Film Essentials of the late 90s screen in the Cinema Hut.
Finally estimable backer Mark Kenney assigns Ken’s Time Machine to keep Benedict Arnold on the side of the American Revolution.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
The Gaming Hut examines parallels between killer dungeons and horror movie slashers.
Impelled by beloved Patreon backer Jurie Horneman, the Tradecraft Hut looks at the career of financial fraudster turned Russian operative Jan Marsalek.
The Cinema Hut’s fantasy film essential series continues to bask in the golden era of the 1990s.
Finally the Conspiracy Corner takes a good squint at the medbed theory.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
The Gaming Hut looks at the peace paradox, in which players successfully negotiate their way out of a conflict and then feel let down by the anti-climactic result.
Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features Lyla Fujiwara, project lead on the Cosmere RPG.
The fantasy film essentials series returns to the Cinema Hut for a bumper crop of late 80s classics.
Finally at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Gray St. Quintin, the Eliptony Hut explores the rich weirdness of Cambridge.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
The Gaming Hut becomes a pit stop as beloved Patreon backer Aser Tolentino asks how a tabletop game might reproduce the spectacle of Formula One racing.
In the History Hut we ask if Elizabeth Bathory was framed.
Robin shares his KARTAS-friendly discoveries from this year’s Robin and Valerie International Film Festival in the Cinema Hut.
Finally at the behest of estimable backer Bob J. Koester, Ken’s Time Machine gets mixed up with that most fossilized of controversies, the Prototaxites Feud.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
In the Gaming Hut we wonder what might appear on a tabletop roleplaying design course curriculum.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Charles Picard the History Hut looks at the Welsh settlement in Patagonia.
Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features Elliot Davis, designer of Rom Com Drama Bomb, and such solo games as Paint the Town Red: Mourning After and HUNT(er/ed) – ACCEPT(deny).
Finally the Consulting Occultist answers a request from estimable backer Michael Maneval for a profile of cosmically illuminated sculptor and painter Walter Russell.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
Recorded live at Gen Con, Ken, special guest co-host Darcy Ross and a cameo from Robin’s disembodied voice, this extra-special episode features the obligatory nerdtrope deck plus meatloaf secrets, Templar channeling points, Indiana’s mythos patron, and onesies for goth infants.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
In the spirit of the episode number, we kick off a demons and devils special in the Gaming Hut. Robin pitches Ken three ideas for a game with demon PCs; Ken picks one and we flesh it out.
In the Mythology Hut we figure out what the big deal is with the number 666 anyway.
The Monster Hut provides a modicum of shelter from the tree dwelling winged spirit/demon of Akan folklore, the sasabonsam.
Finally the Consulting Occultist recounts the career of prolific author and demonologist Jacques Collin de Plancy, author of the Infernal Dictionary.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
e
Clutch your stakes and polish your silver bullets as the Gaming Hut looks at the special vulnerabilities that allow player characters to defeat monsters.
In the Stock Character Hut, we look at a key type essentials to Robin’s upcoming game Page Turners, the confidant.
The Cinema Hut Fantasy Essentials series returns to solid footing as it reaches the late 80s.
Finally beloved Patreon backer Allen Wilkins demands Fun With Science as he asks if sterile neutrinos are in fact the mysterious elipton.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
In the Gaming Hut we look at how the unsatisfying nature of real life persuasion leads to player dissatisfaction with social combat systems.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken sits down the Pat Mooney of Flagbearer Games.
The Cinema Hut Fantasy Essentials Series reaches the heartbreaker era of the mid 80s.
Finally the Eliptony Hut gazes at incoming celestial object 3I/Atlas, which to the eyes of one maverick astronomer looks like maybe an alien technology.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
Beloved Patreon backer Sikander orders and/or bribes the Gaming Hut into a discussion of game mechanics that require players to take in-genre actions versus those that offer rewards for doing so.
At the behest of estimable backer David Sowa, the Tradecraft Hut peers into the world of private espionage organizations.
Wielding Excaliburs both silly and serious, the Cinema Hut forges on with its Fantasy Essentials series from the 70s into the 80s.
Finally Conspiracy Corner examines Mozart murder theories.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
Ken is back from Gen Con to share his main takeaways from the 2025 show in OUR latest Travel Advisory.
The Cinema Hut fantasy film essentials series covers the early 1970s.
Speaking of Gen Con, the ENnie Awards just celebrated their 25th anniversary. Organization director Stacy Muth joins Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else for a much-deserved victory lap.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine gives our chrononaut the tricky assignment of adjusting one border change as the WWI allies conference after the war to reshape the map of Europe and beyond.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
In the Gaming Hut we look at ways to run prelude scenes in scenarios, set before its main objective becomes apparent.
The Word Hut gets judgmental as we look at archaic, obscure and rarely used words and decide which of them deserves to enter the general lexicon.
Our Cinema Hut Fantasy Film Essentials Series covers all of the 1960s in one bold segment.
Finally the Consulting Occultist fulfills beloved Patreon backer Christopher Hatty’s request for a profile of Theosophist turned Buddhist, opera singer turned suspected anarchist spy, Alexandra David-Néel.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
The episode starts with a retreat to the Gaming Hut as we talk about the importance of a safe headquarters for player characters.
The Command Hut looks at Aggressor, Krasnovia, and other fictional geopolitical adversaries used as targets in US military training maneuvers.
The Cinema Hut’s Fantasy Film Essentials Series makes its way through the rest of the 1950s.
Finally the Eliptony Hut recalls the Hammersmith ghost murder case.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
In the Gaming Hut we consider the two meanings of the term roleplaying.
Through the joint auspices of Travel Advisory and the Culture Hut we profile surrealist occultist painter Ithell Colquhoun, subject a career retrospective show current at Tate Britain.
The power of fantasy becomes the subject as the Cinema Hut’s Fantasy Essential Series turns the corner into the 1950s.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine receives its most important mission ever, convincing Victorian arts critic John Ruskin to change a key term that really annoys Robin.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
Beloved Patreon backer Tennant Reed seeks Gaming Hut tips on scenarios where the player characters discover that they’re not who they think they are.
The Crime Blotter profiles Old West cattle rustler and creative evader of consequences Climax Jim Nephew.
The Cinema Hut Fantasy Film Essentials series focuses on postwar tales of ghosts, love, and at least one beast.
Finally the Consulting Occultist suggests traditions of immortality estimable backer Bob Grider might include in his Yellow King game.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
Settle back for some Gaming Hut disambiguation as beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks us to explain the difference between a setting and a campaign frame.
The Mythos Hut listens to a conch and screams when estimable backer Ludovic Chabant seeks the Deep One shenanigans behind the Margate Shell Grotto.
The Cinema Hut Fantasy Essentials series looks at wartime movies about ghosts, supernatural bureaucrats, and an exaggeration-prone Baron.
Finally the Eliptony Hut examines the surely entirely verifiable legend of the Michigan dogman.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
The Gaming Hut gets informative as beloved Patreon backer Daiv Barr asks for campaign frames built around the librarian answer-seeking list Stumpers-L, aka Project Wombat.
The Mythology Hut looks at St. Cuthbert, the historical Anglo-Saxon saint who became a D&D god.
Our Cinema Hut fantasy essential series continues with the early 40s.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine surveys alternate histories that postpone Attila the Hun’s ignominious death.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
As assigned by an anonymous beloved Patreon backer,the Gaming Hut ponders a university urban fantasy campaign where the syllabuses matter as much as the sylphs.
The History Hut retreats to the high ground to meet estimable backer Robert Wolfe’s request for the esoteric and gaming ramifications of Dayton’s Great Flood.
Our Cinema Hut Fantasy Film Essentials series continues in the late 30s and rounds the corner into the 40s.
Finally backer and sponsor John Kovalic asks the Consulting Occultist about 1960s blues rock musician Graham Bond, who considered himself the son of Aleister Crowley and feuded with rival magicians.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
The Gaming Hut has stacked up the non-perishables and gas masks to answer beloved Patroen backer’s Jason Thompson about a campaign that starts on the day of the apocalypse.
The Stock Character Hut returns to examine a trope with a truly ancient provenance, the wily servant.
Part two of the Cinema Hut Fantasy Essentials Series picks up in the mid 1930s.
Finally the Eliptony Hut ponders the chalky, suspicious artifact that is the Grime’s Graves Goddess.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Michael Cule wants to know more about the role dice play in roleplaying games.
Fun With Science answers estimable backer Jurie Horneman’s request to look into a case of brain diagnosis by inner voices.
The Cinema Hut kicks off our tour through Fantasy Film Essentials with the formative titles of the silent era.
Finally in Ken’s Time Machine our resident chrononaut reveals the dread timelines prevented by his intervention in the sinking of the galleon San Jose during Wager’s Action.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order.
In the Gaming Hut we talk roleplaying the French Revolution at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Dr. Nick.
The Tradecraft Hut profiles English spy George Blake.
The Cinema Hut kicks off a new Fantasy Film Essentials series by examining the boundary of the genre and setting some ground rules.
Finally the Consulting Occultist obeys the command of estimable backer Justin Mohareb, who wants to know about Kabbalists who used their powers against fascism.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Beloved Patreon backer beckons us to the Gaming Hut seeking tips on keeping PC hope alive when the bad guys run the authorities.
In the Tradecraft Hut estimable backer Scify wants to know if DOGE has been cutting funding for CIA front operations.
Urban cows are just the beginning as the Food Hut looks at the crusade against swill milk in mid-19th century NYC.
Finally formidable backer Kevin J. Maroney steps into the Eliptony Hut to inquire about the New England vampire panic.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Much has changed since our last anniversary episode, but one thing that remains the same is our dedication to celebratory LIGHTNING ROUND!!! questions from our beloved Patreon backers. In quick startling fashion we dispatch inquiries, most not lists, favorites, or lists of favorites, concerning tabletop games, time travel, food & drink, spy stories and horror history.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
The Gaming Hut finds reasons for player characters to show mercy toward defeated opponents.
Hoaxing is usually a white collar crime. Not so, as the Crime Blotter explores, in the case of Mark Hofmann, whose production of forged Church of Latter Day Saints historical documents escalated to murder.
The first installment of the Stock Character Hut looks at that comic perennial, the stuffed shirt.
Finally our intrepid chrononaut must use Ken’s Time Machine to keep kimchi in the timeline if the 16th century Japanese invasions of Korea, known as the Imjin War, don’t take place, and therefore don’t add hot red peppers to the Korean diet.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In Among My Many Hats, Robin tells all about Page Turners, his game of dramatic interaction for one player and one game moderator, in which he is joined as a scenario writer by Sarah Saltiel, Ruth Tillman, and Wade Rockett.
Beloved Patreon backer Michael David Jr. draws us into the Mythos Hut to cross Silver Age superheroes with Lovecraftian horror.
The Mythology Hut profiles Cloacina, goddess of Rome’s holiest sewer.
Finally the Consulting Occultist tells the tale of Florence Farr, an actor and Golden Dawn member whose artistic life intertwined with those of Shaw, Yeats, and Pound.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
For the first time at THE KRAKEN, the legendary Gaming Retreat held in the remote yet cozy environs of the Schloss Neuhausen in what used to be Prussia, Ken and Robin talk live to a group of rapt attendees. After nerdtroping Stalin and an alien invasion, we field questions on German cuisine, the economics of printing in Europe, adding a post-credits sequence to a game session, and whether there might one day be a Ken and Robin book.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Sometimes you want to let the player characters stand back and let more capable parties mop up the threat. The Gaming Hut finds ways to keep that exciting and suspenseful.
The History Hut profiles Milton Bradley, the person behind the famous game company.
Beloved Patreon backer beckons us to the Narrative Hut to consider whether the journey is a sixth scenario type to add to Robin’s list from Adventure Crucible.
Finally the Eliptony Hut answers estimable backer Ross Ireland’s call for a full run-down on the Hopkinsville Goblin.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we look at that essential tool in the GM’s arsenal, the ability to bend world logic toward the fun.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Eric Park, the Cartography Hut looks at the alleged travels and maps of Nicolo Zeno.
The Food Hut studies a cake of mythic import Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec might serve to Yellow King Roleplaying Game characters—the convent snake.
Finally estimable backer Dan Noland assigns Ken’s Time Machine to (non-fatally) prevent Woodrow Wilson from becoming US president.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
The Gaming Hut situates itself in a dense woodland for beloved Patreon backer Ben A’s request for tips on a historical time slip scenario.
Ken issues a Travel Advisory on his recent trip to Roswell.
Listeners love transportation infrastructure, as estimable backer John Scheib proves once again by convening the Architecture Hut for the eldritch truth behind the failure of Providence’s Washington Bridge.
Finally the Eliptony Hut tackles the freshly generated pseudo archaeology of underground megastructures beneath the Giza pyramids.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
Fear Itself, Pelgrane Press’ groundbreaking GUMSHOE game of personal and psychological horror, has returned from the swirling torment of the Outer Dark in a hauntingly beautiful premium hardcover format. With The Shattered Veil Edition, stunningly beautiful full-color artwork brings fresh terror to your table. Grab it alongside the highly anticipated Ocean Game expansion in its current Gamefound campaign.
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Inthe Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Sikander asks us to tackle a scenario where the PCs have to figure out whether their boss’ secrecy is sinister or mundanely selfish.
The Crime Blotter reviews the case of Barbara “Golden Boos” Erni, the 18th century thief who robbed Swiss inns aided by her prodigious strength and mysterious trunk.
Ripped from the Headlines finds the mythic truth behind the shooting of a white stag in Merseyside.
Finally the Consulting Occultist reveals the career of Albin Grau, ritual magician and production designer for the 1922 Nosferatu.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
Fear Itself, Pelgrane Press’ groundbreaking GUMSHOE game of personal and psychological horror, has returned from the swirling torment of the Outer Dark in a hauntingly beautiful premium hardcover format. With The Shattered Veil Edition, stunningly beautiful full-color artwork brings fresh terror to your table. Grab it alongside the highly anticipated Ocean Game expansion in its current Gamefound campaign.
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In Gaming Hut we discuss organizing one’s game mastering notes.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Sam Rutzick, the Horror Hut asks if Jacobin oppressor turned Napoleonic secret policeman Joseph Fouché was a vampire, and why he committed all those acts of vampirism.
Only the combined efforts of the Cinema Hut and the Tradecraft Hut can cover the kidnapping of South Korean director Shin Sang-ok and his movie star wife Choi Eun-hie by North Korea’s Kim Jong-il, who pressed them into service making films for him.
Finally our resident chrononaut reveals the role played by Ken’s Time Machine in the discovery of the Cambridge book fish.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
Fear Itself, Pelgrane Press’ groundbreaking GUMSHOE game of personal and psychological horror, has returned from the swirling torment of the Outer Dark in a hauntingly beautiful premium hardcover format. With The Shattered Veil Edition, stunningly beautiful full-color artwork brings fresh terror to your table. Grab it alongside the highly anticipated Ocean Game expansion in its current Gamefound campaign.
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we ask what it means for a rule to work.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Nicola Wilson, the Archaeology Hut investigates the chopping up of the alleged mummy of Constantine XI.
Anyone who has Fun with Science knows the weird phenomenon of species with dwarf males. Ken and Robin wonder which Mythos creature has dwarf males and how that causes problems for Trail of Cthulhu characters.
Finally the Eliptony Hut recounts the nightmarish tale of the Blaenavon horse humanoid.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
Fear Itself, Pelgrane Press’ groundbreaking GUMSHOE game of personal and psychological horror, has returned from the swirling torment of the Outer Dark in a hauntingly beautiful premium hardcover format. With The Shattered Veil Edition, stunningly beautiful full-color artwork brings fresh terror to your table. Grab it alongside the highly anticipated Ocean Game expansion in its current Gamefound campaign.
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen we gather the suspects in the Gaming Hut to ask how to make the revelation as compelling as the mystery.
Estimable backer Benjamin Rawls beckons us into the Narrative Hut to wonder why some genres assume certain plot structures yet others do not.
If you live in the Maryland area you may have noticed some empty shelves at your local bookshops. Ken’s Bookshelf steps up to solve that mystery.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
Fear Itself, Pelgrane Press’ groundbreaking GUMSHOE game of personal and psychological horror, has returned from the swirling torment of the Outer Dark in a hauntingly beautiful premium hardcover format. With The Shattered Veil Edition, stunningly beautiful full-color artwork brings fresh terror to your table. Grab it alongside the highly anticipated Ocean Game expansion in its current Gamefound campaign.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we look at optional rules. What does it mean to designate a rule as optional, and what rules are we likely to put in that bucket?
The History Hut profiles 19th century utopian sect leader Barthélemy-Prosper Enfantin, who advocated for free love and the Suez Canal.
Prompted from a question by beloved Patreon backer Ross Ireland, How to Write Good reveals the software tools and online resources we use in our work.
Finally, at the behest of estimable Patreon backer Steve Dempsey, the Consulting Occultist fulfills its Canadian content requirements with a look at William Lyon Mackenzie King, who served for a total of 21 years as Prime Minister while secretly engaged in spiritualist inquiry.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Gaming Hut
2nd segment
3rd segment
4th segment
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks us to tell him more about the 2023 Irish weird folk music film All You Need Is Death, and how to use it as inspiration for a modern horror campaign.
Ripped from the Headlines finds ghosts in a VR game for kids where you play tag as legless gorillas.
Finally, in our usual nod to the Oscars, the Cinema Hut finally unveil our top ten movie lists for 2024.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
The sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
The Gaming Hut gets a round table as beloved Patreon backer James Kiley seeks tips on mashing up Pendragon with Call of Cthulhu.
At the behest of estimable backer Chad Ward, the Food Hut looks at the role a humble cured meat played in schism and war, in the Affair of the Sausages.
Doughty backer Dylan Gault convenes the Architecture Hut for the real story behind the Newmarket Ghost Canal.
Finally our chrononaut reveals which Song Dynasty social club he had to edit from history using Ken’s Time Machine.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Gaming Hut
2nd segment
3rd segment
4th segment
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we look at the optional scene paradox in adventure writing.
The Weapon Hut gives us a rare chance to un-fun ruin, as we debunk claims that debunk the flail.
In the Word Hut Robin tests Ken’s knowledge of the often cheeky nicknames given to historical figures.
Finally we step into the Eliptony Hut for a look at the recent New Jersey drone flap.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Gaming Hut
2nd segment
3rd segment
4th segment
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Tom Abella seeks tips on compiling historical reading lists to players.
We don elaborate ruffs in the Tradecraft Hut to profile Jacobean spymaster Robert Cecil.
Today we look at them as soulful giants of the sea, but to the medieval mind whales were terrifying, diabolical beasts worthy of treatment in the Monster Hut.
Finally the Consulting Occultist looks at collector and art historian Aby Warburg.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Joshua Randall seeks tips on setting up a new campaign for success.
Our latest Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else segment features Ken’s chat with Daniel Harms, author of The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana and editor of the definitive edition of the 19th century American grimoire The Long-Lost Friend.
Robin provides a guide to the variable realm of Internet Movie Database ratings in the Cinema Hut.
Finally the Conspiracy Corner shines a light on the Prime Bank Securities con, a fraud with a conspiratorial worldview that ensnares its practitioners.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Gaming Hut
2nd segment
3rd segment
4th segment
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Jörgen Blomberg suggests that there’s something F20 games handle even worse than falling damage—injuries from exposure. We brave the chill with our thoughts on the subject.
Not all western folk heroes became folk heroes. The Crime Blotter looks at the case of robber and ambusher Big Nose George Parrott, who in a gruesome twist of fate became… something else.
Fun with Science plumbs two marine mysteries brought to our attention by estimable backer David Millians: a mysterious deep sea communication and the pallid amphipod known as the sweetheart of darkness.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine peers into the timeline where a 10 year old Abraham Lincoln succumbed to his injuries after being kicked by a horse.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Charles Picard, the Gaming Hut ponders cultural diaspora in F20 settings.
The Archaeology Hut looks at a recent discovery in Denmark, an Iron Age house built on a foundation of weapons and armor.
Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features our chat with Nerdburger Games’ Craig Campbell, designer of Capers and Good Strong Hands.
Finally the Eliptony Hut peers at the legendary and murky Rendlesham Forest UFO incident.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut Robin discusses his recently concluded Golden Age DC superheroes versus the Cthulhu mythos game.
Travel Advisory recalls our visit to the British Museum’s current Silk Roads exhibition.
If we’re thinking about stuff that happened while we were in London, longtime listeners know what that means: Ken’s Bookshelf lovingly lists the purchases our hero made at Treadwell’s and Foyles.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
e
As is our seasonal custom, we close our year with a live episode recorded at London’s Dragonmeet. At the show’s final outing in its longtime Hammersmith Novotel venue, Ken pulls off a revolutionary nerdtrope, and we field questions on the dangers of Tarot deck accumulation, the world’s ineluctable spiral into chaos, and tricking Brussels sprouts into being delicious.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Make sure your ropes are securely fastened as the Gaming Hut asks: have we been doing falling damage wrong?
In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, we talk to tabletop game designer of DIE: the Roleplaying Game fame (and sure, comics writer extraordinaire) Kieron Gillen.
The Mythology Hut gets festive for an encounter with the krampus, demonic dispenser of jolly Yuletide punishment.
Finally the Consulting Occultist raps tables and psychically excites the zither for a look at Victorian spiritualist William Stainton Moses.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In The Business of Gaming we check in on the state of crowdfunding through the lens of the recently concluded Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition campaign.
There are ants, ants, ants as big as well they’re quite small really but they’ve nearly completed a program of global conquest so Fun With Science takes a look at their supercolony wars.
Grab some cotton candy or a corn dog as the Word Hut offers a course on 1920s and 30s carnival slang.
Finally, at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Paul S. Enns, Ken’s Time Machine glimpses the dark timeline where an 1866 proposal by a US Congressman to annex the British North American colonies actually went somewhere, depriving Canada of its origin story and the world of Canada.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Ready your picks and jimmies as the Gaming Hut seeks fail forwards for one of the trickiest cases of all, the locked door.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken (and some crows) talk to fantasy, horror and SF writer Molly Tanzer.
The Culture Hut covers the enigmatic, influential and Eliptony-adjacent theater experimenter Jerzy Grotowski.
Finally the Eliptony Hut examines the hoaxed artifacts known as the Michigan relics.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Get ready for more detail on the shag carpet than ever before as the Gaming Hut looks at the love some players have for non-interactive narration of their environment.
The Crime Blotter investigates the 60s heroin trade and how it forms the linchpin of The Borellus Connection.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Gene Ha, the Cinema Hut wonders what can be done with the increasingly tangled continuity of the MCU.
And finally the Consulting Occultist profiles influential 19th century proto-feminist spiritualist Anna Kingsford.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we imagine an F20 world where powerful undead don’t just drain levels, they sell them to the highest bidder.
The Archaeology Hut checks out the latest tests on the Well-Man, a body found at Norway’s Sverresborg Castle who matches an account from an 800 year old Norse saga.
Finally Ken’s Bookshelf chronicles our resident bibliophile’s genteel efforts to separate Powell’s Books in Portland from its wares. Making a special cameo appearance, it’s the Princeton University Press sale.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Mark Waterhouse asks what could possibly go wrong if we let players perform their own in-world divinations.
At the behest of estimable backer Martin Rundkvist the Tradecraft Hut investigates the heroic career of Polish-born WWII British operative Krystyna Skarbek.
Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features our talk with actual player extraordinaire Lindsey Brown, as heard on The Nature of My Game podcast.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine looks for chrono-spanners it might throw into the horror show that was the postwar repatriation of Koreans from Japan to North Korea.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
Back from the grave until they suppress it again, the Dracula Dossier PDF deal has returned to the Bundle of Holding. Grab it until November 13th, when it will once more retreat to its dusty crypt.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
The Gaming Hut looks at the most despised medieval occupations and wonders what would happen if you actually wanted to reflect this in your F20 world.
The History Hut covers a very strange fashion fracas, the 1922 New York City straw hat riots.
In the Mythos Hut we dial up the scare factor on the humblest Lovecraftian creature, the zoog.
Finally the Eliptony Hut combs the forest for Wisconsin’s oddball cryptid, the hodag.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
That cult would never die, till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to announce Trail of Cthulhu Second Edition, coming October 1st on Backerkit. Get ready to alert your friends and anyone else you’d be willing to climb into a ghoul pit with.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.
RecommendedEephus (Film, US, Carson Lund, 2024) Two weekend baseball amateur teams meet some time around 1990 for the final game on their condemned baseball field in this disarming combination of hangout film and slow cinema. The film, as Lund has said, moves at the rhythm of baseball, not the rhythm of film narrative, gradually amping up the small-ball absurdity amidst the slowly, regretfully deflating camaraderie.—KH
Exhuma (South Korea, Jang Jae-hyun, 2024) To uncover the source of a curse on a wealthy Korean-American family, shaman Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) enlists down-at-heels geomancer Kim (Choi Min-sik) to examine the feng shui of the Worst Grave in Korea. Effortlessly grounded, beautifully structured story escalates through two horror stories in a row as the grave keeps giving up more horrible secrets. I loved every minute of this movie.—KH
MadS (Film, France, David Moreau, 2024) Teen hunk high on an unprovenanced drug has a roadside encounter with a distressed, injured medical experiment escapee, leading him and his girlfriends into an evening of increasingly apocalyptic terror. Composed as a single breathtaking tracking shot and revealing its horror sub-genre deep in the film, this high-energy mood piece features an astonishing physical performance from Laurie Pavy as one of the victims/monsters.—RDL
My Dear Killer (Film, Italy, Tonino Valerii, 1972) Determined police inspector (George Hilton) connects a case of decapitation by excavator to a cold case involving the kidnapping and murder of a young girl and her father. Solidly constructed mix of investigation and menace clearly exemplifies the giallo formula.—RDL
Rumours (Film, Canada/Germany, Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson & Galen Johnson, 2024) Hapless world leaders at the G7 summit face increasingly surreal challenges from mysterious isolation in the woods to reanimated bog-bodies to a giant brain. Only the middle of the movie offers melodramatic joy to the Maddin connoisseur, and one can wonder whether a film condemning the inanition and fecklessness of world leaders shouldn’t offer a direction by contrast, but strong character work by the seven core actors (plus Alicia Vikander as an EU official caught up in events) keeps the film endlessly diverting.—KH
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (Film, US, Ivan Dixon, 1973) Recruited as a token, Dan Freeman (Lawrence Cook) goes from being the first Black CIA agent to the leader of a revolutionary armed movement on the South Side of Chicago. Energetically paced with strong performances, it suffers somewhat from a budget (and possibly a vision) too small to properly indict the CIA’s blowback-prone methods while also engaging in Black Power agitprop. Freeman’s story winds up suffering the most, but Cook fascinates as the deliberately umoved mover.—KH
Tokyo Noir (Nonfiction, Jake Adelstein, 2024) Journalist reviews his investigative exploits in Japan from the publication of Tokyo Vice to the present day. Cases range from looking into corporate yakuza ties for corporate investors to exposing corruption and negligence at TEPCO, the nuclear utility responsible for the Fukushima meltdown.—RDL
GoodGrabbers (Film, Ireland, Jon Wright, 2012) An alcoholic local cop and an eager straight-arrow on temporary assignment struggle to protect an island village from tentacled alien beasties who won’t attack drunk victims. Amusing comedic creature feature might be called Tremors with added hops.—RDL
Murder in Peking (Fiction, Vincent Starrett, 1937) American dilettante Hope Johnson investigates the murder of a beautiful Danish antiquities expert during a house-party held for Western expatriates and tourists in a Peking temple. Starrett based the novel on his own experiences (sans murder) in Peking as an expat in 1936, so the local color is very good if not remotely suited to modern sensibilities. The murder mystery mostly plays fair, but is never very compelling.—KH
The Stone Tape (Television, UK, BBC, Peter Sasdy, 1972) When an electronics firm converts a derelict Victorian manor into an experimental facility, a computer intelligence expert (Jane Asher) experiences a ghost phenomenon that the team’s heedless leader (Michael Bryant) sees as an opportunity for an acoustic experiment. Writer Nigel Kneale snappily captures a cut throat corporate environment but settles for a pro forma ghost story conclusion.—RDL
Okay Abigail (Film, US, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, 2024) Criminal team including perceptive infiltrator (Melissa Barrera) and scowling leader (Dan Stevens) kidnap a young girl and stash her at a weird house, only to discover that she’s a centuries-old vampire who has selected them as prey. More time studying Alien and Carpenter’s The Thing might have helped the screenwriters construct the sorts of suspenseful obstacles the “trapped in an enclosed space with a monster” template requires.—RDL
In the Gaming Hut we discuss the challenge of revised edition design. When you encounter an element you wouldn’t build into a new system, how do you decide whether to replace it, or to respect the legacy and leave it in?
The Horror Hut gets reflective as beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks for a terrifying look at mirrors.
A new spinoff podcast threatens to break out when Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features a chat with board gam designer Quinn Brander, designer of Rebuilding Seattle and the upcoming Rebuilding Chicago.
Finally the Consulting Occultist surveys the works of early astrologer Gan De, who catalogued the stars during China’s Warring States period.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
That cult would never die, till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to announce Trail of Cthulhu Second Edition, coming October 1st on Backerkit. Get ready to alert your friends and anyone else you’d be willing to climb into a ghoul pit with.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Ryan McClelland argues that the Sailor is a fine Occupation that ought to be in Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition (now on Backerkit) and urges us to rebut him by listing even more such Occupations.
With the 1930s still in mind, the Crime Blotter pulls the dossier on the Barker-Karpis bank robbery and kidnapping gang.
Ripped from the Headlines covers a recent incident of rogue mountain sheep cloning in Montana.
Finally, in Ken’s Time Machine, our hero ponders intervention in the Kalmar Crusade.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
That cult would never die, till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to announce Trail of Cthulhu Second Edition, coming October 1st on Backerkit. Get ready to alert your friends and anyone else you’d be willing to climb into a ghoul pit with.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
It’s time to rattle some paper in the Gaming Hut as we discuss character sheet design.
After that, a deluge, as the Archaeology Hut, at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Niclas Matikainen, studies the sunken city of Rungholt.
Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features game designer and military consultant for media and gaming properties Anthony Joyce-Rivera.
Finally, as suggested by estimable backer the Molten Sulfur Blog, the Eliptony Hut looks at 19th century medical educator, grave robber, arsenal keeper and spiritualist Joseph Nash McDowell.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
That cult would never die, till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to announce Trail of Cthulhu Second Edition, coming October 1st on Backerkit. Get ready to alert your friends and anyone else you’d be willing to climb into a ghoul pit with.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we build an F20 setting where everyone knows your level.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Derrick Yates the Tradecraft Hut profiles baseball player and spy Moe Berg.
In the Food Hut we decide what to order for lunch at the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel in 1933.
Finally the Consulting Occultist delves into the career of coroner and Golden Dawn co-founder William Wynn Westcott.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
That cult would never die, till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to announce Trail of Cthulhu Second Edition, coming October 1st on Backerkit. Get ready to alert your friends and anyone else you’d be willing to climb into a ghoul pit with.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we look at the changes Ken did and didn’t make in character creation for Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition.
The Cinema Hut highlight’s Robin’s fantasy, horror and SF discoveries from the 3rd Annual Robin and Valerie International Film Festival.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else we chat with Taylor Navarro, designer of self-published games Chefs de Partie and Not Yet: A Romantic Duet and freelancer extraordinaire.
Finally the assignment for Ken’s Time Machine is to get Czech democratic politician Jan Masaryk out of the country before his 1948 murder.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
That cult would never die, till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to announce Trail of Cthulhu Second Edition, coming October 1st on Backerkit. Get ready to alert your friends and anyone else you’d be willing to climb into a ghoul pit with.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Recorded live in a seminar room in the good Marriott at Gen Con, Ken and Robin talk the secret US-UK intergalactic financial war, chicken roasting secrets, our Indianapolis drinks of choice, a 1966 UFO incident and how to real-life investigate the real-life cult in your real-life hometown.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
That cult would never die, till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to announce Trail of Cthulhu Second Edition, coming October 1st on Backerkit. Get ready to alert your friends and anyone else you’d be willing to climb into a ghoul pit with.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
This week the Gaming Hut populates the town of Locust Grove Oklahoma with gamemaster characters for a Trail of Cthulhu game.
Beloved Patreon backer Andrew Bates convenes the History Hut for the story behind Kentucky’s very specific, dare we say duel shy, oath of office.
Completing our three-part Horror Hut miniseries on reality horror, estimable backer Greg tasks us to devise an alternate scare figure to replace the King in Yellow.
And finally the Eliptony Hut looks into Alaska’s phantom city hoax.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
That cult would never die, till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to announce Trail of Cthulhu Second Edition, coming October 1st on Backerkit. Get ready to alert your friends and anyone else you’d be willing to climb into a ghoul pit with.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we look at ways to tell whether your group will thrive in a sandbox game.
Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else features our chat with fast-rising board game designer Clarence Simpson, whose credits include The Wolves, AMessage from the Stars, Chomp, and Merchants of Magick.
Part two of our Horror Hut look at reality horror, as spurred by beloved backer Greg, tackles scenario design for this mind-tripping sub-genre.
Finally the Consulting Occultist cracks the code on pioneering steganographer Johannes Trithemius.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
That cult would never die, till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to announce Trail of Cthulhu Second Edition, coming October 1st on Backerkit. Get ready to alert your friends and anyone else you’d be willing to climb into a ghoul pit with.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Ian Carlsen, the Gaming Hut looks at ways to prepare for a technothriller game.
The moment we learned of an increasingly ascendant Brazilian narco gang called the Bonde da Kabbalah, you know it was time to reach for the Crime Blotter.
A three-part Horror Hut mini-series on reality horror, requested by estimable backer Greg, starts off with a 101 of literary and filmic sources.
Finally Time Incorporated’s soft spot for libraries calls for Ken’s Time Machine to intervene in the case of key Mexican literary figure Juana Inés de la Cruz, who had to appease the Church by selling off her 4,000 volume collection.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we toss our ideas into beloved Patreon backer Shon Richards’ Bookhounds of TimeWatch series concept.
One of our favorite industry stalwarts, Peter Adkison, joins us in Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else to talk Gen Con TV, his world of Chaldea project, and the state of Gen Con.
The Borellus Connection, the new mega-campaign for The Fall of DELTA GREEN gets the Among My Many Hats treatment from its story designer, our own Kenneth Hite.
Finally the Eliptony Hut peers into the story of astronomer George Ellery Hale and his relationship with an entity that has passed into lore as an elf adviser.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Your intrepid gaming reporters return from Gen Con 2024 to talk awards, tabletop industry trends and scuttlebutt and maybe a restaurant recommendation or two.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ludovic Chabant asks us what it means when a game mechanic is swingy.
The Word Hut isn’t having any of your cockamamie ackamarackus, because we’re talking 1930s slang.
The Food Hut extrapolates what the food scene in Yellow King: Aftermath looks like. Other than the well-established craze for Belgians, that is.
Finally the Consulting Occultist lays out everything you need to know to placate a Mesopotamian ghost.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen asks us to seek mythic inspiration for gaming scenarios.
Estimable backer Derek Upham beckons us to the Tradecraft Hut for our take on the theory that infamous pirate Henry Every might have had a second covert career as a spy.
The Mythology Hut investigates the shamir, the enigmatic device or rock-eating worm credited with carving Solomon’s temple.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine heads back into history to restore the original name of the dollar.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Toonspew asks us if it’s time to stop worrying and love the total party kill.
Estimable backer Hyperlexic urges us to shoo costumed devils out of the History Hut by looking at the scandal-brushed career of Los Angeles evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson.
Ripped From the Headlines tackles the recent theft of Roland’s legendary sword Durandal from a rocky cliff in the French commune of Rocamadour.
Finally, from Kabbalah in your DNA to polar reversal, the Eliptony Hut surveys the theorizing of self-described visionary Gregg Braden.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Beloved Patreon backer Philip Masters invites a pack of bumblers into the Gaming Hut as he asks how one might run a series based around realistic incompetence in high places.
Creep softly up to the Crime Blotter for the tale of prolific UK burglar Flannelfoot, aka Henry Vickers.
The Cinema Hut doesn’t have trouble getting started, but many sequels do, and we explain why.
Finally at the behest of silver-stringed backer Jon Biscoe, the Consulting Occultist looks at two magical tomes mentioned in Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John Stories, the Grand Albert and the Long-Lost Friend.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Gape in wonder at the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Steve Hammond asks how one might emulate the awe of the Jurassic Park dinosaur reveal scene at the gaming table.
Well-traveled backers Ed Sizemore and Rafael Pabst journey to the Cartography Hut for the story of fictive medieval travel writer John Mandeville.
The Monster Hut digs into the graveyard-dwelling Luison of Paraguay, Argentina and environs, whose many versions merge indigenous Guarani myth with European werewolf lore.
Finally our chrononaut’s superiors at Time Incorporated assign him a juicy, fine-grained Ken’s Time Machine quest—to keep the vanished Ansault pear in cultivation.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Due to a posting error the week previous, some pod apps ignored this episode as already read and did not download it. Apologies to those receiving the file a second time.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ross Ireland asks gamemasters tips to use when the player characters receive an imaginary tome chock-full of information.
The sun casts a burning eye on the Horror Hut when estimable backer Keelan O’Hea asks how to flip the switch and make daytime the scariest part of the day.
Finally Ken’s Bookshelf shares the vicarious joys of our resident bibliophile’s recent raid on the used shops of Austin, Texas.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Due to a posting error the week previous some podcast apps have skipped downloading this episode as already read. Reposting for the benefit of those who have been unable to access it. Apologies to those receiving the file a second time.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Beloved Patreon backer Noel Warford summons us to the Gaming Hut,asking how to coax more independence from one’s players.
Estimable backer Kevin Nault pries open the door to the Archaeology Hut to hear the very colorful story, or stories, surrounding the discovery of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts.
The discovery of a planet with a fluffy, cotton candy texture prompts Fun with Science and the riffing of an appropriate space opera scenario.
Finally wondering backer Eric Parks notes that reports of shadow aliens near a Florida mall warrant an excursion into the Eliptony Hut.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ross Ireland asks gamemasters tips to use when the player characters receive an imaginary tome chock-full of information.
The sun casts a burning eye on the Horror Hut when estimable backer Keelan O’Hea asks how to flip the switch and make daytime the scariest part of the day.
Finally Ken’s Bookshelf shares the vicarious joys of our resident bibliophile’s recent raid on the used shops of Austin, Texas.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ryan McClelland asks for tips on incorporating 1890s anarchists into The Yellow King Roleplaying Game.
After many previous passing mentions, writer, explorer, scenester and cannibal William Seabrook finally becomes the subject of his own History Hut segment.
Without the paper bag and cardboard box the grocery industry would not be what it is today. The Food Hut reveals the creation myths behind these undersung heroes of the packaging universe.
Finally the Consulting Occultist looks at 1920s celebrity astrologer Evangeline Adams, who doled out stock market tips, gave readings to moguls, movie stars and a monarch, and predicted her own death.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we turn the rise of surreal online retailer Temu into a horror scenario hook.
Beloved Patreon backer Ginge assigns the Tradecraft Hut to cough up the real dossier on the icy retrieval mission Project Coldfeet.
Estimable backer Charles Picard requests the Culture Hut treatment for experimental filmmaker and Vodou researcher Maya Deren.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine asks our resident chrono-protagonist for the best intervention into the 1826 Lao Rebellion.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut, Ken turns the tables on Robin by springing a concept for a game on him. Eavesdrop on the process as they riff on Ley Brothers.
The Crime Blotter reaches back into America’s history of 19th century violence to cover the assassination of Kentucky governor William Goebel.
In Ask Ken and Robin beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks Robin what a one player, one GM action movie game inspired by The Beekeeper and its retribution-seeking cinematic relatives might look like.
Finally the Eliptony Hut looks at some old UFO tropes packaged in very new streaming-age bottles: Blue Avians, the trademarked, documentary-approving contactee aliens.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
In the Gaming Hut we examine the fine but crucial distinction between fun obstacles and dilemmas your players will read as punishments.
The Horror Hut looks at a classic and misunderstood trio of classic characters, the so-called Brides of Dracula.
In the Cinema Hut we break down the visual grammar of shot composition.
Finally, the Consulting Occultist, surprised to find that he has yet to cover Nostradamus after more than a decade of episodes, proceeds to do just that.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.
Numbers come and numbers go but when the podcast odometer clicks over to 600 Ken and Robin listeners know what to expect: the thunderous return of LIGHTNING ROUND!!!
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Bob Grider asks how to create mystery hooks for sovereign citizens in The Yellow King: This Is Normal Now. With dire inevitability this leads to a discussion of pan-conspiratorialist Romana Didulo, aka the Queen of Canada.
Estimable backer Paul Douglas seeks the Tradecraft Hut take on the death of White Helmets founder James le Mesurier.
Cherished backer Andrew Blasenak alerts the Horror Hut to a new impending Philadelphia museum, VAMPA, which stands for Vampire Art Museum and Paranormal Activity.
Finally sponsor supreme Cat Tobin asks what Ken’s Time Machine might do to improve vegetarian cuisine.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Picking up where a previous Gaming Hut left off, beloved Patreon backer Gene Ha asks about scenarios where one of the PCs is a mole working against the rest of the group.
In Ask Ken and Robin, estimable backer Martin Rundkvist asks how Ken’s planned relocation of Swords of the Serpentine to Venice is going to work.
The Voyager space probe has been fixed after sending gibberish data back to Earth for five months. But what, formidable backer Bob Koester asks in Fun With Science, if it wasn’t gibberish?
Finally the Eliptony Hut takes on the serpentine quality of previous segments with a look at the 1894 lindworm sightings in Erviken, Norway.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying is now Kickstarting. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
In the Gaming Hut we talk about our visit to Shadowcon in Barcelona, courtesy of our beloved pals at Shadowlands, who have just published a stunning edition of the Dracula Dossier in the Spanish language.
Travel Advisory covers our exploration of the less nerdy reaches of our new favorite city, with an obligatory selection of small plates in the Food Hut.
Ken didn’t come home with a pile of Spanish books, but if it’s a trip we have to look at some new acquisitions. So Ken’s Bookshelf finally reveals the second half of his Potomac region plunder.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Andrew Miller asks for tips on playing paladins well.
We enter the History Hut to wonder what shattered the mind of Tudor historian John Leland.
Amid the popcorn munching of the Cinema Hut estimable backer David Sowa asks why so many action movies have poor final acts.
Finally the Consulting Occultist looks at the career of Icelandic medium Indriði Indriðason.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
If you love heroic fast-paced fantasy roleplaying action and incredible deals, Pelgrane Press has two iconic bargains for you. Until May 7th, date of the impending 13th Age Kickstarter, get the core book for 50% at the Pelgrane web store. Or grab the brief return of the stunnning 13th Age Bundle of Holding PDF deal.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Jason Thompson asks if the group dynamic known as the Tyranny of Structurelessness applies to GM-less roleplaying games.
Estimable backer Gray St. Quintin seeks the regular confines of the Architecture Hut to ask about Walter Burley Griffin, designer of Canberra and avid anthroposophist.
Fun With Science ensues when formidable backer asks what the heck was up with a rich philanthropist’s decision to take hominid fossils with him on his Virgin Galactic space flight.
Finally, Ken’s Time Machine finds out what really happened in the Roman assault on the druids of Anglesey, with possible alterations to known history on the part of our sterling chrononaut.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
If you love heroic fast-paced fantasy roleplaying action and incredible deals, Pelgrane Press has two iconic bargains for you. Until May 7th, date of the impending 13th Age Kickstarter, get the core book for 50% at the Pelgrane web store. Or grab the brief return of the stunnning 13th Age Bundle of Holding PDF deal.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
In the Gaming Hut we identify the elements of a great recurring gamemaster character.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Lester Ward, the Archaeology Hut mulls the ancient Egyptian fortresses that were flooded by the building of the Aswan dam.
In the Book Hut tough, wisecracking Patreon backer Adam Grotjohn seeks a 101 on hardboiled fiction.
And finally the Consulting Occultist profiles Maria de Naglowska, occult lecturer and sex magician of 20s and 30s Paris.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Elves and dragons have some emotional needs to work out as the Gaming Hut answers beloved Patreon backer Nikolaj’s request for tips on bringing elements of DramaSystem into an F20 game.
The Crime Blotter checks out the Philadelphia poison murders, a massive killing for profit scheme involving syndicate witches in the Trail of Cthulhu era.
Madrigals are sung and the underworld is descended into in the Culture Hut, as erudite backer Patrick Holmes asks for a gameable bio of 16th century composer and possible part time alchemist Claudio Monteverdi.
Move your lap blanket away from the fireplace as the Eliptony Hut takes a long overdue look at the classic Fortean subject of spontaneous human combustion.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.
RecommendedAmerican Fiction (Film, US, Cord Jefferson, 2023) As a scathing joke, a dyspeptic literary author (Jeffrey Wright) whose mom needs expensive care writes a novel packed with demeaning cliches of Black life, only to find an enthusiastic market for it in the white publishing world. Family drama lends emotional weight to a pointed takedown of representation’s cringey side. Witty dialogue is on a downswing in film at the moment so it’s nice to see it revived here.—RDL
I… for Icarus (Film, France, Henri Verneuil, 1979) In an alternate France, a patrician attorney general (Yves Montand) dissents from the whitewashing conclusions of a commission into a Presidential assassination, granting him the right to launch his own investigation. The medium is the conspiracy in this odd, oddly compelling McLuhanesque reconfiguration of the JFK assassination, complete with a detailed recreation of the Milgram Experiment.—RDL
The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (Film, Mexico, Rogelio A. González, 1960) The neurotic browbeating of his pious, conniving wife (Amparo Rivelles) drives a bibulous taxidermist (Arturo de Córdova) to a desperate act. Satirical, expressionistic Grand Guignol based on Arthur Machen’s The Islington Mystery.—RDL
The Worst Ones (Film, France, Lise Akoka & Romane Gueret, 2022) Teens from a tough working class neighborhood win roles in a social issue film helmed by a middle-aged first time auteur (Johan Heldenbergh) whose grasp of boundaries isn’t as secure as he wants to think. Neorealist drama featuring intense performances from its young cast questions the ethics of its genre tradition.—RDL
GoodThe Ambushers (Film, US, Henry Levin, 1967) Counter-spy Matt Helm (Dean Martin) escorts US saucer pilot Sheila Sommers (Janice Rule) into Mexico to recover her hijacked saucer and ID the hijacker. The Matt Helm movies are best enjoyed as period pieces by those who consider the Roger Moore Bond to be too grim and gritty, but Sheila has genuine agency and competence, a standout amongst the beer fights and brassiere guns. The UFO adds another nicely surreal touch to the sight of Dean Martin lounging through alleged action scenes.—KH
The Big Shot (Film, US, Lewis Seiler, 1942) Betrayed by the fancy lawyer who married his girl (Irene Manning), an ex-con with a secret conscience (Humphrey Bogart) returns to prison for an armored car heist he decided not to go through with. Bogie and Seiler give their best to a routine script.—RDL
Okay Risen (Film, US/Spain, Kevin Reynolds, 2016) In occupied Judea, Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth) orders Roman tribune Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) to recover the body of a crucified Nazarene radical, which has vanished from its tomb. The first half of the movie is a taut, intriguing “Zero (A.D.) Dark Thirty” War on Terror parable with a touch of X-Files; the second half is Clavius’ internalizing his new faith in the (spoiler) risen Christ (Cliff Curtis), basically bringing the narrative to a dead halt. This could have been great if it were all the first half, though at the cost of many fewer copies of the Blu-Ray sold to church media rooms.—KH
In the Gaming Hut we find ways to bring players back into the action when they make sensible decisions that sideline their characters.
2Beloved Patreon backer Paul S. Enns beckons us into the Tradecraft Hut to cover the May 23rd Lake Maggiore boating accident.
In the Monster Hut we look at the blemmyae, the hungry headless folk of classical and medieval lore.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine responds to the request of estimable backer Eric Parks, who wants to know what the timeline would look like had Rhode Island’s Dorr Rebellion succeeded.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
In the Gaming Hut, Robin pitches Ken on a concept for a roleplaying game called Renfields.
The Mythology Hut looks at the enigmatic Dacian god and/or person named Zalmoxis, who might have been a sky deity. Or an earth deity. Or a physician.
In Ask Ken and Robin, beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks Robin to expand on his capsule review of the 1956 Carol Reed circus movie Trapeze as a model for efficiently executed DramaSystem scenes.
The Consulting Occultist wraps up the episode with the rundown on the 17th century English physician and mystic Robert Fludd.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.
We hope you can make it to the Gaming Hut for a discussion of quorum and attendance vagaries.
In the History Hut we answer the request of beloved Patreon backer Jeromy French to flesh out a topic we have previously only alluded to—the Toronto clown-fireman riot.
Finally Ken’s Bookshelf features a mere half of our resident bibliomane’s book raid on the Potomac region.
4th segment
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Players say they hate linear scenarios. Seasoned convention GMs extoll the efficacy of the greased rail session. In the Gaming Hut we ask what’s up with that.
Beloved Patreon backer Monster Talk requests a Ripped from the Headlines on the now world-famous Chicago rat hole.
Finally, in keeping with our pre-Oscars tradition, we sneak into the Cinema Hut to finally reveal our respective movie top tens for 2023.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Keep your ancient documents well-hidden in the Gaming Hut, as beloved Patreon backer Brian Thomas asks us how to construct a Bookhounds of London one-shot around explorer Aurel Stein, the Great Game, and the Diamond Sutras.
When architects go wrong they wind up not in their own hut, but on the Crime Blotter, as is the case, as requested by estimable backer Derek Upham, 19th century heist mastermind George Leonidas Leslie.
In the Narrative Hut we ask ourselves if procedural crime dramas are, in the older literary meaning of the word, romances.
Finally in the Eliptony Hut we answer the call of legendary backer Jake Maas for a look at Newfoundland’s Isle of Demons.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Beloved Patreon backer Mark Kenney inspires us to wear our classiest outfits in the Gaming Hut as we seek ways to bring the vocabulary of clothing and fashion to tabletop narration.
The Food Hut examines an old school staple dessert ingredient and the man who popularized it in North America, with the story of Walter Tennyson Swingle and the journey of the date.
We grab a long hook and protect draw a protective circle around the Mythology Hut for a look at stories where the devil comes to claim a dead person’s skin.
Finally we give a wide berth to all fava beans and contemplate the properties of the triangle as Consulting Occultist gives us a 101 on the Pythagoreans.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Experience the world of Gloom in a new, immersive way with Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. With an integrated hint and solution website, drenched in the beloved Gloom aesthetic by artist J. Scott Reeves, this puzzling gamebook kicks off Atlas’ new Enigma line. Sign up for the Kickstarter announcement!
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Hector Trelane takes inspiration from Robin’s EZ One Shot system to ask if designers are finding a root language of roleplaying that points toward a less cluttered style of play.
At the behest of estimable backer Kristian Groenseth the Cartography Hut investigates the fake stop sign epidemic that struck Cranston, Rhode Island.
And finally Ken’s Bookshelf paws the spoils of our resident bibliomane’s recent raid on New York City.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Experience the world of Gloom in a new, immersive way with Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. With an integrated hint and solution website, drenched in the beloved Gloom aesthetic by artist J. Scott Reeves, this puzzling gamebook kicks off Atlas’ new Enigma line. Sign up for the Kickstarter announcement!
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.
RecommendedAir (Film, US, Ben Affleck, 2023) Basketball guru Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) pursues Michael Jordan for third-ranked shoe company Nike. What could have been a leaden produpic soars thanks to Affleck’s willingness to invest in a multi-beat story (providing many of the comic beats by playing self-involved Nike CEO Phil Knight) and to wisely give Viola Davis her head in crafting the film’s moral center, Deloris Jordan. The result is more miracle play than produpic, with Vaccaro as John the Baptist and 80s needle drops as psalms.—KH
American Fiction (Film, US, Cord Jefferson, 2023) Literary novelist Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) creates a fake “street” identity to sell a pandering novel as his mother’s (Leslie Uggams) Alzheimer’s puts stress on his family. Repeatedly blunted satire nestles uneasily in a gently sad family drama, but Wright pulls the film through on the strength of a brilliant, low-simmering performance. Cristina Dunlap’s effective cinematography deserves a nod as well.—KH
Anatomy of a Fall (Film, France, Justine Triet, 2023) Tightly wound writer (Sandra Hüller) faces a murder trial that strains her relationship with her sensitive, vision-impaired young son (Milo Machado Graner) when her resentful husband takes a fatal plunge from the top floor of their chalet-style home. Realist courtroom drama takes full advantage of the freewheeling structure of French criminal proceedings to flesh out its study of a marriage on the brink.—RDL
Fair Play (Film, US, Chloe Domont, 2023) Hedge fund analysts and surreptitious lovers Emily and Luke (Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich) hit the emotional rocks when one of them is promoted. Crackling character beats show their dog-eat-dog financial careers stripping the humanity from both; great acting from the duo prevents the melodrama from overweighting the careful verisimilitude of Domont’s Wall Street mise en scene.—KH
The Holdovers (Film, US, Alexander Payne, 2023) Bilious prep school history teacher (Paul Giamatti) bonds with a grieving cafeteria supervisor (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and a smart, rebellious student (Dominic Sessa) when ordered to supervise the few students staying over for Christmas break. Empathy rises from misanthropy in a dramedy revolving around a trio of winning performances and a love of the American New Wave.—RDL
Slow Horses Season 3 (Television, UK, Apple+, Will Smith, 2023) A former embassy guard’s quest for justice draws River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) and the other Slough House exiles into a high body count MI5 internal struggle. This season pulls the lever on the thriller switch, bringing greased-rail pacing to the serialized TV format.—RDL
The Vietri Project (Fiction, Nicola DeRobertis-Theye, 2021) As she reaches the age when she might inherit her Italian mother’s schizophrenia, a Californian former bookseller’s travels take her to Rome and a search for a mysterious bibliophile. Echoes of Eco set the stage for a quest to reconcile the protagonist’s dual, dueling national identities.—RDL
GoodEverything Goes Wrong (Film, Japan, Seijun Suzuki, 1960) Young malcontent (Tamio Kawaji) melts down over his mother’s relationship with a thoughtful but married business executive. High-strung drama positions itself as a juvenile delinquent picture in order to question the genre’s anti-youth hysteria.—RDL
Fanfare of Love (Film, France, Richard Pottier, 1935) A pair of unemployed musicians pose as women to get hired by an all-female nightclub orchestra. A fun situation farce mostly notable as the ultimate source, by way of its 1951 German remake, for Some Like It Hot.—RDL
In the Gaming Hut we look at the paradox of choice, in which players want many alternative paths yet also want to explore all of them.
The Archaeology Hut surveys the career of William Stukeley, the 18th century polymath whose studies of Stonehenge and Avebury made him one of the field’s foundational figures.
In the Horror Hut beloved sponsor John Kovalic wants us to retell the tale of the BBC’s lost terror series, Late Night Horror.
Finally the Eliptony Hut sets up close to Robin’s location for the weird one-off cryptid, the Cabbagetown Tunnel Monster.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Experience the world of Gloom in a new, immersive way with Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. With an integrated hint and solution website, drenched in the beloved Gloom aesthetic by artist J. Scott Reeves, this puzzling gamebook kicks off Atlas’ new Enigma line. Sign up for the Kickstarter announcement!
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Joshua Randall asks for help dealing with players who like to shoot down everyone else’s plans.
Fans of irony will appreciate the story of Edo firebreaks, as told in the History Hut.
Ken and Robin Recycle Audio concludes our excerpts from the Dramatic Interaction panel at Gen Con 2023. Emily Cambias and John R. Harness join Robin in examining the integration of trad gaming and personal interaction.
Then at the behest of esteemed Patreon backer Michael Cule, our chrononaut reveals what Ken’s Time Machine might have had to do with the famed 18 1/2 minute gap in the Watergate tapes.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Experience the world of Gloom in a new, immersive way with Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. With an integrated hint and solution website, drenched in the beloved Gloom aesthetic by artist J. Scott Reeves, this puzzling gamebook kicks off Atlas’ new Enigma line. Sign up for the Kickstarter announcement!
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Ludovic Chabant asks Robin to expand on his choice for favorite RPG adventure, as seen on the Scroll for Initiative blog. Naturally Ken also makes a choice or two himself.
Estimable backer Fred Kiesche beckons us to the Architecture Hut, which has a Culture Hut inside, and possibly a strong streak of occultism, to discuss the fourth-dimensional explorations of architect and stage designer Claude Bragdon.
Ken and Robin Recycle Audio with installment two of the Dramatic Interaction panel at Gen Con, featuring Robin with Emily Cambias and John R. Harness, answering questions on the basic structure of interpersonal scenes.
Finally the Consulting Occultist meets us in the Food Hut at the behest of distinguished patron Elias Helfer, seconded by Jamie Twine, who seek the esoteric secrets of the pavlova.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Experience the world of Gloom in a new, immersive way with Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. With an integrated hint and solution website, drenched in the beloved Gloom aesthetic by artist J. Scott Reeves, this puzzling gamebook kicks off Atlas’ new Enigma line. Sign up for the Kickstarter announcement!
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Jamie Twine seeks tips on signaling weirdness and danger in horror games not set in our recognizable world.
Esteemed backer Ginger asks for the Tradecraft Hut take on the OSINT journalism entity Bellingcat.
Ken and Robin Recycle Audio with the first part of a Dramatic Interaction panel from Gen Con, in which Robin is joined by designers Emily Cambias and John R. Harness.
Finally the Eliptony Hut reviews the case of Jean Grenier, a young misfit from a 17th century French village who went on trial after identifying himself as a werewolf.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Experience the world of Gloom in a new, immersive way with Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. With an integrated hint and solution website, drenched in the beloved Gloom aesthetic by artist J. Scott Reeves, this puzzling gamebook kicks off Atlas’ new Enigma line. Sign up for the Kickstarter announcement!
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Everything unravels in the Gaming Hut when beloved Patreon backer Tennant Reed asks us to use the Watergate docudramedy Gaslit as inspiration for a heist gone wrong game.
Ken’s Bookshelf delivers a change of pace segment as Robin asks our resident bibliomane to describe the five most specialized books in his collection.
In Ripped from the Headlines estimable backer Paul Douglas asks for the real scoop on a hungry and disoriented Russian economist who got from Copenhagen to LAX without a ticket or passport.
Finally astute backer Phil Masters returns to Ken’s Time Machine with another of his brilliantly crafted queries. What role did our chrono-hero play in the 1120 White Ship sinking, which wiped out much of the English royal family?
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Experience the world of Gloom in a new, immersive way with Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. With an integrated hint and solution website, drenched in the beloved Gloom aesthetic by artist J. Scott Reeves, this puzzling gamebook kicks off Atlas’ new Enigma line. Sign up for the Kickstarter announcement!
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
The Gaming Hut contains a special rack for displaying fancy blades as beloved Patreon backer Stephen Dosman asks us to find the tabletop fun in Ulfberht swords.
In the Cinema Hut we look at the newest cycle of female-focused, character-driven horror films.
Estimable backer Manfred Gabriel uses his Ask Ken and Robin powers to seek advice on spending his Dracula points.
Finally the Consulting Occultist tells the wry tale of the early Georgian era astrologer Isaac Bickerstaff, who predicted the death of rival John Partridge and might not have been entirely who he seemed.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Experience the world of Gloom in a new, immersive way with Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. With an integrated hint and solution website, drenched in the beloved Gloom aesthetic by artist J. Scott Reeves, this puzzling gamebook kicks off Atlas’ new Enigma line. Sign up for the Kickstarter announcement!
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Our annual live episode recorded at London’s Dragonmeet finds our audience of expert questioners in a substantive mood. Accordingly, after nerdtroping WWII and the Peloponnesian war and contemplating high end snacks, we look at the unsolved problems of gaming, solo game design, troupe play and so much more.
That puts 2023 in the rearview mirror for us. Enjoy the holiday you celebrate and rejoin us in the weird future of 2024.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Experience the world of Gloom in a new, immersive way with Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. With an integrated hint and solution website, drenched in the beloved Gloom aesthetic by artist J. Scott Reeves, this puzzling gamebook kicks off Atlas’ new Enigma line. Sign up for the Kickstarter announcement!
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
The Gaming Hut explodes in a molasses fireball full of staplers, but then does something entirely sensible, as we consider ways to reframe the fumble.
The Eliptony Hut studies a locally beloved cryptid, the Loveland Ohio frogman.
Finally Ken’s Bookshelf features an unusually sleek and selective London book haul, as our hero describes treasures liberated from Treadwell’s and Foyles.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Ho ho ho, festive friends, it’s once again time to celebrate the holidays and noncompliant behavior with Weird Little Elf, the fast and easy stocking stuffer game from our garland-festooned pals at Atlas Games.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.
RecommendedThe Bear Season 1 (Television, US, FX, Christopher Storer & Joanna Calo, 2022) Acclaimed young chef (Jeremy Allen White) attempts to salvage the chaotic local joint willed to him by his addict brother, clashing with a bumptious long term employee slash honorary cousin (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and acting as uneasy mentor to an up and coming new hire (Ayo Edibiri.) With the constantly clock ticking and random culinary disasters raining down, this intense, Chicago-besotted drama establishes a new sub-genre of suspense: the food thriller.—RDL
Chavela (Film, Mexico/Spain, Catherine Gund, & Daresha Kyi, 2017) Biographical arts documentary profiles Chavela Vargas, the hard-living singer who brought operatic passion to the ranchera genre and became a ladykilling icon to Mexico’s lesbian community. If you don’t know the name you may have heard her music in the films of Pedro Almodovar, who championed her late career comeback and appears here in both archival and interview sequences.—RDL
Godzilla Minus One (Film, Japan, Takashi Yamazaki, 2023) Failed kamikaze pilot Koichi (Rynosuke Kamiki) seeks to expiate his cowardice when Godzilla attacks Japan in 1947. Yamazaki grounds the human action in social integration and stifled emotion, producing a film ironically much more like a mainstream 1954 American (or Japanese) film than the nihilist cosmic-horror Pinnacle he’s homaging. The kaiju action, meanwhile, is unimpeachably excellent. —KH
The Horror Tarot (Tarot deck, Todd Alcott, 2023) Rather than the bricolage treatment of his Pulp Tarot, Alcott homages specific traditions of horror art in the suits and trumps of this full 78-card tarot. Horror film posters (Major Arcana), Famous Monsters of Filmland (Wands), EC Comics (Swords), horror paperback covers (Cups), and pulp magazine covers (Pentacles) provide the inspiration for Alcott’s lovingly uncanny designs. —KH
Moss Rose (Film, US, Gregory Ratoff, 1947) Seeing a brooding heir (Victor Mature) leaving a murder scene, a social climbing chorus girl (Peggy Cummins) offers her silence in exchange for an extended invitation to his family’s country estate. Victorian gothic suffused with a proto-Lynchian sensibility, which regards the bizarre decisions of its characters as sympathetic and normal.—RDL
Only Murders in the Building Season 3 (Television, US, Hulu, Steve Martin & John Hoffman, 2023) When the asshole star (Paul Rudd) of Oliver’s (Martin Stone) Broadway comeback gets murdered, Mabel (Selena Gomez) investigates as Oliver re-imagines the show as a musical and Charles’ (Steve Martin) life falls back apart.. Normally a season of mostly premise rejection and backsliding would annoy me, but watching Martin Short center a “backstage panic” show is almost as good as a murder mystery any day. This mystery, by the way, improves considerably on Season 2. —KH
The Perfect Game (Film, Japan, Toshio Masuda, 1958) College ne’er do wells take a darker than anticipated turn when they take advantage of a communications delay between cycling track and bookie parlor to place a fraudulent bet. Sharp-cornered noir about characters on a greased chute to moral bankruptcy.—RDL
Poker Face Season 1 (Television, US, Peacock, Rian Johnson, 2023) Casino employee with an unfailing ear for lies Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) flees a vengeful pursuer but solves murders along the way. Good-natured combination of The Fugitive and Columbo leans into its old-school TV virtues such as good lighting and concise character portraits, occasionally playing up cheap humor but at its best devising tight but meaty micro-dramas with a murderous hook. All this and a master class in “why Bullshit Detector doesn’t ruin mysteries in GUMSHOE,” too.—KH
Resurrection (Film, US, Andrew Semans, 2022) Tightly wound biotech manager (Rebecca Hall) whose stifled daughter (Grace Kaufman) is about to leave for college fears the return of a menacing figure (Tim Roth) from her past. Hall turns in a harrowing tour de force performance in a profoundly unsettling work of psychological reality horror.—RDL
Stronger Than Love (Film, Cuba/Mexico, Tuli Demicheli, 1955) Haughty young woman (Miroslava) returns from Europe, where she falls into torrid love-hate with the blunt self-made man (Jorge Mistral) who, unbeknownst to her, has saved her upper crust family from ruin. Racy, sardonic melodrama is glossy, commercial entertainment from pre-revolutionary Cuba. Check out the hot and heavy santeria-inspired nightclub dance routine.—RDL
GoodHigh Tension (Film, US, Allan Dwan, 1936) The brashness that makes deep sea diver Steve Reardon the best man for any telegraph cable laying job causes him to wrongfoot his relationship with the fiery pulp writer (Glenda Farrell) who fictionalizes his adventures. Eccentric blend of romcom and 30s dangerous labor movie kept aloft by charm and zippy pacing.—RDL
In the Gaming Hut we come to the aid of beloved Patreon backer Keelan O’Hea, who wants to know how to revive a campaign after a period spent on hold.
Recent reports that it is the world’s oldest pyramid surely had you wondering when we were going to discuss Indonesia’s Gunung Padang in the Archaeology Hut.
To the world’s cheers, orcas have been attacking boats near Spain and Portugal. Ripped from the Headlines has the story behind the story.
Finally, we learn which key events Ken’s Time Machine must protect to prevent the British from winning the American Revolutionary War.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Ho ho ho, festive friends, it’s once again time to celebrate the holidays and noncompliant behavior with Weird Little Elf, the fast and easy stocking stuffer game from our garland-festooned pals at Atlas Games.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.
RecommendedBottoms (Film, US, Emma Seligmann, 2023) Anarchy reigns when gay but nonetheless unpopular high school besties (Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri) looking for a pretext to talk to their crushes set up a self defense club. Outrageous teen comedy escalates to a truly bonkers conclusion. I hope someone is writing more comedies around Edebiri‘s brilliant minor key comic timing.—RDL
Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession (Nonfiction, Craig Childs, 2010) Profiling archaeologists, curators, collectors, dealers and plunderers, Childs considers the surprisingly complex question of where artifacts belong, who ought to possess them, and whether they should be left in the ground. A compelling voice gives narrative direction to a topic that in most other hands would be as dusty as a roadside pot sherd.—RDL
Hôtel du Nord (Film, France, Marcel Carné, 1938) Passionate young woman (Renée) checks into a modest hotel to complete a suicide pact with her boyfriend (Jean-Pierre Aumont) but is then drawn into the community of its residents and staff. Lyrical ensemble drama pits romantic fatalism against the joys of living.—RDL
Huesera: the Bone Woman (Film, Mexico, Michelle Garza Cervera, 2023) Pregnant furniture maker with a wild past (Natalia Solián) spirals into despair when she is plagued by apparitions of horrifically twisted female bodies. Unnerving character-driven horror draws on the fear of motherhood.—RDL
The Pez Outlaw (Film, US, Amy and Brian Storkel, 2022) Documentary retells the story of Steve Glew, who in the 90s became a thorn in the side to the American branch of the Pez candy dispenser empire with gray market imports of back-doored product from Eastern European factories. Wry caper elements float over darker hints of the mental health implications of obsessive collector culture.—RDL
The Possessed (Film, Italy, Luigi Bazzoni & Franco Rossellini, 1965) Novelist checking into an off-season hotel discovers that the maid he yearns for died under mysterious circumstances. Dreams and imaginings stand in for clues in this austere, arty mystery.—RDL
Valkyrie (Film, US/Germany, Bryan Singer, 2008) Col. Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) joins a plot against Hitler and takes it over by force of personality. By emphasizing the larger conspiracy around the bomb plot, Singer turns the story into a high-tension political thriller while uncomfortably highlighting the need for ruthlessness even for the best of ends. Terence Stamp and Bill Nighy superbly play Generals Beck and Olbricht as model and foil to Cruise, respectively. —KH
In the Gaming Hut we ask ourselves whether designers should include optional rules they don’t actually recommend using.
The History Hut takes on the smell of rocket fuel as beloved backer Fred Kiesche asks for the real made-up story behind the US anti-satellite weapons of Program 437.
Estimable backer Shane Cubis bids us to the Culture Hut to profile Peggy Guggenheim, peripatetic collector, dealer and patron of the surrealist and abstract expressionist movements.
At the behest of applaudable backer Ben Brighoff, the Eliptony Hut looks at the Sullivanians, the Upper West Side movement that for decades twisted psychotherapy into a vehicle for abusive cult control.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Ho ho ho, festive friends, it’s once again time to celebrate the holidays and noncompliant behavior with Weird Little Elf, the fast and easy stocking stuffer game from our garland-festooned pals at Atlas Games.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Alexander Arebalo wants to know how to make a building more of a character than a setting in a scenario.
Glittering backer Josh King checks the Crime Blotter for the story of Civil War gold that one treasure hunter accuses the FBI of stealing right from under his nose.
Legendary Patreon backer Joshua Hillerup beckons us to the Monster Hut to review the particulars of the Irish sorcerer-dwarf and/or vampire, the abhartach.
Finally the Consulting Occultist tells us about turn of the century Swiss medium, automatic writer and vicarious Mars visitor Hélène Smith.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Ho ho ho, festive friends, it’s once again time to celebrate the holidays and noncompliant behavior with Weird Little Elf, the fast and easy stocking stuffer game from our garland-festooned pals at Atlas Games.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut show you how to remind players that their characters are the experts.
The Tradecraft Hut profiles American novelist, journalist and Soviet spy Martha Dodd.
Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else finds us chatting with designer and theorist John R. Harness.
Finally at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Patrick Holmes, Ken’s Time Machine sets the dial for prehistoric. Our chrono-hero looks into the hominid population bottleneck, which came close to ending the homo sapiens story before it began.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Atlas Games turns an amazing math discovery into a fascinating puzzle for all ages with InFUNity Tiles. Bring this improbably polygon, made from recycled plastic , into your life by joining the current Kickstarter.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut we discuss ways to build premise acceptance into pregenerated characters.
Beloved Patreon backer invites us to the Horror Hut to discuss H. P. Lovecraft’s view that Bram Stoker was not the sole author of Dracula.
Director Paul Schrader recently observed that movie audiences are dumber now. In the Cinema Hut we decide if he’s onto something there.
Finally in the Eliptony Hut we return to the site of a recent segment to unearth the history of the Hexham Heads.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Atlas Games turns an amazing math discovery into a fascinating puzzle for all ages with InFUNity Tiles. Bring this improbably polygon, made from recycled plastic , into your life by joining the current Kickstarter.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks us for ways to make traps exciting.
Redoubtable backer Patrick Crowley directs us to the History Hut for a look at St. Louis’ Veiled Prophet tradition.
The Food Hut takes on a retrofuturistic look as tasteful backer Rich Ranallo asks us for the lowdown on futuristic cooking.
Finally stellar backer Scott Wachter asks the Consulting Occultist why the so-called 13th astrological sign, Ophiuchus, remains unrecognized.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Atlas Games turns an amazing math discovery into a fascinating puzzle for all ages with InFUNity Tiles. Bring this improbably polygon, made from recycled plastic , into your life by joining the current Kickstarter.
Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.
RecommendedEl Vampiro Negro (Film, Argentina, Román Viñoly Barreto, 1953) Publicity-fearing nightclub singer (Olga Zubarry) runs afoul of a severe prosecutor (Roberto Escalado) when she declines to assist his hunt for a compulsive child killer (Nathán Pinzón.) Remake of M relegates the killer’s story to a subplot in a film noir tale of shaded morality packed with arresting expressionist imagery.—RDL
Ready or Not (Film, US, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, 2019) Woman (Samara Weaving) marries into a wealthy family of board game manufacturers, little suspecting that a wedding night tradition gives her a one in thirty chance of being hunted down for Satanic sacrifice. Weaving strikes the requisite balance between resourceful and terrified in this tongue-in-cheek single-location pursuit thriller.—RDL
Roald Dahl Quartet (Films, US, Wes Anderson, 2023) Anderson films four Dahl short stories (“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” “The Swan,” “The Rat Catcher,” and “Poison”) as literal expressions of story telling, the cast (including Ralph Fiennes as Dahl, Benedict Cumberbatch as Henry Sugar, etc.) narrating the stories right through the fourth wall as the effects and stagehands switch out backdrops, props, etc. Somehow the combination of the completely literal and categorically abstract works, and evokes the same ironic flavor of humor as Dahl’s text. —KH
Thirst (Film, South Korea/US, Park Chan-wook, 2009) Turned into a vampire by an experimental vaccine, priest Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) re-enters the life of his childhood sweetheart Tae-ju (Kim Ok-bin) to bad effect. A slowly accelerating burn punctuated by compelling combos of image and music, Thirst is a great vampire film and the weirdest adaptation of an Emile Zola novel you’re ever likely to see. —KH
When Evil Lurks (Film, Argentina, Demián Rugna, 2023) Two brothers who work a farm in a remote area trigger a demonic plague when they help to dump a possessed individual on the site of a rural road. Existentially and viscerally disturbing blend of the contagion and possession sub-genres superimposes cosmic indifference over the spooky Christianity associated with the latter. Its depiction of a pervasive supernatural menace that society has uneasily adjusted to puts it on the film inspiration list for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: This is Normal Now.—RDL
GoodBlue Hour: The Disappearance of Nick Brandreth (Film, US, Dan Bowhers, 2023) Documentary filmmaker Olivia Brandreth (Morgan DeTogne) investigates the disappearance of her photographer father (Nick Brandreth). Found-footage mockumentary can’t seal the deal with the ending and only occasionally hits the uncanny it endlessly invokes, but Bowhers deserves credit for taking a big conceptual swing. —KH
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Film, US, John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein, 2023) Not-entirely-useless bard (Chris Pine) and strong female barbarian (Michelle Rodriguez) break out of prison and seek revenge on their weaselly rogue ex-comrade (Hugh Grant, once more absolutely masticating a villain part). Delightful Forgotten Realms tourism, a zippy fantasy heist, and legitimately funny and clever bits make this easily the best D&D movie, which is not a high bar. It would have been even better if any of its story or character beats had come as a remote surprise of any kind. —KH
Spectral (Film, US, Nic Mathieu, 2016) DARPA weapons researcher (James Badge Dale) embeds with a special forces unit fighting a revanchist insurgency in Moldova to investigate killer skeleton ghosts. If it had a modicum of characterization and an authoritative visual style, this novel mash-up of the war and SF horror genres would rate minor classic status.—RDL
OkayThe Great Magician (Film, Hong Kong, Derek Yee, 2011) Stage magician (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) arrives in 1920s Beijing to save his fiancee from an insecure warlord (Lau Ching Wan.) Leung and Lau give a masterclass in the profundity of movie star action to a colorful comedy that isn’t particularly looking to accommodate emotional depth.—RDL
The Gaming Hut stands inconveniently close to a weapons and armor store as beloved Patreon backer Urchin Prince asks for advice on handling shopping-obsessed players.
At the request of arborially concerned backer Evan Hughes, Ripped from the Headlines finds the esoteric truth behind the felling of the iconic, titular tree at Sycamore Gap.
Speaking of shopping, Ken’s Bookshelf allows us to vicariously enjoy our hero’s latest effort to deplete the book purveyors of Oregon.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Join the Cat Eyes detective agency, where every night is a purrfectly spooooky Halloween mystery, with Kitty Noir, the city sourcebook for Magical Kitties Save the Day from Atlas Games.
Stock up for your Halloween games with a Pelgrane Press super sale on its top GUMSHOE horror titles. The promo code SCARY23 at the Pelgrane online store gets you 20% off on Trail of Cthulhu products, Yellow King Roleplaying Game products, Esoterrorists products and Fear Itself products until November 1st.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Our first all-request episode in many moons kicks off with a Gaming Hut question from beloved Patreon backer Derrick Yates, on running horror when you don’t love gory movies.
Then compelling backer Richard Schwerdtfeger beckons us to the Command Hut for the peculiar, cameo-filled WWII battle at Castle Itter.
At the behest of inquiring Patreon backer John Kingdon, the Book Hut examines the practice of anthropodermic bibliopegy. For a complete treatment of the topic, see Megan Rosenbloom’s Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine accepts a mission assigned by parrothead-adjacent backer Michael Fox, who seeks a glimpse at the timeline where Elvis Presley recorded Margaritaville.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Join the Cat Eyes detective agency, where every night is a purrfectly spooooky Halloween mystery, with Kitty Noir, the city sourcebook for Magical Kitties Save the Day from Atlas Games.
Stock up for your Halloween games with a Pelgrane Press super sale on its top GUMSHOE horror titles. The promo code SCARY23 at the Pelgrane online store gets you 20% off on Trail of Cthulhu products, Yellow King Roleplaying Game products, Esoterrorists products and Fear Itself products until November 1st.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.
RecommendedFull Circle (Television, US, HBO Max, Ed Solomon & Steven Soderbergh, 2023) To undo a family curse, a Guyanese crime boss (CCH Pounder) orders the kidnapping of a rich couple’s (Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant) son, enmeshing a rogue postal inspector (Zazie Beetz) and many others in a series of dangerous errors and surprising revelations. Chaos theory ensemble crime drama shot by Soderbergh with a subtly destabilizing immediacy.—RDL
Limbo (Film, Australia, Ivan Sen, 2023) Police investigator Travis Hurley (Simon Baker) arrives at the titular opal-mining outback town to investigate the 20-year-old cold case of an Aboriginal girl’s abduction. Baker’s superb performance and the stark black-and-white cinematography (also by Sen) knit together this elliptical bricolage of noir, Western, policier, and social comment film genres into a powerful whole that does the job of cinema better than virtually anything you will see this year.—KH
No One Will Save You (Film, US, Brian Duffield, 2023) Lonely Etsy seller (Kaitlyn Dever) fights back when sinister gray UFO occupants invade her rural home. Nearly dialogue-free exercise in pure cinema cleverly weaves together disparate alien terror tropes.—RDL
Reptile (Film, US, Grant Singer, 2023) Homicide detective (Benicio del Toro) uncovers a conspiracy while investigating the murder of a callow realtor’s (Justin Timberlake) fiancee. Del Toro steps into a welcome leading role as a pitiless roving camera and ominous soundtrack lend neo-gothic dread to a small town policier.—RDL
GoodEvil Dead Rise (Film, US, Lee Cronin, 2023) In a largely deserted apartment building, a guitar tech (Lily Sullivan) defends her nieces and nephew from their demonically possessed mother (Alyssa Sutherland.) Earns points for moving the franchise to a new urban locale and for exploring deeper characterization, though the horror remits too often in the middle, and the fear of motherhood theme doesn’t really integrate with the gothic teleology of the Evil Dead universe.—RDL
OkayForemost by Night (Film, Spain/Portugal/France, Victor Iriarte, 2023) Court reporter Vera (Lola Dueñas) penetrates a baby-snatching conspiracy to find her stolen son Egoz (Manuel Egozkue) and his adoptive mother Cora (Ana Torrent). This film could be Exhibit A in McKee’s “no voiceovers” thesis. Three or four very promising premises founder on the complete absence of conflict, leaving what little drama remains for the actors to emote. That game acting and some intriguingly oblique symbology keep this inert exercise barely at Okay. —KH
Thirteen Women (Film, US, George Archainbaud, 1932) Young widowed socialite (Irene Dunne) and her former finishing school classmates receive messages of doom from an astrologer, which come true thanks to the hypnotic powers of their embittered nemesis (Myrna Loy.) Somewhat perfunctory thriller novel adaptation offers the chance to see Loy in one of her early villain roles. CW: Orientalism.
The Gaming Hut completes its series on scenario structures, as inspired by Robin’s recent Adventure Crucible chapbook for the Kraken, with the intrigue scenario.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, we chat with Ajit George, who looks back on his work as developer of the acclaimed Journeys Through the Radiant City adventure anthology for Dungeons & Dragons.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer John Scheib, Crime Blotter seeks the numismatic and/or occult significance of a Philadelphia dime heist.
Finally the Eliptony Hut rips a topic from the headlines, profiling UFOlogist Jaime Maussan, who recently presented so-called alien mummies to a Mexican congressional hearing.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Join the Cat Eyes detective agency, where every night is a purrfectly spooooky Halloween mystery, with Kitty Noir, the city sourcebook for Magical Kitties Save the Day from Atlas Games.
Stock up for your Halloween games with a Pelgrane Press super sale on its top GUMSHOE horror titles. The promo code SCARY23 at the Pelgrane online store gets you 20% off on Trail of Cthulhu products, Yellow King Roleplaying Game products, Esoterrorists products and Fear Itself products until November 1st.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
The Gaming Hut continues its look at the structures analyzed in Robin’s Adventure Crucible Kraken chapbook with the survival scenario.
In the Cinema Hut Robin points you toward the best geek-facing films he chose for the second annual Robin and Valerie International Film Festival.
Ask Ken and Robin entertains the request of beloved Patreon backer Tom Abella for guidance on running a Yevgeny Prigozhin game.
Finally the Consulting Occultist fills intrepid backer Jacob Boersma in on the alchemists, demonologists and kabbalists of his native Netherlands.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Join the Cat Eyes detective agency, where every night is a purrfectly spooooky Halloween mystery, with Kitty Noir, the city sourcebook for Magical Kitties Save the Day from Atlas Games.
Stock up for your Halloween games with a Pelgrane Press super sale on its top GUMSHOE horror titles. The promo code SCARY23 at the Pelgrane online store gets you 20% off on Trail of Cthulhu products, Yellow King Roleplaying Game products, Esoterrorists products and Fear Itself products until November 1st.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
The Gaming Hut continues its look at scenario structures, as found in Robin’s new Adventure Crucible chapbook, with the chain of fights.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Eric Prister from The Nature of My Game Podcast provides tips on GMing for an actual play podcast. Stay tuned after this episode’s credits for a special bonus teaser from the first episode of NoMG’s epic run of Robin’s upcoming Cassilda’s Song mega-campaign for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game.
Among My Many Hats gives Robin a chance to talk about Six Ages: Lights Going Out, A-Sharp and Killfox’s mobile game of clan management, set in the fantastic world of Glorantha at a time when Chaos is destroying the world.
Finally at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Bruce Miller, Ken’s Time Machine lands dangerously close to the Delft arsenal explosion.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
You are a great mage, battling for the last reservoir of the magical element Etherium. You’ll craft creations and cast spells to defeat your rivals, leaving you as master of the Godsforge! The new 2nd Edition of Godsforge is available now from Atlas Games, plus two new expansions: Return of the Dragon Gods and Twilight of the Great Houses.
Even Death Can Die, the breathlessly-awaited scenario book for Cthulhu Confidential, is now in print at an eldritch game store near you, or in the Pelgrane web store. Thrill to three hardboiled Lovecraftian adventures apiece from stalwart investigators Langston Wright, Vivian Sinclair, and Dex Raymond, all for one player and one GM.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut, we look at the second of the scenario structures Robin breaks down in his new Adventure Crucible chapbook, the mystery.
Beloved Patreon backer Joshua Randall beckons us into the Cartography Hut as he seeks places on Earth with the widest variety of F20 friendly biomes.
Then Charles Picard puts up multiple screens in a geodesic Culture Hut to ask about Charles and Ray Eames’ film “Glimpses of the USA”, as seen in Moscow in 1959.
Finally the Eliptony Hut looks at the dangerous tale of the Fenn treasure.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
You are a great mage, battling for the last reservoir of the magical element Etherium. You’ll craft creations and cast spells to defeat your rivals, leaving you as master of the Godsforge! The new 2nd Edition of Godsforge is available now from Atlas Games, plus two new expansions: Return of the Dragon Gods and Twilight of the Great Houses.
Even Death Can Die, the breathlessly-awaited scenario book for Cthulhu Confidential, is now in print at an eldritch game store near you, or in the Pelgrane web store. Thrill to three hardboiled Lovecraftian adventures apiece from stalwart investigators Langston Wright, Vivian Sinclair, and Dex Raymond, all for one player and one GM.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Ken and Robin were together once more for a live show at Gen Con, and here it is, with the mystical confluence of Elvis, Ben Franklin, and zombies, plus harissa, fancy liquor labeling, our nemeses, why Robin would never have Ken assassinated, Schrodinger’s frogs, and what the hamsters and guinea pigs are really up to.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
You are a great mage, battling for the last reservoir of the magical element Etherium. You’ll craft creations and cast spells to defeat your rivals, leaving you as master of the Godsforge! The new 2nd Edition of Godsforge is available now from Atlas Games, plus two new expansions: Return of the Dragon Gods and Twilight of the Great Houses.
Even Death Can Die, the breathlessly-awaited scenario book for Cthulhu Confidential, is now in print at an eldritch game store near you, or in the Pelgrane web store. Thrill to three hardboiled Lovecraftian adventures apiece from stalwart investigators Langston Wright, Vivian Sinclair, and Dex Raymond, all for one player and one GM.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
The Gaming Hut hosts part one in a series breaking down the various scenario structures, as inspired by Robin’s new Kraken chapbook, Adventure Crucible. We start with a look at the dungeon and other area-based scenarios, finding its hidden and not-so hidden strengths.
An anonymous patron beckons us into the History Hut for a look at Albert Einstein’s world travels from 1922 to 1923, with many stops including Japan and Jerusalem.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, we speak with writer and designer Emily Cambias.
Finally the Consulting Occultist looks at self-styled shaman Durek Verrett, provider of woo-woo to the stars and fiancée of Norwegian princess Martha Louise.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Waggle your tiny clawed arms in delight! The 5E edition of Planegea, Atlas Games’ setting of primordial fantasy wonder, has arrived. Whether you’re a saurian or shimmering, dreamwalking elf, you’ll want to grab the campaign setting book, as well as accessories like the GM screen, adventures, soundtrack, and deluxe boxed edition while that meteor remains safely in the sky above.
Even Death Can Die, the breathlessly-awaited scenario book for Cthulhu Confidential, is now in print at an eldritch game store near you, or in the Pelgrane web store. Thrill to three hardboiled Lovecraftian adventures apiece from stalwart investigators Langston Wright, Vivian Sinclair, and Dex Raymond, all for one player and one GM.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Among My Many Hats looks at Robin’s new Adventure Crucible Kraken chapbook, in which he breaks down the structures of various scenario types to help you design them better. Get in PDF from DriveThruRPG or in physical form from All Rolled Up.
Beloved Patreon backer Matthew Preston beckons us into the Archaeology Hut to ask why the tombs recently excavated at Exeter Cathedral had no deceased bishops in them.
The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Film Essentials series reaches its epic conclusion with the titles of the late teens.
Finally, estimable backer Johan Tor, upon hearing that our chrono-hero once shook Lech Walesa’s hand, wonders how Ken’s Time Machine was involved.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Waggle your tiny clawed arms in delight! The 5E edition of Planegea, Atlas Games’ setting of primordial fantasy wonder, has arrived. Whether you’re a saurian or shimmering, dreamwalking elf, you’ll want to grab the campaign setting book, as well as accessories like the GM screen, adventures, soundtrack, and deluxe boxed edition while that meteor remains safely in the sky above.
Even Death Can Die, the breathlessly-awaited scenario book for Cthulhu Confidential, is now in print at an eldritch game store near you, or in the Pelgrane web store. Thrill to three hardboiled Lovecraftian adventures apiece from stalwart investigators Langston Wright, Vivian Sinclair, and Dex Raymond, all for one player and one GM.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut, we propose ways to respond to the characters’ failures of stealth without killing story momentum. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, both of us chat with author Howard Andrew Jones about the state of sword and sorcery and his new novel, Lord of a Shattered Land. In Ask Ken […]
For the first time since the Great Unpleasantness, not only Ken but also Robin made it to Gen Con. Picking up a tradition where it left off, we devote the episode to recapping our experience there. From the new stuff at the Pelgrane booth, from the flow of the show to the state of the […]
The episode we record together in Indianapolis before Gen Con is back, starting with a Gaming Hut look at using the vagaries of attendance to guide your plot developments. In the Food Hut we look at new additions to our list of techniques, grocery lists, and home bars. Our Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essential Series […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen asks for tips on achieving balance with F20 magic items. How do GMs find the sweet spot between a boring +1 sword and a full MacGuffin? The Book Hut looks at the career of SF, fantasy and crime writer Avram Davidson, in the centenary of his birth. […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Hector Trelane asks us to discuss the Jeepform game design movement. A Crime Blotter investigation has us looking at Captagon, a licit pharmaceutical product that traveled from Germany to the Eastern Bloc and finally morphed into a war-fighting or party drug with a geopolitical reach throughout the Middle […]
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Michael David Jr. wants to know how to fold the 19th century French interest in Ancient Egypt into The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. In the Food Hut we look at gum arabic, a ubiquitous ingredient in processed food and other products whose worldwide supply is now threatened as […]
Beloved Patreon backer and longtime GM David Rourke convenes us in the Gaming Hut to ask, is it okay if running published adventures doesn’t work for you? Travel Advisory features a report from Ken on his recent trip to the Diversão Offline game convention in São Paulo, Brazil. The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials Series […]
The Gaming Hut looks at collaborative worldbuilding. Our Cinema Hut Science Fiction Cinema Essentials series reaches the late 90s. In Ask Ken and Robin, beloved Patreon backer Kevin Greenlee asks how to fit DramaSystem into other games. Finally the Consulting Occultist tells the tale of a magical assassination plot aimed at Edward II. Want to […]
In the Gaming Hut we look at a common GMing pitfall, which we like to call the Case of the Tight-lipped Informant. The Tradecraft Hut opens the dossier on 18th century antiquarian and spy Philipp von Stosch. Installment 22 of the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series finds us in the mid 90s. Finally beloved […]
Beloved Patreon backer Ryan McClelland ventures into our seedy, low rent Gaming Hut to ask how Sam Spade’s monkeywrenching style of investigation fits in GUMSHOE. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Somebody Else, Ken talks to Improv for Gamers author Karen Twelves. The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Cinema Essentials series makes the turn from the […]
In the Gaming Hut we suggest ways to design your player character backstory to make you a premise accepter. Learn with Ken as Among My Many Hats discusses his upcoming online adult education course “H.P. Lovecraft: Maker of Modern Horror,” available Thursdays in July through Signum University. The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series reaches […]
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Elias Helfer wants to hear our take on our esteemed colleague Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan’s take on investigative leads. Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else finds Ken talking to tabletop roleplaying pioneer Jennell Jacquays. Part eighteen of our increasingly epic Cinema Hut Science Fiction Film Essentials series brings us […]
The planet Earth has hurtled through time and space yet again to take this podcast to another milestone: our five hundred and fiftieth episode. Longtime listeners know what that means—LIGHTNING ROUND!!! questions as posed by our beloved Patreon backers. In rapid fashion we address queries about overrated foods, stingy players, satellite imagery, and so much more.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Once Upon a Time the fairy godmothers at Atlas Games offered a special deal on their classic card game, Once Upon a Time. Until May 31st you and your magic beans can claim a free expansion with the purchase of any three Once Upon a Time products at the Atlas Games store. Use the coupon code ONCE2023.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Flashbacks and cold opens fill the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Kelly Fisher asks how scenes without the player characters work as downbeats.In the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials Series, we reach installment 17, which might not get us all the way through that most speculative year, 1984.Then our bibliomaniacal hero regales us with the fruits of his latest Austin purchasing frenzy in Ken’s Bookshelf.Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Once Upon a Time the fairy godmothers at Atlas Games offered a special deal on their classic card game, Once Upon a Time. Until May 31st you and your magic beans can claim a free expansion with the purchase of any three Once Upon a Time products at the Atlas Games store. Use the coupon code ONCE2023.The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Your heroes don masks and top hats in the Gaming Hut as beloved backer Daniel Fidelman asks how to use iconic French pulp villain Fantomas in The Yellow King Roleplaying Game.The Tradecraft Hut gets a little too online as we look at the tabletop implications of the Jack Teixeira spy secrets leak case.We phone home but don’t phone it in as we continue to make steady progress through the rich trove of the early eighties in the Cinema Hut’s Science Fiction Essentials Series.And finally Ken’s Time Machine meddles again in the Roman Empire, this time seeing what happens if our chrononaut saves the bacon of the Emperor known as Philip the Arab.Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Once Upon a Time the fairy godmothers at Atlas Games offered a special deal on their classic card game, Once Upon a Time. Until May 31st you and your magic beans can claim a free expansion with the purchase of any three Once Upon a Time products at the Atlas Games store. Use the coupon code ONCE2023.The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut we wonder how running games for a streaming audience will change GMing practice in general.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Dan Noland with proceed with extreme caution into the Book Hut for a look at an arsenic-infused volume of 19th century silhouette portraits by peripatetic artist William Bache.
Installment fifteen of the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series takes to the beginning of the 1980s, which is veritably chockablock with classics.
Finally the Consulting Occultist meets us in the Architecture Hut for a look at the so-called Devil’s Architect, Nicholas Hawksmoor, whose reputation for the arcane might just have been burnished by some of our finest living nerdtropers.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Once Upon a Time the fairy godmothers at Atlas Games offered a special deal on their classic card game, Once Upon a Time. Until May 31st you and your magic beans can claim a free expansion with the purchase of any three Once Upon a Time products at the Atlas Games store. Use the coupon code ONCE2023.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
We enter the secret chamber of the Gaming Hut at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Ian Carlsen, who seeks guidance on a campaign built around initiation into a mystery cult.
Speaking of mysteries, the Food Hut tackles the terrifying possibility that ice cream might be good for you.
In the Cinema Hut our Science Fiction Film Essentials series reaches the densely packed turn from the 70s into the 80s.
Finally Conspiracy Corner looks at the 15 minute city and how this anodyne urban planning concept has become the latest locus of paranoid panic.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Once Upon a Time the fairy godmothers at Atlas Games offered a special deal on their classic card game, Once Upon a Time. Until May 31st you and your magic beans can claim a free expansion with the purchase of any three Once Upon a Time products at the Atlas Games store. Use the coupon code ONCE2023.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Get your spreadsheets and notebooks out because in the Gaming Hut we’re talking bluebook-heavy games.
In the Command Hut beloved Patreon backer Andrew Miller waves his saber to precipitate a discussion of the Charge of the Savoia Cavalleria at Izbushensky, and whether it was in fact history’s last significant cavalry charge.
The lucky thirteenth chapter of our Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series takes us to the late 70s, starting with the lightsaber-wielding film that changed the genre forever.
Finally in the Eliptony Hut we get drunk and play with Polaroids as we retell the tale of psychic photographer Ted Serios.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Rejoice, fans of Atlas Games and Ken and Robin. Atlas Games is running its most Ken and Robiny promotion ever. Atlas publishes books from both of us and for a limited time only you can get 20% off those books with the promo code KENANDROBIN23 at the Atlas Games store: https://atlas-games.com/product_tables/.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
The Gaming Hut makes knowing reference to the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Joshua Hillerup asks how one might make a game that is to roleplaying what Community was to the sitcom.
Malaise gives way to corrupt hedonism as the Cinema Hut science fiction essentials series reaches the mid 70s.
In The Business of Gaming we wonder what the crumbling state of social media means to guerrilla marketing for tabletop products.
Finally in Ken’s Time Machine estimable backer Neil Barnes proposes that our chrono-hero do something about replacing mere decimal mathematics with a Base-12 system.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
In Sunset City, there’s always something fishy going on … and we’re not talking tuna. The magical kitties of Sunset City have their paws full of mystery. Thanks to our fine feline friends at Atlas Games, Magical Kitties Noir is headed to Kickstarter.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut we examine the social contract of F20, specifically whether players want the GM to move the boss fight into a room convenient to session pacing.
Part eleven of our Cinema Hut science fiction essentials series takes us to the malaise of the early seventies.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken chats with Christopher Robin Negelein about his Mystery Flesh Pit National Park RPG. Look for it on Kickstarter.
Finally beloved Patreon backer Ed Sizemore beckons us into the Eliptony Hut to learn more about the Brazilian syncretic UFO sect Vale do Amanhecer.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
In Sunset City, there’s always something fishy going on … and we’re not talking tuna. The magical kitties of Sunset City have their paws full of mystery. Thanks to our fine feline friends at Atlas Games, Magical Kitties Noir is headed to Kickstarter.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
We begin in the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Ludovic Chabant asks for tips on porting the single-protagonist assumptions of much genre source material to the party-driven play typical to tabletop roleplaying.
The Cinema Hut takes place in the shadow of a certain monolith as installment ten of our Science Fiction Cinema Essentials reaches the late 60s and early 70s.
We’ve talked about sidekick campaigns before. In Ask Ken and Robin, revered backer Peter Adkison points out that we haven’t talked about running one centered around noted chrononaut Kenneth Hite.
Finally, the Consulting Occultist profiles 1st century prophet Alexander of Abonoteichus, begetter of the Glykon snake cult.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
In Sunset City, there’s always something fishy going on … and we’re not talking tuna. The magical kitties of Sunset City have their paws full of mystery. Thanks to our fine feline friends at Atlas Games, Magical Kitties Noir is now on Kickstarter.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut we look at the Efficiency Paradox, where players who most effectively grapple with the choices of a scenario are the most likely to regard it as linear.
A Zillow floorplan of a Glendora CA home winds up in the Cartography Hut at the behest of beloved backer Monster Talk, who has spotted some anomalies he needs explained.
The ninth installment of the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series finds us in the mid-60s, as the genre falls into arty European hands.
On Jan 31, 1914, a meteor struck a torpedo factory in Sistersville, West Virginia, sending an exploding ball of nitroglycerin into the air. We find out what role Ken’s Time Machine played in this unlikely event.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
In Sunset City, there’s always something fishy going on … and we’re not talking tuna. The magical kitties of Sunset City have their paws full of mystery. Thanks to our fine feline friends at Atlas Games, Magical Kitties Noir is headed to Kickstarter.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Things get both creepy and capey in the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Sean asks how to combine superheroes with cosmic horror.
At the behest of estimable backer Cynistrategus, Ripped From the Headlines finds the gaming potential in recent animal thefts at the Dallas Zoo.
In the Cinema Hut, part eight of our Science Fiction Cinema Essentials series reaches the 1960s as the genre moves to Europe and goes avant-garde.
Finally the Eliptony Hut expands to hide a giant sphere as formidable backer Joshua Randall asks for the true weirdness behind the strange object that washed up on Japan’s Enshu Beach.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
In Sunset City, there’s always something fishy going on … and we’re not talking tuna. The magical kitties of Sunset City have their paws full of mystery. Thanks to our fine feline friends at Atlas Games, Magical Kitties Noir is headed to Kickstarter.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut we wonder whether it is always bad for the players to figure out the mystery prior to the big reveal scene.
A relic heist comes under scrutiny in the History Hut as beloved Patreon backer Mark D. Rinna asks why black ops crusaders raided the tomb of St. Nicholas.
Installment seven of the Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series finds us working methodically through the late fifties.
Then the Consulting Occultist enters the Culture Hut at the behest of sophisticated backer Jake Maas, who seeks enlightenment on the Theosophical roots of avant garde artist Yves Klein.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
In Sunset City, there’s always something fishy going on … and we’re not talking tuna. The magical kitties of Sunset City have their paws full of mystery. Thanks to our fine feline friends at Atlas Games, Magical Kitties Noir is headed to Kickstarter.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
We hope you’re wearing headphones for this one because we start in the Gaming Hut with a request from beloved Patreon backer Kevin L. Nault asks us to wrap a campaign around ear-entering, disease-causing ghosts.
Then the Tradecraft Hut looks up in the sky for the truth about spy balloons.
Finally, the Cinema Hut makes way for our annual pre-Oscars tradition, in which we list our top ten films of the 2022,
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
In Sunset City, there’s always something fishy going on … and we’re not talking tuna. The magical kitties of Sunset City have their paws full of mystery. Thanks to our fine feline friends at Atlas Games, Magical Kitties Noir is headed to Kickstarter.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
We appear to be stuck in the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck seeks tips on scenarios set in confined spaces.
In the Tradecraft Hut estimable backer Dan L seeks gaming inspiration from Operation Pedro Pan, a covert effort to migrate unaccompanied teens and kids to the US from early 60s Cuba.
The Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series reaches the mid-1950s and some all-time classic creature features.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine travels to and interferes with the early 20th century French political scandal known as the Affair of the Cards.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Rejoice, fans of Atlas Games and Ken and Robin. Atlas Games is running its most Ken and Robiny promotion ever. Atlas publishes books from both of us and for a limited time only you can get 20% off those books with the promo code KENANDROBIN23 at the Atlas Games store: https://atlas-games.com/product_tables/.
The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut we ask ourselves what we would pitch to Disney if they asked us to design an F20 game using their characters.
Beloved Patreon backer Toonspew draws us to the Monster Hut to contemplate the prospect of evil unicorns.
We take our seats in the Cinema Hut for installment five of our Science Fiction Cinema Essentials and more classics of the early 50s.
Finally in the Eliptony Hut we peer into the Premonitions Bureau, a late 60s British project to record psychic predictions.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Rejoice, fans of Atlas Games and Ken and Robin. Atlas Games is running its most Ken and Robiny promotion ever. Atlas publishes books from both of us and for a limited time only you can get 20% off those books with the promo code KENANDROBIN23 at the Atlas Games store: https://atlas-games.com/product_tables/.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
The topic may be vagueness but the analysis remains sharp as the Gaming Hut looks at open questions and unsolved mysteries in RPG setting material.
In Fun With Science, we look for plot hooks in the ChatGPT AI text generator, including the inevitable query about its Mythos implications from beloved Patreon backer Tom Abella.
The Cinema Hut reaches part four of the Science Fiction Film Essentials series, as the genre finally hits full boil in the hopeful but paranoid early 50s.
Finally, at the behest of inquiring backer Sam Rutzick, the Consulting Occultist warily goes undercover for some questionable spinal adjustment, in search of the ghostly weirdness behind chiropractic treatment.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Rejoice, fans of Atlas Games and Ken and Robin. Atlas Games is running its most Ken and Robiny promotion ever. Atlas publishes books from both of us and for a limited time only you can get 20% off those books with the promo code KENANDROBIN23 at the Atlas Games store: https://atlas-games.com/product_tables/.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
Beloved Patreon backer Michael Gemar requests that The Business of Gaming tackle Wizards of the Coast’s latest adventures in managing the Dungeons and Dragons Open License.
We thought that would be one segment. Hear it, in real time, turn into three!
That leaves room for the Cinema Hut’s Science Fiction Film Essentials series to reach the sound era, and the 1930s, when the laboratory becomes a wellspring of gothic terror.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Rejoice, fans of Atlas Games and Ken and Robin. Atlas Games is running its most Ken and Robiny promotion ever. Atlas publishes books from both of us and for a limited time only you can get 20% off those books with the promo code KENANDROBIN23 at the Atlas Games store: https://atlas-games.com/product_tables/.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut we look at what characters should do more often in horror: run!
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Eric Saltwell, the Word Hut seeks the real truth behind Unicode ghost kanji.
In part two of our Cinema Hut Science Fiction Essentials series, we finally get to some actual movies, the precursors (and one classic) of the silent era.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine fuels itself on some high-octane introductory exposition as fiendishly clever backer Philip Masters asks our. chrononaut to come up with a fresh answer to the Schleswig-Holstein Question.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Rejoice, fans of Atlas Games and Ken and Robin. Atlas Games is running its most Ken and Robiny promotion ever. Atlas publishes books from both of us and for a limited time only you can get 20% off those books with the promo code KENANDROBIN23 at the Atlas Games store: https://atlas-games.com/product_tables/.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.
In the Gaming Hut we remember our friend and colleague Darren Watts, prolific Champions designer and former head of Hero Games.
The Crime Blotter comes a little too close to home for comfort as Ken tells the story of his recent shooting.
We kick off a new series in the Cinema Hut, Science Fiction Cinema Essentials. Due to the porousness of the genre we train our radium oscilloscopes on some definitions and ground rules before getting started with earliest examples.
Finally another undead bloodsucker sneaks into the Eliptony Hut, this time of the relatively recent urban legend variety, as we profile the Richmond Vampire.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Rejoice, fans of Atlas Games and Ken and Robin. Atlas Games is running its most Ken and Robiny promotion ever. Atlas publishes books from both of us and for a limited time only you can get 20% off those books with the promo code KENANDROBIN23 at the Atlas Games store: https://atlas-games.com/product_tables/.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Delta Green Iconoclasts, a campaign of horrors modern and ancient, brings a team of Agents to a scene of horrors all too real: Mosul in 2016, held by the self-styled Islamic State in a reign of depraved brutality. From a small base at the Kirkuk airfield, the Agents must research the horrors to come and prepare for a harrowing infiltration. Terrors and new supplementary material await, now in PDF, hardback now in preorder.
In response to this Caity Weaver New York Times Magazine article, beloved Patreon backer Scott Wachter makes the Gaming Hut a very quiet place indeed by asking us for the scenario possibilities of anechoic chambers.
Estimable backer Ray Slakinski beckons us to the Northern Ontario location of the Horror Hut to discuss the Wilno vampire.
Speaking of horror, Ken and Robin Recycle Audio completes its highlights of the Horror Roleplaying Masterclass from Dragonmeet.
Finally the Consulting Occultist meets erudite backer Jamie Twine in a gondola for a survey of the weird and magical in Venice.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Rejoice, fans of Atlas Games and Ken and Robin. Atlas Games is running its most Ken and Robiny promotion ever. Atlas publishes books from both of us and for a limited time only you can get 20% off those books with the promo code KENANDROBIN23 at the Atlas Games store: https://atlas-games.com/product_tables/.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Delta Green Iconoclasts, a campaign of horrors modern and ancient, brings a team of Agents to a scene of horrors all too real: Mosul in 2016, held by the self-styled Islamic State in a reign of depraved brutality. From a small base at the Kirkuk airfield, the Agents must research the horrors to come and prepare for a harrowing infiltration. Terrors and new supplementary material await, now in PDF, hardback now in preorder.
Fire up your automated die rollers as the Gaming Hut goes digital to answer beloved Patreon backer Marc Kevin Hall’s request for guidance on running tabletop RPGs online.
In the History Hut, unswerving backer Jeromy French unwittingly illuminates the number one rule of Canadian history by seeking the secrets behind the assassination of Ontario newspaperman and politician George Brown.
Then Ken and Robin Recycle Audio with more answers from the Dragonmeet Horror Roleplaying Masterclass, also starring our boon compadre Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan.
Finally pitch-traversing backer Neil Barnes revs up Ken’s Time Machine to impel our hero to root the corruption out of FIFA.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Rejoice, fans of Atlas Games and Ken and Robin. Atlas Games is running its most Ken and Robiny promotion ever. Atlas publishes books from both of us and for a limited time only you can get 20% off those books with the promo code KENANDROBIN23 at the Atlas Games store: https://atlas-games.com/product_tables/.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Delta Green Iconoclasts, a campaign of horrors modern and ancient, brings a team of Agents to a scene of horrors all too real: Mosul in 2016, held by the self-styled Islamic State in a reign of depraved brutality. From a small base at the Kirkuk airfield, the Agents must research the horrors to come and prepare for a harrowing infiltration. Terrors and new supplementary material await, now in PDF, hardback now in preorder.
We start by whittling some polyhedrals in the Gaming Hut, as beloved Patreon backer Derrick Yates asks us to sketch out an Appalachian cryptid campaign.
In The Business of Gaming we discuss another reason the books you’re waiting for are late, the great freelancer / creator crash-out of 2022.
Then another long dormant segment returns, as Ken and Robin Recycle Audio from the Dragonmeet Horror Roleplaying Masterclass.
Finally alien ears perk up in the Eliptony Hut as we profile UFO gadfly Gray Barker.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Rejoice, fans of Atlas Games and Ken and Robin. Atlas Games is running its most Ken and Robiny promotion ever. Atlas publishes books from both of us and for a limited time only you can get 20% off those books with the promo code KENANDROBIN23 at the Atlas Games store: https://atlas-games.com/product_tables/.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Delta Green Iconoclasts, a campaign of horrors modern and ancient, brings a team of Agents to a scene of horrors all too real: Mosul in 2016, held by the self-styled Islamic State in a reign of depraved brutality. From a small base at the Kirkuk airfield, the Agents must research the horrors to come and prepare for a harrowing infiltration. Terrors and new supplementary material await, now in PDF, hardback now in preorder.
After nearly three chaotic years, the universe has begun to right itself, as you can tell when this episode recorded live at Dragonmeet enters your ear canals. Ken answers the call of the nerdtrope card. Then, fortified by sticky toffee pudding and Christmas sandwiches, we talk topical villains, the cure for cursed dice, the occult nature of various drinks, and more.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Fill every stocking with social deduction. Tis in fact the season for Weird Little Elf, Atlas Games’ perfect not-boring activity for your next holiday gathering.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Delta Green Iconoclasts, a campaign of horrors modern and ancient, brings a team of Agents to a scene of horrors all too real: Mosul in 2016, held by the self-styled Islamic State in a reign of depraved brutality. From a small base at the Kirkuk airfield, the Agents must research the horrors to come and prepare for a harrowing infiltration. Terrors and new supplementary material await, now in PDF, hardback now in preorder.
Our weary protagonists, fresh from Dragonmeet, stumble into the Gaming Hut. There they undergo the sort of deductive epiphany required, as per a request from beloved Patreon backer Keelan O’Hea, to bring visual “aha” moments into investigative games.
Then London’s National Gallery becomes the Culture Hut as our heroes recall their visit to its current Lucian Freud and Winslow Homer shows.
Seasoned listeners, at the mention of Dragonmeet, know what comes next: Ken’s Bookshelf finally returns to plunder Foyles and Treadwell’s.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Fill every stocking with social deduction. Tis in fact the season for Weird Little Elf, Atlas Games’ perfect not-boring activity for your next holiday gathering.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Delta Green Iconoclasts, a campaign of horrors modern and ancient, brings a team of Agents to a scene of horrors all too real: Mosul in 2016, held by the self-styled Islamic State in a reign of depraved brutality. From a small base at the Kirkuk airfield, the Agents must research the horrors to come and prepare for a harrowing infiltration. Terrors and new supplementary material await, now in PDF, hardback now in preorder.
We start as per usual in the Gaming Hut, where this time beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks for tips on combining The Esoterrorists with Night’s Black Agents.
Then we move onto an ever-shifting southwestern Culture Hut, as estimable backer Robert Wolfe seeks knowledge on cartoonist George Herriman’s Krazy Kat and its effect on the dreamlands.
Our scene shifts again to a tangled birch woods, as the Archaeology Hut examines the Beardmore find, a Viking hoax that fooled the Royal Ontario Museum.
Finally, at the behest of insightful backer Benjamin Rawls, the Consulting Occultist turns his gaze to Japan and its Happy Science cult.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Fill every stocking with social deduction. Tis in fact the season for Weird Little Elf, Atlas Games’ perfect not-boring activity for your next holiday gathering.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Delta Green Iconoclasts, a campaign of horrors modern and ancient, brings a team of Agents to a scene of horrors all too real: Mosul in 2016, held by the self-styled Islamic State in a reign of depraved brutality. From a small base at the Kirkuk airfield, the Agents must research the horrors to come and prepare for a harrowing infiltration. Terrors and new supplementary material await, now in PDF, hardback now in preorder.
In the Gaming Hut we look at scenario text as a place to put GM advice.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Bret Kramer the History Hut hosts the tale of German-born eventual doctor Gottfried Knoche, who in the late 19th century took his penchant for mummification innovation to Venezuela.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken chats with Heather O’Neill, designer of Meeple Party and Schrödinger’s Cats.
Finally, our hero revs up Ken’s Time Machine to assist the Antemnates against Romulus, the first king of Rome.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Godsforge, Atlas Games’ fast-paced game of battling spellcasters, is now on Kickstarter. Grab wizardly first dibs on the new 2nd Edition of Godsforge, and two new expansions, Return of the Dragon Gods and Twilight of the Great Houses, from November 8 to December 8th.
Track down foul sorcerers in a corrupt city, clamber through underground ruins and investigate the intrigues of your decadent rivals in Swords of the Serpentine, the GUMSHOE game of swords, sorcery and mystery, now available from Pelgrane Press.
The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!
Delta Green Iconoclasts, a campaign of horrors modern and ancient, brings a team of Agents to a scene of horrors all too real: Mosul in 2016, held by the self-styled Islamic State in a reign of depraved brutality. From a small base at the Kirkuk airfield, the Agents must research the horrors to come and prepare for a harrowing infiltration. Terrors and new supplementary material await, now in PDF, hardback now in preorder.
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about in greater depth on a little podcast segment we like to call Tell Me More.
RecommendedAndor Season 1 (Television, US, Disney+, Tony Gilroy, 2022) After a fatal run-in with security guards on the industrial world of Ferrix, small-time criminal Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) accepts recruitment for a one-time heist mission from a mysterious rebel operative (Stellan Skarsgård.) Ensemble drama hoards the space opera thrills in favor of the question: what if all the spear-carriers in the Star Wars universe were fleshed-out people working through complicated inner conflicts?—RDL
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (Television, US, Disney+, James Gunn, 2022) To give Peter Quill (Christopher Pratt) the perfect Christmas, Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) go to Earth to get him the perfect present, legendary hero Kevin Bacon (Kevin Bacon.) Goofy, affectionate Yuletide comedy rehabilitates the concept of the Star Wars Holiday special, showcasing the comedy duo of Bautista and Klementieff.—RDL
Hangmen Also Die! (Film, US, Fritz Lang, 1943) After killing “Hangman” Heydrich, Dr. Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) takes refuge with a chance-met girl (Anna Lee), endangering her professor father (Walter Brennan) when the Nazis take hostages to smoke him out. After a slow start, Lang ratchets up the tension in a weird echo of M as the Nazis hunt Svoboda and the Resistance frames a patsy. Story (and uncredited scripting) by Bertolt Brecht! –KH
Lost Bullet 2 (Film, France, Guillaume Pierret, 2022) Ace mechanic Lino (Alban Lenoir) obsessively hunts the killer of his brother and mentor as his ex Julie (Stefie Celma) unwillingly covers for her fellow cops. Both fights and car chases improve in this sequel, which is more than reason enough to watch it. Morgan Dalibert’s cinematography captures the open road of light and speed beautifully. –KH
Wednesday Season 1 (Television, US, Netflix, 2022) Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) resolves to rebel against her new school, the exclusive academy for supernatural outcasts her parents Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzman) attended, but finds an extracurricular interest in mystery-solving when a series of killings threatens the community. Clever import of an existing property into the Veronica Mars formula. Much depends on Ortega’s amazing ability to convey the vulnerability of her hard-nut, selfish character through the eyes alone.—RDL
In the Gaming Hut we mull a peculiar property of RPGs as narrative, the expectation that a scenario will set up more plot elements than it actually pays off. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Jurie Hornemann, the Cartography Hut gets out a map to look at the 50 square mile legal loophole known […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Elias Helfer asks us how to start researching real-world places we intend to use in our games. The Archaeology Hut dusts off a request from estimable backer Steve Dempsey for a profile of innovative site diggers Tessa and Mortimer Wheeler. At the behest of regal backer Paul Douglas […]
As noted wearers of colorful shirts, we are uniquely qualified to enter a Hawaiian edition of the Gaming Hut. There we respond to the call of beloved Patreon backer Kristian Groenseth, who wants to us to fit Magnum P.I. into Trail of Cthulhu. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken talks with J-M […]
As noted wearers of colorful shirts, we are uniquely qualified to enter a Hawaiian edition of the Gaming Hut. There we respond to the call of beloved Patreon backer Kristian Groenseth, who wants to us to fit Magnum P.I. into Trail of Cthulhu. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken talks with J-M […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Neil Barnes dons his lovingly constructed Benjamin Disraeli costume to ask how to best portray historical figures at the roleplaying table. The Cinema Hut looks at the flattening of cinematography in the streaming era, asking the question that is on all of your lips. Is Netflix the new […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Neil Barnes dons his lovingly constructed Benjamin Disraeli costume to ask how to best portray historical figures at the roleplaying table. The Cinema Hut looks at the flattening of cinematography in the streaming era, asking the question that is on all of your lips. Is Netflix the new […]
In the Gaming Hut we address a query from beloved Patreon backer Steven Dosman on keeping the solutions of mysteries far enough away from characters with the competence and point spends to solve them. The Mythos Hut obeys the command of estimable backer Joshua Randall, who seeks the eldritch secrets behind the Antarctic doom of […]
In the Gaming Hut we address a query from beloved Patreon backer Steven Dosman on keeping the solutions of mysteries far enough away from characters with the competence and point spends to solve them. The Mythos Hut obeys the command of estimable backer Joshua Randall, who seeks the eldritch secrets behind the Antarctic doom of […]
The Gaming Hut as always uses Skynet for your benefit, providing ways to use AI art at your roleplaying table. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken talks to two someones: Katarzyna “Kate” Kuczynska and Marcin “Martin” Kuczynski of Game Machinery, publisher of the Defiant Roleplaying Game. In the Horror Hut we look […]
The Gaming Hut as always uses Skynet for your benefit, providing ways to use AI art at your roleplaying table. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken talks to two someones: Katarzyna “Kate” Kuczynska and Marcin “Martin” Kuczynski of Game Machinery, publisher of the Defiant Roleplaying Game. In the Horror Hut we look […]
Belle Époque wings flutter as the Gaming Hut brings the faery world into The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. Ken issues a Travel Advisory for his recent visit to the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. In How to Write Good we look at calibrating your characters’ complexity level to the story you are telling. […]
The first annual Robin and Valerie International Film Festival has come to an end, and just like TIFF before it, that means Robin has a list of movies to recommend to you in the Cinema Hut. The twist: this time you can find and watch them right away. Then in The Business of Gaming we […]
We enter the Gaming Hut to ponder the constituency of gamers who prefer lots of crunch, but don’t actually use it when they play. In the History Hut beloved Patreon backer Gene Ha asks if electricity-loving Benjamin Franklin was the real modern Prometheus. The Culture Hut situates itself near a vast outdoor art work as […]
Rob Heinsoo and Gareth-Ryder Hanrahan step in for a sadly absent Robin as the annual live episode from Gen Con returns from the slumber of Pandemicland. They join Ken for a robust discussion of talking animals in the War of the First Coalition, Malort, why The King in Yellow gets restaged all the time, dealing […]
In the Gaming Hut we look at a largely foregone phenomenon in tabletop, the roleplaying tournament. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Dan L, the Tradecraft Hut examines Project Coast, South Africa’s apartheid-era chemical weapons program, and its head, Wouter “Dr. Death” Basson. Esteemed backer Chad Ward meets us in the Mythology Hut to […]
The Gaming Hut exists in all dimensions as beloved Patreon backer Jacob Boersma asks how to giving Evelyn Wang’s multiversal powers from Everything Everywhere All at Once to player characters. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken talks to Cody Swendrowski, developer for the Foundry virtual tabletop platform, who tells how its community […]
In the Mythos Hut we decide that fish people and serpent folk have hogged the spotlight for too long. It’s time for us to invent some humanoid toads, of the psychedelic variety of course, and wrap them into a Fall of DELTA GREEN scenario hook. Inevitably, Fun With Science must grapple, so to speak, with […]
Foul sorcerers flee the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Jesse Lowe asks for the best Earth-based setting for swords and sorcery—the Hellenistic Era excepted, of course. In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, designer Gwen Marshall joins Ken to discuss the thinking behind such acclaimed projects as the ENnie-winning Ancestry & Culture and […]
Foul sorcerers flee the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Jesse Lowe asks for the best Earth-based setting for swords and sorcery—the Hellenistic Era excepted, of course. In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, designer Gwen Marshall joins Ken to discuss the thinking behind such acclaimed projects as the ENnie-winning Ancestry & Culture and […]
Normally a post-Gen Con debrief takes up an entire episode. But since only one of us was there, Ken gives Robin the lowdown in a double-header Travel Advisory segment. In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Mikey Hamm wants to emulate genres in which death is threatened but never actually happens. We conclude with Ken’s […]
In the Gaming Hut we demonstrate how to dovetail player-created character hooks into your scenario, as Ken proposes a Freaking Weird Moment for his This is Normal Now character and Robin weaves it into a trio of mystery premises. The Culture Hut uncovers a Dreamhound of Chicago, 30s surrealist painter Gertrude Abercrombie. Then we duck […]
On August 2, 2012, the first installment of Ken and Robin Talks About Stuff debuted to a waiting gaming world. For our recent 500th episode celebration, we held the traditional Lightning Round. For this extra special anniversary, we take a look back at the show, its topics and its origins with an A to Z […]
In the Gaming Hut, Beloved Patreon backer Eric Jeppesen, or a clever facsimile thereof, kicks off an all-request episode, as he wonders how to run GUMSHOE One-2-One with a doppelganger protagonist. Stealthy backer Erik R gains access to the Tradecraft Hut to ask how to set Night’s Black Agents in Asia. Dimensionally resonant backer […]
In the Gaming Hut, Beloved Patreon backer Eric Jeppesen, or a clever facsimile thereof, kicks off an all-request episode, as he wonders how to run GUMSHOE One-2-One with a doppelganger protagonist. Stealthy backer Erik R gains access to the Tradecraft Hut to ask how to set Night’s Black Agents in Asia. Dimensionally resonant backer […]
The Gaming Hut floats further from land than it ever has as beloved Patreon backer Alden Strock seeks the tabletop uses of Point Nemo, the planet’s literal middle of nowhere. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken talks to author Ben Riggs about his history of TSR, Slaying the Dragon, now orderable from […]
The next time you’re about to design a situation where the players can’t do what they want to do, you’ll recall this week’s Gaming Hut segment and think, “How do I let them do that without wrecking everything?” The Crime Blotter investigates a string of rhino horn thefts attributed to the Dead Zoo Gang. In […]
In the Gaming Hut we ask when the GM should apply a rules set’s cost system for actions, and when it is instead best to make it a freebie. The Command Hut provides a dossier on the Russian mercenary company called the Wagner Group. In the Horror Hut, beloved backers Derek Upham and Stuart Thomas […]
Ken kicks us off with a Travel Advisory on his journey to Poland’s Pyrkon, with ancillary adventures in Poznan. Then the Gaming Hut subtly ratchets up the tension as we ask how long a horror scenario can go without anything overtly terrifying or supernatural happening. But a worse fright awaits in The Business of Gaming, […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
Surprisingly often, mysteries in other genres show clues landing in the detective’s lap. The Gaming Hut asks how to do this at the roleplaying table without leaving players feeling that they’re being led through the scenario. In our first combo segment of the episode, we find the Crime Blotter in the Architecture Hut, as beloved […]
The Gaming Hut mines a new source of mysterious, danger-laden plot hooks: Reddit’s WhatIsThis forum. The Horror Hut takes the unusual step of profiling a real person, as beloved backer Louis Sylvester asks for the lowdown on the explorer, linguist and polemicist Arminius Vambery, described by Bram Stoker in Dracula as a knowledgeable vampire hunter. […]
We don’t believe it, you don’t believe it, but it’s true all the same. Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff has reached that milestone of milestones, Episode 500. Which means, thanks to the perspicacious queries of our beloved Patreon backers, it is once again time for… LIGHTNING ROUND!!! Want to pose a question to the […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Bill Durfy asks us to provide advice for budding professional GMs. The Tradecraft Hut looks at John Stonehouse, a British MP who spied for the Czechs and wound up ineptly faking his own death. In Ask Ken and Robin stylish backer Joe Webb asks Robin if his head […]
Beholders swoop around the futuristic spires of the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Ian Carlsen seeks tips on time travel in F20 games. Estimable backer Jason Thompson beckons us into the Culture Hut to ask if self-taught Chicago artist Joseph E. Yoakum might have been peering into the Dreamlands. Finally our hero returns from […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
Beloved Patreon backer Ryan McClelland kicks of an all-request episode in the Gaming Hut, seeking advice on how to convincing players to treat former adversaries as questionable allies. In the History Hut, estimable backer Derek Hiemforth has discovered that two doomed airships, the R101 and the Hindenburg, used the exact same Duralumin, and naturally asks […]
Beloved Patreon backer Urchin Prince beckons us to the shiniest throne of the Gaming Hut to ask about boons the PCs’ patrons might give them. The Architecture Hut faces cost overruns for its fiendish traps as estimable backer Tim Vert asks which famous architects we’d commission were we to build dungeons. An odd shrimp smell […]
The Gaming Hut investigates the difference between problems that rules sets should set out to solve and mere conceptual issues that never come up in play. The History Hut gets hairy as we reveal the secrets of the Chester Cat Hoax. Umbrage is entertained in the Narrative Hut as beloved Patreon backer Benjamin Rawls seeks […]
In an episode dedicated to recreating for posterity the good half of an old installment that has since gone missing, the Gaming Hut looks at campaigns where most of the PCs are sidekicks to a superior hero. In the Tradecraft Hut we examine the career of former Putin aide Vladislav Surkov, the so-called Gray Cardinal […]
With the Gremlins franchise coming back, warnings are on the mind of beloved Patreon backer Bryan. He beckons us into the back room of the Gaming Hut to ask how to handle them at the roleplaying table. In Tour de Lovecraft: the Destinations, Ken tells us what Arkham was like during the period of HPL’s […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
In the Gaming Hut we provide advice on working with the GM to play a mastermind character. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Drew, the History Hut goes all the way back to 2004 for the tale of the missing Sri Lankan handball team. We venture into the Food Hut to provide estimable backer […]
In the Gaming Hut, we look at the elements that ought to go into an introductory scenario. Beloved Patreon backer Todd W. Olson has not left the building, but has rather entered the Culture Hut, as he asks how Elvis Presley’s 1968 Comeback Special might reverberate in Fall of DELTA GREEN. In Ask Ken and […]
In the Gaming Hut we lay out goals the GM should set for convention games and other one-shots. The Command Hut looks at an invasion of a smaller power by a larger one that has somewhat fallen down the memory hole: the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979. Beloved Patreon backers such as Gabriel Rossman demanded that […]
In the Gaming Hut we look at that most elusive of GM skills: knowing when to shut up. The smell of ancient newsprint pervades the Horror Hut as beloved Patreon backer Jamie Twine seeks the connection between the King and Yellow and his contemporary, early newspaper comics character the Yellow Kid. Finally, the imminence of […]
Among My Many Hats looks at Ken’s latest work of Cthulhoid essays, Tour de Lovecraft: the Destinations, available as of March 22nd from Atomic Overmind Press. The Gaming Hut looks at ways you, the player, can find a way into a scenario when you don’t see a natural course of action. Then Ken’s Bookshelf finishes […]
Beloved Patreon backer Chihiro Yamata has access to an Edwardian house with a creepy ghost plaque, and wants the Gaming Hut to do something about it. Esteemed backer Jake beckons us into the Cartography Hut to discuss the evolution of maps in WW2, as inspired by Ken’s recent review of Jeremy Black’s A History of […]
The Gaming Hut gets a snazzy Architecture Hut retrofit as beloved Patreon backer Alexander Arebalo seeks tips for a game based around physical locations. In Conspiracy Corner we ask ourselves if today’s full-paranoia anti-vaxxers would have been yesteryear’s Gnostics. And finally our roving hero returns from the wilds of Florida and California with an honest […]
The Gaming Hut gets a snazzy Architecture Hut retrofit as beloved Patreon backer Alexander Arebalo seeks tips for a game based around physical locations. In Conspiracy Corner we ask ourselves if today’s full-paranoia anti-vaxxers would have been yesteryear’s Gnostics. And finally our roving hero returns from the wilds of Florida and California with an honest […]
Beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck chases a bad guy we thought we vanquished into the Gaming Hut, asking us how to keep recurring villains scary after the group has teamed up to defeat them. At the best of well-rounded backer Robert Wolfe, the Architecture Hut goes Dymaxionic with a look at Buckminster Fuller. Night’s Black […]
In the Gaming Hut we wonder how many possible player character choices the writer of published scenarios should provide guidance for. The Mythology Hut makes room for a round table as beloved Patreon backer Steve Dempsey seeks gaming inspiration from the kings and emperors whose stories make up the composite figure of King Arthur. We […]
In the Gaming Hut we look at GMing techniques to respond to that moment when one player makes a unilateral choice that causes the rest of the group to groan in protest. The History Hut acquires a pointy hat as beloved Patreon backer Bob J. Koester asks us to delve into Yale’s 1825 Conic Sections […]
The launch pad has been positioned uncomfortable close to the Gaming Hut, as beloved Patreon backer Neil Barnes seeks ways to center a game around the Soviet Space Program. The Crime Blotter has to wait a little while longer for that immersion blender as we look at the recent media flap over package thefts from […]
In the Gaming Hut we consider the genre all tabletop roleplaying games bend toward. Spoiler: it has to do with the players. Our ongoing Mythos Hut process of creating a new Lovecraftian god reaches the stage where we outline a story to introduce her. What will Qotha-Nhur’rin, the Destruction at the Heart of Creation, get […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
The Gaming Hut attempts to pin down a much-used bit of tabletop terminology as beloved Patreon backer Ludovic Chabant asks what we mean when we say that a game breaks. Esteemed Patreon backers Jeromy French and Bryce Perry weave into the Food Hut, hungry and wanting to know more about archetypal drunk food, and why […]
Get ready for twists and Gaming Hut turns as beloved Patreon backer Terry Robinson asks for advice on genre shifts on the tabletop. The Tradecraft Hut finds intrigue behind an old-timey Canadian historical footnote with a profile on Thomas Miller Beach, infiltrator of the Fenians. In part two of our Mythos Hut series on creating […]
We open up the Gaming Hut for another year and find a strangely folded missive from beloved Patreon backer Stephen Dosman, who wants us to incorporate the practice of letter-locking into historical games. A new series begins in the Mythos Hut, as we construct a Lovecraftian deity, starting with a look at the common qualities […]
Nestle your rattling dice and thumping miniatures with care for our final episode of 2021. In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Bob Grider seeks the connection between the King in Yellow and locally celebrated fast food chain White Castle. The History Hut goes nautical once more as formidable backer Dave Munro requests the rundown […]
In the Gaming Hut we find ways to design scenarios that highlight the cool and unique features of a location. It’s that most wonderful time of the year as the Horror Hut contemplates Christmas ghost stories. The Mythology Hut takes a look, get it, look, at the oddball Greek mythological figure Argus Panoptes. Due to […]
Hey look it’s another all-request episode! Beloved Patreon backer Kieron Gillen opens the Gaming Hut, which we hope isn’t a portal into a hellish otherrealm, to ask how designers screen out their skill as GMs during in-house playtests. Erudite backer Bruce Miller infiltrates the Book Hut to ask about Richard Marsh’s The Beetle, a horror […]
In the Gaming Hut we look for ways to design F20 encounters that players don’t want to skip. The Architecture Hut reaches unprecedented heights as beloved Patreon backer Philip Masters seeks the esoteric secrets of the London Eye. The Cinema Hut takes a bash at that laziest of storytelling devices, the dream sequence. Finally well-measured […]
In the Gaming Hut we take on a classic horror scenario design issue. When the menace stems from ambient weirdness, how do you build fresh ways for the player characters to conclude the story? Beloved Patreon backer Joshua Hillerup wafts salt air into the Culture Hut as he requests a nerdrtoping of Stan Rogers’ classic […]
An all-request episode kicks off with a Gaming Hut question from beloved backer Tom Abella, who wants to know if, when playtesting, there is such a thing as too good a GM. Estimable backer Elias Helfer climbs all the way to the summit of the Tradecraft Hut to seek knowledge of Hassan-i Sabbah. In Ask […]
An all-request episode kicks off with a Gaming Hut question from beloved backer Tom Abella, who wants to know if, when playtesting, there is such a thing as too good a GM. Estimable backer Elias Helfer climbs all the way to the summit of the Tradecraft Hut to seek knowledge of Hassan-i Sabbah. In Ask […]
Our Gaming Hut series on the axes of tabletop RPG design concludes, we think and hope, with an opposition separately suggested by beloved Patreon backers Nicola Wilson and Lauberfen: Randomness vs. Choice. Crime Blotter goes old-timey with a profile of con artists Tim Oakes and Larry Summerfield, inventors of the wire game. The Monster Hut […]
The Gaming Hut axes of RPG design series turns toward setting for its next opposition, Canon vs. Open. Ken is back from the Chicago Film Festival to report on his findings in the Cinema Hut. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Tristan Zimmerman of the Molten Sulfur Blog talks up his game, Shanty […]
Axes keep showing up at the Gaming Hut, and this week we look at the Abstract vs Emotional slider in roleplaying game design. Inspired by the passing of one of its prime exponents, Owen Luder, the Architecture Hut gazes at the brutalist style and its influence on science fiction. Then our resident bibliomane continues to […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
Our Gaming Hut look at the axes of roleplaying game design continues with the previously teased Ease versus Mastery. In Ask Ken and Robin beloved Patreon backer Joe Webb takes the bait and requests the previously teased adventures of T. E. Lawrence and Robert Graves. The Culture Hut looks at the changing moods of SF […]
Our Gaming Hut series on axes of roleplaying design continues with Robin’s handling cost opposition, Harmonica versus Violin. In the Architecture Hut, beloved Patreon backer Anders Gabrielsson seeks the truth about Chicago’s Midway Gardens. Robin picks up a foreshadowed Cinema Hut thread on the changing face of international film, from access to style. Finally estimable […]
Our Gaming Hut series on the axes of RPG design takes a turn as Robin looks at the trade-offs he thinks about while working on games, starting with Simulation vs Emulation. Fun With Science goes deep to contemplate the abundance of mesopelagic fish. The Horror Hut gets connubial at the behest of beloved Patreon backer […]
If it’s September, it must be, uh, Gen Con? Ken kicks off with a Travel Advisory on how the in-person side of the event went. Speaking of unusual versions of long running events, Robin opens up the Cinema Hut to provide highlights of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and to make a stunning announcement. […]
Our continuing Gaming Hut survey of tabletop RPG design principles tackles Power. That sounds like something we always want. Does it belong at one end of a spectrum, or does it corrupt absolutely? Beloved Patreon backer the Molten Sulfur Blog makes a Tell Me More request that opens up the History Hut to profile Edwardian […]
In the Gaming Hut we continue our series on axes of tabletop RPG design with an examination of Resilience and Robustness. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Allen Wilkins, Ripped from the Headlines finds the real truth behind the November incident in which a crashing commuter train was saved by polyester whale tails. In […]
The Gaming Hut kicks off a series looking at the axes of RPG design, so appropriately enough we start with elegance. In the Architecture Hut beloved Patreon backer Nicola Wilson seeks the truth scoop on the Trylon and Perisphere, noted features of the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Fun With Science fields a question from […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer JP Moral asks for steps to take when homebrew adventures don’t feel right in play. Estimable backer Bryan takes the History Hut to 1970 for a look at Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes and the Kent State shootings, with an eye toward portraying them in Fall of DELTA GREEN. […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer V. R. Weather asks for a 101 on playtesting. Surprised that we have not directly tackled this basic topic before, we immediately comply. The Tradecraft Hut profiles the peripatetic career of OSS and CIA operative Louise Page Morris. In How to Write Good estimable Patreon backer Benjamin Rawls […]
The T-Shirt Justification Hut gets scaly and doomy with a look at the connection between dragons and apocalypses. In the Money Hut, we reveal high-frequency trading as yet another Carcosan front operation. Then we fulfill a past promise with part two of Ken’s Bookshelf New England haul. Want to pose a question to the show? […]
In the Gaming Hut we provide tips on GMing for a loose cannon character. Surely not a loose cannon player. None of us have ever had that experience. Beloved Patreon backer Travis Johnson summons the power of Ask Ken and Robin to ask how to include the Bush Wars in The Fall of DELTA GREEN. […]
In the Gaming Hut, we look at game balance. What is it, and when do we care about it? We try not to step on any skulls in the Archaeology Hut as Beloved Patreon backers Liz & Siskey seek the scoop on Roman gravesite in Cambridgeshire containing a surprising number of beheaded remains. In the […]
Hey, it’s an all-request episode! Count the syllables and jot down the allusions as an anonymous Patreon backer beckons us into the Gaming Hut to ask how to do spontaneous poetry duels in roleplaying sessions. Then pseudonymous Patreon backer Polydamas meets us in the Architecture Hut for the secret history behind Columbia University’s New York […]
The Gaming Hut hits the streets, many of them, for a look at designing scenarios to introduce a city. We find the Crime Blotter is covered in ancient leather and animal glue, our cue to find the gaming in the fake Biblical scrolls purchased by the Museum of the Bible. In Ask Ken and Robin, […]
Make sure anyone else in the room is really them as the Gaming Hut looks at fox spirits, doppelgangers, and other foes who disguise themselves as human. The Tradecraft Hut profiles CIA operative, author, and coup arranger Miles Axe Copeland, Jr. How to Write Good serves up tips on the revision process, from break taking […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
Don’t forget you’re in the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen asks for tips on finding the fun in amnesia and similar player character flaws. In Ripped from the Headlines, estimable Patreon backer Robert Wolfe seeks the true truth on the clones of the strong-willed pig. Finally, as normalcy, or at least retail sales, […]
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer as the Gaming Hut provides advice to players running in political intrigue games. In Fun With Science beloved Patreon backer Josh King asks for the real truth behind Siberian mystery holes. Ask Ken and Robin fields a question from estimable Patreon backer William Brafford, who seeks a […]
Keep an eye out for incoming candlesticks as the Gaming Hut finds ways to engage players in the prelude part of a scenario, for example the bit in a cozy mystery before any genteel murdering happens. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Dustyn Mincey, the History Hut examines the era of Greek history known […]
Just when time had lost all meaning, the ineffable power of numbers tells us that we’ve hit Episode 450. Seasoned investigators know what that means: our beloved Patreon backers pose them, and we blast them with electric force. It’s time for celebratory Qs and exultant As! It’s time for… LIGHTNING ROUND!!! Want to pose a […]
We venture from the Gaming Hut into a wider world of stashed items as beloved Patreon backer Carrie Schutrick requests the RPG angle on geocaching. Estimable Patreon backers pool their resources in the Tradecraft Hut, where we gaze into the eyeless sockets of the CIA’s top secret asset—a mask of actor Rex Harrison. Demon gods […]
In the Gaming Hut we spitball scenarios that take place over a period of many years. Fun With Science answers the call from beloved Patreon backer bt to examine Freudian psychologist Charles Seligman’s project to gather dreams from the many peoples occupied by the British Empire. Good thing we just had a new bar installed […]
We start out in the Gaming Hut to tell your GM that the shocking premise subversion they have in mind isn’t as fun or cool as they might think. A segment that had to hibernate during the pandemic is back! In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken talks to colleague Jeff Tidball about […]
An all-request episode kicks off in the Gaming Hut with beloved Patreon backer Chris Camfield’s request to follow up on a carelessly dropped side reference about realist F2O. Esteemed Patreon backer Chris Melkus meets us in the Archaeology Hut to ask about a recent story of tomb robbing in China’s Shaanxi province, in which the […]
In the Gaming Hut we provide tips enabling you to convince your fellow players to go along with your plans. Beloved Patreon backer Jurie Horneman asks us to convene a Book Hut to talk about Robert Anton Wilson. In Ask Ken and Robin, estimable Patreon backer Gabriel Rossman looks for a fictionalized treatment of the […]
Prepare to reverse polarity as the Gaming Hut looks at scenarios that revolve around science mysteries. Beloved Patreon backer Tennant Reed asks us to unfurl the Crime Blotter for the story of penal colony escapee and confessed cannibal Alexander Pearce. In Ask Ken and Robin, estimable Patreon backer Kaijuthulu seeks tips on running a Mutant […]
In the Gaming Hut, we help you, the player, bring your character’s narrative hook, in this case a Freaking Weird Moment for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game, into play. As befits this weird year, the Cinema Hut finally gets around to our Top Ten Films of 2020, right in time for you to have already […]
Bravely we enter the Gaming Hut, at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Scott Wachter, to roast the cockatrice and other weaksauce monsters. The History Hut runs aground as estimable Patreon backer Stephen Dosman asks how the Yellow Fleet, marooned in the Suez Canal after the Six Day War, might fit into a Fall of […]
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Joe Webb asks for a Fall of DELTA GREEN / Night’s Black Agents crossover inspired by a Cambodian pop song. (After we recorded this segment Ken remembered that Tod Browning’s Dracula uses the Swan Lake theme as its title music, but if he had done that in advance […]
In the Gaming Hut the beloved Patreon backer known as Ed, Speaker in Digressions, asks us to envision a game that that arcs from a state of nature to civil society. The Tradecraft Hut steams open the career of Alexandrine, Countess of Taxis, and Postmistress of the Holy Roman Empire. The ongoing Cinema Hut Horror […]
Would we rather fight a turnip-headed wyvern, or an enormous Jenny Haniver? The answer awaits in the T-Shirt Justification Hut. In Ask Ken and Robin, mighty-thewed Patreon backer Mike Mearls asks for sources to run an F20 game in Ancient Sumer. The Cinema Hut finally gets with the present century as the horror essential series […]
Beloved Patreon backer Jonathan Keim asks us to take care of the Gaming Hut for the winter, during which time we will contemplate making place as big a part of a game session as the Overlook Hotel is part of The Shining. In the Food Hut Ken takes us to almost Nebraska and the spiral […]
Pick up that flashlight and head down into the basement as the Gaming Hut looks at building moments that take advantage of a single protagonist for one-player games like GUMSHOE One-2-One. The History Hut returns to the wild streets of Ken’s signature city as beloved Patreon backer Neal Dalton seeks the story of Count Dante […]
In the Gaming Hut we parse the differences between crunch and simulation, as we examine the yen for complexity and the various related but separate impulses behind it. At the behest of beloved Patreon backers Will Ferguson and Felicity Pyatt, the Crime Blotter heads to 1827 Suffolk to open the case files of the notorious […]
Sidle up to the Gaming Hut as we provide tips on bringing your player characters into historical events. In Ask Ken and Robin, beloved Patreon backer Dennis Harlow asks us to add detail and credibility to something Anton LaVey made up. Specifically that King in Yellow author Robert W. Chambers discovered the actual play while […]
Beloved Patreon backer Michael Curtis dons a Nehru jacket and John Lennon glasses to duck into the Gaming Hut for tips on running occult investigation in Swingin’ London. In part 9 of the Cinema Hut Horror Essentials series, we reach the late 70s, and the rise of the horror auteurs. Ripped from the Headlines gives […]
The Gaming Hut nestles next to an apothecary and a retailer of used armor pieces as we suggest techniques to populate buildings for a city sourcebook. Fright film enters the psychic hangover of the Watergate era in the latest installment of the Cinema Hut’s horror essentials series. You wouldn’t think that familiarity with paranormal lore […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Jacob Ansari seeks tips on introducing complex settings to the players. Part 8 of our Cinema Hut horror essentials series sees the genre take an apocalyptic turn amid the turmoil of the late 60s and early 70s. Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes arise from following bad instructions. […]
Keep that Abingdon Island giant tortoise under a blanket as beloved Patreon backer Kevin L. Nault beckons us into the Gaming Hut to work animal trafficking into RPG scenarios. Part 6 of our Cinema Hut horror essentials series continues the 60s gothic resurgence, and we assure you this segment wouldn’t hurt a fly. Plangent notes […]
Classic occult conspiracy meets eldritch espionage when beloved Patreon backer Daniel Fidelman pokes his head into the Gaming Hut, asking how to incorporate Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier’s The Morning of the Magicians into THE FALL OF DELTA GREEN. Our Cinema Hut Horror Essentials series hits a turning point in screen shock history, as the […]
In a co-production between the Mythology Hut and the T-Shirt Justification Hut, a particularly mournful example of the species inspires us to find ways to put the phoenix in your games. Then put the phoenix on yourself, or around your morning coffee, by saying Oh No, Not This Again at the Ken and Robin merch […]
In the Gaming Hut we return to that perennial, not at all distracting topic of the red herring, as beloved Patreon backer Kevin Greenlee asks how to work player-generated herrings into the drama. Then we take Interstate 71 to the Architecture Hut, where esteemed Patreon backer Tom Abella wants to know what the deal is […]
We’re back for another year, starting in the Gaming Hut, where beloved Patreon backer Nicola Wilson wants to know how to incorporate the relatively high cost of clothes and food in the Middle Ages into an investigative game. In the Tradecraft Hut we examine the mid-2000s Pentagon-sponsored first-person shooter Iraqi Hero, and the use Dracula […]
In our last episode of 2020 we lurch, masked and tipsy, into the Kringle Hut, to fashion a horror scenario around the Newfoundland tradition of mummering. Beloved Patreon backer Noel Warford convenes a session of Ask Ken and Robin to inquire into the cosmology of his Hellenistika project. In the Cinema Hut we kick off […]
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Jacob Boersma asks how, with conspiracies theories going mainstream, we should create them for our horror games. In Ripped from the Headlines, backer Gray St. Quintin asks for the real story behind Carpathian tree poaching. We talk for a while and then get abruptly canceled in the Television […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk […]
In the Gaming Hut we discuss a key difference between RPG settings and the real world: imaginary politics has a lot more smart people in it. Beloved Patreon backer Andrew Miller lures us into an especially osseous Archaeology Hut to contemplate the mammoth bone temple of Kostenki. In Ask Ken and Robin, esteemed backer Craig […]
In the Gaming Hut, Lisa Steele and Neil Fortier ask how to adjust Robin’s police procedural superhero game, Mutant City Blues, in the wake of the George Floyd murder. George III’s topographical collection has gone online, prompting a Cartography Hut focused on one of its treasures—a very RPG-looking map of the fort and barracks at […]
In the Gaming Hut we look at narrative coherence and whether GMs should enforce it by trying to make all introduced story elements pay off. Something sufficiently definitive has happened that we are willing to risk the wrath of our ten day lead time and reopen the dusty Politics Hut to chew over the results […]
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer David Sowa asks us how to incorporate machine politics into an F20 game. Ken beckons us into the Cinema Hut to discuss his discoveries at this year’s virtual edition of the Chicago Film Festival. Ask Ken and Robin features a request from flinty Patreon backer to find the […]
Beloved Patreon backer John Scheib summons us to the Gaming Hut to find techniques for infusing Earth-based settings with your chosen nerdtrope. In the Tradecraft Hut we find that the Cuban sonic attacks story, which we covered three years ago, has revealed itself into a campaign of FSB attacks against American spies and diplomats worldwide. […]
We risk mixing up our aromatics with our alembics as beloved Patreon backer Jason Gorkisch enters the Gaming Hut to ask which ingredients and cooking styles make the best basis for magic. Peter McAveney calls upon the Crime Blotter for the scoop on the Potosi Mint Fraud. Ironically, among many other things, it has indeed […]
A Theosophical choir sings in the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Brad McClain asks for Trail of Cthulhu scenario seeds inspired by Alexander Scriabin’s unfinished, Armageddon-inducing composition Mysterium. Thanks to discerning Patreon backer Daniel Gill, we find the Tradecraft Hut knee-deep in documents as we try to find the interesting side of the boring […]
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Ross Ireland asks about the possibility of victory in an ongoing game. Is it essential, or can certain doom become its own kind of win? Regal backer Mikey Hamm beckons us into an especially resplendent version of the History Hut to hear about the Amber Room and the […]
An all-request episode kicks off in the Gaming Hut as Dicegeeks asks us how to incorporate the Fossil Showman Albert Koch and his Missouri Leviathan into a game. We jump some bulls on our way into the Archaeology Hut, where Jake B wants to know about a maker of Minoan seals from the town of […]
The pandemic didn’t stop Robin from attending the Toronto International Film Festival, because it took place in his living room this year. In the Cinema Hut he reviews the best of a cut-down slate and discusses the future of film festivals here in the Covidverse. Speaking of stuff you’d only do during a plague, Ken […]
The Gaming Hut transforms into a spooky manor by the moors as beloved Patreon backer Ian Carlsen asks what you can do, outside the setting, to make an F20 game more gothic. In Ripped from the Headlines we pick off some low-hanging fruit by asking what seems weird and sinister about Elon Musk’s recent pig […]
Convention season has gone into hibernation, but that didn’t stop us from doing a live episode at Gen Con Online. The Nerdtrope deck served up a duplicate, but that didn’t stop us from sticking in a ringer. Robin’s Internet was spotty, but that didn’t stop Ken from vamping in his absence. Robin’s mic had to […]
The Gaming Hut gets into a crossover mood as beloved Patreon backer Adam Grotjohn wants to know how to turn player characters from Vampire: the Masquerade into the antagonists for Night’s Black Agents. In the Cinema Hut we each nominate someone as moviedom’s least likely major star. The Food Hut turns some pages as we […]
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Philippe Marcil asks how you start with Earth when it is full of racism, sexism, and a plethora of other isms. A man in a barrel pleads with a man not in a barrel in the latest installment of that most mercantile of huts, the T-Shirt Justification Hut. […]
The Gaming Hut dares to risk horrific ill fortune to answer beloved Patreon backer Kevin Greenlee’s request for tips on game mastering powerful but cursed objects. The History Hut looks at ways to incorporate the Bay of Pigs into The Fall of Delta Green. The Culture Hut gets a stained-glass makeover as extremely on-brand Patreon […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Michael Brodhead seeks our assistance in moving from setting to story. Might taxonomies of storytelling help? The Architecture Hut provides grand surroundings to examine the Utopian architects and their possible sinister schemes, as requested by vaunted Patreon backer Ludovic Chabant. In the Monster Hut we show you how […]
In lieu of our usual Gen Con wrap, we reach for an all-request episode. Beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen meets us in the Gaming Hut to ask how to incorporate TPKs and character death into the narrative. Inquiring Patreon backer Nikolaj picks up on a past cue from Robin to ask for a Crime Blotter rounding […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Gene Ha asks about trusting players with knowledge of upcoming secrets, for example the vampire content in Night’s Black Agents. The Tradecraft Hut delves into the spying career of Dutch painter Jan van Eyck. Werewolves, vampires and Frankensteins all fit readily into a weird war environment, like The […]
Beloved Patreon backer Manfred convenes us in a camouflage-covered Gaming Hut to ask how to run Fall of Delta Green agents through the Vietnam War. Complicating factor: his players are ex-military; Manfred is not. Esteemed Patreon backer Dan O’Hanlon unfurls the Crime Blotter for a briefing on Toronto’s tow truck wars. In How to Write […]
Robin has coined yet another new term and so naturally we must enter the Gaming Hut to talk about table sense. The T-Shirt Justification Hut wrings a segment out of our latest foray into feline-themed casual wear, Excuse Me While I Nap This Out. The Culture Hut returns to the Belle Epoque era of The […]
In the Gaming Hut we look at villain plans, and why they have to make sense in investigative games. The Food Hut goes to the drive-thru for a double-double as beloved Patreon backers Tim Maness and Jean Bauer ask for an explanation of the mythic role the Tim Hortons donut chain plays in the Canadian […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
Beloved Patreon backer Bob Grider invites us into the Gaming Hut to discuss top-down vs bottom-up design. Discerning Patreon backer Allen Wilkins invokes his Ask Ken and Robin powers to request a mash-up of Night’s Black Agents and The Prisoner. The History Hut looks at Saskatchewan-born strongman Édouard Beaupré, aka Beaupré the Giant, and his […]
In the Gaming Hut, Ken introduces us to the meta-textual, meme-filled wonderland that is his Fall of Delta Green player group. The Crime Blotter visits the wild mobbed-up years when Montreal Quebec was the Vegas of the north. In How To Write Good a question from beloved Patreon backer Daniel Gill prompts a look at […]
On August 3, 2012, Ken and Robin debuted into a podcast-starved world the first edition of their weekly podcast. Stuff we talked about incluuuuded a brand new game called Night’s Black Agents, the Continuum convention in the UK, the role of the GM in game design, and the Golden Dawn. Eightish years later, we bring […]
The Gaming Hut goes below the depths for beloved Patreon backer Hector Trelane, who seeks tips on adapting the feel of Wolfgang Petersen’s 1981 classic Das Boot into a roleplaying setting. How to Write Good revisits the issue of prose style in RPG books with more tips to strengthen and clarify your work. Fun With […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer wants to know about arc-sized endgames for player characters. Your Call of Cthulhu characters may have wound up in a sanatorium, but did your D&D heroes ever become feudal lords? The Cinema Hut is even more of a hut than usual as we conduct a folk horror 101. […]
If the hairs on the back of your neck are tingling, you must be in the Gaming Hut, and we may be providing tips on using Sense Trouble abilities. In Fun With Science beloved Patreon backer Chris Sellers seeks the skinny on fatbergs. He sends Robin’s players on missions in his current game, so it’s […]
In the Gaming Hut we fulfill a Tell Me More Request from beloved Patreon backer Bryan, who wants us to wring gaming ideas from the most recent version of The Invisible Man. Ask Ken and Robin finds estimable Patreon backer Scot Ryder asking if Robin would decrease the number of abilities in Ashen Stars, given […]
The Cartography Hut gets smart as beloved Patreon backer Gerald Sears asks us to riff on intelligent maps. Esteemed Patreon backer Sibel Permann urges the History Hut to find gaming gold in the Guelphs and Ghibellines. The Horror Hut looks at a paper by Francis T. McAndrew on the social-evolutionary psychology of Bad Places. Finally […]
In the Gaming Hut we help beloved Patreon backer Jamie Twine as he seeks to adapt scenarios written for standard GUMSHOE to the QuickShock version of the system found in The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. The Tradecraft Hut conducts an investigation into spying charges laid against a Major General of Ukraine’s security service. In Ken […]
Remote play is all the rage and we’ve convened in the Gaming Hut, physically distanced as always, to provide our tips to smooth your sudden conversion to the format. In the Archaeology Hut, beloved Patreon backer Mikko Airaksinen wants us to get to the bottom of museums locking away their 3D artifact scans. In the […]
You are getting sleepy very sleepy in the Gaming Hut as we look at ways to make being mind-controlled fun for players. The Yellow King Roleplaying Game profiles move back to the Culture Hut for a look at Ken’s favorite Belle Epoque figure, photographer, cartoonist, spy and balloonist Nadar. In Ask Ken and Robin we […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
The aroma of a damn fine cup of coffee wafts through the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Drew Eicholz asks us to pitch a non-frustrating version of Lynchian roleplaying. In Fun With Science we look at Marie Curie as a figure in The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. Home cooking with leftovers is on our […]
In the Gaming Hut we spitball ideas for GUMSHOE One-2-One scenarios enterprising listeners might turn into self-published PDF products under the auspices of its Creative Commons license. We enter the History Hut to find rocker Frank Black prompting beloved Patreon backer to ask us about the Llano del Rio commune of the 1910s. The Cinema […]
In the Gaming Hut we ask when a historical event the players can research might also be a spoiler. Ripped From the Headlines allows beloved Patreon backer Chris Lydon to discover the hidden significance of Las Vegas’ political hat wearing pigeons. Our round of Yellow King Roleplaying Game Belle Epoque biographies shifts to the Culture […]
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Peter McAveney asks how to set up a Night’s Black Agents game as if it is, at first, some other less vampire-infested game. The Tradecraft Hut goes to 50s Canada, a tale of a KGB mole turned double agent and the corrupt RCMP officer who gave him up […]
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Trung Bui asks us for tips and tricks on running open-ended games without interfering with player agency. The Food Hut remains just as crispy, with a fraction of the calories, as Robin discovers air fryer cooking by way of the Breville Smart Oven with Air Fry. Our tour […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Gray St. Quintin asks us to expand on our past fleeting discussion of the various voices and modes used in a roleplaying session. The Tradecraft Hut has no choice but to address recent reminders that Boston mob boss Whitey Bulger, whose story is already wild enough, was subjected […]
Look out for dirigibles as the Gaming Hut looks at the process of selecting your tech level when building an alternate timeline. The Aftermath sequence of The King in Yellow Roleplaying Game serves as our case in point. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Somebody Else, we chat with game designer and writer Sarah Saltiel. […]
Longtime listeners know that “Start with Earth” is a Thing Ken Always Says. But in the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Nicola Wilson wants to know exactly where. In the Conspiracy Corner estimable Patreon backer Steven Roman seeks bookshelf recommendations for all things recent and conspiratorial. The Consulting Occultist continues to wear suspiciously Robin-like facial […]
In the Gaming Hut we come to the rescue of beloved Patreon backer Keelan O’Hea, whose players have conceived the inexplicable desire for a version of GUMSHOE with more die rolling in it. The Food Hut, of all huts, contains the first of this episode’s two Yellow King Roleplaying Game shout-outs, as we savor the […]
They tried to suppress it. They tried to contain it. They left it for months on a loading dock in Estonia. But now The Yellow King Roleplaying Game has made its final crack in reality by heading to retail. We celebrate with an all-Yellow King edition of Robin’s ambitious new game. In the Gaming Hut, […]
In the Gaming Hut, we show you how to turn otherwise inert scenes in a sandbox game into prompts for activity. With the Academy Awards creeping up on us yet again, it’s time for us to sashay into the Cinema Hut to list our favorite films of 2019. Finally the Consulting Occultist returns to matters […]
That knife you smuggled into the Gaming Hut will finally pay off as we provide tips on playing the secret assassin character. Patreon backer Tom Abella provides us a story Ripped From the Headlines, in which a baffling GPS-spoofing technology deployed on the Yangtze at Shanghai might be a cover for sand thieves. Or, you […]
With a wave of his chainsaw hand, Patreon backer Walter Manbeck summons us to the Gaming Hut for tips on running comedy horror games. Inspired by a recent New York Times Magazine piece, the Tradecraft Hut examines the implications of the OSS’ impact on graphic and industrial design. Patreon backer Marc Kevin Hall asks us […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Tom Shaw asks us to even the odds when strong PCs fight weak opponents. A gruesome find in the History Hut prompts estimable backer Polydamas to seek guidance on portraying the Sandby Borg Massacre in a game. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Robin chats with […]
Pull up a comfy chair and get your fireballs back in the Gaming Hut as we look at the timing of resource refreshing. In the Tradecraft Hut we peer into the espionage activities of William Playfair, now better known as the inventor of the pie chart, not to mention most of your other favorite charts. […]
In our final episode of the year, we unwrap the annual Christmas present that is our episode recorded live at Dragonmeet in London. Join us for the nerdtroping of the Norman Conquest and Hindu mythology, this podcast’s alternate timeline, writing to drink by, annoying tannoy interruptions, and the real intervention in the 2016 election. Want […]
Freshly home and invigorated, or perhaps exhaugorated, by our annual trip to Dragonmeet in London, we issue a Travel Advisory for the William Blake exhibition at Tate Britain. Rocketed by the power of recording technology back to the day before Gen Con, Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else finds us in conversation with Colby […]
In the Gaming Hut we figure out what people are really talking about when they take sides in the system matters debate. The Tradecraft Hut peers into a classic tabloid spy scandal, 1961’s Profumo Affair, to see what one might make of it in The Fall of Delta Green. Beloved Patreon backer Timothy Coram steps […]
Join us not midway through but at the top of the podcast as the Gaming Hut finds ways to introduce a new player to a long-running series. In the Television Hut beloved Patreon backer Jeromy French asks Robin to expound on the problems of the series finale. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Elias Helfer asks us how to invent great magical artifacts. The History Hut exits pursued by a bear, and also flying bricks, as we look at New York City’s 1849 Shakespeare riots. Phil Masters leads a cane-toting pack of his fellow Patreon backers into the Horror Hut, demanding […]
, We show up in the Gaming Hut with our usual punctuality to look at ways of handling player absences. Crime Blotter looks at video games as a platform for money laundering. Beloved Patreon backer Steve Dempsey invites us to the Food Hut for a bowl of chili, or at least some palaver and history […]
In the Gaming Hut, Patreon backer Jacques de Villiers wonders how one might use The Armitage Files or Dracula Dossier in The Fall of Delta Green. Then Ken convenes a Cinema Hut to talk about his discoveries from the Chicago International Film Festival. He’s been a character in the Kartasverse for ages, but now he’s […]
The Gaming Hut chunks a double-double in the pentacle as Patreon backer Louis Sylvester asks us to riff on regional linguistic magic. Backer Nikolaj Hansen runs into a Mythology Hut shaped like a phone booth, asking Ken why Umberto Eco was wrong about Superman. Things get hairy in the Cinema Hut as we look at […]
The Gaming Hut warms up its blue bolts as we mull the exasperated Dungeon Master trope. Beloved Patreon backer Corey Pierno asks the Book Hut for tips on researching the everyday lives of historical people. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, we chat with Ellie Akers about her online equestrian management game Hunt […]
We hunker down in the mud and fear of the Gaming Hut to answer beloved Patreon backer Bill Durfy’s request to combine WWI and ghouls. Impeachment is in the news, the 1867 news that is, as the History Hut covers the attempt to remove Andrew Johnson from the White House. In How to Write Good […]
Our forces muster outside the Gaming Hut as Patreon backer Robert Dean asks us how to fold mass battles into D&D. Thanks to a redaction failure the Tradecraft Hut discovers ICE’s requisition for a replica Chicago at Fort Benning. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else gets a 13/10 as we chat with multi-hat wearing […]
The PCs are being pursued! Run to the Gaming Hut to learn how to make this fun! A sinister substances drips in your direction! Creep into the Horror Hut for an examination of ooze horror. Fill your cart with processed junk as the Food Hut contemplates objectively terrible comestibles at least one of us loves. […]
Beloved Patreon backer Timothy Daly meets us in the Gaming Hut to ask why D&D remains the most popular roleplaying game. Speaking of D&D, Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, specifically Jim Zub, about the Young Adventurers’ Guide series of D&D kids’ books. Finally the Cinema Hut hosts its annual look back at the […]
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks how to do El from Stranger Things as a player character. Expressionistic shadows flit across the Cinema Hut as we take a look at F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu. Then Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, this time Atlas Games’ Michelle Nephew, who shares her […]
We take a closer look at Ken’s new Pelgrane Press book Hideous Creatures by way of the Monster Hut, which seems to be full of our pals, the Deep Ones. In How To Write Good we talk about foils and how to use them. The Culture Hut hosts a discussion of a painting by none […]
This week’s Gaming Hut comes to you by telegram as Patreon backer Jay Tea asks us how to research and deploy historical communications technology, oh let’s say, FALL OF DELTA GREEN. Patreon backer Jeff Kahrs gathers us to in the Cinema Hut to ask why there is only one good Arthurian movie. In Ken and/or […]
The Gaming Hut shows up with its usual punctuality as Patreon backer Ken Ringwald asks to hear about time as a resource in RPGs. It’s dark out. He has a full tank of gas. He’s wearing sunglasses. Patreon backer Chris Camfield drives his 1974 Ford Monaco sedan to Ask Ken and Robin about the […]
Present your badges for scanning and take a seat as we present our annual episode recorded before a live audience bursting with Patreon backers. Join us as we talk squishy Habsburgs, chron0-suppressed rebellions, donut heresies and the proverbial so much more. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access […]
Voices weary and brains bleary, Ken and Robin return from Gen Con 2019 to take their annual look at the state of the industry through the lens of the convention that invented roleplaying. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon! Snag […]
Our annual Indianapolis hotel room episode begins in the Gaming Hut, where we find ways to be a lone wolf PC the rest of the players won’t hate. In the Food Hut we look at our favorite cooking shows and why they make the list. Patreon backer Bryan invokes his Tell Me More powers to […]
In the Gaming Hut, we build on some recent articles by Robin to further explore a crossover between the surrealist adventures of Dreamhounds of Paris to the psychedelic spycraft of THE FALL OF DELTA GREEN. Speaking of expanding on recent articles, How to Write Good provides tips for keeping your brain in gear for that […]
An all request episode kicks off with a co-production between the Gaming Hut teams and our Tell Me More benefit for Patreon backers. Backers Mike Marlow and Kevin J. Maroney, seeing the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff capsule review of Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans’ graphic novel DIE, want to hear more. This expands […]
In the Gaming Hut we deconstruct scenarios where the PCs have to wait for certain events to take place. How to Write Good comes to the aid of Patreon backer Dustyn Mincey, who seeks guidance on the naming of people and places. The Politics Hut gets drunk on codeine and loco root with a look […]
The Gaming Hut starts us strong as we look for ways to avoid stock scenario openings. In the Culture Hut we examine the way critical terms lose their meaning when they penetrate popular consciousness. Ask Ken and Robin satisfies Mrs. Obed Marsh’s need to know how to run The Fall of Delta Green with 60s […]
In the Gaming Hut Patreon backer(s) The Armchair Adventurers ask if we agree with Greg Stafford’s prohibition on invisiblity spells in his games. Was every noteworthy English writer also a spy? In the Tradecraft Hut Daniel Defoe puts his hand up and adds himself to the list of examples. In the Monster Hut we decide […]
Like much of our content, it’s hard to believe. Unlike much of it, it’s true. Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff has reached its milestone 350th episode. Yes, we’ve been laying down the skinny on aliens, phantom cats, conspiracies and oh yes, the exciting world of tabletop roleplaying games for a whole seven years. Longtimers […]
In the Gaming Hut Patreon backer Ethan Schoonover asks us to explain the bespoke game terms we use, from F20 to GMC. Mikko Airaksinen puts a chill in the History Hut with his request for the esoteric scoop behind the Swedish North Pole Expedition of 1897. Our epic spate of Ken and Robin Recycle Audio […]
The Gaming Hut manifests somewhere between Balla Balla and Yagga Yagga as Patreon backer Bill Cohen asks us how to lure RPG characters to adventure in Australia. The Crime Blotter profiles Dai Cathay, the young Number One of the mid-sixties Saigon underworld. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio with a panel excerpt from Carcosa Con covering […]
Patreon backer Ross Ireland pulls a fast one on us in the Gaming Hut, asking how to pitch campaigns with switcheroo premises to players. Via the Tell Me More Feature of Ken and Robin Consume Media, backer Kevin Maroney opens the Mythology Hut for more on Ronald Hutton’s scholarly survey, The Witch. Ken and Robin […]
In the Gaming Hut, Patreon backer Hyperlexic asks Robin to elucidate the core pleasures of RuneQuest. The History Hut finds us obeying the commands of backer Antti Elomaa to get to the bottom of Britain’s 1939 pet massacre. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio with segments from our Robert W. Chambers and King in Yellow Mythos […]
We enter the Gaming Hut pursued by powerful patrons as backer Remi Permann seeks help importing 13th Age icons to other games. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken chats with Nathan Paoletta, designer of such games The World Wide Wrestling RPG, Annalise, and his latest, the Poe-inspired Imp of the Perverse, now […]
The Gaming Hut looks at the task of assembling a game’s skill list. In the Cinema Hut Patreon backer Andrew Miller observes the North American launch of the Criterion Channel by asking for a 101 on its treasures. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio presents the first part of our Robert W. Chambers panel from Carcosa […]
Patreon backer Jacob Ansari collars us in the Gaming Hut to ask about running alternate history games. The Tradecraft Hut looks at the February raid on Madrid’s North Korean embassy by the Free Joseon organization. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else we chat with Mark Morrison, stalwart Call of Cthulhu contributor and the […]
In the Gaming Hut Patreon backer Jake asks us how to portray a character modeled on Janet Armstrong in a NASA adventure series. We dust off the long-disused Politics Hut so that Ken can give us an update on Chicago politics. The Food Hut looks at Canada’s iconic desserts, as selected for a series […]
We lit the fires of the Gaming Hut the old-fashioned way before answering a question from Patreon backer Jason Thompson on interesting players in low-tech settings. In the Cinema Hut we revisit the subject of the rewatch, looking at films that change or defy expectations on subsequent viewings. Then Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone […]
In another imperious edition of That Thing I Always Say, Robin says, “Envision this in play.” Ask Ken and Robin finds Patreon backer Kevin Roy seeking the scoop on remote control inventor John Hays Hammond Jr. Backer Martijn Waegemakers meets us in the Mythology Hut to ponder the diminishing returns of Robin Hood adaptations. Backer […]
Last week you heard us from Carcosa Con in Poland. This time we’re back and ready to share out experience of the show and the local RPG scene in the Gaming Hut. Then, in Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, we chat with one of our estimable hosts, Daria Pilarczyk. As project manager of […]
Recorded in front of a live audience, this episode emanates from the 14th century confines of Czocha Castle, on Lake Lesnia, in southwestern Poland, courtesy of our lovely hosts at CarcosaCon. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon! Snag Ken and […]
An all request episode kicks off in the Gaming Hut, where Patreon backer Michael Fox asks about picking exactly the right Mythos creature for your scenario. Backer Jacob Boersma meets us in the Food Hut to ask what the heck might be behind a recent Dutch pistachio heist. In Ask Ken and Robin, patron Michael […]
The Gaming Hut stages a baccarat game with the devil as Patreon backer Eain Bankins asks for help introducing the main villain without devolving into an immediate and disappointing fight. In the Horror Hut we stir the pot on the witch and/or Satanist sub-genre. Then Ken has another stack of tomes to lovingly riffle through […]
The Gaming Hut delves into a design issue at the behest of Patreon backer Mikey Hamm, who wants to know how to balance player options against the archetypal experience of a game. We keep mentioning him, and now backer Sam Harris demands an entire Book Hut segment on Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye. Get ready […]
Protect the precious store of dwindling oxygen in the Gaming Hut as we riff a crew of GMCs for an installation horror scenario. Journey into the History Hut to hear us satisfy Martin Rundkvist’s Patreon backer desire to hear about writer/explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton and his wife and literary steward, Isabel. Join us in […]
Time to check your dermal surfaces for sigils as the Gaming Hut takes a look at spell side effects. The Tradecraft Hut goes contemporary and shadowy to examine private spy agencies, including Black Cube and Psy Group. Ask Ken and Robin responds to the request of Patreon backer Drew Eicholz for contemporary weirdness in Kansas […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
In the Gaming Hut we contemplate lunar havoc as Patreon backer Ray Slakinski asks us to turn Project A119 into a Fall of Delta Green scenario. We walk the red carpet into the Cinema Hut as we indulge in our traditional pre-Oscar look back at our favorite films from the previous year. Then backer Gerald […]
In the Gaming Hut we imagine what will happen when LARPs meet e-sports. Call our people, TV industry. Patreon backer Jason Thompson summons us to the Cartography Hut to express disbelief in the non-existence of maps in the Hellenistic era. In How to Write Good we dig deep into word clusters and ways to eliminate […]
We find a new disruptive way to travel to the Gaming Hut as we consider scenarios inspired by scooter charger culture. In the Conspiracy Corner we ask if journalists and police could do with some basic conspirology literacy training. Patreon backer Jeff Cannell summons us to the Horror Hut to ask if vampires who have […]
The Gaming Hut goes retro goth cartoony as Patreon backer Arthur invites us to envision an Edward Gorey RPG. In the Crime Blotter we look at Los Caballeros Templarios, the drug cartel that borrows the branding of the Knights Templar. The Cinema Hut finds us mulling historical inaccuracy in movies. When do we roll with […]
Get ready for a tear gassing as the Gaming Hut finds us riffing a Fall of Delta Green scenario set during the 1968 Democratic convention. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features a chat with app maker Steven Hammond, whose work has helped you run Feng Shui fights, plot Beating the Story narrative arcs, […]
In the Gaming Hut we examine the desire to play less than competent characters. The History Hut takes us back to the 7th century BC and the reign of Assyrian super-king Ashurbanipal. In How to Write Good we look at the connection between character sympathy and emotional rhythm. Finally we sidle into the Eliptony Hut, […]
Struggle to stay one step ahead of the authorities as the Gaming Hut finds ways to do the classic trope of the protagonist framed for a crime in a roleplaying scenario. The Horror Hut enters an old-timey uncanny valley as we look at the wax museum sub-genre. In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, […]
We kick off 2019 with an all-request episode, starting with Patreon backer Bryan Gustafson, who enters the Gaming Hut to ask us how to use the tiny houses movement in a Cthulhu Confidential scenario. In the Command Hut, backer Tom Abella seeks the scoop on the series of WWII commando and bombing raids against a […]
Once again we close out the year with an episode recorded in front of a live audience at Dragonmeet in Hammersmith, London. Topics include the relationship between Queen Elizabeth and the Peloponnesian War, Cthulhoid Teletubbies, giant cows, modes of Yellow King RPG Game Mastering, and of course, sausages. We’ll be back with our first episode […]
Jet-lagged and full of pudding, we return from our latest trip to Dragonmeet to issue a Travel Advisory about the Anglo Saxon Kingdoms exhibit at the British Library. In the Gaming Hut we pursue a request from Patreon backer Mikey Hamm to talk about chase rules. If we were just in London, our hero must […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
Not to spoil anything, but we open in the Gaming Hut as Patreon backer V Weather asks us what to do when it turns out you’ve already read the adventure your GM is running. In How To Write Good, we examine the uses and abuses of ambiguity in RPG setting materials. Then it’s off to […]
Get out your space calculators as we meet in the Gaming Hut to entertain a request from Patreon backer Robert Dean, who wants to hear more about the time Ken ran Traveller for accountants. In the History Hut we fulfill the desire of backer Joe Littrell to learn the real reason behind Churchill’s wartime initiative […]
This podcast never wastes your time, but what if you, as a GM, have to fill some space in your session? The Gaming Hut looks at ways to vamp for time. In the drafty confines of the Architecture Hut, Patreon backer Darren Hennessy wants to know about Houska Castle in the Czech Republic, known […]
Under the black stars of Carcosa, we celebrate the impending publication of Robin’s The Yellow King Roleplaying Game and the manuscript completion of Ken’s The King in Yellow Annotated Edition with an all-Pallid Mask edition of our decadent podcast. In Among My Many Hats, Ken shares what he’s learned about Chambers and the Hyades while working on […]
We open in the Gaming Hut, or is all part of an elaborate trick, as Patreon backer Sean asks how to pull switcheroos on players who don’t like being fooled. Ken meets us in the Cinema Hut to reveal the filmic goodies he saw at this year’s Chicago International Film Festival. In Ask Ken […]
Join us in the Gaming Hut to assist Patreon backer Dustyn Mincey with his difficulty in sticking with a single game, when there are so many awesome games in the world. Then Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, specifically designer extraordinaire Steve Kenson. Finally it’s again time to vicariously caress the covers of […]
Join us for an elegaic Gaming Hut as we tackle but a single topic: the life and work of our friend and inspiration, the grand shaman of gaming, Greg Stafford (1948-2018.) Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon! Snag Ken […]
In the Gaming Hut we assist Patreon backer Jean-Francois Paradis in creating a campaign where the PCs’ homeland is invaded by a technologically superior rival. Stay far from manhole covers and sewer grates as the Horror Hut looks at CHUDs and troglodytes. Then Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, specifically gaming’s cartoonist laureate, […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
Another all-request episode kicks off in the Gaming Hut as Patreon backer Gene Ha asks what F20 evil deities get out of all the dungeons they create and manage. In the Cartography Hut we look into trap streets and parch marks, at the behest of backer Jurie Hornemann. Ask Ken and Robin gives backer […]
The Cinema Hut bursts with upcoming delights as Robin returns from his annual jaunt to Toronto International Film Festival to provide highlights on a banner year. In the Gaming Hut we tackle a perennial problem: how do you make sure the talky PC gets to talk to the talky NPC before the killy PC […]
Advice for players kicks us off in the Gaming Hut, as we suggest ways to react when the GM provides you with a magic gun. Then in a segment we persist in calling How To Write Good, rather than Robin Yells Into the Wind, we show you how to tag jokes on the Internet. Ken […]
Let’s summon the spirit of summer one last time by hearkening back to a balmy Indianapolis Friday, when Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff live from the surprising new confines of the Lucas Oil stadium at Gen Con. Come for the Nerdtrope cards, come for the incisive questions from our ever-alert audience. Want to […]
The Gaming Hut makes room for our collection of crystal balls as Patreon backer Rob Towell asks for hints on GMing prophecies and divinations. The Crime Blotter looks at a rash of highly professional heists targeting relics looted from the Old Summer Palace and held in European museums. Patreon backer Polydamas asks us to […]
On the alert for treacherous banana peels, we gather in the Gaming Hut to wonder if GUMSHOE can handle incompetent PCs. In Ask Ken and Robin, Patreon backer Frank Rafaelson wants Ken to pitch a new edition of Nephilim. How to Write Good posits that idiot plotting is not just an issue in procedure-heavy narratives. […]
Another all-request episode opens in the familiar confines of the Gaming Hut, where Patreon backer Trung Bui wants to know how we pull out all the stops for climactic campaign-ending episodes. In the Horror Hut, backer Samwise Crider asks how to incorporate the newly discovered Icelandic and Swedish versions of Bram Stoker’s Dracula […]
Patreon backers, specifically Patreon backer Brian Malcolm, demand yet more dungeon talk from us in the Gaming Hut. How do you lend a dungeon complex a narrative quality, instead of making it a random collection of rooms and fights? In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Christoph Sapinsky tells us about his new […]
We’re scratchy voiced and mushy headed from our journey to Gen Con 18. The Best Four Days in Gaming got bigger than ever this year, and we’re here to sort through the awards, the announcements, and perhaps a spot of food. Also at Gen Con we talked to Emily Reinhart, whose magical girl RPG […]
Once more we’re in the same room together with an episode recorded in our hotel the day before Gen Con. Hmm, what easy topics shall we tackle? Does the game system you’re playing expect you to generate a plot hook for your character? We’re waiting in the Gaming Hut with tips and advice. The […]
Mystery scenario construction is once again on our minds in the Gaming Hut, as we discuss ways to run a mystery in which the investigators respond to an ongoing spree of murders, monster attacks, or the like. We make sure the roof of the History Hut is well-patched as we consider the cosmic terror […]
Most RPG scenarios assume that it’s up to the player characters to conclusively defeat the bad guys at the end. In the Gaming Hut we ask when it’s okay to leave the mop up to outside forces. In the History Hut Patreon backer Jake asks us to unveil the mysteries of the Cagots. Ask […]
In the Gaming Hut we look at how the same adversary can play very different roles from one game to the next. Serving as an example is Red Jack, created for Night’s Black Agents but presently contemplating a killing spree in The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. The Tradecraft Hut examines China’s latest hacking coup […]
The Gaming Hut lies at the end of a ten foot corridor this week as Patreon backer Elias Helfer asks us, as paragons of story-driven RPGs, to explain why we think dungeons are awesome. In Fun With Science we extrapolate a future with affordable carbon reclamation. With the Over the Edge Kickstarter now in […]
It’s been 300 installments, just a smidge shy of six years, and longtime listeners and backers know what that means. Time for another episode-length Lightning Round, as we provide uncharacteristically snappy As to Qs about games, beverages, monsters, bees and the ever-proverbial so much more. Want to pose a question to the show? Get […]
The Gaming Hut has a bunch of vampires in the shop for adjustments as we look at the process of adapting creatures between systems. In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, Ken talks to Rich Ranallo about the new edition of Velvet Generation, now on Kickstarter. Listen close and you’ll hear Ken’s lightning […]
Having both recently moved big projects off our plates and into post-production, we convene in the Gaming Hut to look at lessons and surprises from our design work on Vampire: the Masquerade 5th Edition and The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. In the Horror Hut, we respond to the wish of Patreon backer Stephen Perpitch-Harvey to […]
Do gamers like choice more than ordinary humans? We raised the question several episodes back, and now it’s all grown up into its very own Gaming Hut segment. In the Tradecraft Hut we look at the espionage allegations leveled against the Chinese telecom giant ZTE. Then the time comes for a brand new segment, the […]
Not by chance do we start in the Gaming Hut, for a look at the role of coincidence in various mystery genres. Then at the behest of Patreon backer Stewart Robertson we duck into the secret recesses of the Mythology Hut for a 101 on Gnosticism. In Ask Ken and Robin, backer Aaron Galen […]
Another all-request episode begins in the Gaming Hut, where Patreon backer David Shaw wants us to turn supermarket tokens into an eldritch menace. In the Architecture Hut Ken fills us in on the Chicago Spire Pit, at the behest of backer Neal Kaplan. Backer Steve Sick joins us in the plush seating of the […]
Patreon backer Andy Olson invites us to plan a fantasy heist in the Gaming Hut. In the Tradecraft Hut backer Andrew Miller debriefs us on the Fat Leonard case. How to Write Good looks at invented slang, with examples from Robin’s upcoming King in Yellow novel, The Missing and the Lost. Then we check […]
Stop plinking those kobolds and pop into the Gaming Hut as we ask if today’s median gamer is less motivated than before by the prospect of in-game reward. In Ask Ken and Robin, Patreon backer Neal Dalton asks Ken how he chooses game systems and pitches them to his players. We enter the Cartography […]
The Gaming Hut takes place inside the Tradecraft Hut, or is it the other way around, as we, with the assistance of a FOIA request, investigate CIA-designed board games. How to Write Good looks at the particular challenges of creating game fiction. In the Food Hut we open a few bottles alongside Patreon backer […]
In the Gaming Hut, Patreon backer SR points us to an archived trove of CounterSpy magazine and asks how to make use of it in Fall of DELTA GREEN. We wouldn’t lead you on in an elaborate scheme of deception, and so have returned for the second part of a Cinema Hut question from […]
In the Gaming Hut we cover ways to design monsters to star in investigative scenarios. We tromp into the Command Hut at the behest of Patreon backer Thomas Vallejos, who wants to know the deep secrets behind a proposal to revive the US Army’s iconic WWII-era uniform style. In Ask Ken and Robin, backer […]
Picking up a thread left hanging a few episodes back, the Gaming Hut looks at ways to make a mundane solution to an apparently occult mystery work satisfyingly for your players. The Tradecraft Hut peers behind the headlines of the Skripal poisoning case. In the Cinema Hut Patreon backer Chris Camfield asks for the […]
Another all-request episode begins in the Gaming Hut, as Patreon backer Ruth Tillman asks us how we might game Annihilation in both its film and novel iterations. We head into the Book Hut at the behest of backer Sean Gomez, who wants to know more about Ken’s recent William Haggard fixation and spy thriller inspiration […]
Robin tries out a new maxim in That Thing I Always Say: in a game RPG session, the only way to go off track is a dead end. In The Culture of Gaming, we look at gatekeeping, which rears its head once more with the rise of streamed play. Finally, in Ken’s Bookshelf, our resident […]
Keep a close eye on your open beverage as the Gaming Hut spins a Fall of DELTA GREEN arc from that most notorious of covert programs, MKULTRA. The Food Hut goes sequel for Instant Pot II: The Instant Pottening. Look over your shoulder for copycats as the Horror Hut investigates doppelgangers and body snatchers. […]
You have nothing to lose but your chains, and also your handcuffs, and possibly also your orange prison scrubs, as the Gaming Hut shows you what to do the next time your PC gets captured. The Tradecraft Hut probes off-books financial arrangements in covert operations, as inspired by a request from Patreon backer Chris Sellers. […]
Ken dons raffish 60s-vintage headgear to give The Fall of DELTA GREEN, now available for preorder, the Among My Many Hats treatment. Robin reviews ways to shape a dramatic scene in How to Write Good. We look at the science of choice and its implications for tabletop design in the Gaming Hut. Referenced in this […]
We gather suspiciously in the Gaming Hut to ask if and how GMs can assist players in horror games who want their characters to exercise a Scully-like skepticism. We break into the History Hut at the behest of Patreon backer Andy Young, who seeks the scoop on fresh-faced 19th century burglar Edward Jones. In […]
In the Gaming Hut we put up our dukes and look at ways to frame fights that advance the story. Oscar time is upon us, so as is our annual wont we pop into the Cinema Hut for a look back at our favorite films of 2017. Recovering from the red carpet, we visit the […]
We swear we didn’t plan this, but Patreon backer Chris Sellers showed up unexpectedly in the Gaming Hut to ask about improvising GUMSHOE scenarios. The location of the Tradecraft Hut has been dangerously exposed, and only our look at fitness apps as a threat to operational security will save us. In an equally sudden turn, […]
February loses its rep as the cruelest month when we confront it with an all-hut, all-request episode, in tribute to our fabulous Patreon backers. In the Gaming Hut, Tom Bagatelle seeks guidance on a sandbox time travel campaign. Peter Williamson adds reclining couches to the Food Hut as we consider the Roman cookbook attributed […]
Brace yourself for musical metaphors as we head into the Gaming Hut and find that Patreon backer Brian Thomas has left us the logical analogy Orchestra: jazz combo :: play’s ensemble cast : role playing gaming group. In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, Ken and Robin talk to Delta Green writer and […]
In Among My Many Hats Robin talks about Beating the Story, which gears the story beat system you may know from Hamlet’s Hit Points to fiction writing in all of its forms. Pre-order the print book now and get it in electronic form immediately! As the world continues to turn into one big Conspiracy […]
Ladies and tigers abound as the Gaming Hut looks at story choices and how players respond to them. Then Patreon backer Scott Wachter dusts off the Archaeology Hut to ask why King Tut armed himself with a meteor dagger. Move over, Project Blue Book. There’s a new defunct US government effort to investigate UFOs in […]
Yeah verily and anon, the Gaming Hut goes iambic pentameter as Patreon backer Chris Camfield asks us how to add Shakespearean flavor to a roleplaying campaign. Then your sweet and savory hosts venture into the Food Hut to reveal unbeatable flavor combinations. Sandhogs and aqueducts turn from research into terror as Ken and Robin […]
In the Gaming Hut we mull the process of scenario writing, specifically the differences between writing first, or playing first. Backer Fred Kiesche takes advantage of his Patreon priveleges in Ask Ken and Robin, seeking deeper info on Ken’s current 13th Age campaign, Poikila Hellenistika. We take our seats in the Cinema Hut to […]
It’s 2018 and we’re back, starting as usual in the Gaming Hut. Within its cozy confines we answer a question from a mystery backer on achieving genuine emotional investment in roleplaying. The History Hut unfolds its secret plans at the behest of Patreon backer Antti Elomaa, who wants to know why military operations have […]
Our final episode of 2017 arrives with bells a-jangling in the form of our traditional live show from Dragonmeet. Learn about Stalin and Atlantis, what elements of our work we think other designers have picked up on, which beverages go with which iterations of a beloved nerd franchise, why Nazis are stupid, and much […]
Our throats showing the wear of travel to that most lurghy-inducing of wonderlands, we issue a Travel Advisory on Dragonmeet and the Modigliani show at the Tate Modern in London. In the Gaming Hut we compare and contrast two ways of structuring mystery scenarios: Robin’s Maze of Clues and Ken’s Ocean of Clues. Longtime listeners […]
Hey, it’s an all-request episode! Patreon backer Joshua Trowbridge entreats us in the Gaming Hut to return to a perennial puzzler: how to convince change-averse players to try the awesome new thing you want to run for them. Patreon backer Josh Mannon summons us to the Cartography Hut, to explain that hole where the […]
Patreon backer Doc Cross pulls his satin bell-cord to summon us to the Gaming Hut to mull the droll possibilities of P. G. Wodehouse gaming. In the Tradecraft Hut we journey to the shadowy isle of Malta. The Food Hut documents Robin’s conversion to the cult of Instant Pot. And finally the Consulting Occultist […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
We’ve installed additional measures in the Gaming Hut to discuss security camera surveillance and how to stop it from wrecking your mystery plots. Jump scares await in the Horror Hut as we look at the bogeyman and his pals, the evil spirits. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, we chat with marketing […]
Make sure your copy of this podcast has been properly authenticated, preferably by a person in a pointy hat, as the Gaming Hut looks at forgery in worlds with truth magic. Get your drama on in How to Write Good as we make sure that your scenes of interaction further the plot, instead of […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
Gather in the Gaming Hut but keep an eye on who might be creeping up on you with a knife or candlestick as we riff a cast of murder suspects. Ken then meets you in the Cinema Hut to report on what he saw at this year’s Chicago Film Festival. In Ask Ken and […]
Evade lasting shame by joining us for tea and scones in the Gaming Hut, where Patreon backer Tom Abella asks us to riff on the subject of social spirals. Sneak into the Tradecraft Hut for a look back at the career of WWII spy Jeanne Rousseau. Ken has oft-spoken of the dire Bochcoization. Now […]
We situate the Gaming Hut near a wolf trap as we answer a request from Patreon backer Dicegeeks and find ways to use the Green Children of Woolpit in a game. In the Food Hut backer Bryan Gustafson asks us to talk about snack bar purveyor and philanthropist Daniel Lubetsky. Our Cinema Hut 101s […]
In the Gaming Hut we examine a classic dichotomy in GMing technique: when do you use the world to nudge the story, and when do you address the players out-of-character? The Tradecraft Hut looks at 2017’s most eliptonic spy story, the apparent sonic attacks in Cuba that have led the US State Department to […]
Some monsters we want to kill. But others we want to figure out, then kill. The Gaming Hut looks at designing creatures that make for good mysteries. Then at the behest of Patreon backer Fridrik Bjarnason we journey across route revealed by codes and numbers to the Eliptony Hut, where we consider the theory […]
Robin is back from his annual sojourn to the Toronto International Film Festival, so it’s time to open up the Cinema Hut to alert you to the best and nerdiest of the 44 titles he saw there. From zombies to noir, he’s got your watch list for the next 12-18 months. In the Gaming Hut […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
Hold onto your wallet when you enter this Gaming Hut. It’s full of scamsters, as we look at clipjoint towns in F20 games. Patreon backer Elias Helfer digs into the files for a declassified Tradecraft Hut as he asks for the 101 on espionage in WWI. Then Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, as […]
When Ken and Robin go live, as they do here in this episode recorded in August at Gen Con, the audience, aided by a mythic pack of index cards, tells us what the topics are. And in this case they jointly demanded Crimean War mecha, Bannonesque intrigue, Ken’s beef with the Gnostics, time machine […]
In That Thing I Always Say, we examine Ken’s maxim that death spirals make for good gaming. With Labor Day in the rear view mirror, the Cinema Hut looks back at blockbuster season for a round up of the summer movies that were. Finally the Consulting Occultist serves up a reply to Patreon backer […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
A couple of episodes ago we put a pin in the idea of Magic Blackwater and now in the Gaming Hut we unpin it for further consideration. In yet more business arising from the previous minutes, the Mythology Hut looks at the kinship between the vampire and the serial killer. Then Ken and/or Robin […]
Annual traditions happen only once a year, and since Gen Con has now happened fifty times, we must bring you an extra special convention review Gaming Hut. With a Travel Advisory on something that won’t happen for a long time or possibly ever–Ken’s journey into eclipse totality! Want to pose a question to the […]
That ambient sound you hear is the muffled bustle of the Embassy Suites in beautiful downtown Indianapolis as we record a face-to-face episode immediately prior to the sweet chaos of Gen Con. We start in a portable version of the Gaming Hut to answer a question from Patreon backer Alexandria Permann, who wants to […]
The Gaming Hut goes inside the design process as Robin discovers he wants to make a humble sub-system a little less humble. The Food Hut goes inside the casing as Ken waxes rhapsodic on the history and virtues of the Chicago hot dog. Ask Ken and Robin goes inside the business as Patreon backer David […]
The Gaming Hut goes inside the design process as Robin discovers he wants to make a humble sub-system a little less humble. The Food Hut goes inside the casing as Ken waxes rhapsodic on the history and virtues of the Chicago hot dog. Ask Ken and Robin goes inside the business as Patreon backer David […]
We clatter our dice and thump our miniatures in the Gaming Hut, considering a Patreon backer Travis Johnson question about what to do when the players break the tone they asked you to instill. With a Kickstarter and then a vacation, Robin hasn’t been paying attention to the news lately. So he meets Ken in […]
The Gaming Hut falls all over itself answering a question from Patreon backer Daniel Krauklis: “What does the choice to have fumbles in your rules that tell us about your game and the moral universe in which the characters operate?” We fortify the Cartography Hut for a workshop on designing strategic locations into your world. […]
Are your modern investigators getting cocky? Join us in the Gaming Hut as we riff a rival team to toss some sand in their gears. The Cartography Hut looks at the process of mapping fictional cities, like those invented by H. P. Lovecraft. In Ask Ken and Robin, John Scheib wants to know about habits […]
As heard on this very podcast, I and Atomic Overmind Press are launching — nay, have already launched — the Kickstarter for my book Tour de Lovecraft: the Destinations, the sequel to my much beloved volume Tour de Lovecraft: the Tales. Drop by the Kickstarter and back us if you care to, and we would […]
As one Kickstarter ends, another begins, specifically on Wednesday, July 26. In Among My Many Hats Ken tells us about his cool new book, Tour de Lovecraft: The Destinations, which is Kickstarting on Wednesday, July 26. The Gaming Hut poses a GMing question: when is it best for us, as Game Masters, not to talk? […]
Who would have believed that when they started a podcast two scrappy writer/game designers could make it all the way to episode 250? You know what that means: time once again for another Lightning Round, in which we fire through as many questions as we can, starting with those posed to us by our indispensible […]
Run! Hide! The Gaming Hut is coming for you, with a look at chase rules for horror RPGs. Homicide and puppets collide as the Crime Blotter recounts 1929’s Benny Evangelist murders. The recent theft of Dawson City’s Downtown Hotel severed drinking toe prompts a Food Hut consideration of appalling drink rituals. Then we rev up […]
In the Gaming Hut we find ways to design compelling consequences, with a particular nod toward Robin’s recent work on GUMSHOE One-2-One and The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. The Tradecraft Hut provides a briefing requested by Patreon backer Stephen Brandon: given the recent Reality Winner case, what can player characters do to avoid her mistakes […]
Stare! Stare my friends, into the most psychically destablizing hat of all. For this week Among My Many Hats has the Yellow Sign neatly embroidered upon it, and you know what that means: Robin’s new GUMSHOE project for Pelgrane Press, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game, is Kickstarting now. Ken hangs onto his last Composure point […]
We interrupt the tranquility of your regular podcast subscription feed to riff briefly on some long anticipated yet terrifying news. The Yellow King Roleplaying Game, which Robin has been covertly promoting for many months, is now up for your decadent assessment on Kickstarter. We’ll be back in Friday to discuss it in detail, but we […]
Uh-oh, looks like Robin wants to introduce another term of art into the RPG design lexicon. Ken joins him in the Gaming Hut to consider system humility. Transfixed by the hypnotic gaze of Patreon backer Andrea Coletta, we shuffle into the History Hut to reveal all on the Rasputin phenomenon, as most recently echoed by […]
A guy in a hat was going to tell us what was in the Gaming Hut this week, but then one of your PCs just shot him with a crossbow. That leaves us to figure out what to do when the players kill off their information sources. In the Book Hut, Patreon backer Andy Young […]
We knew you were going to join us in the Gaming Hut, where we answer Patreon backer Bret Kramer’s question on running omniscient GMCs as allies or enemies of the player characters. In the Food Hut we look at cocktails, subject of a recently concluded quest by Robin. The Tradecraft Hut goes Gallic with the […]
We know you want to hear about it, so Among Our Many Hats digs into the announcement that a certain Ken Hite will serve as lead designer for the new edition of Vampire: the Masquerade. But that’s not all the hats! Then Robin looks at ways to use the Story Beats web app, which allows […]
The Gaming Hut has a thatched roof this time out as we riff a cast of pseudo-medieval villagers for your next F20. In The Business of Gaming we puzzle the mystery of the generic supplement. In the Food Hut we look at foodstuffs as treasure. Finally we pry open the bars of the Eliptony Hut […]
In the Gaming Hut we look at premise rejection from a player perspective. How do you catch yourself doing it, and how do you find your way through it? We crawl over to the Cinema Hut to discuss the motifs of the war movie and how they’re adjusting to contemporary conflicts. In Ken and/or Robin […]
Our second consecutive all-request episode kicks off in the Gaming Hut, as Ray Slakinksi asks for tips on running Night’s Black Agents at conventions. In the History Hut Andy Young wants to know about the Mythos truth behind the death of legendary Canadian painter Tom Thomson. Rick Neal uses the kind offices of Ask Ken […]
Another all-request episode kicks off in the Gaming Hut, as Stewart Robertson asks how to make a BSM (Big Science McGuffin) integral to a game series. The History Hut, takes on a yurt-like configuration as Morgan Ellis demands the scoop on the Mad Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. Joshua Hillerup convenes an installment of Ask Ken […]
The Gaming Hut gets foundational as we discuss the meaning and implications of Gygaxian naturalism. Patreon backer Derrick McMullin meets us in the History Hut to ask for the hidden truth behind the Utah War. In Ask Ken and Robin, backer Steve K invites us to opine on what might have been lost in a […]
Get outside your own perspective and inside the Gaming Hut as Ken and Robin envision a gun that triggers out of body experiences. With espionage everywhere in the news, it’s time for that Tradecraft Hut primer on contemporary Russian intelligence. In How to Write Good we look enthusiastically at reluctant heroes. Then thanks to a […]
Get ready to argue logistics as the Gaming Hut considers player planning. When is it prelude to play, and when is it play? The Crime Blotter opens one of the most famous cold cases of all: the Black Dahlia murder. Ask Ken and Robin features a query from Patreon backer Padriag Griffin about the plausibility […]
In the Gaming Hut Patreon backer Joan Guardiet asks us to make a game set in a warrior woman society work for a party of male PCs. Speaking of requests, in Ask Ken and Robin backer Kalin Kadiev seeks tips on researching Bulgarian occultism. Tell Me More teams up with the Cartography Hut for a […]
We creep into the Gaming Hut at the command of Patreon backer Alexander Permann, who assigns us the mission of envisioning a Night’s Black Agents spinoff featuring the Kingdom of Asturias. In a joint session of the Horror Hut and our Tell Me More feature, we look at that crowdsourced urban legend, Slenderman. Robin vents […]
The Gaming Hut goes abstract as we discuss metagaming. At the behest of Patreon backer Vana Stillwater, the Food Hut hosts a look at culinary crimes and scams. Then we paw through the contents of Ken’s Bookshelf, as acquired during his annual raid on the Bay Area. Support the KARTAS Patreon! Snag Ken and Robin […]
The Gaming Hut may seem friendly and bucolic, but this time it’s full of danger, as we riff a cast of conspiratorial small town NPCs. Take your seat and suppress your coughing as the Culture Hut gets classical. Patreon backer Noel Warford asks us for the scoop on such theosophically influenced composers as Henry Cowell, […]
The Hoary Hosts of Patreon backer Elias Helfer command the opening of the Gaming Hut! Therein we shall describe ways to portray weird and magnficent landscapes like those seen in the Doctor Strange movie in roleplaying sessions! Backer Alex Johnston penetrates the vaunted infosec of the Tradecraft Hut to demand our dossier on Nikolai Vavilov […]
Know us by our funny voices and exaggerated mannerisms as we meet in the Gaming Hut to discuss what makes a Game Master character easy to play. Grab a mojito and light a fine cigar as Ken supplies a Travel Advisory on his recent jaunt to Cuba. It’s Oscar time, and you know what that […]
The Gaming Hut stands at the service of Patreon backer Vince Arebalo’s son Dax, who asks for tips on getting comfortable around unfamiliar fellow players. The CIA has finally put its trove of declassified historical documents in a readily accessible online database. In the Tradecraft Hut we find out what Ken searched for first. Backer […]
In the Gaming Hut we ask ourselves how far rules and GM influence should go to prevent the players from idiot plotting their own characters. Speaking of gaming the system, esteemed Patreon backer Jeremy Forbing acts as a stalking horse for a certain shadowy figure to convene the Politics Hut. With a mysterious knowledge of […]
Another all-request episode starts in the Gaming Hut, where Patreon backer Gerald Sear wants us to consider the Mythos implications of the Disney corporation. Then assemble your miniature greenhouses and sail over to the History Hut, where we make up interesting facts about botanist and tea smuggler Robert Fortune at the behest of backer Steve […]
A surrealist sandbox and a structured mystery make a date in the Gaming Hut, as Josh Rose asks how to run Dreamhounds of Paris as a GUMSHOE One-2-One setting. Given that the world has turned into a spy novel, and not a particularly believable one at that, maybe it’s time to duck into the Tradecraft […]
Patreon backer Zachary Joyner poses some Gaming Hut questions about improvising a GUMSHOE game. How quickly do you give out clues? How do you maintain pace without leading the players? Though our latest trip to London has faded into the mist of nostalgia, we would be remiss not to paw through the books Ken raided […]
Gather in the Gaming Hut as we ask ourselves when one should take historical license when running or designing a game set in the real past. Spoiler: we also answer ourselves. In the Book Hut, Patreon backers Scott Haring and Kalin team up to demand a rundown on the works of Tim Powers. Sorting one’s […]
The contents of this podcast become too horrible to correlate as we slip into the Gaming Hut to answer a question from Patreon backer Laurel Halbany about handling secret mythos knowledge in an age of ever-present information. In Ask Ken and Robin, backer Jeff Kahrs ask us to expound on the contradictions of opting out […]
Finally, after ceding all recent chapeaus to Ken, Robin seizes control of Among My Many Hats to talk about Cthulhu Confidential and the design of the GUMSHOE One-2-One system. Because it’s finally up for pre-order over at the Pelgrane store. While we’re mulling Cthulhu Confidential, Ken and/or Robin Talks To Someone Else has a word […]
If it’s December, Ken and Robin must be coming to you live from Dragonmeet, the little London convention that isn’t so little any more. Join us as Ken emerges triumphant from a draw of the nerdtrope deck that definitely, definitely happened exactly just as Robin describes it. Plus red herrings, steak, and more stupid gnomes. […]
In the Gaming Hut, urged on by Patreon backer Fred Kiesche, Ken takes us under the hood of his Rex of the Old 97 campaign. What does he do behind that Peter Frampton GM screen, and how does he do it? But stranger requests await us still! Patreon backer Jeromy French convenes a meeting in […]
Dirk the Dice rolls into the Gaming Hut to ask us how to make sword and sorcery monster encounters exciting. Don’t believe a word you hear in the Conspiracy Corner, as we look at the history and evolution of propaganda. Expand your consciousness in the Cinema Hut, where backers Andrew Collins and Adam Grotjohn invite […]
Patreon backer Michael Kotschi pops a moony question over the Ask Ken and Robin transom, prompting us to look at 70s NASA from a Moon Dust Men perspective. The Politics Hut still has a hangover, but I guess we still have to address that thing that happened. In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, […]
Patreon backer Ethan Cordray rises from the Pacific waves of Ask Ken and Robin to pose a stumper: how to make Cthulhu scary again. Ken is back from an extended sequester in the Cinema Hut to talk about his favorites from the Chicago International Film Festival. Once more we learn How to Write Good, this […]
This week the Gaming Hut holds a special surprise: it’s not just a segment, but a free game in and of itself, as Robin teaches you how to run Death Spiral. In Ask Ken and Robin, Reiner Dobbelman asks us about mythic-level play. Then we again hear the protesting groans of Ken’s Bookshelf as we […]
Among My Many Hats blows the lid off of Ken’s upcoming Kickstarter for a revised, revamped, and reanimated Tour de Lovecraft: the Tales. Are the results of this podcast rigged? Find out as the History Hut looks at the history of vote-rigging in America. When Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, sometimes that someone […]
The Gaming Hut looks at top temporal locations for TimeWatch scenarios. Pelgrane Press celebrates our segment by offering you, the listener, a voucher code to order from its online store. Plunk in TIMEWATCH at the voucher prompt for 10% off any TimeWatch product. In keeping with the chronological confusion of TimeWatch, the offer is good […]
A fork in the road leads to either the Gaming Hut, or the Gaming Hut, as we look at those times when giving players choice and control in a scenario leads to a less interesting outcome. The History Hut has us looking at the career of oil magnate E.L. Doheny, key figure in the Teapot […]
We kick off another episode inspired entirely by Patreon backer requests with John Corey, who asks Ken to expand on real history as the best setting for gaming and the challenges of reskinning it, thus inviting another round of That Thing I Always Say. The enigmatic asker known only as Bryan ushers into the Horror […]
Unfurl your flags as we gather in the Gaming Hut to envision an F20 game in which nationalities take the place of alignments. In Ask Ken and Robin, Patreon backer Jason Breti asks us to talk about Microscope. How to Write Good looks at things that happen in real life that writers have to work […]
Much tabletop roleplaying advice, ours included, helps GMs to keep players entertained. But what about the other way around? Thanks to Patreon backer Jesse Morgan, we head into the Gaming Hut to look at ways to keep your GM motivated. Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else covers not one but two areas of expertise, […]
Take a reality check before you dare to enter the Gaming Hut, as we answer Patreon backer Bryan’s request to devise a campaign based on flawed perceptions. Time for another intro course in the Cinema Hut as Ken and Robin give your their film noir 101. Coriander meets pate as the Food Hut investigates the […]
Robin is away at the Toronto International Film festival, and longtime listeners know what that means: it’s time to cover his absence from the podcast mic to drop the live episode we released at Gen Con. Join us for another glorious nerdtrope, a big hand for all our Patreon backers, and all the questions a […]
Our 207th installment starts on a tripartite note as Patreon backer Andrew Young pops his head into the Gaming Hut to ask about the pertinence of three-act structure in roleplaying scenarios. Speaking of Andrews, the Tradecraft Hut opens the case file on East German spymaster Markus Wolf, at the behest of backer Andrew Collins. In […]
Rules get hybridized in the Gaming Hut, at the behest of Patreon backer Jason Carter, who wants to fuse GUMSHOE’s investigative rules with the combat systems of other games, say for example Feng Shui. The man who shot Billy the Kid was himself killed in a dispute over goats. Coincidence? The History Hut looks at […]
Get your dice and character sheets together and head on into the Gaming Hut as we field Patreon backer Gnoll Warford’s question about preparing as a first-time convention GM. In How To Write Good, we slake patron Corey Pierno’s desire to know our writing and researching routines. When Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, […]
Voices weary and graveled, but with spirits lifted by ENnies Gold and Silver, Ken and Robin return from Gen Con to regale you with this year’s round-up of the Best Four Days in Gaming. As is our annual wont we throw separate segments to the wind to encompass all the Gaming Hut goodness. Sub-headings include […]
In a special live from our hotel room episode, we inflate a portable Gaming Hut to field a question from Frent about catastrophe pile-ups in popular continuities. The Tradecraft Hut looks at the implications of Russian intelligence’s hack of the Democratic National Committee emails. (See The Crusader, by Paul Kengor, pp. 317-320 for the full […]
Another all-Patreon backer request episode kicks off in the Gaming Hut as Tom Abella asks what Brexit will do to spycraft in our world and that of Night’s Black Agents. In The Business of Gaming Wesley Marshal asks about the ethics of working on an IP you don’t care for. Karl Schmidt wants the Consulting […]
Pokemon fever is back and more feverish than ever. As Pokemon Go breaks loose of the Gaming Hut, forcing players onto the actual streets, is there anything we can riff about it that reality hasn’t already delivered? Ken watched every Dracula flick he could get his hands on, and now the result of that effort, […]
Let the bells ring out and the banners fly! We can remember starting this occasionally humble podcast like it was yesterday, but here we are with our 200th episode. And you know what that means: lightning round questions. This time, served up primarily by our Patreon backers. Among the many topics: underused Lovecraft, why conversion […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, Patreon backer Conrad Kinch asks what the cruel empire of Tsan-Chan might be up to in 5000 AD. The answer might surprise him! Now that you’ve worked your way through the filmography we provided in our Westerns 101 segment, the Cinema Hut rides back to the corral to pick some […]
Matters come to a head in the Gaming Hut, where we talk about writing scenario climaxes. In Ask Ken and Robin, Patreon backer Eric Jeppesen asks Ken and Robin to help weave a campaign around 16th century English-Ottoman relations and the figure of Edward Barton. Enterprising filmmakers tasked a deep learning neural net to write […]
Ever-prolific Ken dons a knit cap like all the youngsters wear to bring us the scoop on Bubblegumshoe in Among My Many Hats. In the Gaming Hut, we satisfy Patreon backer Sean McAuliff’s request for advice on playing historical figures. Finally the sound of bookseller cash registers ringing in New England tell us that it’s […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, Patreon backer Philip asks for ways to incorporate the beat cycle from Robin’s book Hamlet’s Hit Points into game systems that don’t already support it. The Tradecraft Hut peers into the dossier of Yakov Blumkin, the so-called Soviet James Bond. We gather in the Gaming Hut to wonder why breaking […]
Patreon backer Trung Bui asks us to assemble in the Gaming Hut to tell him who the murderer is, and also to discuss the challenges of investigative scenario construction. The gore runs thick but the design sense runs high as the Cinema Hut answers a Marc Kevin Hall request for an introduction to Italian horror […]
The Gaming Hut becomes a boat we might just die in as Patreon backer Luke Wassink asks us to make environmental obstacles suspenseful and compelling. In Among My Many Hats, Ken tells us about his new Dark Osprey book, The Cthulhu Wars: the United States’ Battle Against the Mythos. Hey, who covered the floor of […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, Patreon backer Andrew Jones asks about working with Greg Stafford. The History Hut looks at the post-WWI occupation of Istanbul, as requested by Alexander Perman. How to Write Good rips the lid off of our least favorite fake stock moments in fiction. Finally the Conspiracy Corner finds Timothy Coram asking […]
In the Gaming Hut we ponder a meta-terminology games designers might use to describe the purpose and function of the various sub-systems they build into roleplaying rules sets. Now that Donald Trump has sewn up the Republican nomination, we head into the Politics Hut to ask Ken what happened to his party, and whether he […]
Ken and Robin Consume Media is brought to you by the discriminating and good-looking backers of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff Patreon. Each week we provide capsule reviews of the books, movies, TV seasons and more we cram into our hyper-analytical sensoriums. Join the Patreon to help pick the items we’ll talk about […]
Patreon supporter Tim Brandis kicks us off with an Ask Ken and Robin question about which of our core design beliefs might have evolved over time. In the Tradecraft Hut we reach way back to that most classic of espionage scandals, the Dreyfus Affair. The Cinema Hut finds us in Stetsons and spurs for an […]
Patreon backer Graham Wills starts us off in the Gaming Hut by asking how to balance conspiratorial genres, like the spy thriller, with group trust. Among My Many Hats finds Ken laying down some wisdom—some Starry Wisdom, that is. In the Horror Hut, Patreon supporter Cardboard Sandwich asks us how to adapt the ghostly works […]
Patreon backer Kevin J. Maroney gets us started with an Ask Ken and Robin question about other designers’ mechanics we consider to be under-stolen. The Tradecraft Hut takes on a recent story claiming that infamous Nazi military officer Otto Skorzeny ended his career as a Mossad assassin. In the Food Hut we heroically accede to […]
In the Gaming Hut, Patreon backer Bill Sundwall wants Ken to mash up two of his projects, The Madness Dossier and Night’s Black Agents, into one. The Business of Gaming looks for the best ways to combat harassment within our community. The Book Hut responds to backer Frank King’s request for a look at the […]
The Gaming Hut gets organized as we answer Patreon backer Samwise Crider’s question about tracking clues in GUMSHOE and other investigative games. Backer Adam McDonald enters the Politics Hut for the 101 on machine politics—particularly that of Ken’s beloved Chicago. Backer and colleague Hal Mangold grabs his popcorn in the Cinema Hut with his request […]
Ask Ken and Robin gets especially educational as Patreon supporter Brent Brown asks us for tips for using RPGs to teach history, home school style. Tradecraft Hut peers into the espionage scene in Brussels. How To Write Good looks at influences and how to incorporate them well. Finally the Consulting Occultist slakes the hankering of […]
Among My Many Hats is an Egyptian headdress with a distinctly feline aspect, as Ken talks about his installment of Ken Writes About Stuff devoted to Bast. The Gaming Hut looks at ways to write scenarios to present the information about Game Master Characters GMs need to run their games. Thanks to Patreon Patron Jeff […]
We start with Ask Ken and Robin, as Patreon supporter Ross Ireland asks us to tell our best crazy game stories. Then it’s off to the History Hut to consider the troubled Presidency of a guy who really couldn’t get a Supreme Court nominee approved, John Tyler. In our inaugural edition of Tell Me More, […]
Pull your swords out of your stones and step into the Gaming Hut for a consideration of the Chosen One trope. How to Write Good explores a phenomenon Robin calls Nigeling, when you make one character look good by painting others as rubes. You’ll place great stock in… no, I’m sorry, I can’t. Let’s just […]
Now that backers of our exciting and handsome Patreon campaign get priority access to pose questions for the show, we have a bunch of great questions in the hopper. So let’s get to four of them in a special celebratory all-request episode. In the Gaming Hut Paul Stefko asks us for tips on running games […]
In this special theme episode, we start in the uncharted waters of the Cartography Hut, to look at the struggle to accurately measure longitude at sea, and its underdog hero, clockmaker John Harrison. We shift to the Gaming Hut to ask ourselves how to introduce navigational uncertainty into magic-rich F20 worlds. Then the Consulting Occultist […]
Sneak up on us very carefully as Ask Ken and Robin responds to a Josh Kroger question regarding stealth systems in RPGs. Recent events force us to reconsider past Politics Hut pronouncements as, with increasing trepidation, we ask once more, is Donald Trump America’s Rob Ford? In the Mythology Hut we pry under the ecclesiastical […]
Let’s schmooze a while in the Gaming Hut as we spitball a game based on social experience points. Get in touch with your inner cave dweller as the Conspiracy Corner checks out Neanderthal conspiracy theories, most notably those of painter and sculptor Stanislav Szukalski. Finally it’s that time of year again: in a bumper segment […]
Long have we teased it! Now it’s finally here, for your keeping-the-show-alive convenience: our Patreon campaign. In this special mini-episode we talk the whys, the wherefores, and the long-coveted extra stuff we can do if we hit particular milestones. Jump on board to make show notes, transcripts and the new Ken and Robin Consume Media […]
There’s a rat looking at us and a hawk flying overhead as Ask Ken and Robin fields a Michael Shreeves question on making familiars narratively satisfying. Our lead time prevents the Politics Hut from engaging in prognostication, so instead we step back to look at ways of understanding this most chaotic and suspenseful of US […]
Can you make it through the terrors of Ask Ken and Robin, when Sean Maclean asks us how to run survival horror? If so, the Tradecraft Hut awaits, where we deliver our promised full segment on legendary M15 counterintelligence honcho Maxwell Knight. Go down to the basement and get made small as Horror Hut zooms […]
Get your chlorophyll on as we enter a vine-choked version of the Gaming Hut to riff an alien species that feeds via photosynthesis. Ken gets you started on your collection of books about maps in a bibliographic Cartography Hut. It’s been a while since Ask Ken and Robin had a lightning round, so let’s have […]
Oh, the humanity! How do we characterize being a human in F20 games and settings? Answers lie inside the Gaming Hut. You think the media is bad today. Back during Chicago’s circulation wars you could get shot for reading the wrong paper on the subway. Elucidation waits in a hard-to-target corner of the History Hut. […]
Roll the dice with us as Among My Many Hats finds Ken headed to Las Vegas 68. Grant our dramatic petition while How To Write Good breaks down dramatic scene construction. Join us for a plate of tamarind-infused noodles as the Food Hut looks at the politics of pad thai. Finally, narrowly avoid drowning not […]
In the Gaming Hut we rise to popular new demand to riff a whole bunch of scenario entry-points to get you started with a Dracula Dossier campaign. As teased last episode, the History Hut looks at anatomical tables, as seen in our December visit to London’s Royal College of Physicians. Continuing the London weirdness, the […]
While in London in December, the Consulting Occultist got a sneak peek at key items of John Dee’s book collection. Join us in previewing the upcoming exhibit Scholar, courtier, magician: the lost library of John Dee, which runs Jan 18-July 29 at the Royal College of Physicians. Then we turn to the […]
Once again we end a year of talking about stuff with a live episode from Dragonmeet in London. Join us as we discuss a time war involving Isaac Newton and the Crusades, GUMSHOE, Feng Shui, highly detailed games, hypothetical gaming-inspired cookbooks, what we’re afraid of now, and making gnomes interesting. Enjoy your holidays, and join […]
What should you look for when revising a scenario? The Gaming Hut holds the answers. Cinematic technique, legacy and mortality all come out to play in the darkened space of the Cinema Hut as we delve into Robin’s powerful response to the documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut. Then Ken and Robin Recycle Audio, specifically more clips from Robin’s […]
We start amid the familiar shag carpet of the Gaming Hut to look at the question of making the mechanics serve the story and not the other way around. The History Hut delves into the best-named military conflict ever, the War of Jenkins’ Ear. In the Horror Hut we avoid gazing into mirrors while discussing […]
The New York Public Library online map collection provides a feast of gameable treasures. We gather in the Cartography Hut to pick our favorites and riff on ways to put them to use. Ken’s first map, of Brasov, appears here. Robin’s map, to the residences of Ebenezer Ingalsbie and T. R. Wolcott, is here. Ken’s […]
The New York Public Library online map collection provides a feast of gameable treasures. We gather in the Cartography Hut to pick our favorites and riff on ways to put them to use. Ken’s first map, of Brasov, appears here. Robin’s map, to the residences of Ebenezer Ingalsbie and T. R. Wolcott, is here. Ken’s […]
We kick off with Ask Ken and Robin, as Reinier Dobbelmann question about power-gaming, relevant to six-year olds literal and metaphorical. Smell the flavor volatiles as Food Hut looks at the science of taste. Referenced in this segment: Barb Stuckey’s Taste: Surprising Stories and Science About Why Food Tastes Good. In the Horror Hut we […]
We predicted that Ask Ken and Robin would feature a Manfred Gabriel question about incorporating prophecy into roleplaying sessions, and we were right! Dracula tried to thwart him, but Ken still managed to check out some titles at this year’s Chicago International Film Festival, and joins us in the Cinema Hut to talk about the […]
When Deep Ones suddenly display their powers of teleportation, are they being uncool? Step into the Gaming Hut for a look at situations where you want to keep the abilities of your monsters consistent. In Ask Ken and Robin @marcaddress gets us to riff a society where corpse reanimation for heavy lifting and other tasks […]
We kick off an episode devoted to Halloween in the Mythology Hut, where we survey the holiday’s history, mutations over time, and cultural diffusion. Ken suspects that 1933’s so-called Black Halloween might be entirely apocryphal, but even so we head for the Gaming Hut to riff an outline for a Trail of Cthulhu scenario in […]
Find the enigma within the enigma as the Gaming Hut hosts a look at existential mysteries. In Ask Ken and Robin we find the key to a Gerald Sears question about Parisian official’s bid to remove the love locks from the Pont des Arts bridge. How to Write Good serves up tips on character names. […]
The Gaming Hut turns over the hourglass as we discuss villain clocks. Ken issues a Travel Advisory on the latest installment of the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival. In Ask Ken and Robin we field a Pete Darley question about our adherence to canon in published scenario. And in a pulse-pounding, pumice-raining edition of Ken’s […]
The Gaming Hut features an ill-advised open bar as we mull campaigns in which player characters have to be married. Ask Ken and Robin tackles a question posed to us by approximately 75% of listeners: hey, what about that Nazi Gold train? Vegetables return to the Food Hut, demanding to know how we will roast […]
The Cinema Hut heralds the androids, fish men and yakuza vampires coming to a movie consumption venue near you as Robin regales you with the hottest tips from this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Consult his full list here. It was the Gaming Hut, he thought, where the topic of internal monologue in roleplaying would […]
The Gaming Hut finds us in an under-the-hood mood as we turn over Robin’s assertion that a full adventure written as early in the process as possible can illuminate your RPG game design process. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio presents our final trove of treasures from the Gen Con investigative panel, with a series of […]
Our recording chambers may be hot but our subject matter gets cold, cold, cold, as Among My Many Hats takes a look at the Wendigo. In How To Write Good, the dialogue turns to dialogue tags, he said, informatively. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio continues to pillage the very best treasures of the investigative roleplaying […]
A skepticism of all things pseudopod suffuses the question Thomas Deeny poses in Ask Ken and Robin. “Why Cthulhu? By that, I mean, why do gamers love Cthulhu games? Boardgames, RPGs — it seems as if you slap Cthulhu on the game, it just sells. What is the draw?” Providence proved Providential indeed for our […]
In the dog days before Labor Day, Ask Ken and Robin happily accepts a softball from Cam Banks (a ringer name if ever we heard one.) “Why is “fantasy” supposedly a genre in RPGs but people mostly mean “F20 fantasy”? Why is there no equivalent in science fiction RPGs?” Ken issues a Travel Advisory for […]
Genetic enhancements meet tradecraft as Among My Many Hats looks under the hood of Ken’s new Mutant City Blues campaign frame, “Mutant City Spies.” The Food Hut returns in what might be the first of an sweeping two-part series as we find ways to trick vegetables into being delicious. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio from […]
The featured headgear in Among My Many Hats is of a knitted variety as Robin talks about Ghosts in the Black, the Firefly campaign book he contributed to, and just what his credited role as story designer entails. Wistful nostalgia for the antics of a certain former Toronto mayor wafts through the Politics Hut like […]
As the action opens in the Gaming Hut, we find Ken and Robin just one day back from Gen Con, punchy but unbowed. Hear them talk Diana Jones Awards, the new regime at Chaosium, and the great D&D resurgence. Make future spending plans as they recount such Pelgrane-rich announcements as The Fall of Delta Green, […]
Buckle up your extra special rapier for a jaunt into the Gaming Hut to consider the connection between gear and status. Take extra reindeer with you, for your predecessor lost all of his when he entered the far confines of the Cartography Hut to talk Soviet map-making. From hominids and their tapir pals to the […]
Robin gets a head start on his Dracula Dossier homework as the Gaming Hut lays out the whys and hows of campaign frames. The titular chapeau takes on a conical shape as Ken talks Yithians in Among My Many Hats. Check out his Ken Writes About Stuff installment for more. How to Write Good examines […]
Stuff we’re here to talk about in this milestone episode might include Ben Franklin, the Flash, Zeus, Tom Fury, Phar Lap, keraunomedicine, the Lockheed P-38, Mjolnir, the blitzkrieg, Final Fantasy XIII, James Otis Jr., Garth Ranzz, al-Borak, Tampa Bay hockey, or the static discharge between clouds and the earth. That is to say, we’ve hit […]
Line up your polyhedrals in order of social preference as we enter the Gaming Hut to examine caste and class in worldbuilding. The History Hut provides a footnote to a somber event with details on the 1822 trial of Denmark Vesey, a founder of Charleston SC’s Mother Emanuel Church, for conspiracy to revolt against slavery. […]
The Gaming Hut acquires extra filigrees and an extended backstory as we examine the cognitive investments gamers make when they learn to love detail. The Food Hut takes a turn for the imaginary in response to this medieval recipe for griddle-roasted unicorn, brought to our attention by Terry O’Carroll. What happens when F20 adventurers start […]
Spruce up your decor as the Gaming Hut reveals the secrets of room description. Ken does the bulk of the replying in an eliptonic Ask Ken and Robin, as RogerBW seeks a disentanglement of convex and concave hollow earth theories. Once again we rev up the Recommendation Engine, tipping you to a movie, two books, […]
Guns blaze and mystic swords clash as Among My Many Hats goes under the hood on Blowing Up the Movies, Robin’s new book of essays combing the action movie classics for gameable nuggets. In Ask Ken and Robin, @clarkythecruel asks about incorporating sports into RPGs. How to Write Good shows you how to build a […]
Alex Guerrero has played before but never GMed. He wants to introduce a trio of interested neophytes/family members to roleplaying through a session of Fear Itself. He’s here to Ask Ken and Robin “What tips do you have on pacing, and not overthinking?” In History Hut we look at the craziest damn thing we’ve heard […]
Abandon your neutrality as we enter the Gaming Hut to talk about alignment in D&D. Find out if we’ve been digging what you’ve been digging about the recent crop of shows in the Television Hut. Then the Consulting Occultist gives us the lowdown on alchemist, mystic and eponymous library founder Elias Ashmole. Attention, class! Anchor […]
Using the conveniently public domain 1972 film Horror Express as a baseline, we demonstrate how to adapt a movie into a scenario worthy of the Gaming Hut. In a flood-threatened Travel Advisory, Ken takes us on a tour of the sights and horrors of his hometown, Oklahoma City. Then Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone […]
In the Gaming Hut we ask how much work game design should do to constrain problem players. Be careful in the History Hut not to sit in the sledgehammerin’ seat as we tell the tale of the Bloody Benders. In Ask Ken and Robin Ciaran Conliffe asks Ken and Robin to demonstrate how Esoterrorists might […]
In Ask Ken and Robin your intrepid hosts field an Eion Dornan question about helping players take on the role of real historical figures. The story of a Nigerian juju practitioner handed a lengthy sentence for magical services performed for Texas-based Gulf cartel drug traffickers calls for the debut of a new segment we can […]
Crack open your Chaotic Neutral dictionary as Ken and Robin venture into the Gaming Hut to spitball a fantasy world extrapolated from the existence of alignment languages. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Somebody Else, both Ken and Robin speak with Leeman Kessler, the actor and auteur behind the Ask Lovecraft web series. And since […]
Screaming to you from the abyssal depths of the downtown Portland Oregon Crowne Plaza, comes our latest live episode. Join us as we talk Dracula vs. Gala, Muhammad Ali vs. Nyarlathotep, Nollywood, the Sino-Soviet split, DaVinci’s Glaaki revelation, our season of True Detective, and more. Attention, class! Anchor sponsor Atlas Games wants to enroll you […]
Make sure you have your magic translation earbuds on as we enter the Gaming Hut to talk about secret and magical languages. In Ask Ken and Robin, Ruth Tillman John Burgess asks us to reveal our research secrets. Sorry for the misidentification in the episode audio, John. Having previously run down the classic Hong Kong […]
This article on the programmable variability of claw machines springboards us into the Gaming Hut for an examination of pass/fail cycles. A corpse with the distinctive dagger of medieval Teutonic justice lies near the threshold of the History Hut, where we convene to discuss Vehmic courts. How to Write Good has us spitballing classic characters […]
Robin hijacks an Ask Ken and Robin question about running an Armitage Files-style campaign set after Sherlock Holmes’ plunge over Reichenbach to ask: do the master detective and the Mythos go together at all? Then of course we do answer Sami Uusitalo’s question, because what kind of podcast would we be otherwise? Ken tells us […]
When the Gaming Hut asks you to mind your tone, we’re talking about ways to instil it during roleplaying sessions. In Ask Ken and Robin, Roger Bell West draws us into the Eliptony Hut with by requesting the lowdown on Fomenko’s New Chronology. We ban phrases from our lexicon in an ever so impactful edition […]
It’s raining drama tokens in the Gaming Hut as Robin shares his DramaSystem GMing tips. The clash of arms resounds in the History Hut as Ken gives us the lowdown on legendary Indian empire-builder Chandragupta Maurya. In Ask Ken and Robin, Ryan Christiansen asks if RPGs can be used as a consciousness raising tool. Art […]
Cough into your elbow as we duck into the Gaming Hut to think up explanations imaginary cultures might give for the origin of diseases. The Cinema Hut unspools Robin’s top five recommended films for schooling your players in the Feng Shui spirit. In Ask Ken and Robin, Collin T asks how to get players immersed […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, Jonas Beardsley points us to this Wired article about advances in astrophysics brought about by the computer effects used in the movie Interstellar. We then make good on his invitation to explore ways overly realistic CGI could go horribly wrong. Safe under the covers of the Horror Hut, we talk […]
Join us in the Gaming Hut for a psychotropic ritual as we think about introducing entheogens into the magic of your F20 world. The Politics Hut flips its municipal focus as Ken shares his perspective on the Chicago machine and mayor Rahm Emanuel’s forced confrontation with a run-off election. How to Write Good takes a […]
Yohann Delalande kicks us off with an Ask Ken and Robin question about portraying current real-world horrors in RPGs without lapsing into insensitivity. We fulfill this podcast’s Canadian content requirements in the Tradecraft Hut with a look at iconic hooded defector Igor Gouzenko. Patron hero of surveyors Nain Singh Rawat inspires a duck into the […]
We start with an Ask Ken and Robin question from Ethan Cordray, who wants to know how a GM and player might collaborate in creating scenarios. Inspired by this Malcolm Gladwell piece, the Crime Blotter examines the changing relationship between organized crime and upward mobility. Fun with Science plays with your perceptions for a look […]
Weighty personages surrounded by bullet-proof genre expectations surround us in the Gaming Hut as we examine script immunity in historical gaming. The Mythology Hut finds us riffing a kid-friendly adventure idea arising from the superstitious connection between faeries and uncrushed eggshells. Pol Jackson poses an Ask Ken and Robin poser about the difficulty of staging […]
We begin with endings as the Gaming Hut enumerates ways to build your roleplaying series to the biggest of finishes. Among My Many Hats has Ken telling us about Vendetta Run, the latest installment of Ken Writes About Stuff, in which a spectral Wyatt Earp decides you’re in need of some rough supernatural justice. How […]
A pithy remark from LEGO Batman inspires our latest excursion into the Gaming Hut, as we ponder the question of narratively acceptable character demises. In the Tradecraft Hut we look at bone music, 50s era contraband pop music recordings etched against the will of Soviet authorities onto old medical X-rays. The Recommendation Engine spits out […]
Ken and Robin remember a 90% scale replica of the façade of the Alamo in this episode themed around their recent sojourn in Austin, TX. In the Gaming Hut we recapitulate a Chupacabracon panel with talk of villains and how to portray them. The Food Hut has us munching on barbecue, Tex Mex and the […]
Join Ken and Robin for this live episode recorded at Chupacabracon in beautiful Austin, TX. The best audience ever, per capita, punch above their weight to keep us supplied with incisive questions. We discover that the Nerdtrope game is exceptions-based as Ken draws a historic quintuple Trope. Or is that Nerd? I forget. Vicissitudes of […]
Verily and anon, adopt the cloak of darkness as Ken ducks into the Elizabethan tavern that is the Gaming Hut to discuss his School of Night GUMSHOE setting. Violence and mayhem disrupt the tranquil comfort of the Food Hut as we examine America’s Whiskey Wars and riff some dystopian futuristic equivalents. Should that scene end […]
The Magicians’ Guild turns out to be rife with factions and competing interests as the Gaming Hut looks at ways to add realistic messiness to your game’s imaginary institutions. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Robin asks up-and-coming illustrator Rachel A. Kahn how an artist breaks into the roleplaying game market these days, […]
Our voices are as froggy as London used to be foggy in our first episode back after our UK sojourn. Inspired by the Museum of London’s current Sherlock Holmes exhibit, we usher a certain consulting detective into the Gaming Hut. As listeners know, every trip to the UK occasions a raid by Ken on London’s […]
Just like sugar plums and figgy pudding, the annual live podcast from London’s Dragonmeet is here to warn us that December holds us in its thrall. Ken nerdtropes Genghis Khan and alien artefacts. Robin ups the ante on the tradition of live episode f-bombs. We contemplate Sigil’s thorniest immigration issues. And we tell you what […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, we answer an Ian Porell question about how much writing should go into a GUMSHOE NPC, and move on from there to supply other tips on creating supporting players for investigative games. From there we take a short hop to the Gaming Hut to look at post-mortems and other ways […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, Jeff Jones seeks advice on running an anti-Nazi campaign set in 30s America. We oblige in both pulp and occult genre modes. Become conscious of an enticing aroma in the Gaming Hut as we look at creature senses. The Consulting Occultist continues his Parisian sojourn with an examination of uxurious […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, Stephanie asks Ken and Robin to find gaming ideas in the disappearance, and much later resurfacing, of Henry IV’s long-dead head. The Gaming Hut has us looking at moments where player choice conflicts with character believability. Back to matters Gallic, the Consulting Occultist details the life, thought, and possible Dreamlands […]
The Tradecraft Hut takes an unusual lead slot as Ken answers an FMGuru request for the tale of WWII Soviet spy Richard Sorge. Horatio stands to our right and Laertes to our right as the Gaming Hut contemplates the use of supporting characters as foils. Blasting his trumpet for Dreamhounds of Paris, the Consulting Occultist […]
The hats in Among My Many Hats are bowlers, and green apples obscure our faces, because we’re talking about Dreamhounds of Paris, now available for preorder, and its companion volume, The Book of Ants. In the Food Hut we answer a Ryan Macklin request to talk about herbs. Which delicious plant will we name as […]
Gallop into the Gaming Hut as we discuss a term from documentary filmmaking, chasing story, and how it might relate to roleplaying games. Take a seat in the Cinema Hut as Ken discusses his top picks from the 2014 Chicago International Film Festival. Begin at the beginning as How to Write Good looks at constructing […]
In the Gaming Hut we consider the dividing line between fun character customization and tiresome homework, and whether it’s moving lately. Still in a Draculanean mood, Ken enters the Book Hut for a vantage on the career of Bram Stoker. We rev up the Recommendation Engine for its sophomore run to talk about a movie, […]
In the Gaming Hut we look at ways to add nuance to your setting’s faiths by considering the split between official and popular religion. Ken spills blood-red beans on the coming Dracula Dossier Kickstarter in Among My Many Hats. The Food Hut takes on a bookish sheen as we recommend our favorite food writing. Finally, […]
We kick off with a Gaming Hut riffed adventure premise, as heavily armed lords come from miles around to claim their share of a holy man’s ashes. How to Write Good stacks its deck in favor of the protagonists to show you how to avoid Mary Sue syndrome. Ask Ken and Robin leaves Robin as […]
In the Gaming Hut Robin asks Ken to resolve Robin’s ambivalence toward creativity rewards. The Politics Hut puts one of Ken’s rules distinctions to real life use as we contemplate Stability, Sanity, and ISIL. Another lightning round flashes its electrical mayhem in Ask Ken and Robin. Finally Chris Huth prompts Ken’s Time Machine to journey […]
Ask Ken and Robin starts us in a murderous frame of mind as Dreaming Johnny wonders about settings and play styles for games where you play assassins. In The Business of Gaming we helpfully collate all of our advice on breaking into game design as a career in one handy segment. How to Write Good […]
Before getting to the main meat of the episode, a Preamble Hut seems necessary to update a few stories of interest to KARTAS listeners. So gather round as Ken dispatches fresh claims of a DNA solution to the Jack the Ripper mystery, and Robin covers the latest bizarre twist in the Rob Ford saga. Or […]
Join us for another Ken and Robin live episode, this time from beautiful and now slightly better smelling Indianapolis, Indiana. We nerdtrope magical slave revolts, fit the Fords into the Cthulhu mythos, riff on our favorite spice, and more. Hurtle back into mid-August with us! Lead sponsor Atlas Games alerts you to a project near […]
Questions of pacing kick us into fall, as Ask Ken and Robin tackle a query from listener Michael Bowman. In Crime Blotter we hunker down in our tarmac-damaging humvee to consider the trend of police militarization that catapulted to world attention in the wake of the Ferguson protests. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio serves up […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, we field a Tuukka Heimola question about running great one-shots and convention games. The History Hut reveals itself to be a series of rapidly constructed forts as we look at the Battle of Poltava. Joined by co-panelist Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, Ken and Robin Recycle Audio in part one of a two-part […]
It’s Gen Con, Gen Con and more Gen Con as we issue our usual bumper Travel Advisory in the wake of the big show. Robin comes home wreathed in Hillfolk glory, Ken and Robin snag gold, Ken makes the flipper motions of supreme pleasure in the presence of Greg Stafford, and we limn unmistakable evidence […]
Ken slaps down suggestions of a Gaming Hut renovation, but that poses little impediment to Robin as he sets out the four key components that make for an engaging obstacle. For more, see Robin’s latest publication, a fundraiser chapbook for the Kraken Convention called Sharper Adventures in HeroQuest Glorantha, available to the public soon after […]
Ask Ken and Robin tackles a Tim Isakson question on ways to handle tone as a GM. Among My Many Hats tips its pith helmet to Ken’s new GURPS Horror book, The Madness Dossier. How to Write Good sits in the chair to examine discipline, morale, the value of routine, and the hazards of self-doubt. […]
Our multi-episode arc about the underwater dead who sell life and buy dreams comes to a conclusion in the Gaming Hut as we break out specific scenario ideas for our riffed setting. In a new segment called Recommendation Engine we tell you what’s catching our fancy in the worlds of books, TV, movies, and food. […]
Let the bells ring out and the banners fly. It’s the landmark 100th episode of our humble podcast! To celebrate, we’ve collected from listeners across the social media landscape a cornucopia of lightning round questions, which we dispatch with varying degrees of efficiency. Also in a celebratory mood are our ever-reliable anchor sponsors and fine […]
We are honored and delighted to say that Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff has been nominated for a 2o14 ENnie Award for Best Podcast. If you are seeing this before Aug 1st, and want us bounding up to that podium on Friday night at Gen Con, please do us a huge solid and go […]
Often in the Gaming Hut (and other huts arrayed around it) we riff a ton of quick ideas in Gatling gun fashion. This time out we take one of those riffed ideas, that of the city of underwater dead who sell longer lives to mortals, as we demonstrate the process of fleshing out a concept […]
All hail the audio majesty of editor Rob Borges, who rescued this and last week’s episodes from the scourge of electronic interference, leaving only a touch of distortion in Robin’s sibilants. A mystery questioner Asks Ken and Robin how they handle red herrings. Ken flips on the projector in the Cinema Hut to get us […]
All hail the audio majesty of editor Rob Borges, who rescued this and next week’s episodes from the scourge of electronic interference, leaving only a touch of distortion in Robin’s sibilants. It’s time to talk terms in the Gaming Hut, as we toss around the distinction between simulation and modeling. In the Conspiracy Corner we […]
Turn your head and sarcophagus as Ask Ken and Robin raises the lid on a @CrazyDogSpirit question on making the most of mummies. Then it’s time for another Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, in which Allison Fizzard, associate professor of history at Regina’s Campion College, explains Tudor-era retirement plans and how Henry VIII’s […]
A fog-shrouded Travel Advisory sees Robin reporting on his trip to historic (and Fortean) St. John’s, Newfoundland. In Ask Ken and Robin, donor Brendan Power asks about handling spotty game night attendance. The Horror Hut mulls over that very odd foundation of the Gothic tradition, The Castle of Otranto. Finally the Consulting Occultist looks at […]
We start in a submersible as the Cartography Hut takes you under the sea to riff on campaign and adventure possibilities arising from the mapping of sunken Dunwich. In Ask Ken and Robin, Yohann Delalande asks us to find inspiration for Night’s Black Agents in the flamboyant and multi-pronged career of Uzbekistan’s Gulina Karimova. We […]
We kick off with Ask Ken and Robin and a Sean Phelan question about asynchronous information dissemination in roleplaying games. Dire rumors swirl as the Tradecraft Hut looks at disinformation and fear-mongering as a geopolitical instrument, from the Crimea to the ghost dance. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Robin chats with Moon […]
The titular emotion exudes from a certain Chicagoan as we issue a Travel Advisory for Robin’s trip to the Chimeriades convention in sunny Provence. In Ask Ken and Robin, Chris Shorb asks about making alternate histories plausible in roleplaying. We take another request in the Eliptony Hut, because Alan Scott wants to know about the […]
In the Gaming Hut we demonstrate scenario construction by brainstorming a Fear Itself adventure featuring the fearsome Crate Man. Duck furtively into the Cartography Hut as we look at maps as secrets. In Ask Ken and Robin we field a query from Tom Allman on prepping for Cthulhu games. Then we sidle up to Ken’s […]
The Gaming Hut reverberates with spectral dread as we find ways to make ghosts and hauntings scary in roleplaying. Fun with Science looks for story and gaming grist in the increasingly respected, and increasingly mind-blowing, multiverse theory of cosmological physics. In That Thing I Always Say Robin goes on about the lasting influence a game’s […]
In the Gaming Hut, Robin asks Ken to specify a suitable period of occult ferment and together they riff it into a DramaSystem Series Pitch. We unseal the stone door of the Mythology Hut to give Lilith the once-over. The Cinema Hut joins forces with the Horror Hut as we mull the current cycle of […]
Ken’s return from Portland’s HP Lovecraft Film Festival and its sister event Conthulhu prompts the issuance of an especially eldritch Travel Advisory. Listener Greg Gray gets an unprecedented answer when he poses an Ask Ken and Robin question about the paucity of info in roleplaying rules books for spanking new players. How to Write Good […]
Pull up an extra special chair in the Gaming Hut as we look at ways to put guest players to good use. In the Tradecraft Hut, Ken helps listener Rick Jonzz start a beginner’s tradecraft bookshelf. In Ask Ken and Robin, Joshua Weiss wonders what we might say about miniatures in narrative-based gaming. Then we […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, Kevin Maroney asks us to expand on an earlier Ken comment questioning the suitability of the d20 structure for Cthulhu gaming. The History Hut flies the Jolly Roger to examine best practices of, and essential conditions for, piracy. In the Gaming Hut we recount our least favorite setting cliches. And […]
The Gaming Hut rings with the sound of accents and impressions as we examine the role of voice work in GMing. The Crime Blotter finds a surprising nexus of grift, elephant materialization and the technological spread of 20th century entertainment in the person of Harry Thurston. A less famous follower in his magician brother Howard’s […]
Is that a displacer beast in your pocket, or are you just glad to listen to us? Convene in the Gaming Hut as we discuss monster abilities and to what extent they enter into player awareness. The Tradecraft Hut furtively considers stolen passports. Don’t let your characters leave theirs as collateral for motorcycles in Phuket, […]
In the Gaming Hut we again lift the RPG design hood to tinker with PC/NPC asymmetry. Eerie Horror Hut riffing ensues as we sift the story possibilities of 3D-Printed Clone Dolls. Ask Ken and Robin opens in the middle of a Philippe Marcel question about starting game sessions in media res. Purely hypothetically, you understand, […]
In the Cartography Hut we set out techniques to add a dose of psychogeography to the map of your imaginary city. The Gaming Hut looks at the elasticity of vampire mythology, as inspired by Ken’s golden steampunk vampires of El Dorado, as seen in Fenix magazine. How to Write Good confronts the pesky threat of […]
Gaming Hut starts on a somber note as we remember the roleplaying innovations of Aaron Allston (1960-2014.) We go on to discuss one of the key themes of his work, genre emulation at the tabletop. The Eliptony Hut takes on a distinctly octagonal shape as we look at the eight-sided architectural influence of phrenologist and […]
Grab your retrospective popcorn and hunker down in the Cinema Hut as Ken and Robin review their movie top tens for 2013. Responding to popular demand, the Consulting Occultist assesses competing new claims of having cracked the cryptobotanical mysteries of the Voynich Manuscript. In Ask Ken and Robin we hit the dimmer switch to address […]
Find new reason to plunge into the dungeon as the Gaming Hut tackles ways of giving narrative meaning to F20 combat encounters. Look at Fluffy in a new light as the Tradecraft Hut examines the animal spying claims of trainer Bob Bailey, who in addition to creating the chicken Tic-Tac-Toe machine says he was a contractor for the CIA. In Ask Ken […]
They said it couldn’t strike twice, but the Ask Ken and Robin lightning round is back, tackling game designer payment, Day After Ragnarok, book hunting, and a Rob Ford mini-update. In the wide open spaces of the Genre Hut, we look at ways to nerdtrope the Western, including Ken’s Once Upon a Time in the […]
We start this episode in the Gaming Hut, where we bat around ways to activate your player character’s character hook. In our new segment, Crime Blotter, we examine the four categories of hit man, as proposed by a recent Birmingham City University study of British hired killers. Tropes face off against cliches as we once […]
A curious case study, in which a regrettable glacier incident leads listener Joe Tyne to a Call of Cthulhu stumbling block, warrants treatment from the experts in Ask Ken and Robin. At the request of listener Benjamin Blattberg, we essay a hidden gems segment of the Cinema Hut. In Among My Many Hats, Ken quizzes […]
Keep your silver dagger ready in the Gaming Hut as we look at campaign setting creation through the example of Ken’s Werewolves of Dacia, which will appear in the upcoming Best of Fenix anthology. Hat tip to Big Think for its Middle Earth-to-Earth conversion map. Next, Derek Upham Asks Ken and Robin to solve the […]
Ask Ken and Robin dispenses advice on running SF and space opera games, in response to a query from Ed Hirsch. In a curiously hexagonal Book Hut, we examine the seminal work of Argentinean fantasist Jorge Luis Borges, and the beautifully idiosyncratic English Lit class he once taught, courtesy of the newly translated book Professor […]
Seize the narrative steering wheel as a player in the Gaming Hut, where we discuss techniques to productively exercise character agency. Uncover the layers beneath the layers of the History Hut, in which we find gaming and story fodder in multispectral palimpsest recovery. In Ken and Robin Talk To Someone Else, we speak together to […]
We ring in 2014 with an Ask Ken and Robin from Ross Ireland, who wants to switch to a more serious horror tone after years of loosey-goosey play. Then we zoom back in time to the dying embers of 2013, for a segment of Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else featuring James Wallis of […]
Special guest Rob Heinsoo joins Ken and Robin for a very special episode recorded live at Dragonmeet, from the municipal splendor of Kensington Town Hall in beautiful downtown London. Ken nerdtropes the alchemical secrets of the JFK airport. Rob performs a parlor trick of his own by telling us a story about danger. And Robin […]
Ken and Robin open the Gaming Hut to air evolving differences in gamer expectations, with Feng Shui player feedback offering a time portal between the mid-90s and now. Among My Many Hats looks into Ken’s gig as a dramaturg for WildClaw Theatre’s stage production of Shadow Over Innsmouth. With the holidays nearing, the Food Hut […]
News that US states are now legalizing Internet gambling within their borders send us to an unusually garishly lit and jingle-jangling Gaming Hut, where we consider hobby gaming twists on playing for cash online. Then Ask Ken and Robin visits the Consulting Occultist on behalf of Steven W. King, who wants to know what to […]
Take a moment to study the menu in the Gaming Hut, as we contrast the operations of prix fixe and a la carte character improvement RPG designs. Watch us cut the ribbon on our brand new Abandoned Idea Clearinghouse, in which we look at creative ideas we decided not to pursue and why we set […]
We place a horseshoe over the mantle of the Gaming Hut to consider luck’s role as a branch point in roleplaying. Then, at the behest of lead sponsor Stephen Jankiewicz, we enter the cobwebbed confines of the Horror Hut to ask if terror and sense of wonder can coexist. In Ask Ken and Robin, Leo […]
We put down our catalogues of iron rations and guaranteed unpossessed cats to venture into the Gaming Hut and discuss the allure of shopping and gear in roleplaying games. Inside the perimeter of the Tradecraft Hut we round up such national security concerns as Angela Merkel’s cellphone and the secret Twitter life of dismissed White […]
Ken has returned from the Chicago Film Festival to regale the Cinema Hut with demonic pacts, ghost possession, a Kurdish western, and an unusually sympathetic take on the new Dario Argento flick. As prompted by George Pletz, Ask Ken and Robin considers the picaresque and floats various techniques for strictly episodic RPGing. In the Genre […]
Gather in the Gaming Hut as we discuss differences of perspective between game players and game designers. In How to Write Good we explore that most ancient of all fiction maxims. What does it mean to write what you know? Erik Otterberg supplies us the subject for Ask Ken and Robin: what if H. P. […]
Feel all leafy-like as Ken issues an autumnal Travel Advisory for his recent road trip to Lovecraft’s Vermont and Marblehead. Bathe in the cathode rays of the Television Hut as we compare and contrast two nerd-relevant new shows—”Sleepy Hollow” and “Marvel’s Agents of Shield.” In Ask Ken and Robin we take on a Jeromy French […]
To what extent should an adventure tell a story to the GM who is about to read it? Journey with us into the Gaming Hut to find out. Then fire up your laptops with their Cartography Hut screensavers and geographic information systems to look at the genre possibilities of digital cemetery mapping. In Ask Ken […]
With the smoke from our burning village billowing behind us, we take momentary refuge in the Gaming Hut to discuss great migration campaign frames. Under the war-room glare of the Geopolitics Hut we look at the averted strike on Syria and the limits of military intervention. Ask Ken and Robin features a Tim Daly question […]
Gather your Hegelian war band around the speakers to listen to our opening Gaming Hut segment, in which we look at ways to transform groups of murder hoboes into ensemble procedural casts. We open a historical case file in the Tradecraft Hut, looking at the role spy novelist William Le Queux, abetted by the Daily […]
If it’s late September, it must be time for Robin to exit bleary-eyed from the Lightbox theater and stumble into the Cinema Hut to regale us with his findings from the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Listen to Ken wish he had more crossover with the upcoming Chicago Film Festival, or follow along at home. […]
Join us for a very special live episode of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, live from FanExpo Canada. Hop in our time machine and journey back to Toronto on the weekend before Labor Day to hear about ninja anti-competition efforts, our most hated gaming clichés, and much, much more. Not to mention the toxic […]
Having survived his epic three weekends, three conventions journey into the heart of geekdom, Ken returns to issue a Travel Advisory on his final leg, which took him to the newly de-asterisked DragonCon. In How to Write Good we consider discipline, routine, and various techniques to keep the productivity flowing at the keyboard. Then Ken […]
After a prefatory Travel Advisory on their activities at FanExpo Canada and a Food Hut trawl through the gustatory delight’s of Robin’s neighborhood, Ken and Robin take a nostalgic look back over the haul of treasures secured in Toronto for Ken’s Bookshelf. Gangsters, pirates and ancient Americans flood into the Hite Memorial Library as we […]
Somewhat rested but still with a fog upon their vocal chords, Ken and Robin issue a joint Travel Advisory for Gen Con 2013. Come for the shameless bragging, stay for the awards analysis, industry temperature taking, panel highlights, and Indianapolis food tips. Join us in a hearty welcome to our latest sponsor, Gorilla Games, now […]
You demanded; we complied, adding a donate button to help you help us keep the show going. You’ll find it, and through it our eternal gratitude, at the right-hand side of the blog masthead.
In the Gaming Hut we power up our universal translators to contemplate the treatment of languages in roleplaying. Then we review our way through the summer blockbuster season in the Cinema Hut. In an Ask Ken and Robin lightning round, we dispatch questions right and left, entertaining queries from the diceless to the non-violent. Then, […]
FanExpo Canada rolls out this weekend at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Its many geekish splendors include a special live episode of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff. Gather up your questions and catch us in the flesh at 3:45 pm on Saturday, in room 705.
Join hands and sing fhtagn fhtagn as we self-congratulate ourselves on an epic year of podcasting. Then sidle past the mutual back-patting into the Gaming Hut, where we consider the export potential of DramaSystem series pitches to other roleplaying games. Rear back in shock as the Food Hut hosts our most heretical segment ever, in […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, Jacob Ansari asks about playing Night’s Black Agents in previous time periods. The Tradecraft Hut hosts a look at Jasper Maskelyne, the so-called War Magician. In The Business of Gaming we examine the unfortunate implosion of the Kickstarter-funded boardgame The Doom that Came to Atlantic City. This episode was recorded […]
Our present roster of fine sponsors pays for hosting and audio production of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff. But to keep doing it, our titular hosts need to offset the time they devote to the show, which would otherwise be devoted to their paid writing projects. To that end, we’re opening up a few […]
We flip through some pages in the Gaming Hut as we discuss the evolution of roleplaying game graphic design, from aesthetics to utility. Then we slip into the plush seats of the Cinema Hut to review the career of the great Hong Kong director Johnnie To. His latest masterpiece, Drug War, awaits a North American […]
From the Cartography Hut we send our separate adventurers on intercut journeys of exploration, as we riff on the fantasy game potential of the Atlas of True Names series. How to Write Good connects the dots of stakes, consequences, and reader engagement. In Ask Ken and Robin, Geoffery Nelson asks how iconic characters can engage […]
Events in Egypt have us taking shelter in the Gaming Hut to suggest approaches to uprisings and revolutions in roleplaying narrative. Then Robin beckons you to the Cinema Hut for a quick intro to Chinese film, as seen through three rarities recently screened at the TIFF Lightbox: the suppressed censorship satire Unfinished Comedy, showbiz melodrama […]
We start in the Gaming Hut by contemplating the massive Call of Cthulhu campaign. What drives the love for this classic cornerstone of roleplaying obsession? In Ask Ken and Robin, Leó Páll Hrafnsson wants to know what the deal is with the famously lost Ninth Roman Legion. Grab the remote in the Television Hut as we […]
We shuttle over to the Gaming Hut to continue our discussion of omnipresent surveillance, this time in the context of your roleplaying group’s tendency to turtle up. The unveiling of the Word Hut sees us finding our preferences between US and UK words and punctuation. Petrol, anyone? In Ask Ken and Robin, we respond to […]
Summer convention season kicks off with a Travel Advisory on Ken’s trip to Origins. Robin beckons you into the Cinema Hut to share his rare chance to see the first Wong Fei-Hung film, 1949’s The Whip That Smacks the Candle. Having established a Tradecraft Hut, we are naturally behooved to mull the implications of the […]
Meet us in the Gaming Hut for techniques to make your characters’ backstories shine during RPG play. In Ask Ken and Robin we (meaning mostly Ken) address a question from friend of the site Jeromy French: “are there merits to reading August Derleth’s Lovecraftian fiction and why?” Then we fire up the grills of the […]
This week’s Travel Advisory takes us to unfamiliar territory—not just the capital of Robin’s beloved Canada, but the On Words Conference held by the Writers’ Union of Canada. Come for compare/contrast between traditional and gaming publishing, stay for the Ottawa facts. We bid a wistful Book Hut farewell to Jack Vance, the titan of SF […]
First up, Ken and Robin enter the Gaming Hut to transcend their origins and discuss transhuman RPGs. How do we create inhuman characters human players can still portray? In the Tradecraft Hut, we discuss the implications of the Obama administration’s war on leakers, and how to bring press revelations into your espionage gaming. Robin then […]
In the Gaming Hut, we examine the tradition of flaws and disads in RPGs. Do they put the “fun” in dysfunctional? Then Ken and Robin adjourn to the Cinema Hut, where they try not to tell you too much about Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color while urging you to see it, and from there jump into […]
Ken and Robin enter the Gaming Hut to catch you up on what they’re playing right now, from xenoarcheaological exploration to carnies caught between the devil and alien invaders. In Ask Ken and Robin, Terry O’Connell asks, “What’s your take on the Beyonce as Illuminati meme?” How to Write Good leads us into a general […]
Two mysterious doors provide ingress into the Gaming Hut. Which one do we take, as we contemplate adventure structure and the choice points that comprise it? Ask Ken and Robin takes an alternate history turn as Crane Brinton wonders: What does the alternate timeline where the Kaiser won WWI look like? Then we hop into […]
We start with a visit to the Gaming Hut to discuss the play utility of illustrations. In the Food Hut we explore the legends and lore of packaged goods, including the secret origins of Cool Whip, the Twinkie, and Gatorade. Conrad Kinch Asks Ken and Robin how one guides a playtester to greatness. Michael Cule […]
The undertones of jet lag in Robin’s voice indicate the issuance of another Travel Advisory, in this case concerning his lovely trip to Germany’s Hannover Spielt. Beers mentioned include: Herrenhäuser Pilsener, Astra Arschkalt, Schneider Aventinus, and Robin and John’s fave, Höss Doppel-Hirsch (the name of which Robin completely mangles during the podcast.) The trip also […]
Ken and Robin hit a bare and blackened stage to bring the improv concept of “yes anding” to the Gaming Hut. In Ask Ken and Robin, they answer Kevin J. Maroney’s question about picking a game for roleplaying newbies. In its return appearance, How To Write Good tackles the basics of short story structure. And […]
We start in the leatherbound precincts of the Book Hut for a look at a classic piece of early travel writing, Alexander William Kinglake’s Eothen. Grab as a Gutenberg ebook, or in print. Still in a choleric mood, we nip over to the Gaming Hut to examine the presentation of epidemic disease in fantasy gaming […]
Ken and Robin meet in the Gaming Hut to workshop a game mechanic—the interpersonal disadvantage. The Tradecraft Hut uses further evidence that Blackwater served as a CIA front as an opportunity to riff on the differences between reality levels in espionage games and fiction. Ask Ken and Robin sees our intrepid heroes venturing from behind […]
We kick off with another Travel Advisory, this one centered on Ken’s quest to Las Vegas and the Gama Trade Show, to prise from it premonitions of the new hotness. Then History Hut takes a turn for the glandular as we examine the careers of quack testicular transplanter John R. Brinkley and perfectly respectable testicular […]
Scoops of polyhedrals in hand, we enter the Gaming Hut to contemplate the power of experience points. Are they justified in a genre-emulative design? In Ask Ken and Robin, Darren Watts asks Ken to explain how zombies can be one of the two great 20th century myths, since this means either Superman or Godzilla aren’t? […]
In the Gaming Hut, we consider the soul of the orc. How do you present this classic fantasy trope without letting in the toxin of real world racism? History Hut returns to crime in Chicago for a consideration of its gangland, then and now. In Ask Ken and Robin, Robin is asked to further expound […]
In our latest venture into the Gaming Hut, we consider the classic sandbox versus railroad opposition. Useful dichotomy, or intellectual black hole that swallows all other argument? From there we gain access to the Tradecraft Hut, to examine the wartime disinformation career of thriller novelist Dennis Wheatley. In Ask Ken and Robin, Craig Maloney prompts […]
We start by venturing into the Genre Hut to limn the fraught boundaries of the Fake Nerd crisis. Our examination of the Chelyabinsk meteor takes us into the Eliptony Hut, where we trace its impact on, and incorporation into, a cluster of competing conspiracy theories. In Ask Ken and Robin we tackle the role of […]
That Vitamin D sheen you see on Ken’s glossy coat shows that he recently escaped Chicago’s frigid embrace for the sunshine of California’s Bay Area, necessitating another Travel Advisory as we review his trip to Dundracon. An unusual clatter of gunfire punctuates activities at the Food Hut, as we parse press reports of connections between […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, we field Conrad Kinch’s query about the politics of game design. Do a designer’s political beliefs show up in his work? Then, as you knew we would, we engage in some History Bending in honor of Richard III’s recently-confirmed excavation from a Leicester car park. Our new segment How To […]
In an unprecedented merger of the Gaming Hut with the Politics Hut, we look to political scientist Steven Teles’ theory of government as kludgeocracy to demonstrate why government should hire game designers like Ken and Robin to playtest their legislation for them. Then we take latitudes with the longitudes of the Cartography Hut to examine […]
In the Gaming Hut, we mull the economics of game design. Will the Kickstarter wave usher in a new era of component-driven play? Then it’s off to the History Hut for Ken’s long-anticipated final showdown with the historical legacy of Woodrow Wilson. Was he really America’s worst president? In Ask Ken and Robin, we are […]
After two bits of preamble business, one elegiac and the other bathetic , we issue a Travel Advisory to wring vicarious enjoyment from Ken’s journey to WarpCon in Cork, Ireland. We then step into the Cinema Hut to regale one and all with our top ten picks from the sterling movie year that was 2012. […]
Kicking off with another service-oriented segment of Ask Ken and Robin, we suggest ways to introduce a rich setting to players who are unfamiliar with it. Then we inaugurate the Eliptony Hut, first by explaining what the heck eliptony is, then squeezing adventure and story ideas from the latest in white-hot weirdness, the Martian ground […]
In a special Cartography Hut / Ask Ken and Robin crossover, Troy Holoday invites us to contemplate the vanished D&D roles of mapper and caller. On a serious note we go to the History Hut for a sense of perspective, if not solace, on America’s relationship with the gun. In the Cinema Hut Robin finally […]
Our first episode of the new year begins in the Gaming Hut, where we examine the difference between showing up to be entertained, and showing up to play. Ask Ken and Robin fields Paul Weimer’s question about fudging die rolls—when, if ever, is it acceptable? The Politics Hut takes on the classic modernist curvature of […]
In our final episode of 2012, we issue a Travel Advisory on our recent trip to Dragonmeet in London. A seamless segue then ushers us to the wonder of Ken’s Bookshelf, in which Robin vicariously enjoys the impressive pile of tomes Ken liberated from the British Isles during his journey. With yet another end of […]
Join us for our first episode recorded in front of a live audience, in the council chambers at Kensington Town Hall as part of Dragonmeet 2012. We welcome special guest Simon Rogers for an uber edition of Ask Ken and Robin, which in turn encompasses a panoply of our trademark huts. In the process as […]
This week’s episode commences with a trip to the Gaming Hut to consider Robin’s dichotomy of rewards versus incentives, which segues into a discussion of the co-designer syndrome in playtest feedback. Ask Ken and Robin fields a question from Brett Evill on how one might bend history to add Ruritania-style postage stamp states back to […]
In Ask Ken and Robin, we examine the popularity, or lack thereof, of the western as a roleplaying genre, and point to models historical and cinematic for the adventuring party in spurs and Stetsons. We venture into a particularly cramped and cluttered iteration of the Cartography Hut to spin a passel of story threads from […]
Inspired by Christian Marclay’s cinechronological video installation The Clock, Gaming Hut examines time and pacing in roleplaying. The Schaudenfreude Institute initiates a new PhD course and Ken plots a bold path forward for his beloved Republican party as we enter the ballot booth-like confines of the Politics Hut to mull the 2012 Presidential Election. In […]
Many thanks to all who voted or influenced the voters for the Golden Geek Awards! Your hard work or subtle noodges have paid off, as Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff has won the 2012 Golden Geek Award for Best Podcast! We are both a lot honored and a bit dumfounded, given the great talent […]
In The Business of Gaming, Robin shares the Kickstarter lessons he learned from the recent bumper crowdfund of his new roleplaying game, Hillfolk. Ken brings the light of his presence to a devastated New Jersey in Travel Advisory, recounting his adventures at Metatopia. Ask Ken and Robin envisions the Dominion of America, the alternate world […]
We kick off with another film festival wrap-up in the Cinema Hut, this time Ken’s visit to the Chicago International Film Festival. Ask Ken and Robin asks us to contemplate the differences between two of Robin’s game engines, DramaSystem and Skulduggery, leading us to contemplate a broader old saw: does system matter? In the Cartography […]
This week’s Ask Ken and Robin asks us to turn a previous thing that Ken always says on its head. When is it better not to base your setting on the real world? Then Robin and Ken square off in the History Hut for their long-planned reenactment of the War of 1812. As in real […]
We kick off with a Gaming Hut segment contemplating the question: is it ever okay to kick someone out of your game group and, if so, when? Jason Breti supplies our Ask Ken and Robin question, leading us to examine Sandy Petersen’s original draft for Call of Cthulhu as compared to the final game we […]
This week’s installment of Ask Ken and Robin prompts us to wax autobiographical and reveal our similar yet opposite secret origins. Then we descend into the Paris catacombs, escaping from what we find there only through the maps snatched from the high cabinets of the Cartography Hut. [From Temples, Tombs and Catacombs, part of Profantasy […]
In Among My Many Hats, Robin discusses Hillfolk, his new game of iron age personal interaction, and its DramaSystem engine, now up for crowdfunding. Ken teases “Moscow Station”, a DramaSystem Series Pitch offered as a campaign stretch goal. Ask Ken and Robin poses a follow-up on the Puritans, who turn out not to be as […]
With a tip of the hat to sponsors Profantasy Software, we fling open the inaugural doors of the Cartography Hut to contemplate maps we have known and loved. In a frenzy of construction, we then throw caution to the wind and cut the ribbon on Politics Hut, in which we look at the current US […]
Wow! After a mere nine episodes, our humble audio adventure has garnered a Golden Geek Award nomination as Best Podcast from the good folks at RPGGeek. It’s a worthy crop of nominees and we’re proud to be counted among them. Ken’s aura has taken on a particular sheen with the announcement, as he is also […]
If there is a mother of all Cinema Huts, it is the Toronto International Film Festival. We kick off the episode with Robin’s picks from the just-completed 37th fest. Then we skulk into the Conspiracy Corner to put the inflammatory impact of Innocence of Muslims in historical context. In Ask Ken and Robin, we compare […]
Travel Advisory whisks us on an aural journey to Worldcon, courtesy of Ken, who brings back knowledge of Chinese SF, steampunk semantics, the best vampire novel of the last 100 years, and the dreaded hallway seminar. Along the way we explore the sub-cultural differences between the literary side of geekery and its gaming cousin. We […]
This week’s stuff-talking kicks off with another Among My Many Hats. Here Robin unravels the circuitous design history of his Dying Earth Revivification Folio, as Ken orders his sandestin to provide him with perks and snails. In Ask Ken and Robin, we ponder cases in which D&D fights are better off without a battle grid. […]
It’s a bumper installment of Travel Advisory as Ken and Robin look back on the whirlwind that was Gen Con 2012. Amid the fast-flying references: Fantasy Flight’s Spartacus and Netrunner; GURPS Horror, Book of the Smoke, Bookhounds of London, the Coventry Street, Harmonsworth and Highgate Vampires; Charles Fort, Lorefinder, Ashen Stars, 13th Age, Delta Green, […]
Stuff talked about on this week’s episode include: The debut of our segment That Thing I Always Say, in which we catch you up on Ken and Robin fundaments. We start with Ken’s contention that no invented setting is as interesting as the real world. Ask Ken and Robin invites us to contemplate the mental […]
Stuff talked about in the third episode of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff include: Among My Many Hats brings back the overt pluggery with a discussion of Robin’s new book of short stories, New Tales of the Yellow Sign, and its inspiration, the classic King in Yellow cycle of Robert W. Chambers. Since recording […]
We did it once, and now we’re doing it again. It’s Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, the new podcast from game designers and authors Kenneth Hite and Robin D. Laws. Join our thrilling audio adventure as we discuss games, movies, history, narrative and sundry concerns of the geekosphere. This week we revisit a perennial […]
Welcome to the inaugural episode of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, the new podcast from game designers and authors Kenneth Hite and Robin D. Laws. Join our thrilling audio adventure as we discuss games, movies, history, narrative and sundry concerns of the geekosphere. Here’s what we talk about this week: In our Among Our […]