Episode 25 - Like an Over-Saturated Super-Sponge

Greetings, Citizens.

Has it been two weeks already? The time really goes by quickly here in the Deadboys Studios.

Anyway, in discussing what to talk about this week, we came up with an interesting topic: what is it with all the superhero stuff? There are good points on both sides of the argument about whether we've got too much or not enough. But for the sake of argument, let's take a deeper look at it.



It's interesting to look at how the culture has come to dominate the media in the last ten or so years, but we should also be asking ourselves whether we're setting ourselves up to just get burned out. Being careful about re-running the same campaign is a given, but sometimes campaigns (especially in a game with a long-standing group) need some spice to them. Take a listen for what we have to say about this, and some good storytelling ideas, as well. As always, this is an interesting topic.

Carry on, Citizens.

Episode 24: Where is Everybody?

Sorry for the late posting, everybody.

This week's episode is quite short, as Matt is away on a family vacation, and I'm sure you don't want me to just ramble on about gaming for an hour. That'd get boring really quick. Plus, I'm personally not in a good position to record a full episode right now. It's unfortunate, but it's true.



Also, an update on the Kickstarter we promoted last time: unfortunately, Metahumans Rising did not reach its goal, but I'm hoping that its creator will tweak things and try again soon, as it looked and sounded like great fun with a lot of great roleplaying potential.

Anyway, there's not much here. Next time, we'll try to have a GenCon Redux and a 25th Episode Extravaganza!! Don't miss it!

Carry on.

Episode 23 - Metahumans Rising and Other Strangeness

Greetings, subjects!

And yes, you read that right. The Coalition has reorganized slightly, and you've all lost your citizenship. the best way to get it back is to back the Metahumans Rising Kickstarter, as it's the fastest and lets the CS know your information. Or we could get it the old-fashioned way. But that involves a lot more bullets, so it's better for all of us if you go look at the Kickstarter.

But today, you're in for a treat. We have with us the creator of said project, and he answers questions and gives insight into what makes Metahumans Rising such a great and unique game. (Spoilers: the mechanics are different than most games out there!) There are a lot of reasons to be interested in this game, and we were pleased to have him on the show.



After letting Dave get back to his normal life, the three of us (again, you read that right. Jeff and Matt are joined today by Matt's player, Lee) discuss different systems that we'd be interested in playing, the various reasons we'd like to play them, etc. In all, I think this is our best episode yet, and I hope you enjoy it!

Also, by way of housekeeping, we're planning on using this episode as this week's release, and resuming two weeks from Friday. That means you can look for a new episode on or very close to July 31.

Carry on, Subjects!

Short Hiatus and a Kickstarter Project

Hello, everybody.

Well, since today is Saturday, you probably guessed that something's a little off this week. Without getting too bogged down in specifics, let me just say that we weren't able to record an episode for you this week. :( However, we're planning on being back next week, and we're in the process of putting together an interview with the creator of Metahumans Rising, a project that's been on Kickstarter now for a couple weeks.

That's the other thing I wanted to mention in this week's blog--Metahumans Rising can provide players with a lot of similar experiences as Heroes Unlimited and its expansions, but it uses a different system. It focuses on the Bronze Age of comic books, and encourages players to experiment and flesh out their character's backstory with a mechanic called Willpower. This allows characters to do things they couldn't normally do, much like Force/Destiny Points do in FFG's Star Wars game. Another thing that Metahumans Rising offers is what the creator calls a "complete incomplete setting." The world is complete in that it has places and features like North America, full cities, corporations and organizations, but the world is also incomplete because it needs players and characters to function. At the GM's discretion, organizations, people, corporations and anything else can be changed or overlooked to serve the story, and therefore the world can be as broad or as focused as you and your group would like.

Personally, one of the things I look forward to seeing the most out of this game is the character creation aspect. I do like the fact that in Heroes Unlimited there's no beefcake guy out there with a big S on his chest that swoops in all the time. Fortunately, Metahumans Rising looks like it vies for a more balanced approach between external and internal conflict--something the very best comics are able to master beautifully.

If I haven't linked to it enough already, you can go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/housedok/metahumans-rising to pledge support for this project. It's going to be great.

Anyway, that's really all there is this week. As far as Kevin's weekly update, I'm going to assume he was on a caffeine high when he wrote it, since he says he was up until 3:00 A.M. finishing work on Robotech: Expeditionary Forces. That's work ethic right there. However, he also wanted to spread the word about the deadline extension for Christmas in July Grab Bags, now running through Monday. I personally haven't gotten one of these (funding issues), but have been assured that they are AMAZING to get. Therefore, I would encourage each and every one of you that has the chance to take a long, hard look into picking one (or two) of these up.

That's about all I have to say. Carry on, citizens.

Episode 22 - The Players of Atrophy

Greetings!

Today, we're back to our standard--just Jeff and Matt on this one, but we actually did a good job of it!



There were a lot of S.D.C. items this week, but the weekly update came out after we recorded, so we weren't able to analyze that. We also address listener mail before launching into the topic of conversation for the week.

The topic this week is simple, but it's one that not a lot of GMs want to discuss: players who aren't causing enough disruption to get themselves kicked out of the game, but enough of a ruckus to slow and stop the game in progress. Matt cites three specific archetypes he's seen, and we discuss the pros and cons of having each kind of player in your game, as well as some actual-play stories we remember from back in the day.

Anyway, that's it for this week. I hope the delay of a couple hours wasn't too onerous for you, fair listener.

Carry on, citizens.

Episode 21 - In Which We All Meet at Space-Arby's

Greetings, Citizens!

And is this the normal font? It looks weird this time around for some reason...



Anyway, we have a very special treat for you today, and not just for the simple fact that the episode is about half the length of a normal one. This week, we have two, count 'em, two guests to discuss the creation process of a RPG. If you've never really considered what goes into a system or setting, this will be a big eye-opener.

Carry on, Citizens!

Episode 20 - Palladium Open House Redux, then Bob Walks Into a Bar

Greetings again, Citizens!

It's been far too long, I know. However, I hope we'll make up for it this time because we have the Magnificent Maddie along with us!



Anyway, Matt was at the Palladium Open House; and if you were there, odds are you saw him passing out cards with our information on them. Feel free to pass those cards along, and spread the love of Palladium's games. The system may not be the most popular, but hey, they sure know how to create an immersive environment for players, right?

Finally, after an overview of the fun Maddie and Jeff missed, the conversation moved toward a slightly different track: how do you get your players together in the first place? You could have them all get together in a bar, but how cliche is that? Really! Each of us take it in turns to offer ideas as to what can be a good solution to this, but as you know, we're not the ultimate authority on things of this nature. . . . yet. Please offer feedback on g+, Facebook, Twitter, on our email address, or anywhere else you might be able to find us. Seriously, we love doing this show, but we realize it's not just for us, it's for you--so we can share our passion for these games with you.

Also, I want to do two things here. I want to apologize for the terrible sound quality. As I've mentioned many times before, the recording equipment I have is twitchy at the best of times, and downright unusable at the worst. But that also segues wonderfully into the other thing I wanted to mention, and that is a gigantic shout-out to friend of the show, Gilstam, A.K.A. Dave. I also gave you a special mention before the episode started. That's irony for you! You realize that your recording quality is far below where you'd like it to be, then UPS brings you new equipment (and a new book to burn through!

Anyway, I think I've taken enough of your time tonight. Have a relatively safe night, citizens.