Tuesday, December 20, 2016

This wasn't supposed to be the Christmas episode, but...

First off, we're not going to try apologizing for anything. Because we're the Coalition.

Second, we're really sorry that we've gone a month and a half without posting anything.

This was partially due to the fact that I (Jeff) have been sick for the better part of that time, as well as the fact that NaNoWriMo was going on at the same time, thus sucking up time that a lot of people in our hobby have.

So, here we are in mid/late December. Yay. However, I do think this one is worth the wait.



Hope you enjoy!

Happy Holidays, denizens of the Coalition!

Sunday, October 30, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 9b

The cuteness is over, but the horribleness is just beginning! Join us for this week's Actual Play, The Most Horrible Plan Yet.



Carry on, citizens. Just don't come up with any worse plans than these jokers.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

FEAR!!!

Greetings, citizens!

Ghosts and goblins everywhere...
Life's no fun without a good scare...
Come with us and you will see
This, the Coalition Deadboys Halloween special!



We're glad to present you with a special guest host today: the legendary Joe! It's great to welcome him back for this episode, especially given that we wanted to do something special for Halloween.

So, what is fear? What scares you? In a game, we're used to fighting goblins, kobolds, banshees and all sorts of hellish creatures, but does that really scare you? In this episode, we go through what a GM can do that can unnerve a player, if not outright frighten them. Also, we talk about what scares us in other media.

Sleep well, Citizens.
Carry on.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 9a

Oh, the cuteness!! Oh, the cuteness!!



Join us this week as we bring you the newest harrowing thread in the LOT16 story, Cute-Napped!

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Episode 43 - Wait. What Happened to September?

Well, this sucks.

But I think all you out there in listener-land understand that September is a difficult time to figure out schedules for three people, what with college schedules, work schedules and life in general. Plus, when the CS leadership is sending you out on raids peacekeeping ops, we have to listen.

On tap for this week, we've got something a little different. Strictly speaking, it doesn't have to do with Palladium games, except peripherally. Some of the games you might expect based on our previous conversations, but you might be surprised by some of them.



Anyway, enjoy this week's episode. We're planning on getting back into a more regular recording schedule. I wonder how long it's been since I started saying that? If anyone can remember the first time, we can wire you 20 credits. All the rest of you are D-Bees!

Carry on, citizens.

Friday, August 26, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 8c

Hello, Citizens.

Sorry it's been a while since we updated the CDAP series, but things have been a little crazy on this end. No excuse, to be sure, but still…

Regardless, we hope you enjoy this week's installment, entitled We Who are About to Die, We Kill You First!!

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Episode 42 - How to Campaign in 90 Seconds!

Greetings, Citizens!

First, to address the elephant in the room, no. We haven't disappeared. You know your coalition government far better than that. That real-life monster reared its ugly head again and prevented me from getting time to edit the podcast. But here we are! Hopefully we can get back on track.

So, we've been asked several times (hi, Dave.) if we could do some more actual roleplaying in our episodes. Naturally, being dumb, I (Jeff) thought that meant y'all wanted some actual play episodes. Now, don't worry; those aren't going anywhere. So if you like the CDAPS episodes, you'll still get those on an alternating basis. But in this episode, we took things in a different direction.

Random character generation, random scenario generation and go! You'll have to listen to the episode to get the full effect, but letting the GM run the scenario with a pair of percentile dice and the players using a d20 for everything? Yeah. It was hilarious. And awesome.



So enjoy this week's episode, How to Campaign in 90 Seconds!

Carry on, Citizens.

Friday, July 29, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 8b

Greetings, Citizens!

Sorry about the delay in getting this to you. I (Jeff) have noticed that I've been doing an increasingly crappy job putting stuff out as the summer has dragged on (and on, and on and on…).

Nevertheless, here is the second half of LOT16, session 8. "Fixed Dirty Fighting."



Carry on, Citizens.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Episode 41 - Archetypes we Love, Part One of … Many

Greetings, Citizens!

This week's topic is a beefy one, and one we know we'll not get to the end of in just one episode. So, we're going to break it up into several different parts. The trick is that we don't know when those other parts will come (Click the "archetypes" tag for the others as they become available).

Thieves. Tanks. Gandalf-ey wizards. Luke Skywalker. What do they all have in common? They're all based on a sort of archetype. In this episode, we start to scratch the surface of what archetypes we like and why we like them. Also, Matt gives us a good idea of what O.C.C.s and R.C.C.s are great fits for the type of character you might want to play. Well, as long as you tend to play along the same lines as Maddy and Jeff…


Carry on, Citizens!

Monday, June 13, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 8a

Hello, Citizens

Sorry we got off-track with our regular broadcasting schedule. But you know how it is. You record, do post-production, get orders to go kill some D-Bees ensure everything is up to par, and get everything uploaded. Once the government has passed it through censorship, approval, wait times can be a little lengthy. But here it is! Episode 8a of the Coalition Deadboys Actual Play Series, entitled "Underdogs in This Fight."


Carry on, citizens!

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Episode 40 - The Savage Rifts in Our Broadcasting Schedule

Hi, Citizens.

We really blew it last month, didn't we? I suppose it was inevitable, what with the end of the school year and all, plus trying to coordinate the schedules of three very busy people. Fortunately, Matt gets to do the coordinating. I (Jeff) just bring the computer and recording equipment.

Regardless, I'm sure you heard the news about the Rifts for Savage Worlds Kickstarter, which successfully funded (with over 54 times what they were aiming for). To be sure, it's an amazing time to be a fan of Rifts or any Palladium Books game.



Basically, we just spend a good share of the time geeking out about the fun times we've had in Savage Worlds systems, and things like that. It's a total nerdfest. But hey, that's what makes us fun, right? And Maddy's here, so she keeps Matt and I under control. Mostly.

Carry on, citizens!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Episode 39 - Cliques and You!

Greetings, Citizens!

So, first things first. Let's set the record straight. There are perfectly good explanations as to why we've not posted anything for such a long time. So the first: two weeks ago, I (Jeff) was going to post another CDAPS episode, but I had a seizure, and that threw pretty much everything off for me. It sucks, but they happen. Then in the middle of last week, I was planning to buckle down and get this episode ready and posted, I had a niece. She's cute as a bug, too.

Anyway, here we are again. We have the wonderful Maddy, the tolerable Matt and the insufferable Jeff in the CS broadcasting studio to discuss various aspects of cliques within roleplaying games and why they tend to pop up. Along with that, you'll get a taste of some of the epic fails we've seen as gamers and GMs in the past, too.

Again, I'm sorry about the delays. As fans of Palladium, we shouldn't be strangers to it, but it's still no fun when it happens. I'll try to do better in the future. (Kevin, please don't take that the wrong way. Love your stuff, keep it coming :) )

Carry on, Citizens!

Monday, April 25, 2016

Just Say No to Pod-fading!

Greetings, Citizens!

Your friendly neighborhood tyrants here letting you know that we're not gone. Some stuff came up in life that couldn't be avoided. On the upside, I (Jeff) have a new niece!! It's pretty awesome stuff.

That being said, I'm going to try and get Episode 39 edited and uploaded ASAP. I want to get it to you before we do another CDAPS release.

Sorry again!

Carry on, Citizens.

Monday, April 4, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 7b

Greetings, citizens!

You know how sometimes you'll be listening to propoganda a government-approved message and you hear something like "Your results may vary"? Funny thing about that … sometimes, even the actions of terrorists do it too.

So have a listen to this week's actual play episode: "Terrorist Actions MAE Vary."

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 7a

Greetings, citizens!

It's not often that you can get a rowdy group like this to work so well together. The players work well together, too. Join us today for the first half of the seventh session, "Im-PACK-t on Society!"


Carry on, citizens!

Episode 38 - The Heat of Battle!

Greetings, Citizens!

Question: What happens when your favorite Deadboys don't manage to post an update to their blog for a freaking WEEK AND A HALF?
Answer: Two updates in a day! Woo hoo!

This topic is one we've been asked several times to address. What do you do to speed up combat?

Let's be honest, we all want the hot intensity of a Gorge R.R. Martin battle scene or some climactic battle from Brandon Sanderson, but sometimes the excitement of the scene falls apart because of a really slow pace. But that's not actually your fault, nor is it that of your players! Even the system isn't completely to blame. The real issue here is how you can work within the existing framework of the game to allow for the fast-paced, exciting battle you want.

Granted, we're not experts in … well, pretty much anything, but we've got some experience. We this episode will hopefully give you a few tips and tricks to speed up combat and make it more exciting while still maintaining the epic, heroic feel you're (probably) aiming for.

Carry on, citizens!

Monday, March 14, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 6b

Greetings, Citizens!

Welcome to another CDAPS episode! This week, we're proud to bring you a story entitled "Red Ed's Redemption." Also, there's an epic epilogue … of sorts. The story ain't over, but you can see things starting to come together.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Episode 37 - History Lessons!

Greetings, Citizens!

Yes, I'm late. I know. I'm flaying the skin off my own back in penance right now. Again. I promise it won't happen for at least three more hours.

Anyway, we have a fun-filled episode for you today, and that's partially because it was left up to the Fates. Some of you (many?) have asked us to talk about some of Matt's previous games and flesh out the story lines and other things about the campaigns. Well, today's your lucky day!

As you can probably tell, we really enjoyed making this episode. You can probably also tell that we only scratched the surface with this one, so we're considering making it an occasional feature. That'll also make it so you can understand what's going on in our CDAPS episodes if things get too … rowdy.

Until next time,
Carry on, Citizens.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 6a

Greetings, Citizens!

Sorry for the slight delay … but hey! We're all fans of Palladium. We should be used to slight delays, right? (Sorry, Kevin.)

Regardless, allow us to present to you this week's installment of the LOT16 story, "Closing the Fissure." The group can get a little rowdy at times, but trust us, there is a lot of really good story going on.

Until I'm late updating again, carry on, citizens!

Friday, February 26, 2016

Episode 36 - We Suck, and That's Okay!

Greetings, Citizens!

The title kind of says it all, right? Everyone sucks at something (except for us--it's not like we're ever late putting out episodes…), and Matt brings a novel idea to the table this week: it's okay if you don't have mad skills in everything! We can all improve at something, even if we think we're perfect. Maybe especially then…

Except us. We're perfect.

So sit back and enjoy as we discuss some solid advice from Brandon Sanderson about … well, letting yourself suck.

Carry on, citizens!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 5b

Again, sorry for the delay in this week's release. I've been getting increasingly sick, and getting better has been consuming most of my time.

Regardless, we hope you enjoy this installment of LOT16, titled "United … Against the Llama." You can probably piece together what's about to go down...

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 5a

First of all, I (Jeff) want to apologize for this week's episode coming out late, as well as not having an "episode," at least in the manner where we get together and talk about the cool and important stuff in the Megaverse.

Anyway, we are pleased to present this week's dose of Palladium--the next section of the LOT16 adventure, titled "Worse than Being Broke." Sit back, relax, and enjoy the mutagenically-enhanced chaos!

Monday, February 1, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 4b

Join us for this week's episode: Please Don't Feed the Animals!
Sorry for the slightly delayed release today. Trying to keep on top of it!

Carry on, citizens.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Episode 35 - Reiterating, Chauvinism is NOT Cool

Greetings, Citizens!

Now, you may have read the title and read  a little snark into it. I'd be lying if I (Jeff) said I didn't intend any, especially with the chosen intro and outro music this episode. That being said, it isn't our intention to downplay or justify the overt (and sometimes not so overt) chauvinism and objectification of women within nerd culture. A Chainmail Bikini is NOT equal to an actual suit of armor!!  Recently, with such projects as The Hawkeye Initiative, this issue has gained a wider audience, but there's still a lot of ground to make up.

The Coalition States have long been held up as the standard for bigotry and inequality. But this podcast is going to make that leap and take a stand against the objectification of women, especially in "nerd culture," where it seems to be so pervasive. Another article you can take a look at is this one on the Artifice. Don't be intimidated by how long it seems--most of the page is made up of comments.

Please comment on this post. I know we didn't ask for any responses on this topic within the recording, but this is an issue that affects each and every one of us in the hobby. Whether you love or hate the scantily-clad images of post-apocalyptic females, your opinion on this matter is one that really can make a difference in the way people see our subculture.

Carry on, citizens.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 4a

Greetings, Citizens!

My sincerest apologies for the late release this week. From this point on, I think we're going to try and release episodes on Mondays so we can do all the post-production over the weekend, but there shouldn't be much of a change beyond that. Besides, everything's coming out at the beginning of the week anyway, right?

REGARDLESS, here is the next section of the adventure, LOT16. As clues and action continues to pile upon itself, there's a continuing risk of the entire thing spinning out of control ... which it nearly does!

Carry on, citizens!

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Episode 34 - Why Do We All Love Bad Guys So Much?

Greetings, Citizens!

Sorry about the little technical glitch last week. We still don't know what the problem was, and we don't expect to ever find out. So, you can sleep better at night knowing that the Coalition States have all the technology you need, we just don't always know how to fix it when things go wrong.

This weeks episode is a lot of fun. Think of a villain. Go ahead. Now think about why you like him or her so much. There are a lot of different reasons for each person, and Nate, Matt and Jeff flesh out some of their favorite villains and why they like each one of them. It's a great discussion, and one that you absolutely won't want to miss if you feel that your villains are two-dimensional or are falling flat.

Carry on, citizens.

Monday, January 4, 2016

The CDAPS: LOT16, Episode 3b

Greetings, Citizens!

Yeah, I know. This week should be a normal episode. One thing you can take solace in is the fact that we did actually record one. One thing we can all complain about though, is that the technology gods frowned on us and flat-lined everything but the last five seconds.

That being the case, we don't want to leave you hanging! So here it is: part two of LOT16, session 3. Our "group" is still striving to find clues to what's happening to them, and trying to make sense of what they're finding.

Carry on, citizens.