All posts filed under “RPGs”

March 2, 2022

Episode 285: Four Interesting Chickens

Blurb: This week the word is choices. The nerds start by discussing various difficult choices and how creating those is a goal of game designers. Keith talks about recent events in his role playing game that involved 4 chickens. Moving on to media, Keith talks about watching Yellow Jackets, and Andy talks about Station Eleven and Miracle Workers. Next they talk a bit about unusual tarot decks. After dropping the spoiler curtain, they discuss The Book of Boba Fett and Star Trek Prodigy. Andy also describes a scene from My Little Pony.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

February 1, 2022

Episode 283: The Power of the Dog vs. The Nine Kittens of Christmas

This week the word is gimmick. The nerds discuss gimmicks seen in games and 3-D movies and various nuances of the term. Next Keith talks about watching movies with a home projector. He gives his non-spoilery thoughts about several films including The Matrix 4, and Andy talks similarly about Don’t Look Up and Get Back. Then Andy yammers about the ending of an obscure time travel movie from 1964, and Keith talks about recent legal proceedings within his current RPG game. Discussions include teenage protagonists from the 80s who are good with computers and are popular. Near the end they discuss House of Leaves and recent Star Treks.

SPOILER WARNING: contains vintage spoilers.

January 4, 2022

Episode 281: For Only Moonkind

This week the word is conventions. The nerds start by talking about PAX Unplugged, the first big convention they’ve been to since the pandemic began. Then they talk about a fan-edit of the series For All Mankind that focuses only on the space mission plotlines, called For Only Moonkind. Andy tells the origin story of the obscure usage of “Robocop” as a verb, and then they talk about Star Trek Discovery. Other topics include stuff they’re currently working on, new flavors from Tony Chocolonely, Disney’s Galactic Starcruiser, Keith’s current RPGs, and House of Leaves.

October 5, 2021

Episode 274: Strange Rays from Outer Space

This week the word is Zombies. The nerds have a lot to say about zombies, and how they differ from other undead beings including vampires, ghosts, and reanimated corpses. After all that, Keith recaps the start of his Fugue State: Threshold campaign running via Twitch, and Andy again has things to say about Taskmaster. Next they talk about what book they should read next. Behind the spoiler curtain they talk about What If and Lower Decks.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

September 14, 2021

Episode 272: The Only D20s in Bulgaria

This week the word is Collectors, and begins with the nerds talking about their own collections and various types of collectors. The discussion includes classic arcade games (including the obscure hit, Rip Off), Magic cards (and what it was like in the very early days), collecting topics ranging from curating to completeness, Keith’s story about the difficulty of obtaining RPG dice in Bulgaria, and the mystique of Cosmic Wimpout dice. Moving on to media, Andy talks a little about The Expanse and a lot about Taskmaster. After dropping the spoiler curtain, they discuss the first two episodes of Lower Decks and What If? episode 2.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

September 29, 2020

Episode 240: A World of Squirrels

This week the word is wizard. First the nerds discuss their favorite wizards at length, which leads to them both sharing stories from their early LARP game experiences. Then they talk about Bill and Ted Face the Music without getting too spoilery. Lastly, Keith gives some high-level thoughts about Doom Patrol season 2 and the first 3 episodes of Lovecraft Country.

BLOOPER WARNING: contains bloopers.

September 15, 2020

Episode 239: Meanwhile, in Chicago…

This week the word is malinger. First the guys discuss what the word actually means, then they share memories of malingering, including the time Keith when was trapped in a closet while staying home from school. Next they discuss the 3rd episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks. Keith talks about work stuff and games he’s playing, and the challenge of making Bingo cards for Lovecraft Country. Then Andy talks about the newest Parsely game he’s writing, and asks Keith to describe what he remembers about a game idea they pitched in the final days of their time together at Magnet, which would have been called the Secret City. Keith also talks about how those ideas helped inspire work he did later on Crossroads and Over the Edge. After the lowering the spoiler curtain, Andy gives his thoughts on Season 2 of the Umbrella Academy.

SPOILER WARNING: contains spoilers.

October 18, 2019

Episode 201: Star Wars Wars

This week the word is Midichlorians. The nerds talk about what the new Star Wars movies might have been if Disney had taken the suggestions they’d gotten from George Lucas, and they debate which of the movies they think is the worst one. Keith talks about his current work projects, which leads the nerds discuss the differences between a storytelling game and a role playing game. Then Andy talks about Astronomy Fluxx, which is about to go to the printer. Lastly, they talk slightly about recent and upcoming media.

August 20, 2019

Episode 196: Lab Coats and Watermelons

This week the word is Gen Con, which the nerds spend a lot of time discussing. But first Keith talks about being in Maine, and his distaste for lobster. They talk about the year 2020, seeing multiple people wearing a lab coat and carrying a watermelon, and zany stunts they used to do at sci-fi conventions before they each started a game company. Keith talks about his new project with the Adventure Zone, then they speculate more about the upcoming Picard series. Andy asks Keith to compare the gore factors on Stranger Things vs. The Boys, since Andy is very adverse to graphic depictions. Then Keith talks about the start of Season 3 of Legion, and Andy mentions a theory about Star Wars Episode 9 that’s been going around. After lowering the spoiler curtain, the discuss season 3 of Stranger Things.

SPOILER WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS