Stargazer's World » Podcasts

Long drives and Podcasts…

Sunglar — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:00:54 +0000

Podcasts and me, it’s a relatively new affair. Despite being an avid radio listener (and I listen to AM talk radio so I’m used to the crazies! Mind you AM radio is different from what I gather it’s like in the US, there are still lots of character but different political views seem better represented) I didn’t make the transition to podcasts until recently. That doesn’t mean I was unaware of them, just not interested.

Before I had a smart phone I had downloaded and listened to the odd podcast, mainly something featured in an internet post, and the first gaming podcast I ever listened to was Fear the Boot and it was their first Ryan Dancey interview. I downloaded a few more episodes, but listening to them on the laptop didn’t work for me, I always had something else to listen to. When I got my smart phone I began to explore the podcasting options out there.

The first one that really got me was The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack. I was really into it for a while, but with the bad taste the end of the series left in my mouth (let this be a lesson to you, never lick your TV, no matter how good the series is!) I quickly stopped listening, they have some other themed podcasts but they never caught my fancy.

Then I dipped my toe into gaming podcasts when I joined a gym and once again began to listen to Fear the Boot. Alas going to the gym didn’t last too long, and neither did my podcast listening days! Flash-forward a couple of years and in the middle of the hectic year I’m having podcasts have made it back into my life.

The first tentative steps were taken with This Just In… From Gen Con. But recently I’ve been traveling a lot for work, spending almost two hours on the road (yeah it’s a LOT to me, that’s island living for you!) every day; after a couple of days talk radio seemed to be regurgitating the same topics so I decided to dive back into podcasts, and I am so glad I did.

Since I’ve been writing for the blog I’ve discovered many fine podcasts and through the blog and social media I have been lucky enough to interact with some of the fine podcasters out there. In a way it’s a different perspective…. So what have I been listening to? Glad you asked!

Gen Con Day 1… Results: Tired! (Lots of fun but beat)

Sunglar — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 06:29:06 +0000

Whatever possessed me to think I could actually write about Gen Con Indy after a full day of gaming? Well here goes a post about first impressions. I got to talk to a LOT of people today, and hopefully get to talk to more tomorrow, both friends and exhibitors. So how was it so far? Awesome!

After my last first time here four years ago, I came to the con with a different attitude, and it has worked. I have spent time with friends from the island who travelled here from back home as well as those that live stateside. I have also met with friends I had only contacted through social media. It’s a strange thing to meet people you’ve only seen in avatars and profile pictures.

As far as Gen Con goes, well what can I add? It’s a massive event no gamer should miss. No matter how far away you are it’s a pilgrimage worth making, and I am sure once you’ve been here you’ll want to return. Today I concentrated on the Exhibitors Room, foolishly believing I could see all I wanted to see. I visited booths, talked to some professionals I had never thought I would exchange words with and learned about all sorts of interesting games. Some are already being talked about in the blogosphere and internet new sites. Also I went to some smaller companies and saw some really interesting things, especially in areas I typically don’t follow, like miniature games and board games.

I spent far too much money and already have the books I wanted and a few more. I will write more extensively later on specifics as I am simply just too tired to write much more. I finished the night playing a game of Savage Worlds with David (@LodestoneDavid) from Purple Pawn who was kind enough to run three loud Puerto Ricans (me, my friend Yamir and @luniticus) as well as our new friend Scott, through an excellent pulp adventure. It helped me better understand the system as well as show me how to put together all the rule components more efficiently. Kudos to David!

And I cannot sign off today without thanking the Gen Con staff who facilitated my being there, were helpful and all around swell people. Covering the con for the blog has been a blast. I will write more next week about the experience and specifics, so this is just the beginning. Thank you all for reading!

PS – Remember that This Just In from… Gen Con! Is also covering the con and they are doing podcasts about it…

“This Just In … From Gen Con” needs your help

Stargazer — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 04:57:26 +0000

Gen Con Indy is a quite expensive event and also a lot of work if you want to cover it on a blog or podcast. So it’s great that even if you don’t have the funds to go there yourself that there are dedicated people going to Gen Con and capturing the excitement and mania for you.

Daniel M. Perez and Rich Rogers produce a special podcast live at Gen Con Indy that brings you the best Gen Con has to offer twice a day called “This Just In … From Gen Con”. Producing such a show live at Gen Con is no easy task and as someone who covered Gen Con on his blog before I can tell you it’s not cheap either.

That’s why the guys ask for your support. To help with the financial side of things they started a fundraiser at IndieGoGo to help with their expenses. In the next 32 days they hope to at least reach $1,500. As backer you not only will be listed in the Season Credits, but you will also get special perks like a link to your website, exclusive TJI stickers, t-shirts, and many more. Just check out the IndieGoGo page for all the details.

If you can’t contribute any money, you still can help in other ways: spread the word about the podcast and the fundraiser on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, using carrier pigeons and smoke signals. Everything helps!

Learning to say no…

Sunglar — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:00:07 +0000

It’s hard. There I said it!

What? No, no get your head out of the gutter. What I meant was saying no when people want to play at my table. And why should I say no, after all, if people want to play why should I stop them?

When I read the stories of people trying to find groups to play with it’s hard for me to understand. I’ve been lucky; I’ve had a regular group of players since I began playing. The numbers have waxed and waned but I’ve always had people to play with. At first I played with my neighbors, people I knew, and as people heard of the game more and more of them wanted to play. Sometimes I had eleven players around my table.

This were the good old days, when I was learning the game and adventures were wild romps of combat, looting and role playing was calling the king names! Ok I may be simplifying it but we were still learning the ropes and managing that many players was not that hard, in fact I enjoyed it.

Later still, when I had a better grasp of the game and the campaigns had become much more complex and detailed, I still had trouble saying no to potential gamers that approached me with the intent of playing with us. True that the first time we had a stranger at the table was disastrous (you can read a post about it here), but when people wanted to play at my table I felt flattered and had trouble turning them down.

That’s why at times I had twelve people sitting at my games. Back then we were playing AD&D 2^nd edition mostly and we didn’t use maps or miniatures so combats were manageable. Still they took too long and on a role playing intensive campaign managing twelve storylines became, let’s say, maddening.

Eventually the numbers dwindled and we were back to a mere six players and we had a long conversation. I told my players I could not say no, so from then on, before brining any new player to the table, we’d all discuss it and come to an agreement. It would no longer be the matter of me as the game master bringing a new player to the table.

The process has worked. The group has grown, as big as eight people at one time and currently six (soon maybe to be seven), but we try to talk about it before bringing in any new players. It’s been hard, people have asked me to play with us and I’ve had to turn them down because as a group we’ve decided not to bring anyone new on board. Most of the time it has nothing to do with the people, it’s usually a matter of physical space to accommodate another body or realizing that more people at the table would slow down game play or take time away from existing storylines.

On a tangent, I’ve recently begun listening to a lot of podcasts on long dives and one of the podcasts I’ve listened to is Fear the Boot. On recent episodes (they talk about it on episode 213, but I can’t remember when they first brought tit up) they discussed the idea of screening prospective players and maybe meeting them outside of the game to see how the group gets together socially and discussing expectations about the game to make sure everybody is on the same page. I think the advice is solid and they explain it much better on the podcast so I invite you to listen to it if you are interested. But I think this is a really important point and one I’ve rarely discussed with prospective players. What do you expect from the game? What is your style as a player?

So I’m adding that to the discussion. From now on when a possible player approaches us the group will sit down, we’ll talk about it and come to a consensus, thinking of what that person expects of the game, what they want to play and whether it will be a good fit with us.

How do you handle it at your table?

PAX Celebrity Dungeons & Dragons

Youseph — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 10:00:15 +0000

While I was at PAX Prime this year I went and saw the Pax Celebrity Dungeons & Dragons game. I was maybe sitting 5 rows back. The game featured Wizards of the Coast R&D’s Chris Perkins as DM, along with players Jerry Holkins, Scott Kurtz, Mike Krahulik, and Wil Wheaton. If you have been following the D&D podcasts for Acquisitions Incorporated then this is the next game in line. The players sought to bring Wil Wheaton’s Character back from the dead! I have been waiting since I got back to Juneau for Wizards of the Coast to post the video from the game. It’s now finally up for everyone to enjoy. I hope you will. It’s worth your time to watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqXqK3ZlqWI

Kickin’ it old-school with the crew from RPG Circus

Stargazer — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:23:51 +0000

For quite some time the crew of RPG Circus and me tried to figure out how to get me on their show. Alas because of the different time zones this has been more problematic than we anticipated. But when I decided to attend Gen Con this year, we planned to record something in Indianapolis.

So on one of the “Four Best Days In Gaming”, Mark, Jeff and I (Zach was running a game at this time) sat down at the Champions restaurant in the Marriott hotel, had some great food and talked a bit about Gen Con.

This little talk made it into the latest episode of RPG Circus, which is finally available! I also want to use the opportunity to thank Jeff, Mark and Zachary for having me on the show. They are the nicest people and I can’t wait to meet them at Gen Con 2011 again!

The Dungeon Master Guys

Stargazer — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 10:18:56 +0000

Today, on my daily commute, I listened to episode 1 of the new “Dungeon Master Guys” podcast. In this episode the three hosts, ChattyDM, DaveTheGame, and NewbieDM talk about how they prepare their games, about creating a cast-of-heroes to allow players to switch characters and how to make failures more interesting.

I initially feared the show might be pretty D&D-centric, I soon realized that the advice they were giving applies to almost every game. ChattyDM’s talk about making failure more interesting was based on his experiences with the Mouse Guard RPG. When I remember correctly we actually talked about this on Skype before, which later inspired me to write about failure and complications myself.

If you are a gamemaster, or if you want to become one, listening to this podcast is highly recommended. The advice given was good and I am sure even some DM veterans can learn a thing or two from the DM guys. Keep up the good work, Dungeon Master Guys!

For more details on the podcast (including show notes, etc.) check out the official website.

Ed Healy interviewed ChattyDM

Stargazer — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:44:16 +0000

Earlier today Ed Healy tweeted about his interview with my good friend Philippe-Antoine Ménard aka ChattyDM. They not only talk about roleplaying games but also about Philippe’s teaching, politics and more. You definitely should check this out!

DMs Should Join Other Games

Youseph — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:34:11 +0000

I think the best thing any Dungeon Master can to do improve his or her game is to join a game. You can learn a lot from other games and gamers. I find that I learn so much about how to improve my own DM’ing skills when I play or listen to other games. I can study other DMs. Learn what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong and use that to help me improve my own game.

If your not able to join a D&D game the next best thing you can do is listen to D&D podcasts of games. Wizards of the Coasts has several podcasts with Chris Perkins, Penny Arcade, PvP, and Wil Wheton all sitting around and playing D&D. I have learned a lot just from listening to these games in my spare time and as a result my own personal game has improved quite a bit. These podcasts have become an invaluable recourse for me.

Wizards of the Coast has also released a video of a game with Chris Perkins and the writers from robot chicken. This is great because you can actually watch the game and not just listen to it. These videos and podcasts are great tools for any one who DM’s.

What gaming podcasts do you listen to and how have they improve your game?

Best & Worst of Gaming 2009 [Part 1]

Stargazer — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:58:50 +0000

Picking up a meme started by Zachary Houghton and the other hosts of the RPG Circus podcast, I look back at the best and worst in last year’s gaming.

Best Gaming Company

That’s not an easy category at all. There are a couple of gaming companies that did well this year. But in my opinion the best gaming company this year was Paizo Publishing. I have to admit I don’t play Pathfinder myself, but I appreciate what they’ve done for their fans this year. Releasing their brand-new game for open alpha and beta testing was a bold move. And they even repeated this for the new classes etc. they developed. They also run regular contests for fans and as I’ve heard their customer support is one of the best.

Best Gaming Company, Small Press Division

Hmm, I am not sure if you can call Q-Workshop a “Small Press” gaming company, since they produce dice and not anything in print, BUT they are small all right! This small company from Poland produces the best-looking dice I’ve ever seen in my life. Instead of using fancy materials these dice have elaborate designs which make Q-Workshop dice really unique. I don’t know how many Euros I spend on their products last year (it was probably much too many), but let me assure you that they make perfect gifts for any roleplayer. This makes Q-Workshop my best small gaming company of 2009.

Best Sci-Fi Product

There have been quite a few great SF game releases last year and it was quite hard for me to pick a winner, but I think I choose Diaspora (Read my post on it here). The FATE powered game is not as flashy as many of it’s competitors but it’s one of the games that impressed me most in 2009. It’s incredibly well written and is probably one of the best implementations of the FATE rules I’ve read. When I have the time I will definitely try to run a short Diaspora campaign in 2010 and even if not, I might use the cluster generation rules to create solar systems, etc. for my Ad Astra game.

Best Fantasy Product

For me the best fantasy product last year was Green Ronin’s Dragon Age RPG. Based on the successful Dragon Age: Origins video game it combines a fresh new setting with rules-light game mechanics reminiscent of old-school games. The boxed set will probably come out in early 2010, but when you preorder the box, you get the PDF version for free. In my opinion it’s a great game to introduce new people into the hobby, but even veteran players may enjoy a Dragon Age campaign. My girlfriend is very excited about that game, too, because she enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins tremendously, so I will have to run that in 2010, too.

This concludes part 1 of my “Best & Worst of 2009” series. Stay tuned for more!

You shouldn’t miss RPG Circus episode 11!

Stargazer — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:53:15 +0000

That’s what almost happened to me. When someone recently mentioned the latest RPG Circus (iTunes Store Link) episode, I was surprised that I haven’t listened to it. Usually I check it out on the day it gets released. And this time my blog and I actually got mentioned by Jeff during the interview! Alas he still doesn’t know the name of my blog.

So, why should you listen to episode 11 (or any episode) of RPG Circus? For one RPG Circus is actually the greatest show in gaming! I am not kidding you. I have listened to several podcasts and RPG Circus is definitely my favorite show. Another reason is probably that the hosts are all members of our RPG Bloggers Network, so they often talk about topics that were raised in the community. The latest episode is actually something special because it features a long interview with the guys from Crafty Games. Especially if you are interested in Spycraft or Fantasy Craft, you shouldn’t miss RPG Circus episode #11!

Disclaimer: I don’t get paid to regularly praise RPG Circus! I just enjoy the show and I feel the need to share my love for that show with you guys!

RPG Circus Halloween episode is out!

Stargazer — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:00:38 +0000

This time the RPG Circus hosts talk about two of my favorite topics: Horror RPGs and Mood Music in RPGs.

Episode 10 also features Phil Ménard aka the ChattyDM as guest again. So, you really shouldn’t miss this episode!

Happy Halloween!

RPG Circus Episode 6

Stargazer — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:16:41 +0000

The latest episode of RPG Circus has been released a few days ago, but I just now managed to listen to it. As always I enjoyed it very much and a highlight of this show was definitely the interview with Michael Shorten about old-school gaming. You probably noticed that I jumped the old-school bandwagon a few weeks back and it was very interesting to listen to Michael tell us about his definition of what is old-school, about a few games out there and the situation with TARGA. I was a bit disappointed though that neither Jeff nor Michael remembered that I posted several articles (including an interview with the designer and a review) about X-plorers when they mentioned that game on the show. I think an angry audio commentary is in order!
But aside from that, RPG Circus Episode 6 is highly recommended to all gamers out there. Keep up the good work, guys!

My new favorite podcast

Stargazer — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:00:27 +0000

A few days back I learned about RPG Circus. RPG Circus is a pretty new podcast hosted by three of my favorite RPG Bloggers: Jeff Uurtamo from The Bone Scroll, Mark Meredith from The Dice Monkey and Zachary Houghton from RPGBlog 2. As usual I was totally oblivious to the existence of that podcast until someone mentioned that Philippe Ménard aka ChattyDM was on the latest show.

So I started iTunes, searched for RPG Circus (iTunes Store link) and subscribed to the show, so that I could listen to it on my commute to work. And I have admit that I very much enjoyed the show. Alas episode 1 had some technical issues (Jeff’s voice was much to low and there was some hissing sound when he talked) but both the format and the actual content was just great.

Most of the other podcasts that I listen to, don’t feature any news. RPG Circus does and it’s pretty cool to listen to these three guys talking about what is right now happening in the industry or the RPG blogosphere with special focus on our own RPG Bloggers Network.

The main portion of the show is a three ring act. Each of those rings is run by one of the hosts and covers one topic. In episode 1 for example the three topics were:

We talk about Robertson Games’s proposal of a new gaming term, “Neoclassical” and how it may or not may not apply to gaming.
We review the reaction of FreeRPG Day at Mark’s local game store.
We ponder Palladium Books.

What I liked very much is that the show does much like three guys chatting about roleplaying games instead of a prescripted thing. I very much enjoyed listening to Jeff, Mark and Zach talk and more than once wished I could join the fun.

In Episode 3 of RPG Circus Phil Ménard joined the fray and talked about landing your first writing gig for the RPG industry. I hope this is not the last time they invited a guest to the show. Actually everyone can participate by sending in questions or comments as audio file or by calling them under 1-888-643-6322 and leave a voice mail message.

My advice: if you have just enough time to listen to just one RPG podcast, make sure it’s RPG Circus!

Stargazer’s World on Canon Puncture

Stargazer — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:10:14 +0000

I checked the blog stats this morning an noticed that the site http://www.canonpuncture.com/ links to my blog. I have to admit, I’ve never heard from that site before and checked it out. I found out that Canon Puncture is a roleplaying game podcast that published its 73th episode just a few days ago and the latest episode is actually talking about my blog post “When your campaign has jumped the shark“.

I had a lot of fun listening to episode 73 of “Canon Puncture” and I am sure you’ll enjoy listening to those guys talking about RPGs, too, so check this podcast out if you have the time!

Dungeonslayers review @ “Here Be Gamers”

Stargazer — Mon, 11 May 2009 04:48:14 +0000

The roleplaying podcast “Here Be Gamers” has been reviewing Dungeonslayers, the game I helped translating from German to English some weeks ago. If you like listening to RPG podcasts and are still undecided, you should check out episode #5 of “Here Be Gamers”:

Episode 5 – A sailor’s life for me!

A very full episode with heaps of news and general discussion. This episode we talk about a bunch of board games and review The Uncharted Seas by Spartan Games and the free RPG DungeonSlayers.
We also want to make people aware of the very fine www.Drawtism.com.au which is raising awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders by getting people to play games of Pictionary. Check out this great cause.

I have to admit I’ve never heard of the “Here Be Gamers” podcast before, but it seems fun to listen to. Check it out.

Stargazer’s RPG podcast recommendations

Stargazer — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:04:53 +0000

When I got my first iPod I fell in love with podcasts. I commute by train for about an hour every day. And the best way to spend this hour is by listening to you favorite podcast (or read of course).

Before I joined the RPG Bloggers Network I only knew Wizard’s D&D podcast (iTunes Store URL) that was usually quite interesting but it was often so low in volume that I stopped listening to it. Even though it might be better on my iPhone, I haven’t bothered to come back to it yet, perhaps it wasn’t so interesting after all.
But I think I will give it another chance. I am especially interested to listen to the Penny Arcade Episodes, where the WotC guys convinced the folks from Penny Arcade to play D&D with them.

For a long time I didn’t listen to any RPG themed podcasts until I discovered Atomic Array and Fear The Boot. I’ve started listening to these podcasts just a few days ago starting with the oldest episodes, so it’s possible that they changed their format in the meantime.

Atomic Array (iTunes Store URL) is a bi-monthly podcast hosted by Rone Barton and Ed Healy. From what I’ve listened to so far, Atomic Array is mostly about interviews. In every new episode they talk about a new game (most of them are pretty indie which is nice) with the game designer(s). Just by listening to a few episodes I’ve learned about a couple great games I’ve never even read about. They also have some regular columns like “The Beast” where one of the hosts rants about something he’s really, really mad about. They also have some cool give aways each episode, so if you have some luck you can get some new RPG (usually the one they talked about) for free.

Fear the Boot (iTunes Store URL) has a weekly schedule and from what I’ve gathered so far they have a totally different approach than the Atomic Array guys. The focus on Fear the Boot is more about how to improve your roleplaying than showcasing new games every week. That’s a welcome change from the usual: hey, look what cool new game I found. Don’t get me wrong, I love Atomic Array especially because it presents me with a new game every two weeks but once in a while it’s nice to listen to a bunch of guys talking about their roleplaying experience. From what I’ve found out on their site, Fear the Boot has over 100 episodes so far and they obviously started working on their own campaign “Skies of Glass”. I am interesting how they will incorporate this into the format of the podcast.

So, are there any othe RPG podcast out there that I should know about? Please let me know in the comments.

Listen to this blog!

Stargazer — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:54:58 +0000

Following into the footsteps of Dice Monkey I added an Odiogo “Listen Button” to my blog’s sidebar. Odiogo is a service that provides an audio version of your regular feed. The text-to-speech technology used is quite decent, so it turns your RSS feed almost into a podcast. You can also subscribe to this podcast using iTunes, so your readers can listen to your posts while communiting to work for example.
The WordPress plugin that is used by Odiogo also adds a “listen now” button to each post, which allows your users to listen to your posts while reading the site.

For more details on how to set up Odiogo for your blog, check out Odiogo.com.

Game Geeks Video Podcast

Stargazer — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:29:43 +0000

Recently I stumbled upon the Game Geek video podcasts by Kurt Wiegel. In each episode Kurt reviews another roleplaying game or supplement. Until know there are over 80 episodes, so if you are thinking about getting a new roleplaying game, there’s a good chance that there’s already a video review about it (or not, if it’s a really obscure game).
Here’s the review of one of my favorite games: