Haste - The Official Obsidian Portal Podcast

This week we talk with Brian Patterson of d20Monkey and Randall Walker (@deadorcs) of the Dungeon Masters Round Table podcast about the upcoming Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan 4e conversion, Killing Characters and the Road To Gencon blog. Among many other tips on Gencon. Tune in now!

Intro: "Now Get Busy" ~ Beastie Boys Outro: "Sister Saviour" ~ The Rapture We have detected the source of our echo problems and they should disappear after this episode, please bear with us in the meantime. Announcements The blog has been redesigned a bit, should be easier to read and quite a bit prettier now so check it out. Also, ENnies voting is live and we'd love for you to cast your vote our direction for Best Website. So go slap a big fat 1 next to Obsidian Portal in the ballot box and let's make this year a threepeat! VOTE NOW! Topics Masks – 1000 NPCs by Gnome Stew Recently published "Masks" book of 1,000 ready to use NPC's  written by the fine folks at Gnome Stew gets some air time as Micah gushes about it being the book he's always wanted. We were lucky to get a review copy of this book and can confirm it is wholly awesome and mega useful for both inspiration, and whipping up NPC's on the spot! DDI Report Card A user thread in the WotC forums was started by someone "grading" their DDI offerings in a report card style. Many followed suit and the page has gained the attention of some WotC-folk and the thread continues to grow. I give out my own DDI credit card! Listen up! Deities Album Kickstarter A musician by the name of Chris Littler has a kickstarter project up to fund an album called "Deities", a collection of songs inspired by D&D. Micah and I talk D&D music and kickstarter projects in general. Without giving too much away I'll say it's very candid. Twitter Question @Supersaijinkyle asks: "I've had problems with people drinking too much at RPG sessions, at what point do you ban alcohol at games?" Listen to find out!

Today, we encourage you to GO VOTE FOR US for BEST WEBSITE for a 2011 ENNIE AWARD! Among other things we talk about some of the special guests at our GenCon panels, Killing off NPC's George R.R. Martin Style, Google Plus and its usefulness for gamers, and WotC's upcoming Book of Vile Darkness. A question from twitter too! Tune in (and vote) now!

Today on the podcast we talk OP calendar improvments, "Beyond The Stat Block" for 4e monsters, Robert Schwalb crapping on your freelance writing dreams, the death of fourthcore and a combat managing question from twitter. Tune in now!

Haste Episode 5 is live! We talk about the upcoming Iron Kingdoms RPG by Privateer Press due out in 2012, the Gary Gygax memorial, Underpants Gnomes and Virtual Tabletops. Tune in now!

Last week we spoke a bit about the open design patronage model over at Kobold Quarterly. This week we're visited by Ben McFarland who is a veteran of the model and is here to set us straight about what it is, and what it isn't. We also give a few announcements, talk old school dungeon crawls and take a question from twitter. Tune in now!

In episode 3 we first give a quick update about one of our GenCon special guests and attending the Origins gaming convention. Then it's on to talk about the launch of the Obsidian Portal mobile site, even more ways to converse with others about RPG's on the internet, the release of the Lost City setting for 4e D&D by Logan Bonner and a bit about the open design model. We also take a question from twitter as usual, this time it's about how to build your campaign world - from the inside out, or the outside in? Tune in now!

We talk Atari & Bedlam Games' Daggerdale, the new RPG Bloggers Alliance from Stargazersworld, D&D parenting, announce a Gencon panel celebrity guest and answer "What are some creative ways you've had your adventurer's meet each other?" from twitter. Tune in now! HEADLINES...

Pathfinder Beginner Box, DriveThruRPG Contest, Paizo Pre-Painted Miniatures Announced, Question from Twitter and more! Tune in now!

Obsidian Portal is experimenting with running a podcast, and this is our first episode. We call it Haste because we know you are all busy people and don't have time to listen to a group of podcasters drone on and on. The goal of the show is to get you some of the latest news in the RPG industry and get you on your way.