G*M*S Magazine Podcast Channel

Second podcast of the day and second Kickstarter project, this time a Roleplaying game from Cakebread & Walton, Pirates & Dragons. I had the pleasure to catch up with Pete Cakebread, which I was really looking forward to indeed. I met, really briefly, him at Conpulsion in April and didn’t get the chance to share a cup of coffee with him. I have promised myself next Conpulsion I’ll share a pint instead. That should help! With Airship Pirates and Clockword and Chivalry as an introduction card, Cakebread & Walton have demonstrated they can live up to their slogan: Purveyors of fine imaginings. During my research, it became clear that Pirates & Dragons is more than “Jonny Depp meets Gary Gygax”. There’s a reason for the dragons to be there, and a reason for the pirates. Very good reasons. So you better listen to them

There are few things more exhilarating than discovering an interesting game from a country you weren’t expecting. This is what happened to me with Septikon. Hobby World approached me a few weeks ago to advertise on the website and I was a bit reluctant at first. Hobby World is a Russian company. Currently Russia is deploying very unpleasant rules against LGBT people and I didn’t want to support a company that would support the regime. However I was torn about it because I like the game quite a lot. I decided to reach a compromise. I would advertise Septikon in the website, feature them in the podcast and interview them at Spiel if they were happy with me donating any money they play for the advertising to an organisation in Russia that supports LGBT people. Much to my relief, they not only agreed, but supported my decision fully. Faith in humanity achievement unlocked! It is helped by the fact that Septikon is a terrific game that’s enjoyed a great deal of success in Russia from a company that knows their games and that should be on the shelves of anyone who wants a 2 player game to play time and time again

Once again, friends, we’re recording and this time, after Vickeyhas had the chance to recover from a busy schedule, we talk GenCon. You might think by now that you’ve heard every update about the convention you need, but we couldn’t miss the chance to have a go and tell you thinks you might not have heard. Vickey had, for the first time, her own products to sell in GenCon and the experience has been very different for her as a trader, so her perspective brings a new way of looking at the convention and how to organise it. But also we discuss what’s about GenCon that is so infectious and exhilarating. Why aren’t there any other conventions that transmit the feeling of excitement and the buzz that GenCon Does

I keep saying (and probably will for a long while) that Role Playing publishing companies (and gaming companies in general) are pretty bad at marketing. Sorry, but it’s true. There are no long-term campaigns, no creativity and very little lateral thinking thrown into the promotion and sales of games. Kickstarter is helping a lot since, as well as collecting money, it serves as a powerful promotion platform, which is something the industry needs really badly. But of course there’s a lot to Marketing and that’s why I decided to have Alexi Vanderberg, aka Rabid Fanboy so he can talk to everyone about promotion, marketing and his company. A long chat with a lot of information. Oh, and a new installment of Reading to Rob too. This time an extract from Winter Witch by the rather excellent Elaine Cunningham and edited by the no less fantastic Dave Gross

I am not particularly good at Science Fiction. In fact I am pretty terrible because when I try to write it I leave so many holes that the story becomes unworkable. And then I can’t be bothered to repair the holes because I’m a lazy bugger. Butt people like Gobion Rowlands have a talent for it, which is just as well because otherwise we’d never have good Sci-Fi. Having said that, I didn’t know about him until Angus Abranson from Chronicle City. “He’s a great guy to interview, Paco” he said, “you should have him in the podcast”. And who am I to argue with him? No one. Exactly. So here’s the interview

To offer a single game when a writer creates a Kickstarter campaign is pretty normal. But Jim Pinto is not normal or ordinary. He’s pretty extraordinary. Rather than just giving you a game, he’s launching 6, probably 7, in one single Kickstarter. And they’re not the run-down-the-mill games either These are GMless games with a twist. Some have PnP, some have death, some have children… they’re all different and they’re all complete games with plenty of mechanics, story and fun

One of the two episodes to be released this week. In this episode the good Dr Reddy and myself decided to have a couple of reviews for you, including a review of Hanabi. But, of course, that’s not all we talk about. There is a review of a little paints rack for Citadel, Vallejo, Tamiya… that sort of paints. If you’re interested in getting one and would like to find out more after the podcast, you can visit the manufacturer’s website by clicking here. Just in case you missed the previous episode in which we reviewed Robinson Crusoe, I tell Dr Reddy everything about it. And Fleet! We also discuss Fleet! What a terrific game! You should take a look at it and back the Kickstarter, though we don’t talk about the Kickstarter in this podcast, just the existing game

By Paco Garcia Jaen This is a bit of an experimental episode and I would be really grateful to get your feedback and let me know if you’d like to hear more episodes like this. In this episode, my regular group of friends and I got together to playPortal’s Robinson Crusoe. This game came out last year at Essen to much acclaim, so we thought we’d give it a go and see what the fuss is all about. We’ve separated the episode into two sections, the first one in which we take a look at the components of the game and first impressions after opening the box, and the second one in which we give the review of what we thought of the game after a first play. Well… Hope you like the experiment and look forward to hearing what you think

I like the idea of software that aids the gaming experience. A lot. However a lot of the software out there, rather than help, they try to replace the gaming experience. They replace what should be on the table for something else that otherwise you wouldn’t need, like dice or maps. Herolab, though, doesn’t do that. Herolab gives helps you create your characters so you don’t have to send long periods of time sorting out tables, stats, bonuses, abilities… You get the drift. Behind that software, there is a very experience company that is as passionate about games as it is knowledgeable, Lonewolf Development, and this episode features an interview with one of the programmers behind the software. Great opportunity to ask about Herolab, Army Builder and Realm Works, as well as the future of the company and if we’ll ever see an iPad version of their handy work. Hope you enjoy the show! As usual, your feedback is most appreciated, so please do feel free to email us on podcast@gmsmagazine.com and let us know what you think! Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show

I think it’s fair to say James Desboroughis one of the most controversial and outspoken writers out there. His views on theism, sexism and politics have gained him a fair number of detractors who are just as outspoken as he is. Sometimes more. What there is no doubt either, is that he is a talented writer and has some terrific quality products in his portfolio. Some people will dismiss this episode of the podcast simply because of the name associated with it. Some people will decide that James doesn’t have anything to say that anyone would want to hear. Those people will miss out on James’ Machinations of the Space Princess and other work he’s put his finger into. And will miss on James’ experiences of dealing with depression and still have a productive career. Shame, because if you can put your differences aside, James is well worth listening to

There are quite a few fighting games out there and I think it’s fair to say that few come close to Yomiand BattleCon. And yet that doesn’t deter some people from trying to bring out more experiences that will match, and beat the mighty duo. This is what V3G is trying to do with Incredibrawl and for that they’ve gone to Kickstarter to entice and attract the much needed players and funds that a game needs to hit the tables. Incredibrawl has a few interesting features, though, like modular rules to make the game more or less complex as you play it, and the possibility of a digital version in the– hopefully– not too distant future. But what is the game all about, and is there anything the designers can say to convince you to pledge your money? Let’s hope this interview brings some light to that question

Yes friends, three years ago G*M*S Magazine started as a means to write my own reviews and stir up some interest in games, as well as get new games to write the reviews of. As it turned out, I didn’t get anywhere as many games as I thought I would, I got more reviews than I thought I could and the website became bigger than I ever thought possible. The help of wonderful people like Megan Robertson, Thilo “Endzeitgeist” Graf, Kim Moser, Peter Ruth IIand many others have, in no small measure, turned this website into what you see today, and helped it grow much further and faster than I thought possible. Today G*M*S Magazine is a part time unpaid job that takes a huge amount of effort to keep up. And I wouldn’t change a second of the time I’ve spent on it. To celebrate, we have a rather huge giveaway. If you don’t follow us on Facebook or Twitter already, this is the time, as the items will be given away during the next few days in either platform. The items are as follow: A copy of Sarah Newton’s Mindjammer novel, signed by Sarah herselfFour copies of Goblins Drool – Fairies RuleTwo copies of the Goblins Drool– Fairies Rule Puzzle from KickstarterOne copy of Albino Dragon’s Ace of SpiesOne copy of Cheapass GamesUnexploded CowA set of Rory Story CubesOne copy of Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress by Shelly MazzanobleOne copy of The Nazi Occult by Kenneth HiteThree copies of Journeys to the West by Christina StylesSix copies of Shadows of Esteren: Prologue 0Two copies of Shadows of Esteren: CluesTwo copies of Shadows of Esteren: ArtworkTwo copies of Shadows of Esteren: Characters And that is not all. I am really proud and excited to announce our first short fiction writing competition that will take place until the 31st of October. Calling all short-story writers out there! G*M*S Magazine, in partnership with The Creativity Hub, is calling on writers to submit short stories for their first fiction-writing charity competition. The competition is open to writers of any age, experience or part of the world, and entries will be accepted between the 21st of July and 31st October 2013. So what do you have to do? This is the magic formula: Rory Story Cubes + Lovecraft + Strange places = Your short story. Take any and/or every set of Rory Story Cubes, whether the physical dice or the apps, and roll them a many times as you need to get the inspiration for your story. Take a photograph, or a screen-grab of the roll you'll be using, without that photo or screen grab, we can't accept your entry! Then write a story with Lovecraftian tones and a weird place. It can be a horror story, an adventure, a romance, set in the past, in the present, in the future... Your story! Make it short! No more than 2000 words. Submit your story and the photograph with a pseudonym. This competition is open to writers of any experience level, so professionals are just as welcome as first times. However, to make things levelled for everyone, the panel of judges (still to be announced) will not know who's who, so their assessment will be impartial. Your story will be uploaded to the G*M*S Magazine website where people will be able to vote for it. The stories that gather the most votes will be the finalists. You can rally your friends and family to vote if you wish. At the start of December, the voting will stop and the 25 entries with the most votes will become the finalists. The panel of judges will then select the winner. So what is the charity thing? The stories selected as finalists will be turned into a book that will go to Kickstarter to be funded for layout, printing and artwork. It will be a one-off. The overall winner, as selected by the judges, will choose a charity. All the profit made from the Kickstarter project will go to that charity. That is correct. None of the organisers or judges get paid to do this. The onl

The last episode before the website’s third anniversary, which is abut two days after this episode is published. But this episode is not about that, though there is a weeeeee-bit about it at the end of the episode. However, Dr Mike Reddy, Kara and myself this episode wax lyrical about this the Spiel des Jahres 2013 and discuss whether awards are something to follow or keep in mind when deciding if a game is worth considering. As usual, your feedback is most appreciated, so please do feel free to email us on podcast@gmsmagazine.com and let us know what you think! Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show

We are back with another interview full of goodness and gaming stuff you might not know about! Radical Approach is another of those one-man band companies that has managed to come out with very original products which, given a chance, can enhance the gaming experience and bring that extra level of realism and congruence to any setting: Trauma. Also the creators and producers of Fantasy Dice, a dice based system good for combining strategy and speed in one system. And some Kickstarter stuff they want to do, but it’s too interesting to spoil it! Hope you enjoy the interview! As usual, your feedback is most appreciated, so please do feel free to email us on podcast@gmsmagazine.com and let us know what you think! Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show

This episode brings two reviews. One about a game I have been looking forward for a long, long time, and another about a book I wasn’t expecting I’d enjoy! And also some announcement about our 3rd anniversary. On the 21st of July G*M*S Magazine will turn 3 years old. It’s been a long time now and the site has now more than 1500 news, reviews and articles and things keep coming and changing. And some changes to come. But first a pretty huge giveaway with quite a few role playing games and boardgames. But I shall say no more for the time being until the right time comes. Meanwhile, keep an eye/ear pricked! Meanwhile, Vickeyand I talk about two products. The first one is Kenneth Hite’s Nazi Occult, from Osprey Publishing.I published the review a little while ago, but wanted to discuss the book in the podcast as a complement for pretty much any game that wants to have some sort of occult Nazi theme to it. The second is the Star Wars RPG from Fantasy Flight Games, but not the big core rule book, but the beginners box, which is truly excellent. As usual, your feedback is most appreciated, so please do feel free to email us on podcast@gmsmagazine.com and let us know what you think! Look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy the show