RoleplayDNA: Mapping the Genome of Gaming » Podcast

In our Fall 2012 season finale we talk about social contracts at the gaming table and how they can help save your game. This is also Ron and Vern’s last episode with us (insert sad face here). See you in January!

With Ron and Veronica sitting this episode out, Justin, Ed, and Lee take the reins and have a lively discussion of the thrills and dangers of the Total Party Kill, and those who seek it out. Is it a goal worth seeking, an awful prank, or best saved for certain settings and systems?

In this episode we talk about maintaining focus in your game.

How do you handle settings that are licensed or heavily developed in your gaming life? The crew–sans Justin (feel better, man!)–discusses just that. Also, you should heed our call for backup writers on Facebook!

For so many people, the local game store is the gateway and home base for gaming. With Vern and Lee unavailable, we enlisted the talents of Total Escape Games (TEG) owners Steven and Sheila Higgins. Our discussion was about in-store gaming and appealing to customers in the form of creating community. We also discussed how players and prospective GMs should comport themselves at their own local store. Since TEG is the home of our big ThanksGaming Day 2012 event, we talked about what folks can expect there on November 3rd.

The newest Blessing guest hosts, as the crew takes the advice of a new listener for this episode’s topic: bringing new players into the hobby and keeping their interest.

At TactiCon 2012, the entire crew were joined by several members of the Denver Gamers Association, game designer Sean Preston (Reality Blurs), and gamers at large to discuss playing in public–how to get along, how to prep with an eye on player unity, and what design features can encourage an enjoyable experience.

With Ron and Vern away having a baby, Ayla Grady (of the upcoming P5 podcast, Ayla’s ConQuest) joins the crew and their guests, Bill Stilson and Linda Tschappat from the Denver Gamers Association, who discuss the upcoming TactiCon 2012 (August 30 – September 3). We learn who the guests of honor will be, what sorts of events are on tap, and how to register–there are still a few days left! The crew also discusses convention games and what makes a con game work for players and GMs. After you’re done listening here, check out Justin’s new solo podcasting effort, The Suzuki Chronicles!

In this episode, the crew discussed building player characters’ legend in campaign play. Would you like to support RoleplayDNA? Check out the DriveThruRPG affiliate link in the right-hand column of the site. Click through and go shopping, and we’ll get a small percentage of your purchases!

The cast discussed game mash-ups, from the standpoint of mixing genres, settings, and mechanics. As promised, here’s the link to give to the Michael Rohan Memorial Fund. For $12, you get nearly $280 in PDF product from various publishers.

After a quick wrap-up of the RoleplayDNA Game Day, we complete our Spring 2012 session with a discussion about those campaigns you never forget. We talk about what stood out about those games, for the players and the GMs, how they changed the way we thought about gaming, and whether or not they can ever be duplicated. Is it really just lightning in a bottle? After learning of a friend/publisher losing his son to a tragic drowning accident, we decided to dedicate this episode to Michael Rohan. Our hearts go out to Kevin Rohan and his family. The Rohan family is looking to fund a charity in their son’s name. If you’d like to be a part of that, please contact State Bank of Spencer (https://www.statebank-spencer.com/) to donate to the Rohans’ cause. For our part, please respect the moment of silence toward the end of the show.

If you’re seeing this in time, RoleplayDNA will be sponsoring RoleplayDNA Game Day at Total Escape Games in Broomfield, CO on Saturday, June 2nd, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Proceeds go to Birds of Prey, a local bird rescue. The whole crew was together again in this discussion of game and campaign prep. Also, Ron and Justin talked a bit about their process in working with their respective publishing projects.

The cast were minus Justin but joined by Ryan Macklin (RyanMacklin.com, Evil Hat Productions, Master Plan). They discussed sandbox settings–what they are, how they can be created and played in different ways, and some pet peeves about them. They ended the show shilling the upcoming Game Day with RoleplayDNA at Total Escape Games in Broomfield, CO.

In this episode we discuss some listener feedback, discuss in-game currency, the whiff factor, and how to improve characters through negative personality traits.

Our un-distinctive voices and feedback, the website blog schedule, how often RPDNA will release episodes, Episode’s topic: player planning from Justin’s blog post.   Play Dirty by John Wick Sean Preston from Reality Blurs blog post response Jared Sorenson