RPG Lessons Learned

Tanner talks with Dusty about the mixed conclusion to his homebrew OSR sandbox game. Topics of conversation include how to conclude an open-ended story, Macguffins that don't work, how random encounters can generate plot, the dedication of players, GM ego, magic item design, and how (mostly) awesome The Monster Overhaul is.

• The Tan Hack: https://thecrystalmaw.itch.io/the-tan-hack
• The Monster Overhaul: https://www.indiepre...

The Legend of the Five Rings mini-campaign continues! Dusty and Tanner talk about the second session, including an unexpected story climax, themes in RPG stories, misalignment driving storytelling, player monologues, reining in GMPCs, what prep looks like for a narrative game, and GM vs player obligations in play.

• Legend of the Five Rings: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/257004/legend-of-the-five-rings-core-rulebook

Tanner runs L5R 5E for Dusty as a start of a new campaign! They chat about telegraphing and predicting story moments, giving a player character a sidekick, making complex characters, role-playing in-character, how game settings and systems can influence role-playing choices, transitioning from pre-published to homebrewed adventures, pulling punches as a GM, when to house rule or let the system roll, rolling dice on your own vs publ...

Dusty and Tanner check out the G.I. Joe RPG! Topics include setting the tone before the game, adapting a group-focused game to 1 player, system cheat sheets, pre-made adventure structures, how an adventure teaches you a system, adventures that are too easy, games that make themselves a pain to play digitally, wrestling with Fantasy Grounds, and the idea of too much new-ness.

• G.I. JOE Roleplaying Game Beginner Box:
  https://r...

Dusty and Tanner conclude their trip through Closed Shell Castle in L5R 5E. They talk goal-oriented gaming, expectations of role-playing in the world of Rokugan, scene-based games with no procedure, role-playing character disadvantages, stories with three-act structures, setting driving a narrative, the GM as a director, player knowledge vs character knowledge and dramatic tension, long-term and short-term character goals, and cont...

Tanner runs L5R 5E for Dusty! It's maybe his favorite roleplaying game? They discuss the tendency of players to not do homework, the self-consciousness of playing Eastern fantasy, the game of twenty questions and lifepath character creation, embodying a fictional character, playing with funny narrative dice, comfort zone gaming, losing control of your character, and open-mindedness.

• Legend of the Five Rings: https://www.drivet...

Dusty runs 5E for the first time in ten years... let's see how it went. Topics include running a game for a system you don't even like, bad early 90s movies, techno-vampires, the power of re-skinning stat blocks and entire adventures, running 5E combat, and the generosity of RPG communities.

• The Dragon of Icespire Peak: https://marketplace.dndbeyond.com/category/SRC-00041

Intro / Outro Music: Mirror Image by BernardW100!

Dusty tells Tanner about Martin's latest campaign in a Wild West Call of Cthulhu! They talk the appeal of d100 systems, Japanese COC adventures, realism in historical settings, appropriate contents for horror games, high lethality gaming, getting inspiration for player characters from other media, and ending a campaign in a "failure."

• Call of Cthulhu Quick-Start: https://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu-quickstart

Intro / Outro ...

Tanner talks about tying together multiple dungeons into one overarching campaign for his home group! (Note: Tanner's mic sounds a little bit hot, but the issues clear up about 9 minutes in. Sorry!!!!). They chat about survival and inventory mechanics, hex crawling and dungeon crawling, revisiting Abberant Reflections, the magic of random encounters, when to metagame and not to metagame, placing dungeons in a homebrew wilderness se...

Dusty loves Cyberpunk 2077! But Tanner does not... listen as they compare notes! Discussions include the setting in the tabletop RPG and the video game, low-brow vs high-brow genre fiction, Keanu Reeves, playing male or female player characters, the role of "punk" in Cyberpunk, tired tropes, Americana through the lens of non-Americans, adult content in Baldur's Gate vs Cyberpunk, appealing to different play styles with multiple mis...

Tanner ran "Dragon in the Dungeon" for his group! While Tanner's group didn't encounter Frog (will anyone ever?), they did turn on the guards! The guys talk hex dungeons once again, and there's a little discussion about Ben Milton's "The Keymaster!"

• The Tan Hack: https://thecrystalmaw.itch.io/the-tan-hack
• Dragon in Dungeon: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10e0tj4S4IpJkMBK-f7Lb65MVdehYQ1cv/view?usp=drive_link

Intro / Outr...

Dusty finished the classic adventure The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh for Tanner! Long story short, Dusty needs to get better at re-capping prior sessions to recreate immersion.

• Scarlet Heroes by Sine Nomine Publishing on DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/127180/Scarlet-Heroes
• The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh on DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/17069/u1-the-sinister-secret-of-saltmarsh-1e
• ...

Dusty describes running Andrew Kolb's Neverland for his daughter and her friends! They talk arts and crafts as a part of running RPGs, bucket list gaming, setting expectations about hex crawls, affordable gaming, the strengths and weaknesses of OSR systems, and putting "crap" on the table.

• Neverland Campaign Setting by Andrew Kolb: https://kolbisneat.com/portfolio/neverland/
• Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game: https://www.basicfa...

Dusty ran the classic adventure The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh for Tanner as a Hex Dungeon! Topics include adapting an old adventure for a Hex Dungeon, variety in published adventures, how damn good of a game Scarlet Heroes is, the fun of playing through a haunted house of creepy-crawlies, the power of evocative descriptions, rot grubs, and more!

• Scarlet Heroes by Sine Nomine Publishing on DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethru...

Tanner loves Baldur's Gate 3! But Dusty hates it... Listen to Tanner take Dusty to task! Note, there will be spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3 in this episode. They talk about translating tabletop combat to video games, the likeability of evil characters, the importance of being hooked early, adult content and expectations, player expression, dating sims, roleplaying moments, and when to give things a try vs give up and move on.

• La...

Tanner and Dusty finish Slug House! They discuss the importance of an emotional hook, the current state of Tanner's system, the Tan Hack, and more!

• Slug House by Stromberg Press: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/491255/slug-house
• The Tan Hack: https://thecrystalmaw.itch.io/the-tan-hack

 Intro / Outro Music: Mirror Image by BernardW100!

Chapters

• (00:00:00) - RPG Lessons Learned
• (00:01:35) - Tom Cla...

Dusty and Tanner return to the slimy world of Slug House, talking wandering monsters and following your own advice. Then they switch gears, talking some of Dusty's at-home gaming time running a tried-and-true adventure for kids, the perils of using character voices, and the importance of a list of random names. Finally, Tanner gives an update on his Lancer campaign, and asks Dusty for help with his writer's block!

...

Tanner runs Slug House for Dusty, an old-school dungeon that's a bit bigger than what they are used to! Topics of converstation include hacking together your own OSR system, one player running multiple characters, the difference between a good online game vs a good in person game, eating food in a dungeon, perilous random encounters, shopping, GM never rolling dice, and managing your multitasking.

• Slug House...