Passive (Aggressive) Perception

Do your players (or yourself as a player) behave differently when your PCs enter a city, village, or township? Today we're discussing some of the unique challenges of playing in a city setting.

We go in-depth on how specific game times associated with city play differ from a traditional gaming model which heavily incorporates the TTRPG pillar of exploration. We run down several methods for keeping the action moving, a...

To have the problem of finishing a campaign milestone and have your players still wanting more, even though the story is over, is a much better problem to have than your players being bored because there is no end in sight.

How many campaigns have you been a part of that have languished and died because of a lack of payoff. Is your gaming group losing steam? Are you scrambling to wrap up story arcs? We address these challe...

Do you ever run entire sessions without a combat encounter? This week we analyze how varying level of combat work in your TTRPG games. We discuss engaging the players in a way that simulates the thrill of combat but in social and exploration encounters. We also talk about the message of "might makes right" and how realism can affect players' enthusiasm or aversion to in-game violence.

Mad Jack Churchill: htt...

The incredible and prolific TTRPG designer, Alex Clippinger has joined us this week to give us an inside look into Cubicle 7's new project, Broken Weave, drop some game design knowledge, and talk through some of the benefits and pitfalls of adapting Dungeons & Dragons: Fifth Edition. This was a fantastic conversation covering several topics including points of focus for growing as a designer, expectations we bring to the t...

Is your TTRPG character affiliated with anything larger than themselves or the party they roll with (heheh puns)? This week we cover TTRPG factions, guilds, and other big-picture affiliations. We discuss how they can provide scope, inform character backstory, create fascinating and useful narrative drivers for your campaigns, and much more.

Website: https://icastspells.com
Twitter: @passive_podcast
Email: passiveag...

What would you do if your GM said "because I said so" during a session? Talking about when GMs flex their table authority 'just because.' There are two sides of the GM using unilateral decision making, and we investigate both the positive and the negative aspects of this contentious issue. We talk through deus ex machina and offer our hot takes on popularized forms of it, plus much more.

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This week we talk about the ancient and honored tradition of human storytelling, its base components, what defines a great storyteller, and how all of this applies to the TTRPG experience. We discuss how examining this discipline can improve our games, and how the idea of collaborative storytelling (i.e., story building) has evolved to accommodate the modern gaming paradigm. We try to cut through the haze of  semantic arguments and...

Part two of our special 2-part series where we give our answers (and encourage you to give yours) to the questions presented from #RPGaDay2022, an annual celebration of tabletop roleplaying games conceptualized by @autocratik which you can find at https://www.autocratik.com. In part one we answer the first 16 questions from this highly hash-tag-able social experience, and we hope you will respond with your interesting answers and a...

A special 2-part series where we give our answers (and encourage you to give yours) to the questions presented from #RPGaDay2022, an annual celebration of tabletop roleplaying games conceptualized by @autocratik which you can find at https://www.autocratik.com. In part one we answer the first 16 questions from this highly hash-tag-able social experience, and we hope you will respond with your interesting answers and anecdotes.

Discussing everyone's favorite stomping ground, tabletop roleplaying game taverns. We cover a lot of ground ranging from tips and advice on how to keep your players on their toes, to how we think adding extra flavor to a tavern setting can prevent this part of gaming from becoming just another uninteresting place to take a long rest. NPC generation tips, keeping continuity in questing, listener feedback, TTRPG news, and much m...

This week we cover the importance of a tabletop roleplaying game's setting lore. We discuss why we think it's sometimes neglected and cover the potential risks of not being wholly acquainted with your in-game world. We touch on topics such as setting uniqueness, campaign scope, bringing real-world assumptions into sessions, the loremaster player archetype, and much more.

Website: https://icastspells.com
Twitt...

At the behest of several listeners, we're finally doing a general "Getting To Know Us" episode. In this episode we talk briefly about our roots, who we are, and what led us to gaming. The majority of the episode is comprised of individual questions from listeners and friends of the show that had questions for us as GMs that they might otherwise not have had the opportunity to ask. We cover narcissism in GMing, charac...

This week we cover incorporating diseases, curses, maladies, and other general afflictions into your tabletop roleplaying games. We analyze why we think this aspect of gaming doesn't get as much love as it should and talk about some interesting ways to make it work at your table. We go over how to run diseases and curses, pick apart how they can affect your campaign, give tips on how to make them a more meaningful part of the ...

Having a meaningful discussion about how skills and experiences at the tabletop roleplaying game table can apply to one's 'real life.' We cover career impacts, its influence on self-improvement and self-exploration, how it can aid in developing and nurturing strong interpersonal relationships, its applications in psychotherapy, using it as a tool for learning, and much more. We also cover some TTRPG news and discuss ...

In this episode we're asking important questions about traveling in tabletop roleplaying games. We go in-depth into the handwaving paradigm, why we think that is, and methods you can employ to make it a more meaningful part of your table experience.  We also discuss some of our favorite travel systems from games, how we've hacked them to work for us, and why it can be important to explore this particular pillar of RPGs.

We talk about getting your campaign back on track after a layoff, whether that be a week, a month, a year, or beyond. We address some of the challenges of getting players re-bought in , how to set the table for the best possible return experience, and some of the things that can kill a campaign. We also cover some new TTRPG releases and the return of a style of gaming which, to many, has been lost to time.

 Twitter: @pass...

In this episode we cover some of the strategies behind, and the implications of, splitting your TTRPG party. We discuss how it can help expedite the action, but also increase work load and slow down your pacing. We go in-depth with several person and listener-sourced examples and dig into when splitting the party may be a good idea and when it may be ill-advised. Tune in for help running a split party, TTRPG news, listener feedback...

NEW COVER ART

This week we're talking about what makes for an ideal session length? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of shorter vs longer sessions. Do we still have it in us to run marathon sessions that last the whole weekend? Tune in for insights on how to structure your games for time, TTRPG news, listener feedback, and more.

 Twitter: @passive_podcast
Email: passiveaggropod@protonmail...

We cover bringing elements and tools from your TTRPG kit into other activities like board games, video games, fantasy sports, sex, and much more. We cover some of the tenets of how ascribing meaning through narrative and roleplay can help you build better memories with the things you love.

 Twitter: @passive_podcast
Email: passiveaggropod@protonmail.com

Show Breakdown:

• TTRPG News: 0:42
• Black Dragon Company...