Show notes
We return in a post Minicon / pre DundraCon frenzy with press-ganged guests Ryan Macklin (of the Master Plan podcast, and The Internet) and Bruce Harlick. No game designers were hurt (much) in the recording. We chat recent play experiences, D&D / gaming with kids, Dresden Files playtest, and more.
Liner Notes (written by, uh, guest writer Adam Jury. Feel the love, friends …) :
0-30 seconds-ish: Man, they play this song every time, don’t they?
30 seconds to 1:30: Holy crap, it’s Ryan Macklin and Bruce Harlick! Brian and Chris are around, too.
1:30-10:00: They jump right into the most recent EndGame MiniCon, and the next one is on 3/28! Chris played Solipsist, enjoyed it, but wasn’t really sure he grokked it. Is Chris ever going to let the special guests talk?
10:00-17:00: Spirit of the Century talk, with a crazy-fun mad science game. Brian ran another SotC at the MiniCon, too, the second one a more straight-up pulp game. Straight up? Nevermind, there were raptors and a dragon/pterodactyl-thing, too. At about 14:00, Brian talks some good stuff about GMing SotC and similar games that are more player-driven than other RPGs
17:00-24:00: D&D. Bruce talks about why he’s playing D&D4, Dragon, Dungeon, and the new D&D Character Generator. Chris jumps in with his experiences from his current undead campaign.
24:00-32:00: About this point we hit a discussion of “Epic” level play in D&D3, and that transitions over to a discussion about MMOs, WoW and Everquest, and then back to Epic level gaming and bringing MMO tropes into roleplaying. Also, some thoughts about roleplaying in D&D4 and how much it’s encouraged in the books.
32:00–35:00: Chris’ five-year-old is playing D&D. His character is a Dwarf fighter named “Hitterman.” He’s learning some [bad] tactics and will soon replace Brian on the show. But not as sound-editor. Still Brian’s job.
35:00–44:30: More games for kids, games to teach math, recommended games for young players [Monster Island comes up], how to manage running games for smaller kids.
44:30–48:00: Moving on from kids, to new gamers and demo games in general. “Let the Wookie win!”
48:00-50:00: What’s Ryan excited about? 4e, until he got too busy, but now he’s too busy working to get excited about playing. “Sucker,” sez Chris.
50:00-52:00: What’s Bruce excited about? Some sort of campaign he’s playing with some work-friends in a homebrew setting, and he’s about to join a 4e game, too. The 3.5 game he’s DMing is just about coming to and end, too. He’s also playing and enjoying the BSG board game, after a couple plays.
52:00-63:30: Dresden Files RPG! Ryan sez that they’re cranking it out, but they don’t want to “turn vaporware into crapware.” That’s a freakin’ great line. Lenny Balsera used to drunk-dial Ryan for game design advice.
63:30-68:30: Brian reviews Classic BattleTech Record Sheets: 3039 and Feral Cities for Shadowrun.
68:30: Bruce pimps City of Heroes! They’re adding some features that allows players to create and publisher their own missions, which sounds really cool.
70:00: Ryan pimps GameCryer.com, a new review site. He’s going to start doing video reviews on it. And of course, he has his own podcast, Master Plan.
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