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Join us on a trip down gaming memory lane as we share tales of the dark ages of tabletop gaming….the 1980s!  I listed some of the more obscure and/or older games discussed below. Show Notes: D&D Redbox Heroquest Kingmaker Diplomacy AD&D Oriental Adventures Palladium Books Wargames West Catalogue Living Arcanis Alpha Omega Aces and Eights Eoris Shadows Over Esteren Invisible Sun

Gencon 2018 draws near and event registration is over, so here is our overview of our games. Not reviews, but a quick listing of everything we are playing and hopefully you might find something new and exciting you want to try at Gencon 2018.   Invisible Sun Numenera/Cypher System Blades in the Dark 10 Candles The Yellow King Kingdom Death Captain Sonar Dead of Winter  Harnmaster Star Trek RPG The Expanse RPG Firefly Adventures Mistborn: House War Dungeon Crawl Classics Who Goes There? The Captain is Dead Fireball Island   

Failure is both fun and painful, but always educational.  This show covers some of the lessons we learned during various RPG campaigns to help players and game masters. Here are the topics we discussed:   Lesson Failure is amusing GMs – allow your players room for creativity.  But, don’t get caught up in the details. Don’t be afraid to screw with your players. Know your players before you screw with them. Give your players fun things to help you write your story. Have your foes make sense. Even if it’s a cake walk. Step out of the way and Let your players interact with each other stories. Give NPCs life and “that one thing”. To build drama and tension, give your players Sophie’s choice. Don’t be a Maverick, or at least discuss the plan Here are the games we mentioned during the show. Dunning-Kruger Effect Nightbane Aces and Eights Star Wars Sparks Dragon Age RPG Numenera Living Arcanis

Show notes for episode 5, our love letter to the Cypher System. We think it is one of the best RPG games on the market and worthy of your attention. Numenera Starter Set The Cypher System rulebook Numenera The Strange MCG Asset Team        

We rant on the gamer social contract between players and game masters that defines the roles and responsibilities of each group. I take the opportunity to bash the 3.5 grapple rules again. We name drop a couple of games and they are linked below. Aces & Eights 3.5 D&D

Join the Livingdice.com Podcasters on a three-hour cruise. These waters are perfectly safe and totally free of pirates, mutinies, plagues and sea monsters.  Just kidding, we discuss the myriad ways to run high seas role-playing games and give your players the adventure of a lifetime! Methane Hydrates Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates Rifts Underseas (Rifts World Book 7) Numenera Into The Deep by Monte Cook Games (2016-05-11)   7th Sea Core Rulebook Under a Graveyard Sky (Black Tide Rising)

Livingdice Podcast Episode 2 “Running a Cheap RPG” 30  minutes of focused discussion on running a role-playing game. Cheap! Games Mentioned: Honey Heist 5E DnD Basic Rules Basic Fantasy RPG Open Legend RPG D20 System Reference Document Books Mentioned: Words of Radiance Wasp     Note: Some of these links are affiliate links that help support the site.

The Livingdice podcast is now live! After 10 years of writing about role-playing games, tabletop games and geek culture in general, LD is moving into the audio realm!  My cohost and I dive right in to the most critical element of any role-playing game. The plot. Get it right and create a campaign for the ages. Get it wrong and suffer the ultimate humiliation;  bored players!  Forget the mechanics, let the rules fall away as we discuss interesting approaches on plotting a role-playing game campaign. Step away from the “mysterious man in the tavern offering a job” plot hook trope and try something fresh…the drunk tank!   Key elements of a plot:   Introduction Rising Action Climax Falling Action Resolution