Thursday, August 23, 2012
DiceCast Episode 17: D&D Next, "indie" vs. "mainstream" RPGs, and an interview with Stan Sakai
This is our first episode in quite some time. The initial discussion of "D&D Fifth Edition" (now officially known as "D&D Next") was recorded in February 2012 and is thus, dated; at the time, the most current news about it was in an article in the New York Times. Many recent podcasts (particularly ones made after Gen Con 2012) have discussed this topic in greater detail. We include this discussion to offer some perspective: this illustrates the various expectations and speculations that have been made about what will be the newest edition of what was once the most popular roleplaying game on the market, when it released in 2014 (or is projected to be at that time).
Furthermore, we discuss the dividing line between "indie" and "mainstream" roleplaying games. The line is thinner and fuzzier than many people believe and after you hear our discussion, you will have much food for thought.
Finally, we interviewed cartoonist extraordinare Stan Sakai at Montreal Comicon 2011. Mr. Sakai is famous for his work on the Usagi Yojimbo comic and many other fine works.
[フレーム] Other links- Polymancer main site
- Polymancer corporate web site
- Polymancer on Twitter
- Polymancer on LiveJournal
- Polymancer on MySpace
- Polymancer on Facebook
- RSS feed for DiceCast
- Subscribe to DiceCast in iTunes
Saturday, December 10, 2011
DiceCast Episode 16: Using Miniatures In Your RPG & "You Are A Cat"
We return with an honest-to-goodness episode about a game topic! As much as we love interviewing interesting people who are connected to popular culture, it feels good to be back to the game table for an episode. In this one, we talk about miniatures; not miniatures wargaming, but the use of miniatures in roleplaying games (RPGs).
It seems almost odd that we have to introduce miniatures to roleplayers, because RPGs evolved from miniatures wargaming. Indeed, the first RPGs were miniatures wargames optimized to playing a single character, rather than an entire army; a character who went on to evolve from scenario to scenario; scenarios which were more than just a battle. It was when the emphasis switched to interaction and plots and away from combat that roleplaying games evolved into something in which miniatures were optional. This has been great for the maturation of the hobby, but maybe roleplayers are missing out on something.
To that end, we introduce miniatures to roleplayers in this episode, with a few tips on how to get started using them. THere is nothing in here about painting or customizing miniatures or producing scenery. Those are topics for future episodes. Rather, we talk about the general concerns that come with using miniatures at the roleplaying table. We also give the quick and dirty rules to PUMMEL!® (Pick-Up, Multigenre Miniatures, Easy to Learn), a miniatures wargame that can be adapted to any RPG for mass combats; and we offer the quickstart rules for free download.
We also have an interview with Sherwin Tjia, author of the Choose Your Own Adventure-style adventure book You Are A Cat (published on Conundrum Press). Mr. Tija discusses his love of cats, of adventure books, and why he made You Are A Cat. We mention the Cat RPG by John Wick.
[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.archive.org/flow/flowplayer.commercial-3.2.1.swf]
Other links
- Polymancer main site
- Polymancer corporate web site
- Polymancer on Twitter
- Polymancer on LiveJournal
- Polymancer on MySpace
- Polymancer on Facebook
- RSS feed for DiceCast
- Subscribe to DiceCast in iTunes
Thursday, June 9, 2011
DiceCast Episode 15: Convention One-Shots
In this episode, we discuss running one-shot convention adventures. How do you fit a complete, satisfying adventure into a 4-hour time slot, and finish it? We discuss some of the dos and don'ts. Even if you never run one-shot adventures at cons or in stores, these are tips that can make anyone be a better GM, by helping accomplish more in a limited amount of time.
We also have a short interview with a member of the 501st Legion, Quebec.
[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.archive.org/flow/flowplayer.commercial-3.2.1.swf]
Other links
- Polymancer main site
- Polymancer corporate web site
- Polymancer on Twitter
- Polymancer on LiveJournal
- Polymancer on MySpace
- Polymancer on Facebook
- RSS feed for DiceCast
- Subscribe to DiceCast in iTunes
Monday, November 1, 2010
DiceCast Episode 11: Fan Expo 2010 and an interview with Robin D. Laws
- Fan Expo, held every year at the Metro Toronto Convention Center on the weekend before Labor Day.
- Robin D. Laws's LiveJournal. His bibliography is available at the Pen & Paper database and there is more information about him on Wikipedia. Robin's latest book is Hamlet's Hit Points; also referenced on the show is Robin's Laws of Good Gamemastering.
- Hammercon, an all-gaming convention held every year in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (listen for the promo in the 'cast).
- Steampunk Canada, a resource and forum for Canadian steampunk enthusiasts.
- Saber Legend, a Star Wars fan film.
- Babes In Space and Red Herring productions has no official web site, but there is information about the show at Eventful.com.
- Polymancer Studios publication site and main corporate site.
[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.archive.org/flow/flowplayer.commercial-3.2.1.swf]
Friday, September 17, 2010
DiceCast Episode 10: Interview with Ed Greenwood
- Ed Greenwood Biography at Wizards.com
- Ed Greenwood at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Fan Expo
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Annonce pour Conjurations 2010 (version française)
Ceci est le message publicitaire official de Conjuration 2010, une convention de jeux qui aura lieu dans le centre-ville de Montréal au cours de la fin de semaine du 15 au 16 mai, 2010 (Samedi et Dimanche). Tous sont invités de placer cette annonce dans leur podcast autant de fois que vous le désirez et ceci jusqu’au jour de la convention!
SVP indiquer le site official de la convention http://www.ggconventions.com/home-fr.html dans les notes de votre émission.
Vous pouvez télécharger la version audio:
"http://www.archive.org/download/Conjurations2010Publicitfranais/Conjurations2010PubliciteFrancais.mp3"
Le code pour inclure la version audio player est "[embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="350" height="24" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" src="http://www.archive.org/flow/flowplayer.commercial-3.0.5.swf" w3c="true" flashvars='config={"key":"#$b6eb72a0f2f1e29f3d4","playlist":[{"url":"http://www.archive.org/download/Conjurations2010Publicitfranais/Conjurations2010PubliciteFrancais.mp3","autoPlay":false}],"clip":{"autoPlay":true},"canvas":{"backgroundColor":"0x000000","backgroundGradient":"none"},"plugins":{"audio":{"url":"http://www.archive.org/flow/flowplayer.audio-3.0.3-dev.swf"},"controls":{"playlist":false,"fullscreen":false,"gloss":"high","backgroundColor":"0x000000","backgroundGradient":"medium","sliderColor":"0x777777","progressColor":"0x777777","timeColor":"0xeeeeee","durationColor":"0x01DAFF","buttonColor":"0x333333","buttonOverColor":"0x505050"}},"contextMenu":[{"Listen+to+Conjurations2010Publicitfranais+at+archive.org":"function()"},"-","Flowplayer 3.0.5"]}'>
REMPLACER LE [ ET ] AU DÉBUT ET À LA FIN DU CODE PAR < ET>
[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.archive.org/flow/flowplayer.commercial-3.0.5.swf]
Friday, February 12, 2010
Conjurations 2010 Advertisement (English)
Please also put "http://www.ggconventions.com/home-en.html" into your show notes, as the convention's official web site.
The download link for the audio file is "http://www.archive.org/download/Conjurations2010Advertisementenglish/Conjurations2010Englishblurb.mp3"
The embed code for the audio player below is "[embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="350" height="24" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" src="http://www.archive.org/flow/flowplayer.commercial-3.0.5.swf" w3c="true" flashvars='config={"key":"#$b6eb72a0f2f1e29f3d4","playlist":[{"url":"http://www.archive.org/download/Conjurations2010Advertisementenglish/Conjurations2010Englishblurb.mp3","autoPlay":false}],"clip":{"autoPlay":true},"canvas":{"backgroundColor":"0x000000","backgroundGradient":"none"},"plugins":{"audio":{"url":"http://www.archive.org/flow/flowplayer.audio-3.0.3-dev.swf"},"controls":{"playlist":false,"fullscreen":false,"gloss":"high","backgroundColor":"0x000000","backgroundGradient":"medium","sliderColor":"0x777777","progressColor":"0x777777","timeColor":"0xeeeeee","durationColor":"0x01DAFF","buttonColor":"0x333333","buttonOverColor":"0x505050"}},"contextMenu":[{"Listen+to+Conjurations2010Advertisementenglish+at+archive.org":"function()"},"-","Flowplayer 3.0.5"]}'> ]"
REPLACE THE [ AND ] CHARACTERS AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF THIS CODE WITH < AND> CHARACTERS, RESPECTIVELY
[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.archive.org/flow/flowplayer.commercial-3.0.5.swf]
Monday, November 16, 2009
DiceCast™ Episode 4: An Interview with Ken St. Andre, creator of Tunnels & Trolls™
This interview was done over the phone, so some of the audio is not "radio perfect." Mr. St Andre's words, however, are very clear, every bit as clear as his modesty and his commitment to making the fun, satisfying, and unique RPG that Tunnels & Trolls has been for over 30 years.
In other news, we announce the re-emergence of Polymancer's web site, www.polymancer.com.
DiceCast is available at the iTunes Music Store.
Links
- Trollhalla
- Tunnels & Trolls web page at Flying Buffalo's web site
- Tunnels & Trolls web page at Fiery Dragon Productions
- Polymancer official web site
[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.archive.org/flow/flowplayer.commercial-3.0.5.swf]