Grimoire
Cthulhu
Dracula
Abraham Lincoln
Ken
Grimoire

Episode 159: I Was a 10 Year Old Nihilist

September 25th, 2015 | Robin

The Gaming Hut finds us in an under-the-hood mood as we turn over Robin’s assertion that a full adventure written as early in the process as possible can illuminate your RPG game design process.

Ken and Robin Recycle Audio presents our final trove of treasures from the Gen Con investigative panel, with a series of deep GUMSHOE tips.

Then the Cinema Hut alerts you to another passel of the latest and coolest Asian action flicks. Titles discussed: Assassination, Kundo: Age of the Rampant, Wild City, No Tears for the Dead, and The Divine Move.

Ken’s Time Machine omits certain key details in a chrono-caper so momentous that not all can be revealed. What role did Ken play in the bizarre memory hole that is the Berenstain Bears?

Ken fans who did not partake of the Kickstarter will want to sink their fangs into the pre-order for the Dracula Dossier from Pelgrane Press, consisting of the Director’s Handbook and Dracula Unredacted.

You say that’s still not enough Ken for you? Very well, my friend. His brilliant pieces on parasitic gaming, alternate Newtons, Dacian werewolves and more now lurk among the sparkling bounty of The Best of FENIX Volumes 1-3, from returning sponsors Askfageln. Yes, it’s Sweden’s favorite RPG magazine, now beautifully collected. Warning: not in Swedish.

It’s not easy teaching in America’s second worst school district and being a wizard on the side. But Nathan Kulwicki thought he had it covered. Until he received news of the worst kind. Inoperable cancer. He’ll be dead before the start of the next school year. Now, he will have to scour time and unheard of dimensions to find a magical cure to save himself.  But what will he be willing to do to find it?  Find out in Terminal Magics, a novel by Plot Points impresario Ben Riggs.

7 Responses to “Episode 159: I Was a 10 Year Old Nihilist”

  1. Nick says:

    As a programmer, the idea of designing an RPG using an adventure first strikes me as very similar to the idea of Test-Driven Development. The basic idea of which being that you write a test to confirm when the program is doing what you want, and then write code until the test passes.

  2. Michael Daumen says:

    Which scenario do Ken and Robin consider to be the best intro for Trail?

    • KenH says:

      Either “Shanghai Bullets” from Stunning Eldritch Tales,, likely any of the Arkham Detective Tales, or potentially Dreams of Dracula, from Shadows Over Filmland.

  3. Joe Littrell says:

    It’s worth noting that the Dr. Seuss name-flip imagined here actually already took place. Dr. Geisel pronounced his middle name, Seuss, as “soyce”, and yet the outside world could never be convinced. Why not?

    Also, among his other pen names were Rosetta Stone and Theophrastus Seuss, certainly names to conjure with.

  4. John Fiala says:

    Anyone have a list of the movies they mentioned? I listen to the podcast while driving, and the cops really frown on taking notes at full speed on I-25.

    Thanks!

  5. Benj Davis says:

    The BerenSTAIN shift is obviously to several their power from Das Bernsteinzimmer – The Amber Room. That artifact of opulence and grandeur, which was known as the 8th wonder of the world, was taken by the Nazis and is yet to be rediscovered. The association of this potent symbol with these wholesome (and, you’ll note, anthropomorphic examplesof that most Russian of beasts, the bear) characters would have drawn out the room, and with it restored Russia to its former powers.
    And whether that would have seen the return of Anastasia to the throne, or simply the empowering the USSR, you can see why the avatars had to tainted, so that the ritual would fail.

  6. What I remember most about the Berenstain Bears are the somewhat more exciting Berenstain Bear Scouts chapter books. In particular I remember one where a giant pumpkin turned out to contain an evil army (The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Humongous Pumpkin), and another in which a giant pizza turned out to contain an evil army (The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Sci-Fi Pizza).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Film Cannister
Cartoon Rocket
d8
Flying Clock
Robin
Film Cannister