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Episode 185: I Don’t Think I Prefer That At All

April 8th, 2016 | Robin

Among My Many Hats is an Egyptian headdress with a distinctly feline aspect, as Ken talks about his installment of Ken Writes About Stuff devoted to Bast.

The Gaming Hut looks at ways to write scenarios to present the information about Game Master Characters GMs need to run their games.

Thanks to Patreon Patron Jeff Kahrs, the Tradecraft Hut finally gets around to that segment on Kim Philby it’s had on the to-do list since forever.

And finally, Ask Ken and Robin fulfills the desire of Kolbe and other Patreon patrons in bringing back the stars of our existential mystery, Brian Harker and Eric, the talking lava lamp he has grudgingly sworn to protect. Well, maybe sworn is a strong choice of words…

Support the KARTAS Patreon!


Bend reality to your will, but be ready to pay the price, as Atlas Games’ Unknown Armies bubbles up from the supernatural underground for a weird and majestic new Kickstarter campaign.
Ken fans who did not partake of the Kickstarter can now sink their fangs into the general release of the Dracula Dossier from Pelgrane Press, consisting of the Director’s Handbook and Dracula Unredacted. If you’re like every roleplayer we know, you strive to outshine others in showing your love of dice. Well, now you can arouse the envy of friends and foes alike with Askfageln’s dazzling coffee table photo art book dedicated to all things pipped and many-sided, Dice: Rendezvous with Randomness. Luxuriate in the photo artistry of Mans Danneman. Grab the book or gorgeous prints through their Kickstarter! In a move that surely violates someone’s security clearance, this episode is also brought to you by our friends at Arc Dream Publishing. The Kickstarter for Delta Green: the Roleplaying Game has come to an end, but don’t let that stop you from indulging your fever for this classic game, or that pinnacle of the Cthulhu game zine world, The Unspeakable Oath.

19 Responses to “Episode 185: I Don’t Think I Prefer That At All”

  1. Norman Dean says:

    Ahh the Friendly Giant….the show that used an english folk song about innocence betrayed as its theme music.

  2. Anders Gabrielsson says:

    I’m very much enjoying Brian and Eric’s adventures. As a segment that shows up every few episodes, I’d like it to stick around.

    • Mike S. says:

      Counterpoint: Brian and Eric isn’t really a favorite of mine.

      (As a general rule, my philosophy is “Let Ken and Robin be Ken and Robin”. They know what they’re doing better than I do, and I figure if a given segment isn’t my cup of tea then it’s someone else’s– as it clearly is here. But since they asked for feedback in this case…)

      • Mike Nolan says:

        I’m in the counterpoint camp as well. There are plenty of segments that don’t interest me but I’m certain they work for other listeners. To borrow a phrase from another podcast I listen to this segment comes across as “Radio Zork” to me.
        However I do agree with other posters that the format could be useful as a way to showcase the Gumshoe 1-to-1 rules.

        • Ben Dilworth says:

          I’ll just agree that it’s not really working for me. I’m not going to quit listening because there’s a segment that I’m not really into (when obviously some others are). I agree with Mike S. above that I’d rather Ken & Robin do whatever they’re inclined to do than try to boss and sass them until the magic of the show gets ground straight out of it by committee, but feedback was requested, and thus shall feedback be given.

    • Jp says:

      Despite myself, I enjoy *Brian Harker and Eric, the talking lava lamp*, though, I don’t think the frequency should be every couple of months or so. 🙂

  3. Luke Wassink says:

    I’m very much enjoying Brian and Eric. In fact, I would love to here more of you two running campaigns for each other as a regular hut, but it doesn’t have to be limited to Brian and Eric. You could take other unusual role playing genres and illustrate them. Gumshoe One-2-One, for example, seems particularly well suited for you two to illustrate. I find it very instructive and interesting to listen to Robin actually GM in addition to talking about GMing, and I would love to hear Ken GM a few segments for Robin. How about a Ken and Robin Role Play hut.

  4. Cody says:

    A thought has been growing in my mind over the last year as I listen to more and more of this podcast. Today it formed full mass.
    Ken, you sometimes come across as arrogant and rude. I hope Robin calls you on this off show.
    Your smart but you don’t have to be a jerk about it.

  5. I have listened since the beginning, and I lately I have begun feel less interested in the show. I just downloaded this latest episode, and I have three unlistened on my computer.

    I realized what it was. It has become a chore to listen to the show. Now I’m sick to death of Askfageln, Arcdram and that Atlas Games card game. I have heard those ads so many times, and they are *long*! Most other podcasts with ads have ads that run for maybe 30 seconds at most, and yours runs for 2 minutes, at least!

    I fast forward past them all these days, and it is beginning to make me tired. The conversations are still interesting, mostly, but the ads are killing it for me…

  6. Mike Nolan says:

    For anyone interested in learning of Kim Philby in more detail I’d reccomend the book “A Spy among Friends” by Ben Macintyre. I tore through it last summer. One of the things Macintyre highlights is that Angleton’s suspicions of Philby were exaggerated in retrospect. Angleton later claimed that he suspected Philby right from the start but Macintyre shows that his actions don’t match that version of events.

    • RogerBW says:

      And of course Angleton didn’t say anything publicly until after Philby had gone to Moscow, when everybody was saying they’d never trusted him, so there’s no real evidence for his having been suspicious at the time.

  7. Grawflemaul says:

    If this time-travelling Bast was responsible for Churchill’s cats (though he did have a dog as well) it would seem remiss not to point out that Hitler was famously a dog-person, and nary a cat to be seen.

    Now, as someone who prefers dogs to cats, it’s not a comforting thought. But I think we must be told if history is similarly being manipulated by some sinister dog-inserter.

  8. Shaine says:

    As someone who once played one of William S Burroughs’ cats in an Over The Edge campaign, I was particularly happy with the Bast segment.

    As counterpoint to some of the comments above: the reality of a show like this is that the huts and disparate interests of the hosts are so varied that there’s no way every single segment can be of interest to every single listener. Honestly I wouldn’t even want that. So I’m perfectly happy to listen to segments that may not at first blush appear relevant to me. Often I find something of interest in those anyway.

  9. Robin says:

    Remember folks if you are patrons and want your votes for or against further Brian and Eric segments to be counted, be sure to leave comments on the Patreon post for that episode.

  10. Tom Vallejos says:

    Re: GMCs/NPCs. Both of you were having a little difficulty when it came describing a GMC’s appearance. I agree that telling a player that doesn’t watch anything older than their DOB that the NPC character looks like Walter Brennan will get a confused reaction. There is a way that. Pictures.With my iPad I can use old pictures of actors and say “The GMC looks like

  11. Darren T. says:

    With Bast & having a cult with a lot of festivals plus trinkets, it seems like a prime idea to bring back as there are a lot of cat fans out there plus the cats are devoted to Bast & do lovingly enjoy knocking the trinkets over needing more to be bought. A purrfect plan so let’s all work to bring back Bast as might work better than the stuff going on recently (plus many people getting Bast angry might result in some older pantheons coming back to knock some sense into people).

    Love the idea of the simple tip of giving GM run characters in the spotlight the simple main goal for them plus if the players interact with him/her/it, what kind of prices they want in return. As player characters are notoriously excessive cheapskates, having a few ideas of barter or favors is a simple thing & if the player characters don’t bite on the offer, the GM run characters might run into each other & maybe GM char#1 wants something but the PCs won’t deal but if he convinces/leverage on GM char#2, #2 might have an easier time at getting it & making things much worse for the player characters with that decision.

    While I’m not too thrilled with the story of Brian & the lava lamp, I do enjoy hearing the interaction between Ken & Robin so I say get rid of Brian & the lava lamp story but hearing an actual play or AP highlights of games with Ken and/or Robin running/playing some RPGs. Like consuming media addition, if there was a separate one with some AP goodness from Ken and/or Robin, that would be great to listen to. Any chance of getting some highlights from playtests (even if it’s not actual recordings) of some games as I’m not the only one I’d bet who would enjoy hearing some of the crazy fun at the tables with Ken and/or Robin there.

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