Episode 273: Live at Dragonmeet 2017
December 22nd, 2017 | Robin
Our final episode of 2017 arrives with bells a-jangling in the form of our traditional live show from Dragonmeet. Learn about Stalin and Atlantis, what elements of our work we think other designers have picked up on, which beverages go with which iterations of a beloved nerd franchise, why Nazis are stupid, and much much more.
We’ll be back on January 5th with our first episode of 2018.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
In Atlas Games’ wickedly different cooperative deck-building game Witches of the Revolution, you and your doughty coven fight the American Revolution the way it was really fought: with spells aplenty! Resurrect Ben Franklin, cure Paul Revere of lycanthropy and keep those red-coated witch hunters at bay.
Sink your fangs into an amazing deal as the Dracula Dossier haunts the Bundle of Holding. This bargain is so unbelievable that it can’t see itself in the mirror, and ends on December 27th!
For decades Tove Gillbring of Askfageln has been a beacon of Swedish gaming. Now her cancer has returned, and she’s determined to focus the rest of her life on an ultimate burst of creative fireworks. Help her husband Anders make that happen by supporting the LOVE TOVE crowdfunding campaign. Please note that the campaign moved to GoFundMe after this episode was recorded.
Delta Green Game Moderators, take heart! Reinforcements have arrived in the form of the Delta Green Handler’s Guide from Arc Dream Publishing, bursting with operational details, threats and eldritch history to keep your players locked, loaded, and terrified. 
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And right after you get asked the question about the next weird thing in gaming, Wesley Snipes and Sean Astin team up to build a new Starfinder campaign world.
https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/board-games/news/wesley-snipes-and-lord-of-the-rings-sean-astin-are-working-on-a
One other note on running Feng Shui for the first time: if you don’t have an iOS phone, be sure to check out the Atlas website.
There’s a mook hit generator here: http://fs2tools.atlas-games.com
Since you can set the value, you can use it for named foes, too. When I ran the introductory adventure, I had a much easier time doing fun and engaging fight descriptions when I wasn’t doing so much basic arithmetic each turn. The lack of rolling speeds up the game for everyone.
Be sure to check the reference tables near the back of the book, too. Most of them are on the GM screen and are some of the most organized and useful reference tables I’ve seen in an RPG.
The one argument I’ve seen about something the Nazis were actually good at was C3I. In fact, John Hill’s next major game after Squad Leader–East Front Tank Leader–was built around the tactical advantages the Germans had because their forces, especially their tanks, had better communication and coordination than their Soviet counterparts quite late into the war. The other factors Ken mentioned–basically, being first out of the gate with some simple strategic insights and being better mobilized–were more important in the early phases of each theatre of operations, but the better C3I kept them in each fight longer than than one would have expected from the overall strategic situations.