Archive for the ‘Podcast’ Category
Episode 692: Guys Who Hate Mustaches in Kent
March 27th, 2026 | Robin
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Manfred Gabriel, the Gaming Hut shows how to keep the heat on the PCs when they’re on the run.
Whether he’s a legend, an alias, a symbol, or as in Ballad Hunters, a supernatural being, the Mythology Hut knows all about General Ned Ludd.
The Stock Character Hut withers under the gaze of the stern matriarch.
Finally, under orders from estimable backer Anders Gabrielsson, Ken’s Time Machine arranges the wider adoption of Sherlock Holmes’ favored martial art, bartitsu.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 691 – From Such Triangles As
March 20th, 2026 | Robin
The Gaming Hut entertains a salty take as we wonder whether GMs who say rules don’t matter are actually using them in the first place.
Beloved Patreon backer Pagurus unrolls a Cartography Hut segment on maps and deception, as revealed in Mark Monmonier’s How to Lie With Maps.
Equally beloved backer Irène Delse invokes her Tell Me More powers for a Book Hut segment on the theft rings that preyed on northeastern US libraries in the 1930s, as detailed in Travis McDade’s Thieves of Book Row.
Finally the Consulting Occultist regales you with miracles attributed to Pythagoras.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 690: Never Look It Up
March 13th, 2026 | Robin
The Gaming Hut takes you through the process of devising a supporting cast for a Page Turners scenario.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer bt, the Crime Blotter ponders the ritual significance of the flower-bedecked effigy at the funeral of Chicago mobster Mike Merlo.
Finally, as is their wont at awards time in the Cinema Hut, Ken and Robin share their top ten movies of 2025.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Ballad Hunters, the GUMSHOE game of folk songs going supernaturally wrong on the gritty side of the Regency era, is coming to Kickstarter on March 17th. You heard about it in Episode 688, now sign up for a start date alert at the Kickstarter preview page.
The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 689: Bring Out the Claw
March 6th, 2026 | Robin
In the Gaming Hut we explain why idiot plotting is an even bigger problem in tabletop rpgs than fiction or movies.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Ginge the Tradecraft Hut rips the lid off of the submarine exploit that was Project Azorian.
The Mythology Hut goes to the woods to reveal the surprising truth about the Green Man.
Finally the Eliptony Hut profiles recently departed pseudoarcheaology promoter Erich von Daniken.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Meowtropolis, the brand-new superhero setting for the Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG is Kickstarting now! Check out the paw-some rewards to see which ones you want to bat under the couch.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, now available from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 688: Earthquake Marriage
February 27th, 2026 | Robin
In the Gaming Hut we create a Page Turners protagonist.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Charles Picard the Architecture Hut examines the work of Julia Taylor, from the Chapel of the Chimes to Hearst Castle.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Robin talks to Tristan Zimmerman about his game Ballad Hunters, a GUMSHOE Labs game Kickstarting soon from Pelgrane Press.
Finally estimable backer Sam Harris assigns Ken’s Time Machine to find out what would have happened if Sun Records music producer Sam Phillips’ peace overture to Cuba had worked out as he hoped.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 687: Speaking of Magical Tools
February 20th, 2026 | Robin
The Gaming Hut starts us off with a contemplation of introductory adventures.
The Horror Hut unearths the surely vampiric backstory of a loin-cloth clad 4th century Saracen warrior whose spectacular blood-drinking turned the Visigoths from the gates of Constantinople.
The Stock Character Hut celebrates the release of Page Turners with a look at the disapproving father.
Finally at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio the Consulting Occultist reveals all about the magic of chess.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Stop gazing lovingly at that seed catalogue and start pre-ordering Vicious Gardens from Atlas Games. This contemporary, distinctive, choice driven card game combines the joy of gardening with the thrill of being a total jerk. Strategically cultivate your garden, harvest plants, and sabotage others in a cut-throat competition.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 686: Those are Saga Numbers
February 13th, 2026 | Robin
We start in the Gaming Hut by looking at providing clues to players.
In the History Hut we ask which saint had the highest body count. Was it Norway’s heavily armed St. Olaf, or someone else?
Finally the Ken’s Bookshelf recalls a previously undocumented raid on NYC’s Strand Books.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Roleplayers need new GMs and thanks to Atlas Games they have the purr-fect way to celebrate New GMs month, as if it is a piece of paper tied to a string: the Magical Kitties Roleplaying Game. Go to NewGameMasterMonth.com to sign up for the totally free seminar.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 685: Eleven Johnsons
February 6th, 2026 | Robin
Before beloved Patreon backer Sikander can betray us, the Gaming Hut answers his question about the Mr. Johnson trope in roleplaying games.
Special guests Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and James Wallis join us in the Mythology Hut for a paradoxology quiz. Which weird beliefs from ancient Greek and Roman texts are authentic to those texts, and which were made up by Robin to fool our contestants?
How to Write Good shows you how to write compelling exposition, by giving it emotional significance.
Finally at the behest of estimable backers Paul and Clio Bushland, the Eliptony Hut studies the Greenbrier Ghost case, alleged to be the only instance of testimony from beyond the grave leading to a murder conviction.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Roleplayers need new GMs and thanks to Atlas Games they have the purr-fect way to celebrate New GMs month, as if it is a piece of paper tied to a string: the Magical Kitties Roleplaying Game. Go to NewGameMasterMonth.com to sign up for the totally free seminar.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 684: His Other Cavil is Even Worse
January 30th, 2026 | Robin
In the Gaming Hut we reluctantly rouse ourselves to answer beloved Patreon backer Toonspew’s request for a look at the Church of the Sub-Genius.
At the request of estimable backer Neon Fox, the History Hut finds the real story between the alleged temporal straddling of the S. S. Warrimoo.
In the Food Hut we flavor the podcast with a dash of bitters.
Finally Conspiracy Corner is just asking questions about the island of Bermeja, which some say was killed by the CIA.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Roleplayers need new GMs and thanks to Atlas Games they have the purr-fect way to celebrate New GMs month, as if it is a piece of paper tied to a string: the Magical Kitties Roleplaying Game. Go to NewGameMasterMonth.com to sign up for the totally free seminar.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN here. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 683: Disturbing Holes and Barrows
January 23rd, 2026 | Robin
In the Gaming Hut we look at the sorts of stories that work as Page Turners scenarios.
The Archaeology Hut digs into the case of the Russian archaeologist arrested in Poland for damaging the Crimean site of Myrmekion.
In Ask Ken and Robin, beloved Patreon backer Fred Kiesche asks Robin to talk about his role as Creative Director at Pelgrane Press.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine peers into the alternate timeline where Bugsy Siegel wasn’t talked out of rubbing out Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Goering at an Italian party.
Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon!
Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running.
Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show.
Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic.
Roleplayers need new GMs and thanks to Atlas Games they have the purr-fect way to celebrate New GMs month, as if it is a piece of paper tied to a string: the Magical Kitties Roleplaying Game. Go to NewGameMasterMonth.com to sign up for the totally free seminar.
Make room on your shelf and in your heart for Page Turners, Robin’s game of dramatic interaction for one player and one GM, coming soon from Pelgrane Press. Explore the intensity of emotional storytelling driven by a single protagonist with scenarios ranging from Shakespearean comedy to tragic vampire love, written by Robin, Sarah “Sam” Saltiel, Ruth Tillman and Wade Rockett.
Get caught in the spiral with God’s Teeth, a new set of pulse-pounding Delta Green scenarios dripping with the once and future corruption of a nation swirling into cruelty and spite. From a government panopticon to alien worms to an app-driven mass shooter, your agents have nothing to fear but every screaming headline.
Play spies, skirmishers, and saboteurs in the battle for the future of the Thirteen Colonies in Flagbearer Games’ thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated 5E compatible roleplaying game Nations and Cannons. Jump into the early actions of the war with the new campaign guide The American Crisis, available as a PDF or for print pre-order. For a limited time use promo code CANNON at checkout for 17.75% percent off and free PDFs of your books.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
