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Episode 480: Not Described Otherwise as Being a Metal Tube

January 21st, 2022 | Robin

The Gaming Hut attempts to pin down a much-used bit of tabletop terminology as beloved Patreon backer Ludovic Chabant asks what we mean when we say that a game breaks.

Esteemed Patreon backers Jeromy French and Bryce Perry weave into the Food Hut, hungry and wanting to know more about archetypal drunk food, and why Canada doesn’t seem to have one.

Our Mythos Hut series on creating a new Lovecraftian deity reaches the stage where we have identified our concept, the forbidden or forgotten thought, and now flesh it out into an actual entity.

Finally the Eliptony Hut has taken a surprisingly long time to get to Toronto’s own famous tulpa, but finally does so with a segment on the Philip Experiment.

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.


Human problems are out of hand, so thank goodness, and Atlas Games, for Magical Kitties Save the Day, a fresh, fun roleplaying game for players of all ages, and for GMs from age 6 and up!

Score a blood-drenched special bonus from Pelgrane Press when you order the print edition Night’s Black Agents Dracula Dossier Director’s Handbook or any of its associated bundles. A new 50-page Cuttings PDF of deleted scenes and horrors that didn’t fit is now available for a limited time with the voucher code VAMP2021.

The treasures of Askfageln can be found at DriveThruRPG. Get all issues of FENIX since 2013 available in special English editions. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, along with equally stellar pieces by Graeme Davis and Pete Nash. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish. While you’re at it, grab DICE and Freeway Warrior!

Delta Green: Black Sites collects terrifying Delta Green operations previously published only in PDF or in standalone paperback modules.  They lock bystanders and Agents alike in unlit rooms with the cosmic terrors of the unnatural. A 208 page hardback by masters of top secret mythos horror Dennis Detwiller, Adam Scott Glancy, Shane Ivey, and Caleb Stokes.

3 Responses to “Episode 480: Not Described Otherwise as Being a Metal Tube”

  1. David says:

    I’m sure you’ve been inundated with tales of drunk food from around the world, but I just had to share my love of Shaokao, Chinese barbeque, at least as it was in Kunming, Yunnan.

    You could step out of the night clubs, which were in a 2-block, walled off district and right next to the entrance was a stall with 5 kinds of tofu, 10 different veggies and every imaginable part of an animal from brains to feet. You pick out what you want and they grill it over hot coals stoked by what sounded like a leaf blower, then dust it with chilli powder and sichuan peppercorn. You could also choose from a variety of condiments, mostly different kinds of chilli sauce.

    Ever since that joy, I can’t see how any city could call itself civilized if there isn’t midnight street corner barbeque.

  2. Melendwyr says:

    You guys are great, but all you’ve accomplished in the Mythos Hut is to create another persona for Nyarlathotep to inhabit.

    Perhaps it would be helpful if you looked at the ways Cthulhu is distinct from Nyarlathotep, and why no one suggests the Dreamer in R’lyeh is an avatar of the Messenger of Azathoth.

    I feel it’s also worth pointing out that Lovecraftian Gods generally *aren’t* male in any sense other than the grammatical default, just as they aren’t female. Even Shub-Niggurath is feminine only in the sense of giving birth, and can probably ‘father’ offspring just as easily.

  3. Doug Sundseth says:

    One of the biggest problems with testing of games through long periods, and this is not just a problem with RPGs, is that the number of possible combinations of “things” is a factorial function of the number of “things”. You can’t test every possible element of such a set beyond the very beginning of that set of combinations.

    Back when I was playtesting for various CCGs, this was a particular problem. And at least some companies were unwilling to accept it as an actual problem. “Rigorously prove that’s broken” is essentially impossible when you’re trying to test a set of (say) 300 new cards when combined with an existing set of some thousands of cards.

    And since companies continue to exist (and games continue to evolve) by the sale of more things, this is a relatively intractable problem.

    Also, “perceive things as a dolemite”? Hmm, that could be problematic.

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