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Posts Tagged ‘Ask Ken and Robin’

Episode 602: They Have a Space Lawyer

June 7th, 2024 | Robin

In the Gaming Hut, Ken turns the tables on Robin by springing a concept for a game on him. Eavesdrop on the process as they riff on Ley Brothers.

The Crime Blotter reaches back into America’s history of 19th century violence to cover the assassination of Kentucky governor William Goebel.

In Ask Ken and Robin beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks Robin what a one player, one GM action movie game inspired by The Beekeeper and its retribution-seeking cinematic relatives might look like.

Finally the Eliptony Hut looks at some old UFO tropes packaged in very new streaming-age bottles: Blue Avians, the trademarked, documentary-approving contactee aliens.

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.


The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.

13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying hits Kickstarter on May 7th. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.

Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.

Turn your digital dials to Gen Con TV, The Best Four Days in Gaming – All Year Long. Entirely free and streaming your way on Twitch, Gen Con TV offers actual plays, reviews, dramatized gaming shorts, minis painting and its flagship show, Table Talk, beaming to you Fridays at 2 pm with polyhedral news you’re dying to use.

Episode 598: Do We Really Want That Horse In Here?

May 10th, 2024 | Robin

Picking up where a previous Gaming Hut left off, beloved Patreon backer Gene Ha asks about scenarios where one of the PCs is a mole working against the rest of the group.

In Ask Ken and Robin, estimable backer Martin Rundkvist asks how Ken’s planned relocation of Swords of the Serpentine to Venice is going to work.

The Voyager space probe has been fixed after sending gibberish data back to Earth for five months. But what, formidable backer Bob Koester asks in Fun With Science, if it wasn’t gibberish?

Finally the Eliptony Hut takes on the serpentine quality of previous segments with a look at the 1894 lindworm sightings in Erviken, Norway.

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.


The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.

13th Age is ready to escalate! The second edition of the fast-moving, easy-playing encapsulation of the fantasy roleplaying is now Kickstarting. Manifest your One Unique Thing and get updates on the campaign by sharing your email address with Pelgrane Press here.

Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.

Episode 591: Good Fun That Barbarians Have

March 22nd, 2024 | Robin

In the Gaming Hut, Robin pitches Ken on a concept for a roleplaying game called Renfields.

The Mythology Hut looks at the enigmatic Dacian god and/or person named Zalmoxis, who might have been a sky deity. Or an earth deity. Or a physician.

In Ask Ken and Robin, beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks Robin to expand on his capsule review of the 1956 Carol Reed circus movie Trapeze as a model for efficiently executed DramaSystem scenes.

The Consulting Occultist wraps up the episode with the rundown on the 17th century English physician and mystic Robert Fludd.

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.


The official CatStronauts board game is launching on Kickstarter, from Atlas Games! Designed and illustrated by Drew Brockington, this cooperative game brings 30-45 minutes of fast feline fun to 1-4 players aged 10 and up.

Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.

Don your pallid mask and get all the Ken, Carcosa, and footnotes you require now that Arc Dream’s The King in Yellow: Annotated Edition is now available in paperback and ebook formats. With stunning art by Samuel Araya, this lavish tome of terror earns a space on any shelf.

Episode 580: The Most Fun Word in the History of Metallurgy

January 5th, 2024 | Robin

The Gaming Hut contains a special rack for displaying fancy blades as beloved Patreon backer Stephen Dosman asks us to find the tabletop fun in Ulfberht swords.

In the Cinema Hut we look at the newest cycle of female-focused, character-driven horror films.

Estimable backer Manfred Gabriel uses his Ask Ken and Robin powers to seek advice on spending his Dracula points.

Finally the Consulting Occultist tells the wry tale of the early Georgian era astrologer Isaac Bickerstaff, who predicted the death of rival John Partridge and might not have been entirely who he seemed.

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.


Experience the world of Gloom in a new, immersive way with Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar. With an integrated hint and solution website, drenched in the beloved Gloom aesthetic by artist J. Scott Reeves, this puzzling gamebook kicks off Atlas’ new Enigma line. Sign up for the Kickstarter announcement!

Reality horror just got realer with three new support products for The Yellow King Roleplaying Game: Black Star Magic, Legions of Carcosa: The Yellow King Bestiary, and Robin’s latest novel, Fifth Imperative.

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!

Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.

Episode 568: Dream Ghosts

October 6th, 2023 | Robin

The Gaming Hut continues its look at the structures analyzed in Robin’s Adventure Crucible Kraken chapbook with the survival scenario.

In the Cinema Hut Robin points you toward the best geek-facing films he chose for the second annual Robin and Valerie International Film Festival.

Ask Ken and Robin entertains the request of beloved Patreon backer Tom Abella for guidance on running a Yevgeny Prigozhin game.

Finally the Consulting Occultist fills intrepid backer Jacob Boersma in on the alchemists, demonologists and kabbalists of his native Netherlands.

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.


Join the Cat Eyes detective agency, where every night is a purrfectly spooooky Halloween mystery, with Kitty Noir, the city sourcebook for Magical Kitties Save the Day from Atlas Games.

Stock up for your Halloween games with a Pelgrane Press super sale on its top GUMSHOE horror titles. The promo code SCARY23 at the Pelgrane online store gets you 20% off on Trail of Cthulhu products, Yellow King Roleplaying Game products, Esoterrorists products and Fear Itself products until November 1st.

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!

Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.

Episode 562: Never Refer to Peoples’ Necks

August 25th, 2023 | Robin

In the Gaming Hut, we propose ways to respond to the characters’ failures of stealth without killing story momentum.

In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, both of us chat with author Howard Andrew Jones about the state of sword and sorcery and his new novel, Lord of a Shattered Land.

In Ask Ken and Robin, beloved Patreon backer Snivgrits requests that we riff a police procedural featuring Wendy Darling from Peter Pan.

Finally the Consulting Occultist looks at the alchemical side of pioneering scientist and mathematician Isaac Newton.

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.


Waggle your tiny clawed arms in delight! The 5E edition of Planegea, Atlas Games’ setting of primordial fantasy wonder, has arrived. Whether you’re a saurian or shimmering, dreamwalking elf, you’ll want to grab the campaign setting book, as well as accessories like the GM screen, adventures, soundtrack, and deluxe boxed edition while that meteor remains safely in the sky above.

Even Death Can Die, the breathlessly-awaited scenario book for Cthulhu Confidential, is now in print at an eldritch game store near you, or in the Pelgrane web store. Thrill to three hardboiled Lovecraftian adventures apiece from stalwart investigators Langston Wright, Vivian Sinclair, and Dex Raymond, all for one player and one GM.

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!

Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.

Episode 555: Do We Get a Deal for Seven?

July 7th, 2023 | Robin

The Gaming Hut looks at collaborative worldbuilding.

Our Cinema Hut Science Fiction Cinema Essentials series reaches the back half of the 90s.

In Ask Ken and Robin, beloved Patreon backer Kevin Greenlee asks how to fit DramaSystem into other games.

Finally the Consulting Occultist tells the tale of a magical assassination plot aimed at Edward II.

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.


Waggle your tiny clawed arms in delight! The 5E edition of Planegea, Atlas Games’ setting of primordial fantasy wonder, has arrived. Whether you’re a saurian or shimmering, dreamwalking elf, you’ll want to grab the campaign setting book, as well as accessories like the GM screen, adventures, soundtrack, and deluxe boxed edition while that meteor remains safely in the sky above.

The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.

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!

Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.

Episode 542: Classic Snake Swap-Out

April 7th, 2023 | Robin

We begin in the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Ludovic Chabant asks for tips on porting the single-protagonist assumptions of much genre source material to the party-driven play typical to tabletop roleplaying.

The Cinema Hut takes place in the shadow of a certain monolith as installment ten of our Science Fiction Cinema Essentials reaches the late 60s and early 70s.

We’ve talked about sidekick campaigns before. In Ask Ken and Robin, revered backer Peter Adkison points out that we haven’t talked about running one centered around noted chrononaut Kenneth Hite.

Finally, the Consulting Occultist profiles 1st century prophet Alexander of Abonoteichus, begetter of the Glykon snake cult.

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.


In Sunset City, there’s always something fishy going on … and we’re not talking tuna.  The magical kitties of Sunset City have their paws full of mystery. Thanks to our fine feline friends at Atlas Games, Magical Kitties Noir is now on Kickstarter.

The skies above New Olympus are patrolled by caped crusaders, but these superior beings are far from heroes. They wield their powers with reckless disregard, serving the interests of corporate overseers, and silencing those who oppose their will. You are Klara Koenig, investigative journalist for The Pedestrian newspaper, and you intend to prove the privileged superhuman elite do not yet hold a monopoly on justice. Welcome to Alteregomania: the newest setting for the GUMSHOE One-2-One system.

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!

Put on your flannels, grab your duffel bag of hardware and assemble your fake passports. Alert your retailer to the contents of their favorite unmarked warehouse. Delta Green: The Conspiracy, the revised, updated and declassified edition of the iconic 1990s sourcebook has escaped from Arc Dream Publishing.

Episode 499: The Easily Discouraged Ones

June 3rd, 2022 | Robin

In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Bill Durfy asks us to provide advice for budding professional GMs.

The Tradecraft Hut looks at John Stonehouse, a British MP who spied for the Czechs and wound up ineptly faking his own death.

In Ask Ken and Robin stylish backer Joe Webb asks Robin if his head exploded when the Met Gala paid homage to the era of the King in Yellow.

Finally in the Eliptony Hut mysterious markings in the Sahara have discerning backer Michael Gemar wondering what lies behind the flimsy rational explanation They used to veil out this story.

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 Iconoclasts, a campaign of horrors modern and ancient, brings a team of Agents to a scene of horrors all too real: Mosul in 2016, held by the self-styled Islamic State in a reign of depraved brutality. From a small base at the Kirkuk airfield, the Agents must research the horrors to come and prepare for a harrowing infiltration. Terrors and new supplementary material await, now in PDF, hardback now in preorder.

Episode 491: Stormy Petrels of Crime

April 8th, 2022 | Robin

In the Gaming Hut, we look at the elements that ought to go into an introductory scenario.

Beloved Patreon backer Todd W. Olson has not left the building, but has rather entered the Culture Hut, as he asks how Elvis Presley’s 1968 Comeback Special might reverberate in Fall of DELTA GREEN.

In Ask Ken and Robin, esteemed backer Neil Barnes wonders what kind of superhero universe might be shifted into existence by the dread machinations of the King in Yellow.

Finally a Mother Jones piece by Rene Ebersole inspires an Eliptony Hut inquiry into  the crank forensic science of corpse witching.

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.

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