Posts Tagged ‘Crime Blotter’
Episode 697: Supposedly Good Idea Hall of Fame
May 1st, 2026 | Robin
Taking inspiration from a previously dropped idle phrase, the Gaming Hut proudly presents Dinosaur Flying Aces.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Jake Maas, a home state edition of the Crime Blotter investigates Chinese mob involvement in Oklahoma grow farms.
Estimable backer Mark K convenes the Cinema Hut to ask Robin to expand his comment about the structural issues of movie whodunnits.
Finally, the Eliptony Hut seizes the chance to cover a fresh new example of alleged US military super-tech, the Ghost Murmur Device.
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.
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.
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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 682: The Biter Has Departed
January 16th, 2026 | Robin
The Gaming Hut follows up a previous pedagogical segment by wondering what a course syllabus for tabletop rpg development and editing might look cover.
The Crime Blotter peers at the surprisingly long list of criminal forensics techniques that fail to meet scientific standards.
The Stock Character Hut looks at that perennial force for narrative chaos, the wastrel.
Finally the Eliptony Hut makes good on our earlier prediction that we would profile cartographic prophet of pole shifting Gordon-Michael Scallion.
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.
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Episode 676: Always Want to Get Book
November 21st, 2025 | Robin
In the Gaming Hut we examine the principle of design by subtraction.
The Crime Blotter investigates the career of thief turned detective Eugène-Francois Vidocq.
We wrap up the Cinema Hut Fantasy Film Essentials series with some late-breaking indie titles and a look back at what we learned.
Finally the Eliptony Hut tunes into Bernard Kazhinsky’s brain radio.
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 features cooperative play that’s only 30-45 minutes long, for 1-4 players ages 10+. Designed and illustrated by CatStronauts comic book creator Drew Brockington and available now from Atlas Games!
Do the hours you spend not listening to this podcast leave you listless and bored? Never fear, because for a limited time you can get much more Ken with the Ken Writes About Stuff deal from the Bundle of Holding, good until November 26.
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 658: Personality Temu
July 18th, 2025 | Robin
Beloved Patreon backer Tennant Reed seeks Gaming Hut tips on scenarios where the player characters discover that they’re not who they think they are.
The Crime Blotter profiles Old West cattle rustler and creative evader of consequences Climax Jim Nephew.
The Cinema Hut Fantasy Film Essentials series focuses on postwar tales of ghosts, love, and at least one beast.
Finally the Consulting Occultist suggests traditions of immortality estimable backer Bob Grider might include in his Yellow King game.
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.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 649: I Should Join Your Undead Throng
May 16th, 2025 | Robin
The Gaming Hut finds reasons for player characters to show mercy toward defeated opponents.
Hoaxing is usually a white collar crime. Not so, as the Crime Blotter explores, in the case of Mark Hofmann, whose production of forged Church of Latter Day Saints historical documents escalated to murder.
The first installment of the Stock Character Hut looks at that comic perennial, the stuffed shirt.
Finally our intrepid chrononaut must use Ken’s Time Machine to keep kimchi in the timeline if the 16th century Japanese invasions of Korea, known as the Imjin War, don’t take place, and therefore don’t add hot red peppers to the Korean diet.
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.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
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.
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 643: Not Even Enough Gnomes
April 4th, 2025 | Robin
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Sikander asks us to tackle a scenario where the PCs have to figure out whether their boss’ secrecy is sinister or mundanely selfish.
The Crime Blotter reviews the case of Barbara “Golden Boos” Erni, the 18th century thief who robbed Swiss inns aided by her prodigious strength and mysterious trunk.
Ripped from the Headlines finds the mythic truth behind the shooting of a white stag in Merseyside.
Finally the Consulting Occultist reveals the career of Albin Grau, ritual magician and production designer for the 1922 Nosferatu.
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.
Fear Itself, Pelgrane Press’ groundbreaking GUMSHOE game of personal and psychological horror, has returned from the swirling torment of the Outer Dark in a hauntingly beautiful premium hardcover format. With The Shattered Veil Edition, stunningly beautiful full-color artwork brings fresh terror to your table. Grab it alongside the highly anticipated Ocean Game expansion in its current Gamefound campaign.
Brace for more Delta Green Mythos horror with Dead Drops, Arc Dream’s latest bone-chilling anthology of black bag scenarios. From a secret Missouri church to a frozen Alabama town, the top secret terrors keep on unfolding. Acquire the 288 page full color hardback from the Arc Dream store, or purchase, download, rate and review the PDF at DriveThru.
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 633: Barrel Full of Outlaw
January 24th, 2025 | Robin
In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Jörgen Blomberg suggests that there’s something F20 games handle even worse than falling damage—injuries from exposure. We brave the chill with our thoughts on the subject.
Not all western folk heroes became folk heroes. The Crime Blotter looks at the case of robber and ambusher Big Nose George Parrott, who in a gruesome twist of fate became… something else.
Fun with Science plumbs two marine mysteries brought to our attention by estimable backer David Millians: a mysterious deep sea communication and the pallid amphipod known as the sweetheart of darkness.
Finally Ken’s Time Machine peers into the timeline where a 10 year old Abraham Lincoln succumbed to his injuries after being kicked by a horse.
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 sorrowful solo gamebook Unhappy Birthday at Castle Slogar now dolefully awaits you from the frightening folks of Atlas Games. Packed with maps, riddles and dire dilemmas, it is sure to lure you to a delightfully solitary spiral of gloom!
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 626: She Did Say Independent
November 22nd, 2024 | Robin
Get ready for more detail on the shag carpet than ever before as the Gaming Hut looks at the love some players have for non-interactive narration of their environment.
The Crime Blotter investigates the 60s heroin trade and how it forms the linchpin of The Borellus Connection.
At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Gene Ha, the Cinema Hut wonders what can be done with the increasingly tangled continuity of the MCU.
And finally the Consulting Occultist profiles influential 19th century proto-feminist spiritualist Anna Kingsford.
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 prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
A global mythos conspiracy ensnares the player characters in The Borellus Connection, Pelgrane Press’ new Fall of DELTA Green mega-campaign by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Kenneth Hite. Journey in the guise of federal narcotics agents to Saigon, Beirut, Prague and Bozukepe. Buy it for your GM and demand that she run it today!
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 621: Also I Would Like to Own Smaland
October 18th, 2024 | Robin
In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Ryan McClelland argues that the Sailor is a fine Occupation that ought to be in Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition (now on Backerkit) and urges us to rebut him by listing even more such Occupations.
With the 1930s still in mind, the Crime Blotter pulls the dossier on the Barker-Karpis bank robbery and kidnapping gang.
Ripped from the Headlines covers a recent incident of rogue mountain sheep cloning in Montana.
Finally, in Ken’s Time Machine, our hero ponders intervention in the Kalmar Crusade.
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 prophecy has been fulfilled: Ars Magica Definitive, a revised and expanded deluxe version Ars Magica 5th Edition, launches this fall. With a host of new material published since the original rulebook’s release and heirloom production quality, this belongs in the library of every magus. Instruct your most trusted companion to sign up for launch alerts.
That cult would never die, till the stars came right again, and the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from His tomb to announce Trail of Cthulhu Second Edition, coming October 1st on Backerkit. Get ready to alert your friends and anyone else you’d be willing to climb into a ghoul pit with.
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
