Posts Tagged ‘Fun with Science’
Episode 377: Everyone Believes in Horse Theft
January 10th, 2020 | Robin
In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Tom Shaw asks us to even the odds when strong PCs fight weak opponents.
A gruesome find in the History Hut prompts estimable backer Polydamas to seek guidance on portraying the Sandby Borg Massacre in a game.
In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Robin chats with Fil Baldowski, mastermind of the of All Rolled Up empire.
Finally, in Fun With Science, profound Patreon backer Wayne Shaw wants to know the true significance of the gigantic metal deposit buried beneath the moon’s south pole.
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.
Hopping vampires tried to stop it! Transformed animals conspired to block it! Evil eunuchs issued proclamations against it! But thanks to the gun-toting, fist-flying efforts of your favorite scrappy underdogs at Atlas Games, Feng Shui 2, Robin’s acclaimed and recently improved game of action thrills has been reprinted and can again be found in stores. Import the excitement of the Hong Kong action cinema masters to your roleplaying table.
What’s worse—yet even more pulse-poundingly exciting—than being a burned spy on the run from an international vampire conspiracy? Going it alone, as you do in Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan’s brilliant adaptation of GUMSHOE One-2-One to the shadowy world of Night’s Black Agents: Solo Ops, from Pelgrane Press.
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!
Arc Dream Publishing presents a gorgeous new edition of Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow, a deluxe hardback in delightful faux snakeskin, with a foreword by John Scott Tynes, annotations by our own Kenneth Hite, and stunning full-pate color illustrations by Samuel Araya. Grab it while it lasts in the Arc Dream store.
Episode 354: It Ain’t That Non-Euclidean
July 26th, 2019 | Robin
An all request episode kicks off with a co-production between the Gaming Hut teams and our Tell Me More benefit for Patreon backers. Backers Mike Marlow and Kevin J. Maroney, seeing the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff capsule review of Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans’ graphic novel DIE, want to hear more. This expands into a wider discussion of how RPGs are depicted in fiction.
Backer Steve Sick beckons us into a mossy southern version of the History Hut, asking what we can do with legendary Louisiana governor Huey Long.
In Ask Ken and Robin, backer Polydamas points out that fun ruiners are trying to ruin the qi-lin, antlered magical creature of China and beyond. We restore the fun to this most benevolent of chimeras.
Finally, in Fun With Science, Drew asks us to examine another weirdo USAF proposal, which had them wondering just how many jet engines it would take to halt the earth’s rotation.
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.
Be cute! Be cunning! Be fierce! Most of all, be someone backing the Kickstarter for Atlas Games’ Magical Kitties, the roleplaying game of supernatural felines. Suitable for play with young childrens, it pits its four-footed heroes against robots, witches and more!
Ken’s latest roleplaying game, The Fall of Delta Green, is now available in print or PDF or both from Pelgrane Press. Journey to the head-spinning chaos of the late 1960s, back when everyone’s favorite anti-Cthulhu special ops agency hadn’t gone rogue yet, for this pulse-pounding GUMSHOE game of war, covert action, and Mythos horror.
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!
Arc Dream Publishing presents a gorgeous new edition of Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow, a deluxe hardback in delightful faux snakeskin, with a foreword by John Scott Tynes, annotations by our own Kenneth Hite, and stunning full-pate color illustrations by Samuel Araya. Grab it while it lasts in the Arc Dream store.
Episode 310: The Social Media Impact of Ulthar
September 14th, 2018 | Robin
The Gaming Hut makes room for our collection of crystal balls as Patreon backer Rob Towell asks for hints on GMing prophecies and divinations.
The Crime Blotter looks at a rash of highly professional heists targeting relics looted from the Old Summer Palace and held in European museums.
Patreon backer Polydamas asks us to have Fun With Science and the 1920s invasion of sea lampreys into the Great Lakes.
Finally backer Derek Upham visits the Consulting Occultist for a look at artist James Bridle, who has constructed a magic circle to trap self-driving cars.
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.
The White Box is a game design workshop in a box, bursting with inspiring theory and the basic components to turn that theory into playable reality. Brought to you in tandem by Atlas Games and Gameplaywright, it’s the perfect gift for the aspiring game master in your life—who might well be yourself.
Ken’s latest roleplaying game, The Fall of Delta Green, is now available for preorder from Pelgrane Press. Journey to the head-spinning chaos of the late 1960s, back when everyone’s favorite anti-Cthulhu special ops agency hadn’t gone rogue yet, for this pulse-pounding GUMSHOE game of war, covert action, and Mythos horror.
Grab the translated riches of FENIX magazine in a special bundle deal from our friends at Askfageln, over at Indie Press Revolution. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, a cornucopia of articles, complete games, plus the cartoon antics of Bernard the Barbarian. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish.
Just in time to save the world, though perhaps not your team of hardened covert agents, from the Mythos, the Delta Green Handlers Guide from Arc Dream Publishing is now in print and either at or headed to a game store near you. The slipcase print edition includes both the Handlers’ Guide and Agents’ Handbook, fitting snugly into your go bag along with your extra passports and list of weapons caches.
Episode 301: Thanks For Knowing We Were Right
July 13th, 2018 | Robin
The Gaming Hut lies at the end of a ten foot corridor this week as Patreon backer Elias Helfer asks us, as paragons of story-driven RPGs, to explain why we think dungeons are awesome.
In Fun With Science we extrapolate a future with affordable carbon reclamation.
With the Over the Edge Kickstarter now in progress, we dig into our vault of interviews from last year’s Gen Con to chat with Jonathan Tweet in Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else.
If someone tells you their favorite esoteric writer is Julius Evola, you just heard your cue to back away slowly. The Consulting Occultist is here to tell you why.
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.
The island of Al Amarja may have moved from its classic 1990s location, but don’t be fooled. Over the Edge is indeed back, with Jonathan Tweet updating his classic and influential game design. Get ready to duck New Age cultists, baboon-wielding gangsters, twisted assassins when the roleplaying game of weird modern danger is Kickstarting now!
Ken’s latest roleplaying game, The Fall of Delta Green, is now available for preorder from Pelgrane Press. Journey to the head-spinning chaos of the late 1960s, back when everyone’s favorite anti-Cthulhu special ops agent hadn’t gone rogue yet, for this pulse-pounding GUMSHOE game of war, covert action, and Mythos horror.
Grab the translated riches of FENIX magazine in a special bundle deal from our friends at Askfageln, over at Indie Press Revolution. Score metric oodles of Ken Hite gaming goodness, a cornucopia of articles, complete games, plus the cartoon antics of Bernard the Barbarian. Warning: in English, not in Swedish. In English, not Swedish.
Just in time to save the world, though perhaps not your team of hardened covert agents, from the Mythos, the Delta Green Handlers Guide from Arc Dream Publishing is now in print and either at or headed to a game store near you. The slipcase print edition includes both the Handlers’ Guide and Agents’ Handbook, fitting snugly into your go bag along with your extra passports and list of weapons caches.
Episode 261: Them Doritos is Rigged!
September 29th, 2017 | Robin
Hold onto your wallet when you enter this Gaming Hut. It’s full of scamsters, as we look at clipjoint towns in F20 games.
Patreon backer Elias Helfer digs into the files for a declassified Tradecraft Hut as he asks for the 101 on espionage in WWI.
Then Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, as Green Ronin’s Nicole Lindroos shows us the ropes of game company management.
Finally it’s time for some Fun With Science, as backer Allen Wilkins wants to know what’s really going on with NASA’s bacterial balloons.
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 Unknown Armies, Atlas Games’ modern-day, occult roleplaying game, you play the heroically broken people who conspire to fix the world. That conspiracy just got easier, with the arrival of the game on store shelves near you! 
The book has been written. The book has been read. Now it rewrites you. Across time it spreads, creating dread new realities. And you’re in all of them. Robin’s epic new GUMSHOE project, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game has concluded its Kickstarter run, but is now available for pre-order at the Pelgrane Store for those who missed it. 
Do intervals between episodes plunge you into Hite withdrawal? Never fear! his brilliant pieces on parasitic gaming, alternate Newtons, Dacian werewolves and more now lurk among the sparkling bounty of The Best of FENIX Volumes 1-3, from returning sponsors Askfageln. Yes, it’s Sweden’s favorite RPG magazine, now beautifully collected. Warning: not in Swedish. 
John Scott Tynes’ Puppetland is ready to knock the stuffing out of a game store near you in its gorgeous new full-color hardcover edition. Join the good folks at Arc Dream in battling the horrific forces of Punch the Maker-Killer! 
Episode 201: You Don’t Need to Drag Pokemon Into It
July 29th, 2016 | Robin
Pokemon fever is back and more feverish than ever. As Pokemon Go breaks loose of the Gaming Hut, forcing players onto the actual streets, is there anything we can riff about it that reality hasn’t already delivered?
Ken watched every Dracula flick he could get his hands on, and now the result of that effort, The Thrill of Dracula, awaits your reading pleasure. We open Ken’s coffin to chat about it in Among My Many Hats.
Our amygdalas alert us to danger whenever we see an upside down triangle. In Fun With Science, we go behind the science to make up explanations for this peculiar phenomenon.
Finally, Patreon backer Jacob Ansari wants to know why Ken’s Time Machine was employed to obscure Palermo’s mysterious Blue Room aka Wonderland Chamber.
Get trapped in Lovecraft’s story “The Call of Cthulhu” in Atlas Games’ addictive new card game Lost in R’lyeh. Take a selfie with your purchased copy of the game at your brick and mortar game retailer and send it to Atlas to claim your special Ken and Robin promo card.
Ken fans who did not partake of the Kickstarter can now sink their fangs into the general release of the Dracula Dossier from Pelgrane Press, consisting of the Director’s Handbook and Dracula Unredacted.
You say that’s still not enough Ken for you? Very well, my friend. His brilliant pieces on parasitic gaming, alternate Newtons, Dacian werewolves and more now lurk among the sparkling bounty of The Best of FENIX Volumes 1-3, from returning sponsors Askfageln. Yes, it’s Sweden’s favorite RPG magazine, now beautifully collected. Warning: not in Swedish.
Attention, operatives of Delta Green, the ultra-covert agency charged with battling the contemporary forces of the Cthulhu Mythos! Now everything you need to know to play Delta Green: The Roleplaying Game, perhaps extending your valiantly short field life, can be found in the Delta Green Agent’s Handbook. 
Episode 199: Not That That’s What Time Travelers Say
July 15th, 2016 | Robin
In Ask Ken and Robin, Patreon backer Conrad Kinch asks what the cruel empire of Tsan-Chan might be up to in 5000 AD. The answer might surprise him!
Now that you’ve worked your way through the filmography we provided in our Westerns 101 segment, the Cinema Hut rides back to the corral to pick some deeper cuts. Yes, it’s Westerns 201.
Fun With Science tackles a question from supporter Antti Elomaa: “Aside from building Geiger-counters and scientific apparatii, what use could one have for pre-nuclear steel, main source of which is the German WWI fleet scuttled at Scapa Flow?”
Then we’re back in the parlor of the Consulting Occultist to hear the tale of reputed 16th century sorcerer Rinaldo des Trois-Echelles du Mayne.
Get trapped in Lovecraft’s story “The Call of Cthulhu” in Atlas Games’ addictive new card game Lost in R’lyeh. Take a selfie with your purchased copy of the game at your brick and mortar game retailer and send it to Atlas to claim your special Ken and Robin promo card.
Ken fans who did not partake of the Kickstarter can now sink their fangs into the general release of the Dracula Dossier from Pelgrane Press, consisting of the Director’s Handbook and Dracula Unredacted.
You say that’s still not enough Ken for you? Very well, my friend. His brilliant pieces on parasitic gaming, alternate Newtons, Dacian werewolves and more now lurk among the sparkling bounty of The Best of FENIX Volumes 1-3, from returning sponsors Askfageln. Yes, it’s Sweden’s favorite RPG magazine, now beautifully collected. Warning: not in Swedish. Attention, operatives of Delta Green, the ultra-covert agency charged with battling the contemporary forces of the Cthulhu Mythos! Now everything you need to know to play Delta Green: The Roleplaying Game, perhaps extending your valiantly short field life, can be found in the Delta Green Agent’s Handbook.
Episode 199: Not That That's What Time Travelers Say [ 1:10:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadEpisode 129: How to Alert the Occult Police
February 27th, 2015 | Robin
We start with an Ask Ken and Robin question from Ethan Cordray, who wants to know how a GM and player might collaborate in creating scenarios.
Inspired by this Malcolm Gladwell piece, the Crime Blotter examines the changing relationship between organized crime and upward mobility.
Fun with Science plays with your perceptions for a look at hallucinations and synaesthesia. Recommended reading: Oliver Sacks’ Hallucinations.
Speaking of reading, we conclude with another paw through Ken’s Bookshelf, this one cataloguing the haul from his recent jaunt to San Francisco.
Attention, class! Anchor sponsor Atlas Games wants to enroll you in Mad Scientist University, the card game of evil genius, insane assignments, and unstable elements. Act now, Ken and Robin listeners, and they’ll throw in the Spring Break expansion set for free. Shipping within the US is also free.
This episode is also brought to you by the Plot Points podcast. After you listen to us, listen to them analyze RPG adventures as literature.
Modern Myths wants you to know about its booth, a veritable oasis of roleplaying both indie and trad, at PAX East, right across from Indie Games on Demand.
Episode 89: The Elvis of the European Occult Underground
May 16th, 2014 | Robin
The Gaming Hut reverberates with spectral dread as we find ways to make ghosts and hauntings scary in roleplaying.
Fun with Science looks for story and gaming grist in the increasingly respected, and increasingly mind-blowing, multiverse theory of cosmological physics.
In That Thing I Always Say Robin goes on about the lasting influence a game’s first adventure has on the way it is played thereafter.
The Consulting Occultist finishes his major figures of the French enlightenment trilogy with the immortal Comte de Saint Germain.
It’s yo ho ho and a pocketful of doubloons as Atlas Games surveys the seven seas from the crow’s nest that is our coveted anchor sponsor slot. Parrot on its shoulder, it orders up another special deal for Ken and Robin listeners, this time in the form of their innovative game of piratical nautical warfare, Pieces of Eight.
This week’s show is also brought to you in part by the World of Aetaltis. The Temple of Modren, the first sourcebook introducing this exciting new Pathfinder Compatible world, is now Kickstarting.
Episode 89: The Elvis of the European Occult Underground [ 1:11:32 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
