In Legacy of Blood, a group of adventurers become the leaders of Fenhold, a small region known for its swamps. The villain of this module is notable for his Scooby Doo bad guy style. We also look at Deadly Power, a third party D&D module about mushrooms and a magic box.
Music: Selections from Music d20
Too many RPGs have bloated skill lists, but not the games of the Palladium Megaverse. Special guest Chris, Aaron, Tom, and I go through some of the Palladium games and discuss the merits of their skills from fly fishing to entomological medicine. Find out which game has the worst and best (?) skills!
Caleb and I discuss traps, particularly ones from Grimtooth’s Traps Too. Why do dungeons in fantasy RPGs often have so many and so impractical traps? The implications of obsessive trap builders are fascinating. We also review many of the traps from the book.
A listener recently sent me a copy of a Shadowrun supplement called Shadowbeat. This book covers pop culture, a rare topic for a RPG book. In order to do this book justice, I got a lot of people to discuss it, so this episode is extra long!
Cast
Friend of the podcast Noah joins us for an in-depth look at Synnibarr. This was spurred on by Noah’s decision to get a tattoo of the best art in any RPG ever, the raccoon with a rocket launcher a wristwatch. Find out what kind of character Noah makes and what video game console they’re named after!
The Battle of Winterfell episode in Game of Thrones has caused a lot of discussion over tactics, strategy, and the inevitable comparison to various RPGs. I assembled a war council of Tom, Caleb, and Jay B to analyze what went right and what went wrong. Caleb’s answers may surprise you!
If you had to live in a tabletop RPG setting, which would you pick? Aaron, Shaun, and I discuss the many potential game worlds in which you could live, not just systems, but settings. Dark Sun or Ravenloft? Planescape? Shadowrun? Eclipse Phase?
I also review the finale of the Venusian Apocalypse, Beyond the Pale.
Tabletop RPGs may be more popular than they have ever been, but is that enough? No, clearly not. We need to rip off more popular games in a shameless attempt to gain a bigger audience. Shaun, Tom, and I try to graft battle royale mechanics to popular RPGs like D&D and Rifts.
I also review The Four Riders, part 2 of the Venusian Apocalypse trilogy from Mutant Chronicles.
Here’s a link to that game industry article I discuss at the start of the episode.
Song: Seer by Roex
The Resident Evil 2 Remake led me down a wiki-lore dive, where I discovered that Umbrella actually had some *successful* projects, like the Tyrant 103 series, which was quite the surprise. Shaun, Tom, and I discuss which evil corporations are best for investors.
I also review Mutant Chronicles and an adventure for it, The Venusian Apocalypse Part 1: The Second Seal of Repulsion. It involves a tribe of cat people engineered to guard an evil temple and a luxury blimp.
Caleb, Tom, and I enjoyed the new Black Mirror special, Bandersnatch, but we realized we could do better. Far better. So we discuss what interactive projects Netflix should do next. I also review a classic scenario from Judge’s Guild called Tower of Ulission. It’s a doozy featuring hallucinations, friendly talking skeletons, and a dragon that zips you when it breathes.
