Episode 30 – When Do You Look Up Rules?

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Episode 30 - When Do You Look Up Rules?
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Chris and Andy chit-chat about some recent games they ran. Then we dive into our topic about the most fun part about games: referring to the rules!

Rules are arguably what makes a game a game; however, pausing the session to flip through a book can kill the narrative momentum at the table. So, dear listener, when do you look up rules at the table? What are rules even for? Why not just play make-believe instead?

Also, listen to the end to hear a confession. We just ask that you don’t think less of us.

Episode 29 — Do You Run Published Adventures or Create Your Own? (with Jess Snyder)

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Episode 29 — Do You Run Published Adventures or Create Your Own? (with Jess Snyder)
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Guest GM Jess Snyder joins Andy and Chris to address the timeless question: do you run published adventures or exclusively homemade ones? And how do you address the challenges that arise with each approach?

Episode 28 — How to Introduce a New Game to Your Gaming Group

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Episode 28 — How to Introduce a New Game to Your Gaming Group
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How do you go about bringing a new RPG to the table? Andy and Chris discuss—and do a little reflecting on the first year of Roll for Topic.

Holiday Special Part 2: Live Play-a-dungeon!

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Holiday Special Part 2: Live Play-a-dungeon!
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Happy holidays everyone! We’re back with an episode in which we play through the dungeon that we made during the last episode. Andy is your esteemed GM for this one and we were pleased to have Aaron, Matt, and Brandon join in as players!

If you liked this two-part experiment of building and playing a dungeon, please reach out to let us know! We’re thinking about doing more in the future!

This episode is going live a few days early just in case you have upcoming holiday travel and want something to listen to. We’ll be back in early January with a “normal” episode.

Also, for the parents out there: all Roll For Topic episodes strive to be PG. No swearing, but there are discussions of violence.

Holiday Special Part 1: Live Build-a-Dungeon (with guest GM Kyle Latino)

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Holiday Special Part 1: Live Build-a-Dungeon (with guest GM Kyle Latino)
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As a change of pace for the holidays, Andy and Chris team up with previous guest Kyle to design a dungeon one-shot on the fly! Will the end result be a masterpiece of adventure design or a hilarious trainwreck that features psychic whales, post-apocalyptic shopping malls, and something called a “hyperskeleton”? Tune in to find out.

Episode 25 — How Do You Deal with Anxiety as a GM?

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Episode 25 — How Do You Deal with Anxiety as a GM?
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Call it stage fright, nervousness, or GMing anxiety, but all gamemasters must deal with it. What are some ways to minimize it? Andy and Chris discuss.

Episode 25 appendix:

Episode 24 – Do You Read the Block Text in Your Adventure? (special guest, Aaron)

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Episode 24 - Do You Read the Block Text in Your Adventure? (special guest, Aaron)
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We’re joined by Aaron this week to talk about reading the written block text from adventures. When there’s block text in the adventure module you’re running, do you read it out loud? Verbatim, do you paraphrase, do you throw it all away because you know best?! Join us as we talk all about narrating at the table!

Appendix:

Episode 23 – How to Introduce Non-Gamers to Your Game

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Episode 23 - How to Introduce Non-Gamers to Your Game
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This week it’s just Andy and Chris jabbering about how to introduce non-gamers to your game. We talk about such things as: character creation, whether players should have to read the rules cover to cover, and when and how to introduce mechanics into the game.

Appendix:

Episode 22 — How to Handle Doors in Dungeons (with guest Al McWilliams)

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Episode 22 — How to Handle Doors in Dungeons (with guest Al McWilliams)
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Guest GM Al McWilliams joins Andy and Chris to talk about his Damage Dice Kickstarter, and to talk about the question that’s on every GM’s mind: How do you handle doors in dungeons?

Episode 22 appendix:

Episode 21: What Elements from Other Media do You Bring into Your Tabletop Games? (with Audrey Huggett)

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Episode 21: What Elements from Other Media do You Bring into Your Tabletop Games? (with Audrey Huggett)
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Audrey, who was on the show back in Episode 13, came back on to talk a bit about how the AADL RPG Fest went and then to help us think about what stuff from other media (videogames, movies, books, etc.) we bring into our tabletop games. Unsurprisingly a LOT of stuff came up in this one:

Episode 21 Appendix