Category Archives: Carnagecast

Carnagecast 31: Carrion Crown: The Haunting of Harrowstone

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In episode 31 of Carnagecast, Dan, Hunter, Toby and Tyler talk about their experiences playing the Pathfinder role-playing module The Haunting of Harrowstone, first part of the overarching Carrion Crown adventure path. Filled with horror tropes, from the Gothic to the Hammeresque, Carrion Crown kicks off a tour of the Pathfinder campaign world’s Transylvania analogue, Ustalav, with the charred remains of a prison teeming with ghosts and supernatural phenomena.

Prospective players beware, this is spoil-all episode as Hunter pulls back the GM curtain to give a peek at how he chose to use and modify the written adventure. Dan, Toby and Tyler share their perspectives as players in the campaign, as well as some insight into their characters. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:02 — 86.9MB)

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Carnagecast 30: Lords of Waterdeep

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In episode 30 of Carnagecast, the gang discusses Lords of Waterdeep, an Euro-style board game from Wizards of the Coast based on the perennially favorite world of the Forgotten Realms for Dungeons & Dragons. Rod runs down how the game works, then the conversation breaks out into how this game may appeal to different groups of people. Rod and Chuck point out that as Lords of Waterdeep mixes contemporary board game trends with a traditional role-playing world, it can bring the world of Forgotten Realms to a new audience beyond tabletop role-players, and potentially introduce longstanding Dungeons & Dragons players to a new kind of game for those nights when the whole group can’t get together for the campaign. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:17 — 44.3MB)

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Carnagecast Extrasode 7: A Midsummer’s Game Night

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In extrasode 7 of Carnagecast, Sarah and Tyler spend some of the drive home discussing this year’s Summer Game ‘n Grill, hosted by Green Mountain Gamers in Middlebury, Vermont. It turns out Tyler spent most of his day locked in some sort of cooperative effort or another, while Sarah stretched her gaming muscle — also known in medical circles as “the brain” — after six weeks off the tabletop circuit. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:08 — 13.9MB)

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Carnagecast 29: Carnage Noir Update

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In episode 29 of Carnagecast, we bring news of Carnage Noir. The convention’s coming up the first weekend of November in Fairlee, Vermont. Game submissions are rolling in, but the deadline looms at the end of July for submissions to be included in the convention book.

Rod brings news of CCGs and board games, including special multi-table sessions of Battlestar Galactica and A Game of Thrones (second edition), plus the return of the kids’ gaming area for the younger set.

Griff’s got the miniatures pulse, with Centuries of Conflict covering the 20th century in historical miniatures — not the 19th, as Griff states in the recording — plus Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000, Warmachine and maybe even some Flames of War.

Gaylord talks through the GM’s dilemma of fitting role-playing scenarios into noir and hits on a switcheroo solution that should pique the interest of no small number of players.

Update! The Winter Kotei has moved to allow for a Saturday Legend of the 5 Rings tournament at Carnage. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:57 — 34.1MB)

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Carnagecast 28: Ben T. Matchstick and Library Gaming

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In episode 28 of Carnagecast, Ben T. Matchstick, Dungeon Master at large, comes on the show to tell us about founding a tradition of gaming in the local public library, and bringing the tabletop hobby to the next generation. At Montpelier, Vermont’s Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Ben brought comic books and tabletop games into the mix. In addition to running Dungeons & Dragons for children, he taught them to run it for their peers.

The motivations range from passing on a beloved hobby, to providing social encounters for a generation predisposed to video games, to bringing youth in general and boys in particular back into the library, to encouraging reading. As Ben points out, everything that happens at the table is life lessons: courtesy, cooperation, patience and more. With the advent of the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, young gamers have a great opportunity to learn that ultimately any game they run is belongs to them. If they’re having fun, they’re playing right. On the other hand, as for older gamers, a website like https://www.wsmcasino.com/ create a welcoming environment because it offers a user-friendly interface and engaging content that fosters a sense of community, ensuring everyone can enjoy the thrill of gaming.

Ben closes with a challenge to game masters to bring their gaming hobby to the public library, getting more people, children and their whole families, involved in the hobby. “It’s important that kids can be heroes again and create a game of their own.” Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:49 — 36.0MB)

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Carnagecast 27: Companions of the Firmament and Geek Industrial Complex

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In episode 27 of Carnagecast, we talk with Neil Carr of Geek Industrial Complex, based in Barre, Vermont. Neil’s raising funds via Kickstarter for his first role-playing publication, Companions of the Firmament, which brings flying characters, mount options and expanded aerial rules to the Pathfinder role-playing system.

Neil tells us about his goals for Companions of the Firmament: supporting a robust experience of flying in a Pathfinder-style role-playing game and using this book, along with previously published articles, to demonstrate to the role-playing community that Geek Industrial Complex can offer quality material. Neil also talks about his experiences with the crowdfunding model, including conducting a study of previous role-playing related funding campaigns and using that data as a guide to design his own crowdfunding effort.

We manage find time to ponder about the paradox of playing games of pretend that are structured to rule out certain modes of pretending. Why do people do that? Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:53 — 53.3MB)

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Carnagecast 26: Tales from the Fallen Empire

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In episode 26 of Carnagecast, James Carpio of Chapter 13 Press returns to tell us about his latest endeavor, Tales from the Fallen Empire, a sword and sorcery campaign setting for Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics role-playing game.

James tells about the world of Leviathan, formed from the carcass of a primordial dragon, and the people who scratch out a living after the fall of the Sorcerer Kings of old. It’s a world that samples from the buffet of history and fiction, where the elephant golem of Shesh carries a market on its back around the land of Kesh and the Draki people seek a way back to their home dimension. As a sandbox setting, James wanted Tales from the Fallen Empire to recapture the freeform nature of old school gaming, where the players’ choices kept the GM on his toes.

The conversation turns to the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG as well, and how it differs from its root sources, such as the character funnel leading up to a first level character, the hazardous, unpredictable nature of magic and the other alterations made to the core classes. Additionally, Tales from the Fallen Empire introduces its own variants, such as the sorcerer, drawing inspiration from the original pulp fantasy tales of Howard and Lieber, the pirate and the witch.

Since recording this interview, Tales from the Fallen Empire is now on Kickstarter! From now until the drive ends on July 18, 2012, backers can pledge money to fund the project and receive special rewards, which include the book itself, but extend to elements within the world of Leviathan. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:23 — 51.2MB)

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Carnagecast 25: 7th Sea and Heroes of Altamira

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In episode 25 of Carnagecast, we switch up the format. Mark Edwards comes on the show to talk about the role-playing game of swashbuckling fantasy 7th Sea and the living campaign he runs in the game’s world of Theah, Heroes of Altamira. 7th Sea combines the tropes of swashbuckling adventure movies and European history’s greatest hits with fantasy role-playing. Nimble fencers and sorcerers square off in the palaces and plazas to save the day — or ruin it.

Heroes of Altamira is a living campaign, one in which the actions of players affect future events and characters created in the first episode can, if their players desire, carry on all the way through the twenty-four episode arc. Mark also talks a bit about his philosophy of bringing new players into existing living campaigns and gives a peek ahead to what comes after Heroes of Altamira.

Additionally, discover the truth of DOMINGO GIGANTE! Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:20 — 29.1MB)

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Carnagecast 24: David Cheng of the Schenectady Wargamers Association and Endeavor

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In episode 24 of Carnagecast, we catch up to David Cheng, then still basking in the hubbub of Carnage in Wonderland. David recaps his weekend spent participating in DipCon 2011, then tells us about the Schenectady Wargamers Association and their many events through the year, especially Council of 5 Nations, held every October in Schenectady, New York.

For Autopsy of a Game, Chuck, Robert and Rod gather round the table to talk about Endeavor, a semi-abstract colonization title from Z-Man Games in which players establish trade routes to other parts of the globe to build up the non-specific European powers they each represent. Robert makes no bones about his love for Endeavor as he frequently — though not today — puts the question: “Endeavor: great game or greatest game?” While initially enjoying it, Chuck found the appeal wore off as the dominant strategies emerged from repeated plays. Robert counters that the random mix makes it a game of opportunity. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:50 — 21.7MB)

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RPG Podcast Survey 2012

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The Podge Cast opened their 2012 survey of role-playing game listeners. If you’d like to complete the survey and help give podcasters an idea of their audience’s makeup and aspects, use this link — it’ll show that Carnagecast sent you.