This week Alex makes a super half-assed pitch for his gonzo, retro-RPG Horde of Corpses...and we ask the question 'If you can't win an RPG, is it a game?' No, really - it's a thing we talk about. Tune in to hear our strategy for beating up the Podge Cast guys, reminiscences of failed game experiments (including the one Alex is publishing), what wargame features an average play-time of 1200 hours (and why), and what we think of Diplomacy. And as you'd expect, just talking about Diplomacy starts an argument. Imagine what playing the actual game must be like!

Show Notes

• Still Need Art for Horde of Corpses (G+ thread)
• Phoenix Command (Board Game Geek)
• Solved Games (Wikipedia)
• Checkers, solved!
• Campaign For North Africa (Board Game Geek)
• Diplomacy (Wikipedia entry)
• RPG's Defined (Mike Mearls' LiveJournal post)

Finally - the very first Yellow Menace Gamecast Actual Play! This episode chronicles one of our recent play sessions in which we highlight the Lady Blackbird Refresh Scene mechanic and demonstrate how it affects play going forward. Much inter-party conflict is had!

Dramatis Pesonae:

Ed - GM

Steph - T'Sareth (T'Skrang Elementalist)

Alex - Landas (Elf Warrior) / Khoral in Refresh Scene

Tony - Candace (Human Swordmaster)  / Gerhardt in Refresh Scene

Now that we've introduced our cast, let's see what kind of zany hijinks they get caught up in! Killing baby gods (and stealing eyes from big ones), shifting gears from task resolution to conflict resolution turns out to be harder than we thought, Ed regrets a few things, and Landas cries. Lots of drama within!

Part 2 of 2.

Show Notes

• Earthdawn
• Lady Blackbird

Direct Download (mp3)

Also - we're now part of the RPG Crosstalk community! If you have feedback or comments about the episode, please stop by and let us know!

(Note - The first file I submitted was truncated, causing the audio to cut out at 49 min or so...I believe the file has now been replaced, so if you want the full version please re-download.)

Fair warning: this is not a normal Gamecast. This is a Gamecast 'Gaiden', a 'side-story' if you will. Ed and I discuss the mechanics behind converting our Earthdawn campaign to John Harper's Lady Blackbird. This is in-the-trenches, let-me-tell-you-about-my-character, crunchy-as-all-fuck, game-mechanics porn. If that sort of stuff gets you wet, then step right up. Otherwise catch us on the flip-flop. You've been warned.

Ed chats about the transition from the old campaign to the new, why we did what we did, and I explain how John Leguizamo influenced my character. No, really.

Part 1 of 2.

Show Notes

• Earthdawn
• Lady Blackbird

As noted - we'd love some feedback on the episode since this is something of an experiment. Please send comments, compaints, or dirty photos to: musashi (at) yellow-menace.com.

Hey, it's the first installment of the Yellow Menace Gamecast! Most of us (Patricia excepted) are game geeks to one degree or another so it seemed fitting that we should spend a couple of hours a month talking about it. Plus - it'll give us extra incentive to attend Gen Con every year (not that we needed it)!

This week's topic is 'Has Pathfinder caught up with D&D 4e?', or as some might read it 'Has 4e utterly doomed Dungeons and Dragons'? 

(Side note: We recorded a totally different first episode, but it was pretty rambling and lengthy - certainly not the kind of episode you want to lead with...this new episode was recorded at the last minute. In case you're wondering, the topic of the original episode was 'Gaming With Kids' and included myself, Greg, and Ed. We may still post that at some point, but it's going to require some extra time in the oven so-to-speak.)

Show Notes

• Danger Patrol RPG
• Cyclopeatron article 'Pathfinder Ties 4e in Sales. Did Hasbro Drop the Ball With D&D?'
• Red Moose Games 'Pathfinding the Shark'
• Opening Theme Music: Bombskare 'Don't Give It All Away'
• Closing Theme Music: Filipeanut 'Pinoy Gamer'

Download as MP3