The crew sits down to discuss the big issue we’ve been avoiding for the entire time this podcast has been around: Player and GM Authority. We break down the different kinds of authority and cite examples of how different games use them. Then we discuss how the traditional model of authority (most of it being in the hands of the GM) can cause problems.

Relevant Links

• Renato Ramonda (who’s name I butchered, sorry!)
• DRYH Italian
• Forge Thread about Authority
• Weapons of the Gods
• Dungeon Master’s Guide
• Gygaxian Lexicography
• Rule Zero
• Knights of the Dinner Table
• Shadowrun
• Burning Wheel
• Burning Empires
• Moldvey Basic
• The Czege Principal
• Soggy Cracker
• Polaris
• Grey Ranks
• Zombie Cinema
• Capes
• Wild Talents
• DOOM
• Marathon
• GNS
• In Nomine
• Shared Fantasy
• Ron Edwards Brain Damage
• Arcana Evolved
• Mutants and Masterminds
• Massive hero lists for Mutants and Masterminds
• Batman/Superman: Public Enemies
• FreeMarket
• FATE
• Spirit of the Century
• Dresden Files RPG
• Diaspora
• Starblazer Adventures
• Traveller

Crunchy Bits!

• Discussion Episode 17: Player and GM Authority 1 Hour
• Intro and Outro music provided by Oh Possum.

Here’s the 2nd half of Kevin’s interview with Ron Edwards.  In it we discuss the necessary skills and attitudes for approaching gaming, a breakdown of some of Kevin’s prior difficulties with Sorcerer, and finally some discussion on what The Forge is all about. Kevin does a fantastic job of sticking his foot in his mouth by comparing The Forge GenCon booth to a Scientology recruiting station. See how he backpedals! Awkward comparisons aside, I had a great time sitting down and talking with Ron. I look forward to seeing him again at Forge Midwest 2010!

Relevant Links

• Adept Press
• Sorcerer
• Trollbabe
• Prime Time Adventures
• Dust Devils
• The Forge
• Burning Wheel
• Planescape
• Runequest
• The Moose in the City
• In A Wicked Age
• Dogs in the Vineyard
• 7th Sea
• Over the Edge
• Riddle of Steel
• Shadow of Yesterday
• Burning Empires
• Jared Sorensen
• Inspectres
• Ars Magica
• Mike Mearls
• Ed Healy
• RPG.net
• Paul Czege
• Vaughn Bode
• Mark Bode
• Cheech Wizard
• Richard Dawkins
• Rob Bohl
• The Last Supper

Crunchy Bits!

• The Walking Eye Interview 11: Ron Edwards Part 2: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
• Intro and Outro music provided by Oh Possum.

Our review of “Vincent Baker’s Concentrated Awesome” aka Dogs in the Vineyard. We sit down to discuss the dice mechanics, moral ambiguity, and how advancement is inextricably tied into not only changes to your character, but also the damage model. Also, Brandon’s still not over his fear of cows.

Relevant Links

• Dogs in the Vineyard
• Vincent Baker’s Blog
• Dogs in the Vineyards Forum
• Apocalypse World
• State of Deseret
• Burning Wheel
• Diagonally Through the Woods
• Mutants and Masterminds
• D&D
• Warhammer Fantasy RPG
• Mind Flayer
• Arcana Evolved
• Burning Empires
• Oregon Trail
• The Jank Cast
• Call of Cthulhu

Crunchy Bits!

• Discussion Episode 16: Dogs in the Vineyard 50 minutes
• Intro Music from the soundtrack to The Proposition by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (the composer, not the comic writer)
• Outro Music “Palomino” by Tree Adams.

Due to some lucky circumstances, I managed to land an interview earlier this week with Ryan Macklin and Lenny Balsera. This was a serendipitous event, as Evil Hat had just released their official press release announcing the release date and info about the Dresden Files RPG. I sit down with these two and BS about the challenges of creating a game from the Dresden Files license, then we dive into some of the nitty gritty about how FATE was used to create the world of Harry Dresden.

Relevant Links

• Dresden Files RPG
• Evil Hat
• Lenny’s Blog
• Ryan’s Blog
• The Sunless Citadel
• Duke Nukem Forever
• Urban Fantasy
• Perdido Street Station
• Endgame Oakland
• Evil Hat Brick and Mortar Guarantee
• Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies
• Ptolus
• Chris Hanrahan’s Blog
• Scribd
• bittorrent
• GURPS
• Hero
• D20
• Starblazer Adventures
• Diaspora
• FATE mailing list
• Spirit of the Century
• Jared Sorenson’s 3 Questions
• The Wire
• Clark and Amanda Valentine
• Caine  (Kung Fu)
• Las Vegas: The Strip, Sumerlin, Henderson
• Steve Wynn
• Burning Empires
• The Bracelet Problem
• Mage (The Awakening and the older Ascension)
• In Nomine
• In Nomine Fate Fan Conversion
• Robert Bohl (and our interview with him)

Crunchy Bits!

• The Walking Eye Interview 9: Dresden Files RPG with Ryan Macklin and Leonard Balsera 1 Hour 26 Minutes
• Intro and Outro music provided by Oh Possum.

The gang spends a good 45 minutes ranting and raving about how awesome In A Wicked Age… is.

Relevant Links

• Lumpley Games
• In a Wicked Age…
• Sword And Sorcery
• Tanith Lee
• Jack Vance
• Robert E Howard
• Iron Age
• Marvel Comics Conan
• Lumpley Games Oracle Generator
• Misspent Youth
• Duel of Wits
• Emily Care Boss
• Mouse Guard
• Conflict Flow Chart
• The Dreaded D&D 3.5 Grapple Rules
• The Dreaded D&D 3.5 Attacks of Opportunity Rules
• Abulafia
• Silver Age Comics
• GURPS
• Grey Ranks
• Spirit of the Century

Crunchy Bits!

• Discussion Episode 15: In A Wicked Age… Review 50 minutes
• Intro and Outro Music from The Prince of Persia by Inon Zur and Stuart Chatwood published by Ubisoft.

Kevin, Misha, Sabe and Jason talk about their experiences with Blazing Rose.  It was the first GMless game for Misha and Jason, and we discuss how it resulted in a different play experience for them. The conversation then continues on to many differences between traditional and story games, and wraps with a bit of talk with Sabe about his inspirations for Blazing Rose.

Relevant Links

• Blazing Rose Page/Sabe’s Blog
• Diagonally Through the Wood
• Grey Ranks
• Shab-al-hiri Roach
• Agon
• Czege Principle
• Weapons of the Gods
• Dynasty Warriors
• Burning Wheel
• Burning Empires
• Willow’s Blog post about Burning Empires
• Exalted
• In a Wicked Age
• Riviera the Promised Land
• Primetime Adventures
• Lulu

Crunchy Bits!

• Discussion 12: Post Blazing Rose 44 Minutes
• Intro and Outro music provided by Oh Possum.

Kevin, Dan, and CJ discuss how secrets can be used in a game. We discuss the different kinds of secrets: Short Term, Long Term, Open, and Closed, as well as how each can be a boon or a bane to your game.

Relevant Links

• Guy Fawkes
• Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved (referred to as “The AE Game” several times in this episode)
• D6 Star Wars
• Cold City
• Diplomacy
• The Mountain Witch
• Vincent Baker’s example of a player-generated closed secret in The Mountain Witch
• Trapcast Forum Discussion about collaborative setting creation
• Trapcast thread about secrets
• The WAAAGH!
• Dogs in the Vineyard
• Mutants and Masterminds

Crunchy Bits!

• Discussion 11: Secrets 35 Minutes
• Intro and Outro music provided by Oh Possum.

The Walking Eye crew has a sit-down with the illustrious Luke Crane to discuss his games and gaming habits. We cover a fair bit of ground: a bit of rules theory, production strategy and the “unique challenges” that come with working with a licensed franchise. All in all this interview was a total blast and we look forward to a chance to do it again!

Relevant Links

• Mouse Guard/Burning Wheel
• Mouse Guard Comic
• Burning Empires
• David Petersen
• Independent Insurgency Interview with Luke
• The Blossoms Are Falling
• Chris Moeller
• Dictionary of Mu
• Blood Stained Stars
• Iron Empires
• Archaia Press
• Clinton R Nixon
• Realm Guard
• Black Flag
• Burning THAC0
• UberCon
• Gotham Girls Roller Derby
• Adobe InDesign
• Quark
• Weapons of the Gods
• Name of the Rose
• Vincent Baker
• kill puppies for satan
• Ron Edwards

Crunchy Bits!

• Interview 7: Luke Crane 1 Hour
• Intro music is from “The Ballad of Ivory Lass”,  Lyrics by David Petersen Music & Performance by Jesse Glenn
• Outro Music is from “The Plouescal Races” by Gaelic Storm.

Bumpers and Promos

• Spooky Outhouse

Brandon, Dan, CJ, and Kevin talk about our very enjoyable experience with Mouse Guard by Luke Crane and David Peterson. Be warned, we’re all pretty die-hard Burning Wheel fanboys, so there’s a fair amount of gushing in this review. We break down the basic structure of the game, how it differs from previous Burning games, and discuss it’s feasability for new players. Stay tuned, coming up next is our interview with Luke Crane!

Relevant Links

• Mouse Guard/Burning Wheel
• Mouse Guard Comic
• Burning Empires
• Macbeth Trait:  Macbeth is doomed. His doom is, in fact, foretold and inescapable. The player is encouraged to write his doom into one of his Beliefs. It always ends in his death. Please be as gory and descriptive as possible. The trick is to ensnare other people in his doom. Each character who changes a Belief to fall in line with Macbeth’s doom earns Macbeth one persona point. As he nears his fate, Macbeth’s options dwindle. Once the climax of his story has been reached—it’s time to confront his wife, the enemy has returned from abroad, etc.—Macbeth may only use actions in the Duel of Wits, Psychic Duel, Firefight or even the Infection mechanics once each. After he’s played that action into his doom, he may not use that action again—ever. If he should survive his fate, which is unlikely, Macbeth should count himself quite unlucky, as he’ll now live out the rest of his days dwelling on the horrors he’s committed, waiting for some other young Macbeth to happen upon him and push him toward his grisly end.
• In A Wicked Age
• Dogs in the Vineyard

Crunchy Bits!

• Discussion Episode 10: Mouse Guard Review 45 minutes
• Intro music is from “The Ballad of Ivory Lass”,  Lyrics by David Petersen Music & Performance by Jesse Glenn
• Outro Music is from “The Plouescal Races” by Gaelic Storm.

Bumpers and Promos

• Spooky Outhouse

I distinctly remember sending out an email to Dan, CJ, Brandon, and Jen a bit before Christmas that after reading the Luke Crane and David Peterson’s Mouse Guard PDF, we needed to bump it into the schedule as soon as possible. “As soon as possible” ended up being May, but we were no less eager to delve into the world of David Peterson’s seminal comic. This first session covers character creation, a fairly brisk and entertaining process.

Roles

• Kevin is the GM.
• Dan plays Conner Greenleaf.
  • Rank: Guard Mouse.
  • Belief: Bold action is the way of the Guard
  • Instinct: Check the weather every time we stop.
  • Highest Skills: Fighter 5 Weather-Watcher 5
  • Traits: Tough II
• CJ plays Thom.
  • Rank: Tenderpaw.
  • Belief : I’m ready to be a GuardMouse, and this is my chance to prove it to Tander!
  • Instinct:Meet the enemy Head-On.
  • Highest Skills: Fighter 4 Cartographer 3
  • Traits: Independent I, Sharp Eyed I, Short I
• Brandon Plays Tander Fizzcup
  • Rank: Patrol Leader
  • Belief : Our strength comes from the bonds of fellowship amongst the Guard; not the individual.
  • Instinct: Never let a young one go alone.
  • Highest Skills: Healer 6 Survivalist 4
  • Traits: Rational I, Old Fur I, Leader I
• Jen plays Josephine Wanderwing
  • Rank: Patrol Guard
  • Belief: Knowledge is Power. There is always time to research.
  • Instinct: Trust but verify.
  • Highest Skills: Pathfinder 6 Survivalist 5
  • Traits: Inquisitive I Curious I

Relevant Links

• Mouse Guard/Burning Wheel
• Mouse Guard Comic
• Dogs in the Vineyard
• Pai Mai
• Secret of Nimh
• Champions
• “Be bold then, I command you!”

Crunchy Bits!

• Mouse Guard Session 1 1 Hour 42 Minutes

By popular demand, Session 1 Broken down into smaller chunks:

• Mouse Guard Session 1 Part A 45 Minutes
• Mouse Guard Session 1 Part B 56 Minutes

• Intro music is from “The Ballad of Ivory Lass”, Lyrics by David Petersen Music & Performance by Jesse Glenn
• Outro Music is from “The Plouescal Races” by Gaelic Storm.

Bumpers and Promos

• Spooky Outhouse
• The Great Debate