DiceCast

This is our first episode in quite some time. The initial discussion of "D&D Fifth Edition" (now officially known as "D&D Next") was recorded in February 2012 and is thus, dated; at the time, the most current news about it was in an article in the New York Times. Many recent podcasts (particularly ones made after Gen Con 2012) have discussed this topic in greater detail. We include this discussion to offer some perspective: this illustrates the various expectations and speculations that have been made about what will be the newest edition of what was once the most popular roleplaying game on the market, when it released in 2014 (or is projected to be at that time).

Furthermore, we discuss the dividing line between "indie" and "mainstream" roleplaying games. The line is thinner and fuzzier than many people believe and after you hear our discussion, you will have much food for thought.

Finally, we interviewed cartoonist extraordinare Stan Sakai at Montreal Comicon 2011. Mr. Sakai is famous for his work on the Usagi Yojimbo comic and many other fine works.

We return with an honest-to-goodness episode about a game topic! As much as we love interviewing interesting people who are connected to popular culture, it feels good to be back to the game table for an episode. In this one, we talk about miniatures; not miniatures wargaming, but the use of miniatures in roleplaying games (RPGs).

It seems almost odd that we have to introduce miniatures to roleplayers, because RPGs evolved from miniatures wargaming. Indeed, the first RPGs were miniatures wargames optimized to playing a single character, rather than an entire army; a character who went on to evolve from scenario to scenario; scenarios which were more than just a battle. It was when the emphasis switched to interaction and plots and away from combat that roleplaying games evolved into something in which miniatures were optional. This has been great for the maturation of the hobby, but maybe roleplayers are missing out on something.

To that end, we introduce miniatures to roleplayers in this episode, with a few tips on how to get started using them. THere is nothing in here about painting or customizing miniatures or producing scenery. Those are topics for future episodes. Rather, we talk about the general concerns that come with using miniatures at the roleplaying table. We also give the quick and dirty rules to PUMMEL!^® (Pick-Up, Multigenre Miniatures, Easy to Learn), a miniatures wargame that can be adapted to any RPG for mass combats; and we offer the quickstart rules for free download.

We also have an interview with Sherwin Tjia, author of the Choose Your Own Adventure-style adventure book You Are A Cat (published on Conundrum Press). Mr. Tija discusses his love of cats, of adventure books, and why he made You Are A Cat. We mention the Cat RPG by John Wick.

In this episode, we discuss running one-shot convention adventures. How do you fit a complete, satisfying adventure into a 4-hour time slot, and finish it? We discuss some of the dos and don'ts. Even if you never run one-shot adventures at cons or in stores, these are tips that can make anyone be a better GM, by helping accomplish more in a limited amount of time.

We also have a short interview with a member of the 501st Legion, Quebec.