NTRPG - Roll for Initiative Podcast - The Old School Interviews Episode

+Vincent Florio and I had a blast interviewing folks from the hobby last night at NTRPG Con for the Roll For Initiative Podcast . We scored some really great interviews.

Who did we interview you might ask?

+Richard LeBlanc
+Zach Glazar
Jeff Dee
The Frugal GM +Christopher Stogdill
Mike and Liz from Save or Die
Jim Wampler from Save or Die
DM Glen from Thaco’s Hammer
Jennell Jaquays

Give it a listen. It was a lot of fun and you can hear the Con energy in the background.

Photo courtesy of +Tim Snider , who we failed our roll to interview, but will have to track down at a later date. We understand there are apes in his future...

Live From NTRPG Con - Roll For Initiative Episode #179

Last night +Vincent Florio and myself did a short, special episode of Roll For Initiative from The Tavern's Community Room (Trinity I) at NTRPG Con.

We discussed some of the game sessions we had participated in and some of the cool gaming stuff available at the con.

Shout outs to +Bill Webb , Chuck Wright, +Joe Wetzel and +Christopher Stogdill

Join Vince, Tim Brannan and Myself on the Latest Episode of the Roll For Initiative Podcast!

Hey! I was on the Roll For Initiative Podcast! (follow the link to download the episode)

If I have to say so myself, I think this was an excellent episode ;)

(details are as follows - ripped for the RFI website)

Join Vince this week as he is joined by two special guests from the gaming community to chat about the various topics that are seen on Facebook and talked about in the gaming community.

Special Guests:

– Timothy Brannan, writer and blogger of the Otherside blog
– Erik Tenkar, Blogger of Tenkar’s Tavern.

Topics:

Dungeon Mastering?
– Is charging for seats in a local game (none conventions) fair or just greedy?
– charging to teach newbies how to play and be a DM?

Patreon/Kickstarters?
– playing a simple AD during a podcast is enough, but asking and throwing in plugs more then once is that over doing it?
– Are Kickstarters hurting the hobby or helping?

Buying Books?
– Amazon vs Local Store

Forums vs Social media platforms?
– Which is more helpful vs less informative
– Which encourages more interaction and thoughtful comments?

(and White Star - there must be White Star)

I Was a Guest Host on Roll For Initiative Earlier Today

See those new tabs up above? One is for +Dyson Logos ' blog and the other is for the Roll for Initiative Podcast. I just happened to guest on the RFI episode recorded this afternoon along with +Timothy Brannan (The Otherside Blog) and show regular +Vincent Florio . We had a blast. One of the topics was nothing other than RPG Kickstarters. I bet you can't guess the angle I took. No, really. I bet you cant. Heh!

The episode should get released midweek, so I'll update everyone when it lands. I've missed podcasting and expect to be getting much more involved come March / April in Podcast Land ;)

G4-9 by RC Pinnell Released for Free in PDF by the Roll For Initiative Podcast (1e)

Just in case folks don't remember, G4 thru G9 is a series of six adventures that pick up in spirit where the AD&D classic, G3 leaves off.

G4-9 haven't been available for a while, but thanks to +Thork Hammer and +Vincent Florio and the Roll For Initiative Podcast, these recent classics are again available for the one time only price of FREE ;)

Relive the early days of the OSR with the G4-9 Super Module and get your giant killing on!

Roll For Initiative Podcast - What To Expect When Playing RPGs in Different Settings - Your Bartender is a Guest Host ;)

Earlier today I sat down at the virtual gaming table to discuss the differences in play and expectations between conventions, organized play, home gaming and G+ gaming with +Vincent Florio and +Glen Hallstrom.

May we present for your listening pleasure Roll For Initiative Podcast Vol 3 Mini Issue 1.

I had a great time. Hopefully the three of us can get together and do this again sometime in the future ;)

Roll For Initiative Podcast Reviews "Basic" 5e D&D

+Vincent Florio and DM Nick do a decent job of reviewing the "Basic" 5e D&D rules from an OSR perspective in the latest Roll for Initiative Podcast. It's funny. My 5e Player's Handbook arrived today and I have even less desire to read it (and absolutely no free time or energy to do so these days.)

It appears to be much of what I expected, where the damage and hit points "go to eleven" and there are way to many safety features to prevent / avoid character death and true risk. Sure, a good DM could easily overcome that, but than why run the 5e rules?

When work calms down I'll give my Player's Handbook a decent read through, but for now my bathroom reading will be reserved for Designers & Dragons.

Latest Roll for Initiative Podcast Looks at G1 - Steading of the Hill Giant Chief

The latest episode of the Roll for Initiative podcast went up today, and the main topic of discussion was G1 - Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. It really does hit some old memories for me.

I'm not sure what my first module purchase was. Either G1-3 or A1 of the Slavers series (actually, A1 was the only part I had of that series for the longest time). I do remember that all of my initial AD&D module purchases were originally tournament modules.

Tournament modules require a whole different thought process on the player side than a regular campaign adventure, and I believe this is where the whole old school "save or die" or don't even try, comes from. I had traps in my home brewed dungeons in my early days of gaming, but hadn't encounters save or die before I started reading the TSR modules of old.

I also forgot how far 8 pages of adventure could go back in the early days. G1 crammed a lot of game play into minimal pages.

Big thanks to +Vincent Florio for plugging the Tenkar & The Badger podcast on RFI. Hopefully we'll meet (or gods forbid exceed) the expectations of most folks that bother to listen ;)

Latest Roll For Initiative Podcast with Special Guest Zach Glazer (Whisper & Venom)

+Zach Glazar makes an appearance on the latest Roll for Initiative podcast and talks about his Whisper & Venom setting and his upcoming Kickstarter.

Zach is a gentleman and an excellent podcast guest (I know, as +Jason Paul McCartan and I have already lined him up for our upcoming podcast ;)

Give the latest RFI a listen. Hell, give them all a listen. It's a damn good podcast.

(Get 10% off Whisper & Venom by going to www.lessergnome.com and using the coupon code RFI10. Coupon code good through Friday July 11th, 2014

Want to Listen to Vince Florio Interview Me (and others) at NTRPG Con?

I just finished listening to the 2nd RFI NTRPG Con 2014 podcast. Wow.

Frank Mentzer does an excellent interview. Really entertaining, knowledgeable and well spoken. Shit, Frank should be doing podcasts ;)

Frank opens the podcast and I close it. In between there are some decent interviews with others, such as Bill Barsh from Pacesetter Games. I surprised myself by not sounding half bad ;)

+Vincent Florio I enjoyed sitting down with you and Glenn, and I'm happy I was able to introduce you to Texas' own Shiner Boch :)

Weren't Able to get to North Texas RPG Con? Roll for Initiative Did a Live Podcast

+Vincent Florio from RFI and Glenn from Save or Die did a live podcast last Friday and Saturday at the NTRPG Con.

Some highlights:

Steve Winter - simply amazing info on the TSR days of D&D and Steve's high hopes for 5e.

Sandy Petersen - Cthulhu Wars sounds like a slamming game. Damn shame I didn't give it a closer look while I was at the con.

+Jim Wampler - Regular host on Save or Die and Spellburn. He says some very kind words about your's truly - glad we finally met over breakfast on Sunday. I need to thank +Doug Kovacs and +Michael Curtis for that luck.

Vince and Glenn did a nice recap of games I didn't get to play in either.

And other guests too numerous to mention :)

Assuming I made the cut, the next episode should have an interview with me from Saturday

Nice Mention on the Latest "Roll For Initiative" Podcast Episode

+Vincent Florio and the others at Roll for Initiative gave a nice shout out to the OSR Superstar Competition and this here blog on the latest episode. Now, if I had actually thought about proper promotion of events like this, I would have reached out to Vince weeks in advance, but I never expected this to be all that newsworthy.

Yes, I am well known for underestimating stuff in advance ;)

Most of my favorite RPG podcasts have been slow to update this week - to the point I was actually listening to terrestrial radio on my commute to and from work. Damn depressing - heh.