Tabletop Gaming Magazine Podcast Tabletop Gaming

We talk about the return of Kingmaker, a board game first published in 1974 with a loyal fanbase. Alan Paull joins us in a nice pub in Cambridgeshire to discuss reworking the game for a new edition to be released by Gibson Games via Kickstarter later in the year.
Kingmaker, originally designed by Andrew McNeil, is a game set in the War of the Roses and uses a flood of modern mechanics we take for granted, such as area movement, mutli-use event cards, asymmetrical forces and a bit of tableau building.  

We have a write up on Kingmaker, and many other games new and old in the latest issue of Tabletop Gaming magazine, go get a copy here: https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/Store/Back-Issues/tabletop-gaming/issue-65 

You can pick up many games published by Alan from Surprised Stare Games https://www.surprisedstaregames.co.uk/

Our music is Cloud Meetings by Body in the Thames: https://bodyinthethames.bandcamp.com/

Airecon 2022 Report: Blitzkrieg Sequel ‘Dogfight’ Announced and Moon First Look

We headed up to Harrogate on Friday to  bring you this podcast report from the show.

We get the exclusive announcement of PSC’s third title in the Blitzkrieg line, Dogfight. Dogfight is an innovative but simple aerial combat game that promises you that you can win the fight for the skies in 20 minutes.

Plus, MOON, the new game from Sinister Fish and Haakon Gaarder about building a new moon base, using a pick-and-pass method and some clever interactions.

And we get the scoop on Baseball The Card Game!

We talk to James Naylor about the recent Kickstarter scandals about distributed ledger technology (i.e. blockchain/nft/crypto adjacent stuff) and get his top five "deep" board games (by which we mean, games that he's really played to death over the last couple of years).

James is a London based board game designer and publisher who is passionate about product design and its role in creating game experience. James is the creator of Magnate: The First City, a midweight city building/property game released in 2021 to critical acclaim and commercial success. He now works full time building a pipeline of future Naylor Games’ releases including Boardgames: The Boardgame (The Card Game) which is due to hit Kickstarter later in 2022.  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/naylorjames
Naylor Games website: https://naylorgames.com/
Magnate Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Magnateboardgame
Magnate website: https://magnategame.com/
Producing Fun Podcast: https://anchor.fm/naylorgames

Our music is by Body In The Thames: https://bodyinthethames.bandcamp.com/ 


This episode we ask you to like and subscribe, over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/tabletopgamingmag


If you like the podcast, you'll love the magazine, which you can subscribe to here: https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/Store/Subscriptions/tabletop-gaming 

We get your “why 5e?” questions answered. Dark Souls The Roleplaying Game was announced this week by Steamforged Games. We got in touch with the game’s designer, Richard August, to discuss the kind game that it is and how it’s all going to work. 

The announcement also came with the news that it would use a Fifth Edition compatible system. Many fans of the videogame series complained about this online, partly it seemed because of the natural distaste players have for the world’s most popular roleplaying game (i.e. because popular things are popular to dislike) and the existence of the Japanese Dark Souls Roleplaying Game. You’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear Richard’s answers to that question in full – but in short: if the biggest problem many have with Fifth Edition is that you only have the verb ‘hit stuff’ in the game, then using it for a game that is, fundamentally, about hitting stuff, makes a lot of sense.

We discuss the kinds of adventures we expect players to be going on in the game, and try and unpick the thorny question of how to create new storylines in a world that’s so well defined in player’s minds. Subscribe to the podcast to hear more.


BONUS: D6 Adventure Hooks for the Dark Souls RPG

After talking to Rich, we tried thinking up a few of our own adventure starters. These are, naturally, not sanctioned by Steamforged or FromSoft. Many of these are inspired by the fan theories of Dark Souls 3.

1 . Catarina Crusade. The Onion Knights of Caterina have decided to wage a crusade against The Deep. You and your party have to shepherd them through the world on their way to confront Aldritch. Naturally, they’re very good natured, but easily tricked by other characters. A classic ‘herding cats’ adventure.
2. Orphanage breakout. Set before the sludge-slugification of Aldritch, when ferrying fresh bodies to the Cathedral of the Deep, players attempt to break into the Cathedral before it was fallen, and stop the grotesque consumption – possibly saving Anri and Horace from their childhood horrors.
3. Overdue. In the Undead Settlement players find a powerful spell book in the boarded-up house of a reclusive hermit, along with his body. A final note left by the wizard laments that they never returned the book they borrowed from the Grand Archives. Can the players make it into the archive, and can they return the book without incurring any deadly late fees?
4. A Box is a Box. Ludleth, the only remaining Lord of Cinder not driven mad, loves an experiment. While he yearns for the Transposing Kiln, he also has other ideas – mimic experiments. Can the players collect and transport three Mimic chests back to Ludleth so he can perform his strange experiments, without losing their heads?
5. Snappy Reunion. The swamps near the Crucifixion Woods have become impassable because of the giant crabs. They’ve gone completely wild. On closer inspection, they appear to be looking for one of their offspring. Can the players find the baby crab in the Catacombs and return it to its parents?
6. Greirat Rescue Squad. The thief has gone missing on his most recent mission to Lothric Castle, you suspect he is being held, once again, in a cell somewhere in the castle. Can you find him before it’s too late?





Our music is by Body In The Thames: https://bodyinthethames.bandcamp.com/ 

This episode we ask you to like and subscribe, over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/tabletopgamingmag

If you like the podcast, you'll love the magazine, which you can subscribe to here: https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/Store/Subscriptions/tabletop-gaming 

We caught up with Chaosium’s Mike Mason and Lynne Hardy to have a double-dip on Rivers of London RPG, Call of Cthulhu and tease a couple of new book coming from the publisher of Lovecraftian horror.

First: Mike Mason tells us about a new six part ‘College of Cthulhu’ campaign that sees investigators start as “spotty college kids” and over the the course of the proceeding years of horror, become grizzled investigators in the local area.

Next: Lynne Hardy talks Regency Cthulhu, briefly, and discusses some of the Sharpe-led inspiration for the new book.

Our music is by Body In The Thames: https://bodyinthethames.bandcamp.com/ 

This episode we ask you to like and subscribe, over on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/tabletopgamingmag

If you like the podcast, you'll love the magazine, which you can subscribe to here: https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/Store/Subscriptions/tabletop-gaming 


Leave a review – this time with your favourite ancient abomination from the Mythos.

We spent the day wandering a busy but safe Dragonmeet chatting. The show is still on today (Sunday 5th) – so head over to Novotel Hammersmith if you're on the hunt for your next gaming fix. Apologies for some of the rough and ready editing here, or: enjoy the ambience!
Find Dragonmeet and buy tickets here: https://www.dragonmeet.co.uk/ 

Our music is by Body in the Thames: https://bodyinthethames.bandcamp.com/

And you can subscribe to the magazine here: https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/store/subscriptions/tabletop-gaming/