Epic Adventure

Steve Kellams

Are you ready for an epic adventure? Welcome to the Epic Adventure Podcast! Host Steve Kellams and guests discuss all things table top roleplaying. From TTRPG news and tabletop RPG game design to tips and tricks to make your games epic.

  1. You Heard it Here Last S4E13

    hace 2 días ·  Contenido extra

    You Heard it Here Last S4E13

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome to you heard it here last were we talk about news, you’ve already heard. Let’s start todays episode off with…WoW And I mean that in a good sense. https://www.enworld.org/threads/dungeons-dragons-announces-gen-con-plans-including-a-takeover-of-6-story-building.719238/ Wizards of the Coast has released some of it’s plans for GenCon. And it’s pretty cool. The recently announced plans include a live performance of their Dungeon Masters show, a live concert, and a "short-play" experience. All of this will take place at the Indiana Repertory Theater, a six-story building in the heart of downtown Indianapolis that's being taken over by D&D and turned into a "D&D Tower," which Wizards describes as "six D&D-ified floors and adventures galore." As everyone should be well aware of by now we are not fans of Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, or D&D but for a change I have to say, good on them. When I first attended GenCon way back in the Milwaukee days the exhibit hall floor was dominated by a D&D castle. Filled with all things TSR it was glorious to behold and a joy to the eyes. I have missed that over the years. I have missed the biggest game in our hobby being basically absent from GenCon for far to long so It’s about time they changed course and brought back a presence to the convention. And it looks like it’s going to be a massive presence indeed. Christina, what do you think about D&D taking over a 6-story building in Indy for GenCon? [Kick to Christina] Mike, what about you. Glad to see D&D back in a big way to GenCon? [Kick to Mike] Up next, we have our own GenCon announcement straight from Oddfish Games. www.oddfishgames.com Adventure Scents by Oddfish Games will be at booth 720 this year in the exhibit hall, which is basically the same location they had last year so it should be easy enough for fans to find. On top of that cool news, we have a couple of new additions to announce that will be sold exclusively at GenCon. First, we have a complete campaign book for How to RPG With Your Cats. Scratch Marks: The Nine Lives of Claw Malone will be available for purchase at the booth. This campaign book has three distinct adventures for How to RPG With Your Cat that can be played separately or together as a complete campaign. Just like the core game you can play this with any gaming system or as a stand-alone system with your cats or inspired by your cats. And after GenCon you will be able to pick it up at Oddfishgames.com. Next, the Systems Reference Document for Leviathan Rising will be available. Not a QuickStart, because it won’t have any art or diagrams, but the basic rules for Dr. Christina Stiso’s new game will be available for download. She will be running three sessions of the game, but they sold out fast. So, if you didn’t get a chance to register to play then stop by the booth, scan the code, and get a copy of the rules to play around with. Leviathan Rising will be going to crowdfunding soon to be able to match the incredible game system with some incredible art and layout. Basically, make the Adventure Scents by Oddfish Games booth 720 a must stop on your exhibit hall foray this year. Christina, any other tidbits of information about Leviathan Rising you want to share? [Kick to Christina] Mike, are you excited to be able to offer some new things this year for GenCon? [Kick to Mike] And there you have it, all the news, you’ve already heard.

    12 min
  2. Setting the Stage

    17 jun

    Setting the Stage

    Send us Fan Mail I know this isn’t table top roleplaying, but stay with me for a moment. When I was a senior in high school the guy who ran our gaming and miniatures sessions invited us all to a Murder Mystery Party. We received an elaborate invitation with information about the “character” we were to play for the party. It also had suggestions for what to wear. When we showed up, his place was completely decorated. Lights, soft music, drinks and appetizers. He even had a waiter and waitress serving guests. When I made my way into his house it was like I was on another planet. I felt like an actor in a movie and even though I had never done anything like this before and I was a little scared about it, I got into it very quickly. By the end of the night, we had solved the murder…the waiter did it by the way, and I walked away having one of the greatest gaming experiences of my life. That night has always stuck with me, because it was more than the plot and more then the game. It was even more than hanging out with a lot of my friends and making new ones. It was really about the experience of the game and that was all created by the little things he did that often go overlooked. The lights, the music, the costumes, the food and the drink. On this episode we are going to talk about setting the stage for your games and how you can turn that dial up to 11 to really make an impact. Christina, have you ever had one of those fully immersive games? [Kick to Christina]

    49 min
  3. You Heard it Here Last S4E12

    10 jun ·  Contenido extra

    You Heard it Here Last S4E12

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome to you heard it here last where we talk about news, you’ve already heard. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06spb8w Several years ago, I stumbled across one of the greatest podcasts I have ever listened to. It was called the Lovecraft Investigations and it started with the Case of Charles Dexter Ward. I’m a huge fan of Call of Cthulhu and I’ve pretty much read all of Lovecraft over the years. Some good, some bad, but all of it steeped in the myth and mythos. Lovecraft was very good at atmosphere. This podcast was perfect. It felt like a real investigative podcast and with BBC 4 backing it the production quality was incredible. Over the next several years the Lovecraft Investigation podcast continued to slowly put out some fantastic episodes that really felt like you were in a Call of Cthulhu game. Then in 2023 it just stopped. Not a big surprise because podcasts stop all the time. But I was generally bummed. But good news does come to those that wait. https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/julian-simpson/lovecraft-investigations-the-call-of-cthulhu?ref=bk-ads-ga-p-20&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23860975866&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz9_QBhD_ARIsADnSCfDc7zHCkZjWINm47NNyZOau7v-un5Z63IHEX0AHXiH66Pn_noXAb-AaAokFEALw_wcB Lovecraft Investigations is coming out with Season 5. The Call of Cthulhu. This time they are going through Backerkit and all the original audio cast is joining the new season. They are offering digital downloads of the entire audio play as well as physical copies and extra books and items to make the entire thing special. If you haven’t listened to the original BBC4 podcast do yourself a favor and do it, right now, then come back to the episode. But even if you don’t want to go back and dive in you don’t have to because the new Season 5 is designed for people who haven’t heard any of the old episodes. I am stoked and yes I’ve already pledged. Christina, what do you think of audio plays like this? Is there a place for them in today’s CGI world? [Kick to Christina] What about you Mike, did you ever listen to the original Lovecraft Investigations? [Kick to Mike] Up next, we have more Conan! https://ttrpgfans.com/new-conan-the-barbarian-rpg-books/ That’s right, our favorite…at least for now…roleplaying game Conan the Hyborian age has new sourcebooks coming to Kickstarter. The campaign hasn’t launched yet, but it looks like we will get source books for Tortage which is a haven for pirates, thieves and smugglers in the Baracha Isles and Zamora the ancient land of dark sorcery and the home to the City of Thieves. Both of these settings I managed to avoid in our first campaign of Conan so as soon as I get my hands on these source books, we will visit Heliope, Drebu and the rest of our Hyborian friends again. Christina, what do you think about Monolith putting out sourcebooks for Conan? [Kick to Christina] Mike, this has always been your issue with new games, not enough lore. Does this new sourcebook get you pumped for more Conan? [Kick to Mike] And there you have it, all the news, you’ve already heard.

    11 min
  4. You Heard it Here Last S4E11

    27 may ·  Contenido extra

    You Heard it Here Last S4E11

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome to you heard it here last where we talk about news, you’ve already heard. https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-d-beyond-executives-explain-why-subscribers-cant-share-drops-content.719058/ Recently D&D Beyond has started providing Drops for their online subscriber-based system for releasing Dungeons and Dragons Material. The problem is, the new Drops, which include maps, characters, and premade encounters are not shareable. So even though D&D Beyond members have paid for Master Tier Access which runs around 55 bucks a year and is designed to allow you to share material…you can’t. D&D Beyond says they are doing this to ensure that creators get paid, but isn’t that the companies job? And if you tell people they are paying for a service like the Master Tier that allows sharing and then turn around and don’t allow sharing that seems a little shady to me…but it is Hasbro so it tracks. I think the real question I have here for the gang is this. In the digital age where everything is sold online and no one owns books anymore…how are creators going to get paid. Christina, let’s start with you. Kick to Christina Mike, put your business and tech hat on. What are the options? Kick to Mike Next up we have another Elric TTRPG on the horizon. https://www.enworld.org/threads/theres-another-official-elric-rpg-in-the-works-this-one-from-free-league.719041/ It’s cool to see Elric get some love lately. I mean the Witcher straight up stole most of it’s esthetic and even some of its story from the Elric saga so it’s not like he’s been out of the public consciousness…but I like seeing companies turn back to a foundational fantasy character like that. The fact that he’s a very complex character is just all the more appealing to me. But just like my last article, Elric isn’t what I want to talk about. What I want to ask you is Free League becoming the new Asmodee? Let’s start with you Mike Kick to Mike Christina, I know you are a fan of Free League, is it good or bad that they are grabbing up all the IPs right now? Kick to Christina And there you have it, all the news you’ve already heard.

    16 min
  5. You Heard it Here Last S4E10

    13 may ·  Contenido extra

    You Heard it Here Last S4E10

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome to You Heard it Here Last where we talk about news you’ve already heard. We are starting this episode off with one of Mike’s favorite settings; Fallout. (You thought I was going to say Star Wars) https://ttrpgfans.com/fallout-rpg-new-vegas-setting-guide/ Fallout is getting a new setting guide.  Modiphius is launching the “New Vegas Setting Guide” and is hoping to cash in on the Amazon TV series. What’s interesting about it is that it looks like we are getting more than just descriptions. The book looks to be chock full of NPCs, Locations, Character Options, and even Equipment. This could be a solid addition to the Fallout game and looks to drop in August…I bet you they will have copies at GenCon. Mike, we start with you, thoughts? Kick to Mike Christina, what about you, are you tempted by this setting guide? Kick to Christina Next up we’ve got a fun one…well at least I think it’s fun. https://www.rascal.news/magic-the-gathering-arena-developers-unionize-alleging-forced-ai-use-and-return-to-office-mandates/ Workers developing Magic: The Gathering Arena are forming a union called United Wizards of the Coast. They announced their formation under Communications Workers of America on Monday, April 27 and notified Wizards of the Coast and parent company Hasbro of their intent in a public letter. The new union asks to be recognized in their letter, which is strange because WOTC is based out of Renton Washington and the State of Washington requires them to recognize the new union. It also requires them to engage in collective bargaining. Finally, it allows the union to automatically draw funds from employees of the company even if the employees don’t want to be a member of the union… The public letter demands protections from layoffs, the ability to keep working from home and not having to come into the office, protections from generative AI use, just to name a few. I’m pretty sure Norma Rae would be rolling over in her fictional grave right now, but I thought this would be a very interesting topic for our segment, mostly because I am betting we have some disagreement on this one. Mike, let’s start with you. Thoughts? Kick to Mike Christina, I am expecting fire and brimstone…am I getting flamed here. Kick to Christina And there you have it, all the news that you’ve already heard.

    14 min

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Are you ready for an epic adventure? Welcome to the Epic Adventure Podcast! Host Steve Kellams and guests discuss all things table top roleplaying. From TTRPG news and tabletop RPG game design to tips and tricks to make your games epic.