S2E40: Alone Against The Tide

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 LookWe 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/naylorjamesNaylor Games website: https://naylorgames.com/Magnate Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MagnateboardgameMagnate website: https://magnategame.com/Producing Fun Podcast: https://anchor.fm/naylorgamesOur 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/tabletopgamingmagIf 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 RPGAfter 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/tabletopgamingmagIf 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/tabletopgamingmagIf 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/ 

Call of Cthulhu is 40 years old – and to celebrate we’ve put together a low-budget low-talent actual play of the solo adventure Alone Against The Tides. We’ve used some ambient noises from ZapSplat to flesh it out, and, to give it that special something, recorded it very tired with a bit of a cold. We’ll be at Dragonmeet on the 4th December – come say hi. If there’s something you think we should definitely check out, then leave us a review telling us exactly what that is. NOTE: I say that an extreme success is a quarter of the skill value, when in fact, it is a fifth. Sorry!

We sit down with Chris Bissette to talk about his new Fighting Fantasy style adventure book for Troika, Down in Yongardy. We discuss his motivations for creating the game, and a little bit about the setting and The Law. We give Troika a light roasting as well as explore its potential and why it has such a large following. Plus, we talk about Chris’ Random Adventure Jam, using Twine to create interactive fiction, and the Rainy Day Games feature in the magazine, which he contributes to.(I thought this wend up on Thursday last week actually, no idea which gremlins got involved to eat the file!)Back Down In Yongardy on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/loottheroom/down-in-yongardy-a-troika-solo-gamebook/descriptionFollow Chris on Twitter:https://twitter.com/pangalactic Buy Tabletop Gaming Magazine:https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/Store/Back-Issues/tabletop-gaming  Read our review  The Wretched here:https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/reviews/the-wretched-review/

We chat to Ben Maddox of Five Games For Doomsday about his recent foray into the solo indie RPG Thousand Year Old Vampire. Ben has been recording an actual play podcast of the game with dramatic readings and a touch of audio theatre. We discuss the game and it's usefulness to writing, Ben's experiences of the game, and untangle the idea of 'progress' in a journaling game.FG4D Website: https://fivegamesfordoomsday.com/ Ben Maddox on Twitter: https://twitter.com/5games4doomsdayBuy the mag: https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/Store/Back-Issues/tabletop-gaming There's only a few of our advent calendars yet, and you've only got a week to put your orders in. Don't miss out: https://www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/games-store/advent-calendar/tabletop-gaming-advent-calendar-2021/ 

Welcome to issue 60, which will be landing in your local shops or on your doormat on the 22nd of October, just in time for Halloween.We’re celebrating this spooky time of year with an exclusive scenario for Vaesen: Mythic Britain. Over 14 pages in the magazine we offer up a full, unreleased scenario for you to get started dealing with the folklore of Britain. Chris and Charlie chat about the scenario, and the opportunities that this kind of roleplaying brings. They also discuss Call of Cthulhu and the excellent Scritch Scratch scenario, just released in paperback form.Next we move on to the world of Necromolds. It’s about smashing play-dough monsters, and it’s exactly as fun as it sounds. Officially Charlie’s favourite wargame ever.Beyond the  battlefields strewn with play-dough corpses is the bountiful world of Catan 3D Edition. It’s 300 quid, and was Charlie’s first Catan experience. Is it worth it? We discuss.We take a detour through the roll-and-move mechanic of  7 Moons before coming to our final stop: Pokemon, which one is the most delicious? Charlie has begun a journey to find out which, via the medium of Pokemon trading cards.And finally, we waffle on about what we’d like for Christmas. Your challenge for this podcast is:Write us a review that contains a D6 table for things you might find in abandoned pokeballs discovered in your uncle’s attic.