191: Don't Hate the Game, Hate the Players?

This week I'm joined by someone who I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple times in-person, and who is also behind a service that I very much enjoy using. This week it's a conversation with JJ from the team behind RPGSessions.com, which is a website/service/VTT specifically designed for the narrative dice system games (Star Wars and Genesys). While I love playing games online, I don't particularly love using VTTs, but RPG Sessions is kind of an exception to that, but to find out more, you'll just have to listen to the conversation!   Check out RPG Sessions (make a FREE account and try it) at:  https://rpgsessions.com/   Check out JJ's Instagram at:  https://www.instagram.com/joress_id/   d20 Network Spotlight:  The Story Told -- https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/   Game of the Week:      Steve S: Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/510395/machine-gods-of-the-noxian-expanse-core-rules?affiliate_id=2018399      JJ:  Scum and Villainy -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/198681/scum-and-villainy?affiliate_id=2018399   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, Dave Smith, Brett Bowen, Nate Doverspike, and Dec!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   Join the conversation on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW You can reach us at [email protected] On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpps0vVXLSGrOdM8i4ntFiQ On BlueSky @meandsteverpg.bsky.social Our Drive-Thru RPG affiliate link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=2018399 Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/ d20 Radio Discord Server:  https://discord.gg/aj3JdFtSM8 #ttrpg #StarWarsRPG @GenesysRPG #tabletoproleplaying #indieRPG

This week I'm joined by creator, and fellow GamerNationCon attendee Adam B to talk about his creations, which include the freshly-released Deeper Dungeons, as well as Darker Futures, and Further Stars, which are all really cool and very useful books for generating NPCs, as well as factions, sites, and all sorts of other useful things for your games in various genres. If you're interested in these products, you can find these 3 here:  https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/27994/bright-sun-games?affiliate_id=2018399 Additionally, you can find the website at https://brightsungames.com/ And his Itch.io page with some cool free stuff:  https://bright-sun-games.itch.io/   d20 Network Spotlight: OpCast -- https://anchor.fm/s/66b17400/podcast/rss   Game of the Week:      Steve S:   Solo Micro RPG -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/526845/solo-micro-rpg-a-practical-guide-to-fast-solo-play?affiliate_id=2018399      Adam B:  Galactic & Going Rogue -- https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/galacticgoingrogue/galactic-and-going-rogue-two-ttrpgs-of-war-among-the-stars?ref=card   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, Dave Smith, Brett Bowen, Nate Doverspike, and Dec!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   Join the conversation on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW You can reach us at [email protected] On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpps0vVXLSGrOdM8i4ntFiQ On BlueSky @meandsteverpg.bsky.social Our Drive-Thru RPG affiliate link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=2018399 Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/ d20 Radio Discord Server:  https://discord.gg/aj3JdFtSM8 #ttrpg #GMAdvice #tabletoproleplaying #indieRPG  

This week it's a conversation about stealing techniques from different sources, inspired by a wonderful little Canadian drama series called Cardinal. We have a bit of a chat around things like intertwining story elements, wrapping those elements up, and how sometimes looking at something different can help you learn new things!   d20 Network Spotlight:  I Should Roll -- https://ishouldroll.com/   Game of the Week:      Steve G:  Regen -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/525487/regen?src=newest_recent&affiliate_id=2018399      Steve S: Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/251431/return-of-the-lazy-dungeon-master?src=hottest_small&affiliate_id=2018399   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, Dave Smith, Brett Bowen, Nate Doverspike, and Dec!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   Join the conversation on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW You can reach us at [email protected] On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpps0vVXLSGrOdM8i4ntFiQ On BlueSky @meandsteverpg.bsky.social Our Drive-Thru RPG affiliate link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=2018399 Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/ d20 Radio Discord Server:  https://discord.gg/aj3JdFtSM8 #ttrpg #GMAdvice #tabletoproleplaying

When is it ok to go how zany in a game? And how do you "control" the table to keep the tone of the session where you'd like it? That's exactly what we have a chat about in this week's episode! So join us for the conversation!   d20 Network Spotlight:  The Genesys Archives -- https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/thegenesysarchives/   Game of the Week:      Steve G:  The No-Prep Gamemaster -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/524180/the-no-prep-gamemaster-train-your-brain-to-run-tabletop-roleplaying-games?src=fp_u5&affiliate_id=2018399      Steve S: To Alex!  -- https://200wordrpg.github.io/2017/rpg/2017/04/21/ToAlex.html   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, Dave Smith, Brett Bowen, Nate Doverspike, and Dec!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   Join the conversation on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW You can reach us at [email protected] On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpps0vVXLSGrOdM8i4ntFiQ On BlueSky @meandsteverpg.bsky.social Our Drive-Thru RPG affiliate link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=2018399 Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/ d20 Radio Discord Server:  https://discord.gg/aj3JdFtSM8 #ttrpg #GMAdvice #tabletoproleplaying

This week I'm joined by JT Dimino for a chat inspired by a combination of a cheap Bluetooth speaker and a song by Megadeath! We have a bit of a chat around making sure that you're getting the point you intend to across to your table while you're GMing! Also there's some talk about finding help and information in unexpected places. Links: d20 Radio Discord Server:  https://discord.gg/aj3JdFtSM8 Referenced Dave Nihill video:  https://youtu.be/-3vmxQet5LA?si=bsGlDG73rGjkPCbZ   d20 Network Spotlight: We Fix Games -- https://glitterfoxmedia.com/we-fix-games-2/   Game of the Week:      Steve S:  Heavy Metal Wizard Sorcerors -- https://200wordrpg.github.io/2016/rpg/finalist/2016/04/11/HEAVYMETALWIZARDSORCERORS.html      JT D:  One Last Job -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/126913/one-last-job?affiliate_id=2018399   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, Dave Smith, Brett Bowen, Nate Doverspike, and Dec!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   Join the conversation on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW You can reach us at [email protected] On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpps0vVXLSGrOdM8i4ntFiQ On BlueSky @meandsteverpg.bsky.social Our Drive-Thru RPG affiliate link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=2018399 Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/   #ttrpg #GMAdvice #tabletoproleplaying

This week I got to sit down with another awesome person I met at GamerNationCon!   I'm joined by Nate, from The Tabletop Empire YouTube channel to talk about his channel, their Dark Underworld actual-play, some of the things that happen before we all get to see anything, and of course we talk about why Star Wars is just an absolutely awesome setting for roleplaying games.   If you want to check out The Tabletop Empire check out the links below!    Youtube --  https://youtube.com/thetabletopempire     Website -- https://thetabletopempire.com/     Patreon -- https://patreon.com/thetabletopempire     Instagram -- https://instagram.com/thetabletopempire   d20 Network Spotlight:     Eberron Renewed -- https://zencastr.com/Eberron-Renewed   Game of the Week:      Steve S: Daggerheart -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/508832/daggerheart-corebook?src=hottest&affiliate_id=2018399      Nate:  Kirby Air Riders -- https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-2-games/Kirby-Air-Riders-2785805.html?srsltid=AfmBOorl2XT9g3W2ISiHKkmwlcPcNAtv8DaMHxuaFBsWFTqwa2cJWZgf   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, Dave Smith, Brett Bowen, Streety, Nate Doverspike, and Dec!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   Join the conversation on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW You can reach us at [email protected] On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpps0vVXLSGrOdM8i4ntFiQ On BlueSky @meandsteverpg.bsky.social Our Drive-Thru RPG affiliate link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=2018399 Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/   #ttrpg #StarWars #tabletoproleplaying  

     This week I'm joined by a couple of friends who also have a podcast on the d20 Radio Network!  I have a chat with Daryl and Robert from the How We Roll podcast to talk about their show, gaming, and some of the fun that we've been able to have together.      If you want to check out their show, you can find it here: Main Website:  https://howwerollgaming.com/ YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@HowWeRollGaming Patreon:  https://patreon.com/howwerollgaming and Casual Nerdity:  https://casualnerdity.com/   Game of the Week:      Robert:  Katana-Ra -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/441892/katana-ra-core-rule-book?affiliate_id=2018399      Daryl:  Cats of Catthulhu -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/496684/cats-of-catthulhu-10th-anniversary-compendium?affiliate_id=2018399      Steve S:  Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/433045/neon-lords-of-the-toxic-wasteland-core-rulez?affiliate_id=2018399   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, Dave Smith, Brett Bowen, Streety, Nate Doverspike, and Dec!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   Join the conversation on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW You can reach us at [email protected] On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpps0vVXLSGrOdM8i4ntFiQ On BlueSky @meandsteverpg.bsky.social Our Drive-Thru RPG affiliate link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=2018399 Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/

Welcome to the finale for this short Monster of the Week game. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did playing it! Terry was able to make this session, though Hagen wasn't feeling well and couldn't make it, but we continued on to finish this short story.    As folks are I'm sure familiar, sometimes everyone just can't make it, so we just played with who was there! We recorded this in late spring of 2024, right before I had to switch shifts at work, so it was kind of a 'last hurrah' for the group that had dubbed themselves "Those Guys".   A big "Thank You!" to Ben for once again running the game, and to Terry, Eric, Hagen, and Steve for coming along for the fun! I hope you all enjoy!        Monster of the Week from Evil Hat Productions -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/2152/evil-hat-productions/category/33658/monster-of-the-week?affiliate_id=2018399   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, Dave Smith, Brett Bowen, Streety, Nate Doverspike, and Dec!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   Additional audio and background sourced from Tabletop Audio -- https://tabletopaudio.com/   Join the conversation on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW You can reach us at [email protected] On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On BlueSky @meandsteverpg.bsky.social Our Drive-Thru RPG affiliate link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=2018399 Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/

Ok, yeah, kinda click-baity title...  But really, sometimes we blame the wrong thing, and that's what we're talking about on this episode!  (And we're not suggesting that y'all should hate anyone!)   d20 Network Spotlight -- The Order 66 -- https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/order-66-podcast-38220?   Game of the Week:      Steve G:  Triangle Agency -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/505881/triangle-agency?affiliate_id=2018399      Steve S:  Sinless -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/472142/sinless?affiliate_id=2018399   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, Dave Smith, Brett Bowen, Streety, Nate Doverspike, and Dec!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   Join the conversation on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW You can reach us at [email protected] On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpps0vVXLSGrOdM8i4ntFiQ   On BlueSky @meandsteverpg.bsky.social Our Drive-Thru RPG affiliate link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=2018399 Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/

Welcome to the first half of the 3rd (and final) session of play for this short Monster of the Week game. Terry was able to make this session, though Hagen wasn't feeling well and couldn't make it, but we continued on to finish this short story. I hope you all enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed playing it!   As folks are I'm sure familiar, sometimes everyone just can't make it, so we just played with who was there! We recorded this in late spring of 2024, right before I had to switch shifts at work, so it was kind of a 'last hurrah' for the group that had dubbed themselves "Those Guys".   A big "Thank You!" to Ben for once again running the game, and to Terry, Eric, Hagen, and Steve for coming along for the fun! I hope you all enjoy!        Monster of the Week from Evil Hat Productions -- https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/2152/evil-hat-productions/category/33658/monster-of-the-week?affiliate_id=2018399   *We have an affiliate link with Drive-Thru RPG.  All this does, is give us a small percentage of your purchase cost on Drive-Thru as a "referral bonus".  It does not cost you, as a consumer, anything extra.*   We greatly appreciate the donations of our Patreon supporters: Eric Witman, Jeff McKinney, Joshua Gopal-Boyd, Dave Smith, Brett Bowen, Streety, Nate Doverspike, and Dec!  Y'all make keeping this going possible!   As always folks, have fun, be kind to each other, and go play some rpgs!   Additional audio and background sourced from Tabletop Audio -- https://tabletopaudio.com/   Join the conversation on our Discord! Me And Steve RPG Discord  https://discord.gg/5wWNcYW You can reach us at [email protected] On Facebook as Me and Steve RPG Podcast On BlueSky @meandsteverpg.bsky.social Our Drive-Thru RPG affiliate link https://www.drivethrurpg.com/?affiliate_id=2018399 Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/MeandSteveTalkRPGs We are proud members of the d20 Radio Network! http://www.d20radio.com/main/