RPG Ramblings with Nick Baran

Two years' worth of inventory, gone in six months. A sixty-thousand-dollar zine that will never happen again. A hundred bucks of black-and-white flyers, hand-folded on a kitchen table, that might be the best business card in the hall.Zac Goins joins me to argue about scale. He's running a big Limithron Kickstarter and shepherding SideQuest — a pile of tiny projects from a dozen creators — at the same time, and the whiplash gave him something to say. We get into where the real margins live, why complexity is the tax you pay for going big, and what my years at Caterpillar taught me about print runs: you are going to be wrong, and the only question is which direction.We also talk about the ticking clock that starts the moment your Kickstarter funds, why a group of writers demands you know your page count before you know your words, and the two SideQuest projects Zac thinks deserve your attention.If you've ever wondered whether your next project should be a zine or a doorstop, this is the conversation that answers it honestly.https://updates.kickstarter.com/meet-sidequest-a-community-effort-to-bring-tabletop-crowdfunding-back-to-basics/

Frank Tedeschi of Deadbox Games joins the show to talk Raptor Ruckus, the Mörk Borg-powered dinosaur survival-horror RPG he co-designs — including the featherless-dinosaur controversy and the "tenacity" system built to make predators behave like real predators. Then it's the Deadbox Games origin story (hand-sewn Ale Stone boards, the leap into risograph printing with Bleak Sprout), and a deep dive into Dark Mythos — bringing genuine Lovecraftian dread into a fantasy setting where victory still costs you something.

Matt Gullett has been building Eldritch Wastelands for ten years, and he’s finally letting the world in. An arcane apocalypse has torn a hole in reality, civilization has collapsed, and a hundred years later, psychopathic warlords and voodoo mamas rule the ruins of the Weird South. It’s Gamma World’s DNA filtered through Thundarr the Barbarian and seasoned with a Southern drawl — and it runs on ShadowDark.In this episode, Matt talks about why he ditched Savage Worlds mid-project, how a friend’s off-the-cuff recommendation changed everything, and why the stripped-down ShadowDark engine finally let his world breathe the way it always should have. He covers his Kickstarter’s blazing fast funding, his long-game vision for quarterly zines and new content, and why running games at Texas conventions has been his single best marketing tool.Along the way we get into the elegance of purpose-built game systems versus universal ones, the OSR community’s genuine warmth, RPGs as a tool for social development — Matt credits the hobby with curing a childhood stutter severe enough to make ordering ketchup at McDonald’s a crisis — and the stories behind some of the hobby’s most generous people.This one is for anybody who wants their apocalypse with a drawl.

This week Nick Baran of Breaker Press joins me. We talk about his project Rabid Dogs v.3 on Kickstarter. Utilizing the DCC ruleset, Nick has created a setting the emphasizes the difficulties of living in a medieval time period made more difficult by corrupting force that insinuates into their lives and even ruins their food. We also talk about a lot of groovy things, including writing adventures based on song titles, professional GM’ing and expanding one’s gaming experiences. Sisters and brothers, I think you will love this episode.Link to Nick’s Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/breakerpressgames/rabid-dogs-vol-3-zine-with-collectors-boxLink to Nick’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@breakerpressgames

Getting older changes my perspective on things, especially when it comes to employment. I am not offering any life-coaching advice but am leading a discussion with Zac and Brian on the subject of vocation as it relates to the core of who we are and what we want out of life. I hope you find this discussion helpful and lead you too consider what you want out of life and how to pursue it.Alas, this is an RPG Ramblings episode, so expect some rambling.Brian Colin - https://briancolin.comZac Goins - https://www.zacgoins.com

Who doesn’t love the Jurassic Park movie? The theme of modern people, without the benefits of advanced technology and high powered weaponry, facing dinosaurs make not only good movie making but also a fantastic RPG. Zac Goins (Snapback Game Studio) and Brian Colin (Grimm Expanse) join me to talk about their latest project: RAPTOR RUCKUS. »Click here to go to the Kickstarter Page«

You can do it...For this episode Zac Goins, Gregory Harris, and Danny Grimes joins me for a discussion on writing adventures for your tabletop RPGs. We have a variety of experiences and approaches to guide you on your own path.Kickstarters mentioned in the videoOSE Adventure Double-Feature - Two great OSE adventures https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1580058713/ose-adventure-double-feature?ref=50eyu6The Devoured Labyrinth - more than 40 one and two page dungeons for Shadowdarkhttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/toweringtales/the-devouring-labyrinth?ref=4psqyh

Zac Goins joins me to discuss ways of marking one’s Kickstarter projects. Producing content and getting print is hard enough, but adding in the marketing side can be daunting. I am not great a promoting my work, so this was an opportunity to brainstorm, and tease out ways one can bring in backers and get them to pledge early. Take everything we say with a grain of salt. No Sleep Till Brooklyn,Jeff Jones

E152. “Denizens of the Blood Sands “ with Zac Goins  and Will Tramp5.03Welcome RPG Ramblings with Jeff Jones. This a quasi–weekly show exploring the various details of the TableTop RPG hobby through discussions with interesting people. Today, Zac Goins and Will Tramp, also known as “This Effin GM” joins me to discuss Denizens of the Blood Sands. This is a science fantasy bestiary that we think will blow your socks off. So grab a fresh pair of socks and get ready to travel to a distant moon, full of danger and adventure.Zac GoinsWebsite: https://www.zacgoins.comWill Tramp Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsrgkMPH22ypeHtL9dOicTQLinktree: https://linktr.ee/Thiseffingm———————————————————————————————Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/RPG_Ramblings————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————Jeff Jones Twitter: @I_Am_Jeffrey Website: rpgramblings.com DriveThru: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?author=Jeffrey%20A%20Jones

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1580058713/dark-visions-shadowdark-rpg?ref=9gwf89 Welcome RPG Ramblings with Jeff Jones. This a quasi–weekly show exploring the various details of the TableTop RPG hobby through discussions with interesting people.  Today, Zac Goins joins me and we talk about our latest project - Dark Visions. This a supplement for ShadowDark and is perfect for adding dark cults into your game. We are going to Kickstarter on the twentieth of January. If you hear this between now and then, please go and follow the project. We are nearing 400 followers, and your follow may push us over the line.