I’m kind of looking forward to, and kind of sad about, the changes coming to Bear Swarm. I’ve been with you guys since the single digits and enjoyed (almost) every episode thoroughly, really enjoy your insights on RPGs, even if I do spend at least half my time wanting to strangle you for being so horribly, painfully wrong. :P

But change happens, it’s the way of things, and I’m hopeful things will come out at least as good. … Jesus fuck, I got way off my topic. I’m gonna kill this while I have a chance.

I disregard rules for the sake of telling a story but there are games out there with rules the actually help tell a story.

The biggest reason that I still play traditional role-playing games is because its nigh-impossible for me to find a group that doesn’t still want those style games. As long as I pretend to play by the rules, no one cares and I can play the game how I prefer playing.

But if you’re going to bother playing a Role-playing GAME, you should actually play the game. And rules are what make a game. I don’t advocate strict adherence to the absolute letter of the law, because sometimes the rules are just stupid, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

If you’re not? Well, drop the game, just roleplay. As long as nobody’s an asshat or overly competitive douchebag, it works out great. Play your characters, tell your stories, and don’t bother with random decision makers, rule mechanics, or any of that crap, and leave the games to the Xbox.

Name of the Wind is also pretty solid, nothing new in terms of the fantasy genre, but very well executed.

You guys, however, have opinions with which I can identify. I can sink my fingers into your discussions on film, and, as such, I can relate to your disparate ideas on role-playing games. Good job, fellows.

That said, I’ll still listen to the Podge Cast, but only while I’m waiting for a new Bear Swarm episode.

Also, screw you guys for telling me about Bully Beatdown, because I’m watching this show instead of doing stuff I’m supposed to be doing.

I have to say, if, like Rob said, you stop playing your character and stop playing the board, that doesn’t sound like 4E’s fault. That sounds like crappy encounter design.

And since this is the first time I’ve commented on an episode, I have to add: Mike, you need to say “fair enough” more often.

The second season was a conspiracy-laden thriller packed with secret societies and apocalyptic prophecy that ended with most of the main characters dead or gone. 95% of the stuff introduced in the first season was completely erased or ignored. The second season is some of the best television Ten Thirteen Productions ever put out. I can’t recommend it enough.

The third season became a buddy cop show (in the vaguest sense) with 95% of the previous season erased or ignored, and it was a little too similar to The X-Files and it ultimately led to the show’s demise, despite the addition of FBI Agent Baldwin.

Watch the first and last discs of Season 1, and all of Season 2. Fantastic stuff.

http://loadingreadyrun.com/

and nothis is not a shameless plug….

The IMDB page is:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113492/

*pets albino ferret*

The cat’s in the shop.

And also the blogging software seems to have eaten the winking smiley I put at the end to indicate that while it was a legitimate criticism, I was having fun with it.

First, their completely unedited. We don’t listen through them and cut out all the little noises to make ourselves sound better for a couple reasons. Firstly being its five hours of, what we consider, bonus audio. These aren’t our main episodes and are just supplements for our Reviews. Second, we produce Actual Plays to be more like sitting down with a gaming group and not like a scripted radio drama. And the last reason ties into how our Actual Plays are recorded.

We use an omni-direction microphone to pick-up EVERYTHING in the room. We don’t have our own mics and we don’t have the ability to NOT make noises into the microphone. A burp is going to pick up no matter where it is in the room, directed at the microphone or not. Sure, we COULD attempt to muffle the noise but that pulls us away from the ambiance of the game and back to paying attention to the fact that we are recording.

This is simply one of those cases of, we’re not going to change this for our extra content. If you don’t like an aspect of our Actual Plays, then you should likely just skip them. They are all going to be raw, unedited, Bear Swarm.

STOP BURPING INTO YOUR MICS!

It totally ruins the flow for the listeners and makes you guys sound like a bunch of unprofessional, disgusting louts.

Yes, I am well aware that firing off a loud, echoing expulsion of air from one’s gut is a prime expression of manliness, but it doesn’t belong in a podcast.

There’s one issue in particular (#2, in the first trade paperback) called “Big Wheel” that’s about a team sent in to deal with a government cybernetics project that’s about to escape into the larger world. Military grade cybernetics and enhancements are given a rather unflinchingly brutal look, not just in the freakish 500 million dollar man but even for the woman who just has one “super-arm.” As she puts it:

“I have to be careful with it. Bioelectric enhancements are cranky. It’s not just a case of sticking an artificial arm on. The surrounding bones and fibers have to be hardened and supported, or else the new arm will rip clean off your shoulder the first time you flex. You’ll need tensile support across your back, or your spine will snap the first time you lift something heavy. For a job like Quinn’s you need new skin; human skin isn’t tough enough to handle the subcutaneous tension of superhuman strength. You’ll take a chip in your brain to handle the specific dataload from the artificial nerve system controlling the arm. You’re getting the idea right?”

And why did this emergency happen in the first place?

“Richard Quinn woke up two hours ago from a three-day sedation period following his last operation. And some damn fool let him look in a mirror.”

Read the series, I’m sure it’ll give you guys plenty of fodder.

Keep up the good work!

Glad you liked the book and thanks for the Obsidian Portal plug!

This episode is a fucking travesty. As a new GM, I’m seeking out podcasts that can help me be a better one, and I was excited to hear some ideas, advice, tips, and hear the experiences of some established players on this subject, which was supposed to be “First Sessions”.

Instead it was a bunch of idiot rambling without focus or coherence. When one of the first things said in the “we’re finally on-topic” section is “I don’t really have any advice for how to do a good first session”, you make me feel like I’ve completely wasted my time.

The only good thing about this podcast was that you labeled all the parts of it so I could skip to the part I was interested in.

The worst part was that once I got there, you STILL didn’t talk about the topic. What little discussion there was was general, vague, and obvious.

Put a little more effort in and you may have something. As it is, I’m not interested in listening to this again.