02:55 : Failbooking
40:30 : Captain Black’s Sea Dogs
42:15 : Torchwood
44:55 : Beowulf & Grendel
45:50 : The Guild
46:05 : The Gamers: Dorkness Rising
50:20 : Shutter Island
54:35 : Maus
56:45 : Repo: The Genetic Opera
58:35 : Into the Woods

Shoutouts
Rob: The Trapcast
Mike: Felicia Day
Art: WD-40

05:10 : Legend of the Five Rings
10:20 : Houses of the Blooded
35:10 : The Wolfman
38:30 : Shutter Island
42:15 : World’s Greatest Dad
43:55 : Baseketball
44:45 : Evolution
45:10 : Hot Tub Time Machine
45:15 : The Name of the Wind
48:15 : Home Movies
51:00 : Send PC game suggestions to mike@bearswarm.com

Shoutouts
Rob: Stuff You Should Know
Mike: Solving History with Olly Steeds
Art: Lock and Load with R. Lee Ermey

We apologize for the audio quality on this episode.
The computer we record on had an epic meltdown and a new system was put in place, using Windows 7 and a fresh copy of Audacity.
Next week should be better. Again, apologies.

33:50 : Birthright
37:45 : Neil Diamond
39:40 : BioShock 2
40:00 : System Shock
40:45 : Deus Ex
43:20 : Mass Effect 2
43:45 : Shin Megami Tensei
44:00 : Dragon Age: Origins
45:40 : Gun
46:10 : Red Dead Redemption
46:50 : Modern Warfare 2
49:35 : Oblivion
50:45 : Kill Doctor Lucky
52:20 : Fallout 3

Shoutouts
Rob: Flirty Girl Fitness
Mike: Shake Weight
Art: Wolfman
Paul: Mass Effect 2

02:40 : Legend of the Five Rings
10:05 : Kobold Quarterly
15:20 : Blood & Honor
19:05 : The Imperial Court
34:50 : The 47 Ronin
46:25 : Neil Gaiman
1:01:00 : Dying Kingdoms

07:40 : 4chan
16:30 : Jade Empire
20:00 : Mass Effect
33:35 : Book of Eli
35:45 : Daybreakers
37:30 : After Armageddon
51:24 : “Elvendrums Song” by Elvendrums
55:20 :”Rhymer” by Elvendrums
58:46 :”Coolavin” by Elvendrums

Shoutouts
Rob: The Stabbing Contest
Mike: Jade Empire
Art: Lina (via Podgecast)

00:00 : Dragons Landing Inn

Artist : Capt’n Black’s Sea Dogges
Artist : Elvendrums
Artist : Bruce the Bruce of Queen’s Gambit
Album : Live at Visioncon 2010
Total Tracks : 21
Total Length : 01:01:35
Year : 2010

Individual Tracks
01: The Sea
02: Freestyle
03: Tuning Up
04: Spell
05: Amateur Freestyle
06: Mingulay Boat Song
07: Faster Mingulay Boat Song
08: South Australia
09: She No Play Drums
10: Spell
11: Yo Ho
12: Moose
13: Mermaids
14: A Short Irish Lass
15: When Your Man Has Sailed Away
16: All For Me Grog
17: Not Heard
18: Between Boston and Saint John
19: Donkey Riding
20: Untitled
21: Drum Finale

Complete Set
Single MP3 attached to this post.
Live at Visioncon 2010 (.zip)
Live at Visioncon 2010 (.rar)

02:10 : 1986 Bon Jovi
06:40 : Wilderness of Mirrors
12:40 : The Grapist
22:15 : Houses of the Blooded
30:35 : Make It Rain
34:45 : DrakeCon
35:50 : Ouroboros
36:40 : Bayonetta
43:20 : Dark Void
44:50 : Army of Two: 40th Day
46:35 : Way of the Samurai 3
46:50 : Starcraft 2
59:55 : Mass Effect 2

Shoutouts
Art: Mountain Dew
Rob: Karithina
Paul: Black Hole by Charles Burns
Mike: Leverage

All of these surveys are anonymous so I have no idea who said what, but that’s not important. Chime in and sound off on the comments that other listeners have already been vocal about.

Likes

(From 8/26/08 – 12/29/09)

• It is fun to listen to and doesn’t get dry. They cover a lot of games and podcast for the sake of podcasting.
• easy to listen, lots of info, fun, and entertaining
• The excellent balance of entertaining host bullshittery and semi-useful rpg discussion.
• Great cast rapport, lots of humor.
• RPG topics
• The report of the hosts is the best of any podcast I listen to.
• I enjoy the banter between the hosts and topic discussion.
• Their comprehensive discussions of the various facets of roleplaying games.
• Gaming information on games I’m not familiar with and their trying out and testing games. World design.
• The banter.
• humour / banter between hosts, (non) advice for gaming.
• Matt, Mike, Rob (not necessarily in that order). Banter topics are good. No censorship.
• The humor, the banter, the back-and-forth between the hosts on topics relating to gaming and genre entertainment.
• Good banter and hosts. Reularity of episodes. And most of all, “becoming recorded”!
• The banter between the hosts
• The banter portions of the show.
• The hosts bullshitting. Also, the word fuck.
• the attitude and personalities of hosts
• I enjoy the banter and interhost dynamic. Listening to nerds talk about nerdy things.
• Randomness that makes them so funny, the way things are gone through and talked about.
• Gamer talk

Dislikes

(From 8/26/08 – 12/29/09)

• Adam from the Podgecast.
• I miss Art.
• I could listen to it every day if it were new every day. More. Give me more.
• local area refrences
• I’d like more in depth discussion of the topics. All the hosts agree alot, and since there’s no one to argue with there not alot of depth to some of the discussions. I think someone playing devil’s advocate, or introducing a host who has different opinions then those already represented on the show would help.
• n/a
• Rob hasn’t put out a compilation of all of Mike’s recorded sighs yet.
• Juvenile behavior, opening banter.
• The ritualistic reading of the MEtagames bulliten, totally useless as I’m three states away.
• swearing, esp when it gets over-the-top. other podcasts I can watch happily with my wife, but this one I would often feel embarrassed about the language / topics of discussion.
• Any possible movie or book spoilers.
• Some of the opinions held by certain hosts are pretty different from my own, which can be either entertaining or annoying depending on how stridently they phrase it. And, frankly, claiming that when you say “gay” you don’t really mean it that way so it’s not an insult is a position that anyone over 16 should be able to realize is completely full of holes; they don’t do it much, but it stands out and makes them come across as ignorant.
• The weekly recap of television viewing habits. How sad. Read a book. One without pictures. Dweebs.
• Interviews.
• Boring moments.
• that it only comes out once a week ;)
• A couple memes are used a bit too often such as muting hosts and talk of “editing that out” revenge.
• Not enough Rob being an ass to the other hosts.
• Profanity

Other Interesting Results

(From 8/26/08 – 12/29/09)
Out of the 31 people who have taken the test, a whole two have been female!
58% are Single!
1 person speaks French!
29% listen to the episode more then once! (Seriously? What the fuck? I don’t even listen more then once!)
51% listen live from the site! (May be bias as that’s where the survey link is)
According to our Listener/Viewer Satisfaction section, our best area is the “Placement of ads or sponsorships in podcast” and our worst is the “Content”. High praise indeed!

“Hey, these guys don’t talk about much but their ad placement is FANTASTIC!”

03:30 : 3:16 Carnage Among the Stars
05:45 : Fireborn
33:00 : The A-Team
35:15 : Krull
36:05 : Clash of the Titans
38:45 : Next of Kin
39:50 : Taken
44:45 : The Life Aquatic
45:15 : Death to Smoochy
47:25 : The Royal Tenenbaums
52:40 : Pan’s Labyrinth
56:10 : Akira
58:45 : Cowboy Bebop
58:50 : Vampire Hunter D
59:00 : Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
1:02:45 : Steamboy
1:03:20 : Steam Punk Star Wars
1:03:20 : Steam Punk Star Wars Action Figures
1:03:35 : Evangelion
1:04:10 : Inu Yasha
1:07:25 : Leisure Suit Larry

Shoutouts
Rob: Save Against Frostbite
Mike: PG Porn’s Helpful Bus
Artemis: Lacuna Coil
Paul: Chantix

01:35 : Berries & Cream
04:24 : Geist
04:37 : Ralph Machio
06:30 : Forgotten Realms
13:52 : The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
18:06 : The Unit
34:25 : Eberron

Shoutouts
Rob: The Podgecast
Mike: Scribblenauts
Artemis: Primus
Paul: Waffles

No one bothered to do show notes.

05:25 : Dr. Who
05:37 : American Dad
24:25 : Potentate
31:35 : Warcraft 2
35:48 : Dragon Age: Origins

Shoutouts
Rob: OXM Podcast
Mike: Vans
Artemis: MTG: Zendikar
Paul: Dexter

05:40 : Geist: The Sin-Eaters
30:00 : The Midnight Chronicles
39:40 : Game of Thrones
41:45 : Lord of the Rings
43:30 : Conan the Barbarian
50:00 : Neil Gaiman
1:01:55 : PodgeCast
1:03:05 : Codex Alera

Shoutouts
Rob: The Man Cast
Mike: Ogre Battle
Paul: Summer

09:50 : Lacuna
10:20 : 3:16 – Carnage Amongst the Stars
13:30 : Rogue Trader
20:20 : Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying
39:00 : Joel McHale
39:15 : Dexter
41:00 : Sons of Anarchy
43:20 : The Sopranos
45:50 : Deadwood
46:25 : Archer
47:35 : Justified
48:20 : Justin Long
50:50 : Crank
51:35 : Inglorious Basterds
52:05 : Shoot ‘Em Up
53:40 : Smokin’ Aces
55:50 : Children of Men
56:00 : I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead
57:35 : Righteous Kill
57:50 : Heat
1:02:10 : Memento
1:04:20 : 30 Days of Night
1:05:00 : Sixth Sense
1:05:25 : The Others
1:08:15 : The Prestige

Shoutouts
Rob: Kicked in the Dicebags
Mike: St. George’s Barbecue
Paul: The Universe

04:15 : Community
12:55 : Free Market
15:25 : Assassin’s Creed 2
17:20 : The Force Unleashed
19:30 : Mass Effect
21:45 : Oblivion
27:00 : Batman: Arkham Asylum
34:10 : Borderlands
36:25 : Fable II
37:10 : Lord of the Rings
38:10 : Arcanum
43:40 : Payback
45:15 : City of Villains

Shoutouts
Rob: Non-Euclidean Geometry
Mike: Murphy’s Law
Paul: Parable of the Cave
Artemis: Nihilism

09:20 : The Fifth Element
24:55 : 7th Sea
30:20 : Boondock Saints
30:50 : Dexter
32:40 : Batman: Arkham Asylum
38:50 : Mass Effect
42:30 : Borderlands
48:40 : Sons of Anarchy
51:05 : Locke & Key
51:30 : Spaced
52:40 : The Office
55:10 : The Prisoner
56:35 : Apt Pupil
58:00 : Flawless
58:40 : The Long Good Friday
58:45 : Sexy Beast

Shoutouts
Rob: Man vs. Food
Mike: Metalocalypse
Paul: WWII In HD
Artemis: The Prisoner

25:35 : Marathon Man
32:30 : Modern Warfare 2
48:25 : Empire: Total War
55:50 : Knights of Honor
56:30 : Jericho
1:00:25 : Friends
1:01:20 : Game of Thrones
1:02:00 : The Wire
1:02:25 : The Shield
1:02:45 : Sons of Anarchy
1:03:40 : Third Watch
1:04:30 : Dexter
1:04:40 : The Omega Man
1:05:30 : Planet of the Apes
1:06:25 : The Twilight Zone

Shoutouts
Rob: The House Bunny
Mike: Dragon Age: Origins
Paul: Locke & Key
Artemis: Mike Mearls

07:20 : Trail of Cthulhu
07:40 : Unhallowed Metropolis
07:55 : Victoriana
08:20 : Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying
11:05 : Houses of the Blooded
42:15 : Open Design Podcast
46:05 : Star Wars Saga Edition
46:50 : The Dresden Files
52:35 : Rogue Trader
1:00:15 : Locke & Key
1:01:25 : Sons of Anarchy
1:02:00 : Supernatural
1:03:50 : Conan the Barbarian
1:05:55 : Solomon Kane

Shoutouts
Rob: H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast
Mike: Tom Knapp
Paul: Sons of Anarchy

04:15 : Whitechapel Project
08:40 : Mouse Guard
10:15 : Dogs in the Vineyard
17:00 : Houses of the Blooded
19:25 : Pie Shop
39:35 : Borderlands
43:45 : Sons of Anarchy
45:45 : The Colony
48:15 : Transformers 2
48:50 : Michael Bay Demanding Awesomeness
52:55 : Revolution!
53:50 : Chrononauts
56:30 : Mind Flex

Shoutouts
Rob: The Great Debate
Mike: The Venture Brothers
Art: Twilight Imperium
Paul: Bully Beatdown

Music : All music used with permission of Ghoultown™
- Background: Gunslinger -
Sponsors : Meta-Games Unlimited
Bear Swarm is a member of Spooky Outhouse Productions.

The 5 Minutes series are five minute long, one-host pieces on topics recorded wherever and released whenever.

This one is Rob sitting on his sofa with his iPod Touch recording his thoughts on Pie Shop released by Mr. Toad. Enjoy!

06:05 : World of Darkness: Inferno
07:55 : Houses of the Blooded
08:25 : Rogue Trader
08:40 : Unhallowed Metropolis
10:55 : Realms of Cthulhu
11:45 : Weird War II
11:55 : Trail of Cthulhu
13:40 : Pie Shop
25:15 : The End
27:50 : Ravaged Earth
29:15 : Requiem for Rome
36:15 : Anima
46:55 : Where the Wild Things Are
47:30 : The Road
48:35 : Paranormal Activity
49:30 : Zombieland

Shoutouts
Rob: The Digital Freemason
Paul: Transvestites <- Mike refuses to Google this to find a link.
Art: Hermaphrodites <- Mike refuses to Google this to find a link.
Carl: BPRD

That’s right, its a Devil’s Trap Doormat. You want to get your hands on one of these bad boys? Cruise your browser over to Specialtydoormats.com and place your orders! Their only $39.99 and look wicked awesome. We all have one. They are epic.

06:35 : Legend of the Five Rings
10:25 : CyberPunk 2020
12:55 : Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying
15:00 : Dogs in the Vineyard
17:15 : Houses of the Blooded
20:50 : Shotgun Diaries
22:25 : Wilderness of Mirrors
24:10 : 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars
33:10 : Fallout 3
37:15 : Nerdcore Rising
40:45 : Twilight Imperium
44:00 : Ideology of Madness

Shoutouts
Rob: Down Under Gamers
Mike: MC Front-A-Lot
Paul: Against a Dark Background

07:15 : Legend of the Five Rings
11:10 : Cast a Deadly Spell
33:50 : Regulators
49:45 : Kicked in the Dicebags
53:00 : Titan Maximum
54:15 : Dexter
55:05 : Sons of Anarchy
57:00 : SCUBA
1:05:00 : Zombieland
1:05:25 : Mass Effect 2

Shoutouts
Rob: Darker Days Podcast
Mike: Charlie Wilson
Paul: Metalocalypse

32:45 : Rob’s new blog
33:35 : Whitechapel Project
36:05 : GAME
38:15 : Scarlett Johansson
39:20 : Jessica Alba
39:35 : Allison Mack
41:25 : Kicked in the Dicebags
44:00 : Traitor
44:55 : The Mutant Chronicles
45:45 : Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K)
46:25 : Lucky Number Slevin
48:40 : Sons of Anarchy
49:25 : 30 Rock
52:05 : Borderlands
52:35 : Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
57:55 : World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Shoutouts
Rob: The Butcher Block
Mike: Titan Maximum
Paul: Twilight Imperium

36:15 : Supernatural
42:20 : Dogma
42:50 : Misha Collins
45:20 : Dresden Files
46:35 : Sons of Anarchy
48:20 : The Unit
50:45 : 30 Rock
53:30 : Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Shoutouts
Rob: Brilliant Gameologists
Mike: Twilight Imperium

38:30 : Shadow Complex
41:50 : Overlord II
43:15 : 100 Bullets
43:40 : Qin: The Warring States
44:30 : Revolution!
48:00 : Knights of the Old Republic
48:55 : Houses of the Blooded play by post
54:25 : Murder By Death
56:05 : Puzzle Quest
56:35 : Final Fantasy Tactics
58:30 : Direct2Drive
59:05 : BioShock
01:00:15 : Supernatural
01:06:55 : Sons of Anarchy
01:07:15 : Henry Rollins
01:09:05 : Nathan Fillion
01:09:15 : Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Shoutouts
Rob: Backseat Producers
Mike: Mass Effect: Galaxy
Elder: Borderlands
Paul: Qin: The Warring States

07:00 : Stephen Colbert
28:10 : Oregon Trail
34:05 : Sons of Anarchy
34:15 : Henry Rollins
35:45 : True Blood
36:45 : Hung
38:00 : Twilight
38:10 : Let the Right One In
39:40 : Supernatural
40:20 : The Dresden Files
41:25 : The Colony
45:05 : Freaks and Geeks
46:20 : Pineapple Express
49:10 : Qin: The Warring States
50:30 : Jade Empire
53:20 : Houses of the Blooded Play-By-Post (email Rob for more information)
53:55 : Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
54:35 : Mass Effect

Shoutouts
Rob: Atomic Array
Mike: SIFRP Game Master Screen
Matt: D&D Skill Powers

04:25 : Ultimate Toolkit
07:50 : Mage: The Awakening
19:50 : Rob cuts the episode to make Mike sound like a dick
20:35 : Overlord II
22:40 : Splosion Man
24:20 : Shadow Complex
25:10 : Batman: Arkham Asylum
35:05 : There Will Be Brawl
35:45 : Dexter
38:40 : The Colony
44:50 : Total Drama Island
45:40 : Sons of Anarchy
45:45 : Supernatural
47:45 : Battlestar Galactica

Shoutouts
Rob: The Adam Corolla Podcast
Mike:  There Will Be Brawl

14:25 : Houses of the Blooded
26:30 : Dark Sun
28:45 : Battlestar Galactica
29:40 : The Dresden Files
30:30 : Supernatural-inspired doormats
40:35 : Overlord II
41:40 : Mass Effect
42:30 : Netflix
43:00 : The Spy Factory
43:45 : Blazing Saddles
44:10 : Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
44:30 : The Visioneers
44:50 : Fallen
45:10 : There Will Be Blood
45:25 : The Midnight Chronicles
48:05 : The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
51:25 : Batman: Arkham Asylum

Shoutouts
Rob: Accidental Survivors
Mike: Victoriana
Matt: Geek Chic HQ
Artemis: Pimp: The Backhanding

00:00 : The Official Blog of Eddy Webb
00:00 : Memento Mori Theatricks

Shoutouts
No Shoutouts this week.

00:00 : The Tao of Zen Nihilism (John Wick’s LiveJournal)

Shoutouts
No Shoutouts this week.

Enjoy!

Hosts
Artemis Knight - Bear Swarm!m
Ryan - Save Against Frostbite
Fraser - Accidental Survivors
Jonathan - Kicked in the Dicebags

You can find the show here.

2:53 : Dresden Files Contest Winner
03:22 : Setting Creation Contest Winner
11:06 : Final Fantasy VII
11:11 : XenoGears
11:23 : Eternal Sonata
12:30 : Southland Tales
13:33 : Dexter
16:50 : Burn Notice
21:05 : Supernatural
21:40 : Battlestar Galactica
22:51 : The Unit
25:24 : Heros
30:38 : The Fly
32:03 : Firefly
32:19 : Farscape
32:33 : Buffy
33:16 : Star Trek
33:17 : Earth Final Conflict
34:11 : Jimi Hendrix
36:16 : Cowboy Bebop
36:45 : Family Guy
37:25 : Bleach
39:00 : Drive
39:50 : Deathrace
42:33 : Brimstone
42:55 : Ghost Rider (comics)
43:50 : Show Topic Begins
45:05 : The Strawman Conflicts Wiki

Shoutouts
Rob: Gen Con
Mike: Leverage
Elder: Diablo 3

15:00 : Houses of the Blooded
29:05 : 7th Sea
34:20 : Kicked in the Dicebags
35:20 : Save Against Frostbite
40:35 : GenCon
42:35 : The Book of Eli
44:30 : The Road
45:35 : Korgoth of Barbaria
46:35 : Dexter
51:00 : Harper’s Island
53:00 : Knights of Honor
55:40 : Final Fantasy 7
56:15 : Vantage Point
58:40 : Coraline
01:00:05 : Dresden Files

Shoutouts
Rob: Gotham by Gaslight
Mike: The Book of Eli
Jacob: Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying

32:50 : Weapons of Legacy
48:55 : Rob’s new ink
49:00 : GenCon
49:35 : Southland Tales
54:00 : Schindler’s List
54:10 : 21 Grams
54:15 : Requiem for a Dream, The Strangers, A Beautiful Mind
55:30 : Netflix
56:35 : Cicadas
57:40 : Save Against Frostbite
58:10 : Kicked in the Dicebags

Shoutouts
Rob: Next Generation Tattoo
Mike: Xenogears
Artemis: Owls

04:45 : Spooky Outhouse Message Boards
05:05 : Vincent Baker
17:55 : Houses of the Blooded
52:00 : Captain Black’s Sea Dogges
52:30 : Dragon’s Landing
53:40 : GenCon
56:00 : Rob’s Twitter feed, Mike’s Twitter feed
59:25 : Knights of the Old Republic
1:00:45 : Fable
1:08:05 : Champions Online
1:08:15 : Fallen Earth
1:08:50 : Final Fantasy XI
1:10:40 : Section 8
1:10:55 : MechWarrior 5
1:11:25 : District 9
1:12:20 : GI Joe
1:13:20 : GI Joe: Resolute
1:13:50 : Smallville

Shoutouts
Rob: Murder By Death
Mike: Black Summer
Artemis: Spooky Outhouse Showcase
Elder: Precoil

06:15 : Vanessa Lengies (hot Egyptian chick)
17:25 : Morocco
50:35 : Advent of an Empire
51:55 : Save Against Frostbite
52:00 : Spooky Outhouse Showcase, Kicked in the Dicebags
54:50 : Brilliant Gameologists
56:25 : Fear the Boot
56:45 : Dragon’s Landing
57:35 : Aron Head
59:00 : Burn Notice
1:03:45 : St. George’s Barbecue
1:08:30 : Call of Juarez
01:10:05 : Gun, Red Dead Revolver / Red Dead Redemption

Shoutouts
Rob: Old Jews Telling Jokes
Mike: St. George’s Barbecue
Artemis: The Colony
Jacob: Street Magic

04:15 : Darker Days Podcast Episode 5
05:15 : NEW CONTEST! Submissions go to contest@bearswarm.com
10:06 : The PodgeCast
10:58 : Kicked in the Dicebags
23:11 : 50 Fathoms
25:33 : GTA
26:05 : D&D
26:21 : Geist
27:30 : SAS
29:16 : Iron Kingdoms
35:06 : Dread
37:09 : The Cave of Tits
38:05 : Section 8
38:20 : South Peak
38:37 : Obsidian Entertainment
38:55 : Timegate
39:31 : Starship Troopers (Novel)
41:13 : Battlefield Series
43:07 : Fero has turned into R.I.P.
45:06 : The Sims 3
45:42 : Red Faction Guerrilla
50:03 : Gamers With Jobs
51:03 : StreetFighter IV
52:39 : Gunslinger
53:30 : Priest
56:09 : Eternal Sonata
56:59 : Lunar
57:22 : Grandia
58:20 : Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends
60:54 : Flapjack & Chowder

Shoutouts
Rob: Slugfest Games
Mike: Infinity
Artemis: Free Will
Elder: Unskippable

01:42 : Twitter
02:16 : Flapjack & Chowder
03:43 : Brilliant Gameologists
05:09 : D&D
06:11 : Podgecast
14:53 : Risk
15:13 : World of Warcraft
17:46 : Magic the Gathering
25:15 : Prince of the City
25:22 : A Game of Thrones
28:45 : Scion
28:56 : Hero
28:59 : Champions
29:10 : Dogs in the Vineyard
36:50 : Fallout 3: Point Lookout
37:06 : Ghostbusters
49:09 : Geist
54:56 : War of the Roses
56:00 : Silmarillion
58:46 : Furies of Calderon
59:37 : The Wheel of Time
1:00:38 : Dragonball Z abridged
1:03:13 : MST3K

Shoutouts
Rob: Mistress of the Dark
Mike: Demigod
Artemis: Jenn from the Trapcast

04:07 Gamestop
04:32 D&D
04:37 Magic: the Gathering
04:58 Kicked in the Dicebags
05:00 Houses of the Blooded
05:02 World of Darkness
05:35 Song of Ice & Fire
09:33 Shadowrun
16:15 D20 Modern
20:59 Knights of the Old Republic
25:34 Clone Wars CG series
27:46 d6 Star Wars
30:19 Ghostbusters
34:57 The Sims 3
37:23 Gamers with Jobs
40:10 Overlord 2
41:28 Pikmin
41:43 Get Smart
42:34 Balls of Fury
42:42 Superbad
43:22 Predator
45:39 Fallout 3
46:00 World of Warcraft (in case you don’t know what it is)
46:28 Demigod
46:39 Defense of the Ancients

Shoutouts
Rob: gbfans.com
Mike: Ebberon Players Guide
Artemis: Waffle House
Elder: woot.com

What is Backstory Friday? Every Friday there will be a new article showcasing the backstory of characters past and present. Characters range from various settings, systems, players, and writing styles. The whole point is to share our creative works, and potentially the creative works of our listeners. Perhaps one of these characters will inspire other Players or Gamemasters, but primarily they are for entertainment. Enjoy.
Who all can submit backstories? Anyone! Listeners, Fans, Hosts,  YOU! Just shoot any off to Backstory@BearSwarm.com
Who is this character? Give a brief rundown of your character, what system/setting he’s from and some details that might be relevant to understanding the story.

Backstory Title

The explosion was glorious.

Malcolm watched from a hilltop several miles away, listening via radio to the panicked voices of blast organizers as they scrambled to find out what had happened. He turned the radio off, dropped it to the ground, and walked away.

Getting back to the States from Somalia would have ordinarily been difficult, especially for a man who was now missing and presumed dead, but his new employer had already made all of the arrangements. Malcolm calmly strolled down the hill and climbed into a military-style Jeep, motioning to the driver that he was ready to go. As the vehicle lurched into motion, Malcolm slid a pair of stylish and expensive sunglasses over his eyes and smiled. Cal laughed from the back of the Jeep and started in with some brotherly ribbing over what he called Malcolm’s “flair for the dramatic.”

Malcolm had sort of fallen into his job designing foreign bases and camps for the United States government, but in retrospect he’d consider it to be the first step taken on the path to his own ascension. It would be there that he’d really honed his skills as a tactical planner and organizer. It would be there that he’d have access to information and plans that many high-ranking Pentagon officials would have had trouble getting their hands on. It would be there that he’d meet Cal, who would become his closest friend and eventually his Brother. It would be there that he’d sell information to Dominick Le’Salle, who would Embrace he and his Brother.

When he’d first met Dominick, it had been under the auspices of selling the man highly-sensitive information regarding several US military bases that his company had been contracted to plan and build. Cal had set the meeting up and was there to act as intermediary, in case of any disputes. There weren’t any; in fact, Malcolm and Dominick seemed to get along well. Malcolm thought the man was cultured and refined and polite, with a European flair and accent that he couldn’t quite place. And he was obviously rich, or at least represented someone who was, since he’d not balked at paying Malcolm a six-figure sum for the information he had.

Cal congratulated Malcolm on his new found source of high wealth, and the two went out for the most expensive steaks and beer that they could find. Cal had already sold a fair amount of information to Dominick on his own, so this was nothing new to him. He’d been the one to suggest to Malcolm, after his wife had reamed him particularly hard after their divorce, that there was a way for him to really make some money. The two had met at a conference for military contractors in the early 90’s and became fast friends. After his divorce and his first sale, Malcolm relocated to America’s west coast, both to get away from his shattered personal life in the United Kingdom and to be closer to his best friend.

If the two hadn’t been thick as thieves (literally) before, they certainly were now. Both had a healthy appetite for fine women, expensive food, and good drinks. For years they lead a wealthy lifestyle powered by their sale of confidential information to Dominick and whoever he represented, until Dominick offered the both of them permanent positions in the organization he represented. “A better life,” he’d told them, wearing a suit that cost more than the average person made in a year. “Power and influence and money. All I… all we ask is your loyalty.”

After discussing it, Malcolm and Cal had both agreed so long as Dominick kept the two of them close together. That had been six months ago. It had taken longer to coordinate their faked deaths than Malcolm had originally believed, but now it was done and they were going to really start living.

After meeting with them back in the States, Dominick had finally begun to tell them the truth: who he was, what he was, and what he was offering them. The two men were understandably skeptical, until Dominick spilled his blood into a cup and commanded each of them to drink.

They did, and it was as if they’d never really been alive before.

Over the course of four years, Dominick molded his two new ghouls into what he needed. Both were already intelligent and educated men with expensive tastes, but he put them through the best tactical and weapon training that money could (legally) buy. Both attended regular marksmanship training courses with an American company called Front Sight, and Dominick had them learn to defend themselves with knives and swords as well.

Cal had a better head for overarching strategy and planning, while Malcolm was better at tactics and execution. Finally, on the eve of the new millennium, Dominick gave both of them the Embrace, declaring them his Childer.

After acclimating to this new change in their existence, the two Kindred joined their Sire in Los Angeles, where he had been planning to set up for more than a decade. Preparations had already been made through various channels within the Invictus (not to mention their own extended family, who were eager to gain a foothold on the west coast), and their integration was relatively painless.

Since that time, Dominick has concentrated on solidifying his own power, both within the Invictus as well as the city as a whole. The two Brothers have been left more or less to their own devices, and have been exploring the city and its nightlife extensively. Neither misses an opportunity to be seen at Court, and both seem to be regarded by most of the Kindred of LA as young and ambitious neonates, likable enough despite the arrogance that is fairly common among their clan. Neither has taken the Vows of the Invictus, though both have expressed interest to their Sire.

Both have also been instructed by their Sire to seek admittance to the Scourge, though they were told to make certain that they did not run in the same Coterie within the fledgling organization. Though they readily shared information back and forth, Cal and Malcolm passed the trials independently of one another.

Keep watching www.bearswarm.com for Bear Swarm! Updates.

All music used with permission of Ghoultown™

(Note: With this release, all older bumpers have been removed and archived from public use)

2:11 : Kicked in the Dicebags
2:25 : Mike Mearls
3:26 : Old World of Darkness
3:40 : New World of Darkness
3:41 : New Coke
5:29 : Forgotten Realms
12:32 : Wilderness of Mirrors
19:06 : My Name is Bruce
19:56 : Let the Right One In
20:56 : Dracula (1931)
21:38 : Romeo & Juliet
21:56 : Red Faction Guerrilla
22:54 : Tribes 2
23:49 : GTA
23:51 : Mercenaries
23:56 : Unreal Tournament
25:26 : DieCon
25:44 : PodgeCast
26:39 : Kansas
26:35 : Supernatural
26:59 : VisionCon
27:37 : IPR
27:52 : L5R
27:58 : Warmachine & Hordes
29:38 : Klobasnek (not actually Kolache close though)
29:51 : Popeyes
30:55 : Ipod Touch
30:59 : Iphone
31:12 : Zune
31:50 : A Hymn Before Battle
32:04 : Gust Front
32:08 : A Game of Thrones LCG
33:13 : Gloom

Shoutouts
Rob: Peggle
Mike: That Guy with the Glasses
Artemis: Tower of the Hand

Music : All music used with permission of Ghoultown™
- Background: Gunslinger -
Sponsors : Meta-Games Unlimited
Bear Swarm is a member of Spooky Outhouse Productions.

The 5 Minutes series are five minute long, one-host pieces on topics recorded wherever and released whenever.

This first one is Rob sitting on his sofa with his old MP3 player recording his thoughts on the quick start rules for Geist: The Sin-Eaters released by White Wolf for Free RPG Day. Enjoy!

What is Backstory Friday? Every Friday there will be a new article showcasing the backstory of characters past and present. Characters range from various settings, systems, players, and writing styles. The whole point is to share our creative works, and potentially the creative works of our listeners. Perhaps one of these characters will inspire other Players or Gamemasters, but primarily they are for entertainment. Enjoy.
Who all can submit backstories? Anyone! Listeners, Fans, Hosts,  YOU! Just shoot any off to Backstory@BearSwarm.com

Backstory Title
Aaron Cash was only fourteen years old when his father died. His father wasn’t a terribly well liked guy so the funeral was small and quiet, mostly close family and not many friends. When Aaron and his mother made their way up to the front to pay their last respect to the deceased Aaron displayed his affection for his father in the only way he was ever taught. He spit on him. A gasp when up from those in attendance… everyone except his mother and Uncle Max.

After that things returned to normal, except with his mother picking up a second job to help support her and Aaron. She worked endlessly just to keep food on the table and rent paid. If it wasn’t the monthly visits from Uncle Max their lives would have surely fallen apart. Then while Aaron and his friends were out celebrating their high school graduation another tragedy struck Aaron, his mother passed away.

A home invasion, as the police told it. A single mother home alone while her son was out celebrating graduation with his friends. What a tragedy. At least that was what everyone told him at her funeral. For the second time in four years Aaron found himself walking up to a casket, spitting on the inhabitant, and listening to the shocked gasps. Gasps from everyone except Uncle Max.

Aaron then feel into gang life. It had always been there, just on the periphery. His friends were in gangs and they were always hounding him to join up. With no family, except for Uncle Max, he had no where else to turn. Aaron fell head-first into a hard-drinking and violent lifestyle. He lived that way for years, fighting and drinking and gang-banging with the best of them on the streets of LA. Oh, and there were still those monthly visits from Uncle Max.

Then he was shot, left to die.

Luckily Aaron was shot on the day of Uncle Max’s next visit, and Uncle Max embraced him in that dark alleyway as the last ounce of his life faded from him. Max had been grooming Aaron for the embrace for a while now, he had gotten permission a month back and was just waiting for the right time. In that alley, it was then or never and Max refused too let the Circle of the Crone rob him of his childe.

Over time Max taught Aaron the ways of the Kindred. He learned about the Clans, about the social hierarchy and about what he could do. He learned how to hunt and how to survive. He learned the truth about his parents and his childhood. He learned about what REALLY happened to his father and mother. He learned about what the Circle had done to him.

His father had made a pact with Uncle Max, once a month Max could come and feed upon his wife in exchange for financial stability. Financial stability that went mostly to feeding’ Aaron’s father’s alcoholism. The other part of the agreement was that if Uncle Max wanted to he could embrace Aaron. Aaron’s father agreed to these terms and that is what introduced Uncle Max into his life.

After his father’s death Aaron had read a suicide note his father had written before he’d jumped off the twenty-story rooftop of the apartment building where they lived. The note, at the time, didn’t make sense. It sounded nothing like his father. Now, with the full picture at his feet, he understood.

“The things I’ve done to my wife and my son are unforgivable. I know that. Nothing is waiting for me on the other side except for Hell, but maybe I can grant my family some mercy by ending their own torment early. The torment that was at my hands. It might sound hollow, but I’m sorry. I deserve much worse than this.”

His father’s death wasn’t suicide, it was murder. Uncle Max had came to visit once and caught Aaron’s father drunk and beating his wife. Max flew into a rage and drug Aaron’s father to the roof and threw him off. But a deal was a deal and he kept returning month after month to feed from Aaron’s mother and help look after Aaron.

His mother’s death was a home invasion, but not the kind he was lead to believe. Max had some serious enemies in the Circle of the Crone and they decided to take apart his food supply. Aaron’s mother was only one in a dozen casualties that night, as an indirect strike against Max. Except, like most things in Kindred society, things weren’t what they seemed.

Aaron’s own death was just another Circle strike against Max. After the loss of his herd, Max attacked a few members of the Circle. So in retaliation they had dropped some information into the right hands to get Aaron alone and put him in the sights of a rival gang. The Circle knew that Max requested to embrace Aaron and was granted permission. They intended to rob Max of his childe, but they failed.

By the time he was presented at Court, Aaron had been told he needed a new name. He knew he had to separate himself from what he’d been when he was human, and was progressing well on the way to fully accepting this new reality, his existence as a monster and a predator, when he saw his mother again.

The sight of her had thrown him immediately into Frenzy. Max had been the one to bring him down, all the while screaming at the Circle for bringing her here when they knew well and good that this was going to be Aaron’s introduction to society. It was just another strike against Max, trying to get his childe killed.

When he woke up weeks later, Max had tried to explain things to him. His mother had been a Circle secret. No one knew, not even Max, until that night. They had drug her out into the Fringes, outside of the Prince’s domain, and Embraced her. Then they brought her back in to cause Aaron to Frenzy in court, earning him Final Death. They had intended to kill her but things didn’t turn out how they planned.

When the Circle’s treachery was discovered the Prince ordered the Cult behind it outlawed. Prince Marsh said this rivalry had gone too far and that they were no longer welcome in Los Angeles. The members were exiled and their leader put to Final Death. Aaron’s mother was taken in by another Circle Cult and has become a Stormcrow, a Morrigan of the Circle. Oh, and she’s called Belladonna now.

Soon after, his Sire gave him the name Dispater. For whatever legal documents he needed from the mortal world he could keep his first name, but to Kindred he was just Dispater; Dis for short.

Since then, Max has been looking for something to keep his childe occupied; he recognizes that as much as he hates it, Dis needs some sort of structure to be productive. Max is more than capable of keeping Dis under control, but he’s of no particular use to him right now, as wild as he is.

Dis has spent several years on a fairly tight leash, rarely allowed in court away from his sire and meeting only a handful of other Kindred. Max’s patience is starting to run thin, however, and he’s decided that it’s time for Dis to start standing on his own and making himself useful.

02:50 : Ideology of Madness
33:20 : Logan’s Run
36:15 : Kicked in the Dicebags
37:40 : Save Against Frostbite
38:30 : Loveline
40:05 : Superbad
43:20 : Natal
47:10 : EndWar
48:30 : Assassin’s Creed 2
49:45 : Star Wars: The Old Republic
51:20 : Alan Wake
52:55 : Agent
53:50 : Modern Warfare 2
56:10 : Bully: Scholarship Edition
59:55 : Honor of the Clan

Shoutouts
Rob: Zombie Nirvana
Mike: Chardonnay Apartments
Artemis: Def Jam Vendetta