In the Gaming Hut we imagine an F20 world where powerful undead don’t just drain levels, they sell them to the highest bidder. The Archaeology Hut checks out the latest tests on the Well-Man, a body found at Norway’s Sverresborg Castle who matches an account from an 800 year old Norse saga. Finally Ken’s Bookshelf […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Mark Waterhouse asks what could possibly go wrong if we let players perform their own in-world divinations. At the behest of estimable backer Martin Rundkvist the Tradecraft Hut investigates the heroic career of Polish-born WWII British operative Krystyna Skarbek. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features our […]

The Gaming Hut looks at the most despised medieval occupations and wonders what would happen if you actually wanted to reflect this in your F20 world. The History Hut covers a very strange fashion fracas, the 1922 New York City straw hat riots. In the Mythos Hut we dial up the scare factor on the […]

In the Gaming Hut we discuss the challenge of revised edition design. When you encounter an element you wouldn’t build into a new system, how do you decide whether to replace it, or to respect the legacy and leave it in? The Horror Hut gets reflective as beloved Patreon backer Bart Mallio asks for a […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Ryan McClelland argues that the Sailor is a fine Occupation that ought to be in Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition (now on Backerkit) and urges us to rebut him by listing even more such Occupations. With the 1930s still in mind, the Crime Blotter pulls the dossier on the […]

It’s time to rattle some paper in the Gaming Hut as we discuss character sheet design. After that, a deluge, as the Archaeology Hut, at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Niclas Matikainen, studies the sunken city of Rungholt. Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else features game designer and military consultant for media and […]

In the Gaming Hut we build an F20 setting where everyone knows your level. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Derrick Yates the Tradecraft Hut profiles baseball player and spy Moe Berg. In the Food Hut we decide what to order for lunch at the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel in 1933. Finally the Consulting […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at the changes Ken did and didn’t make in character creation for Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition. The Cinema Hut highlight’s Robin’s fantasy, horror and SF discoveries from the 3rd Annual Robin and Valerie International Film Festival. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else we chat with Taylor […]

Recorded live in a seminar room in the good Marriott at Gen Con, Ken and Robin talk the secret US-UK intergalactic financial war, chicken roasting secrets, our Indianapolis drinks of choice, a 1966 UFO incident and how to real-life investigate the real-life cult in your real-life hometown. Want to pose a question to the show? […]

This week the Gaming Hut populates the town of Locust Grove Oklahoma with gamemaster characters for a Trail of Cthulhu game. Beloved Patreon backer Andrew Bates convenes the History Hut for the story behind Kentucky’s very specific, dare we say duel shy, oath of office. Completing our three-part Horror Hut miniseries on reality horror, estimable […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at ways to tell whether your group will thrive in a sandbox game. Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else features our chat with fast-rising board game designer Clarence Simpson, whose credits include The Wolves, A Message from the Stars, Chomp, and Merchants of Magick. Part two of our Horror […]

At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Ian Carlsen, the Gaming Hut looks at ways to prepare for a technothriller game. The moment we learned of an increasingly ascendant Brazilian narco gang called the Bonde da Kabbalah, you know it was time to reach for the Crime Blotter. A three-part Horror Hut mini-series on reality […]

In the Gaming Hut we toss our ideas into beloved Patreon backer Shon Richards’ Bookhounds of TimeWatch series concept. One of our favorite industry stalwarts, Peter Adkison, joins us in Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else to talk Gen Con TV, his world of Chaldea project, and the state of Gen Con. The Borellus […]

Your intrepid gaming reporters return from Gen Con 2024 to talk awards, tabletop industry trends and scuttlebutt and maybe a restaurant recommendation or two. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon! Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ludovic Chabant asks us what it means when a game mechanic is swingy. The Word Hut isn’t having any of your cockamamie ackamarackus, because we’re talking 1930s slang. The Food Hut extrapolates what the food scene in Yellow King: Aftermath looks like. Other than the well-established craze for […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Lauberfen asks us to seek mythic inspiration for gaming scenarios. Estimable backer Derek Upham beckons us to the Tradecraft Hut for our take on the theory that infamous pirate Henry Every might have had a second covert career as a spy. The Mythology Hut investigates the shamir, the […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Toonspew asks us if it’s time to stop worrying and love the total party kill. Estimable backer Hyperlexic urges us to shoo costumed devils out of the History Hut by looking at the scandal-brushed career of Los Angeles evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Ripped From the Headlines tackles the […]

Beloved Patreon backer Philip Masters invites a pack of bumblers into the Gaming Hut as he asks how one might run a series based around realistic incompetence in high places. Creep softly up to the Crime Blotter for the tale of prolific UK burglar Flannelfoot, aka Henry Vickers. The Cinema Hut doesn’t have trouble getting […]

Gape in wonder at the Gaming Hut as beloved Patreon backer Steve Hammond asks how one might emulate the awe of the Jurassic Park dinosaur reveal scene at the gaming table. Well-traveled backers Ed Sizemore and Rafael Pabst journey to the Cartography Hut for the story of fictive medieval travel writer John Mandeville. The Monster […]

Due to a posting error the week previous, some pod apps ignored this episode as already read and did not download it. Apologies to those receiving the file a second time. In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ross Ireland asks gamemasters tips to use when the player characters receive an imaginary tome chock-full of […]

Beloved Patreon backer Noel Warford summons us to the Gaming Hut, asking how to coax more independence from one’s players. Estimable backer Kevin Nault pries open the door to the Archaeology Hut to hear the very colorful story, or stories, surrounding the discovery of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts. The discovery of a planet with a […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Ryan McClelland asks for tips on incorporating 1890s anarchists into The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. After many previous passing mentions, writer, explorer, scenester and cannibal William Seabrook finally becomes the subject of his own History Hut segment. Without the paper bag and cardboard box the grocery industry would […]

In the Gaming Hut we turn the rise of surreal online retailer Temu into a horror scenario hook. Beloved Patreon backer Ginge assigns the Tradecraft Hut to cough up the real dossier on the icy retrieval mission Project Coldfeet. Estimable backer Charles Picard requests the Culture Hut treatment for experimental filmmaker and Vodou researcher Maya […]

In the Gaming Hut, Ken turns the tables on Robin by springing a concept for a game on him. Eavesdrop on the process as they riff on Ley Brothers. The Crime Blotter reaches back into America’s history of 19th century violence to cover the assassination of Kentucky governor William Goebel. In Ask Ken and Robin […]