In the Gaming Hut we examine the fine but crucial distinction between fun obstacles and dilemmas your players will read as punishments. The Horror Hut looks at a classic and misunderstood trio of classic characters, the so-called Brides of Dracula. In the Cinema Hut we break down the visual grammar of shot composition. Finally, the […]

Numbers come and numbers go but when the podcast odometer clicks over to 600 Ken and Robin listeners know what to expect: the thunderous return of LIGHTNING ROUND!!! 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 […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Bob Grider asks how to create mystery hooks for sovereign citizens in The Yellow King: This Is Normal Now. With dire inevitability this leads to a discussion of pan-conspiratorialist Romana Didulo, aka the Queen of Canada. Estimable backer Paul Douglas seeks the Tradecraft Hut take on the death […]

Picking up where a previous Gaming Hut left off, beloved Patreon backer Gene Ha asks about scenarios where one of the PCs is a mole working against the rest of the group. In Ask Ken and Robin, estimable backer Martin Rundkvist asks how Ken’s planned relocation of Swords of the Serpentine to Venice is going […]

In the Gaming Hut we talk about our visit to Shadowcon in Barcelona, courtesy of our beloved pals at Shadowlands, who have just published a stunning edition of the Dracula Dossier in the Spanish language. Travel Advisory covers our exploration of the less nerdy reaches of our new favorite city, with an obligatory selection of […]

In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Andrew Miller asks for tips on playing paladins well. We enter  the History Hut to wonder what shattered the mind of Tudor historian John Leland. Amid the popcorn munching of the Cinema Hut estimable backer David Sowa asks why so many action movies have poor final acts. Finally […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Jason Thompson asks if the group dynamic known as the Tyranny of Structurelessness applies to GM-less roleplaying games. Estimable backer Gray St. Quintin seeks the regular confines of the Architecture Hut to ask about Walter Burley Griffin, designer of Canberra and avid anthroposophist. Fun With Science ensues when […]

In the Gaming Hut we identify the elements of a great recurring gamemaster character. At the behest of beloved Patreon backer Lester Ward, the Archaeology Hut mulls the ancient Egyptian fortresses that were flooded by the building of the Aswan dam. In the Book Hut tough, wisecracking Patreon backer Adam Grotjohn seeks a 101 on […]

Elves and dragons have some emotional needs to work out as the Gaming Hut answers beloved Patreon backer Nikolaj’s request for tips on bringing elements of DramaSystem into an F20 game. The Crime Blotter checks out the Philadelphia poison murders, a massive killing for profit scheme involving syndicate witches in the Trail of Cthulhu era. […]

In the Gaming Hut we find ways to bring players back into the action when they make sensible decisions that sideline their characters. 2Beloved Patreon backer Paul S. Enns beckons us into the Tradecraft Hut to cover the May 23rd Lake Maggiore boating accident. In the Monster Hut we look at the blemmyae, the hungry […]

In the Gaming Hut, Robin pitches Ken on a concept for a roleplaying game called Renfields. The Mythology Hut looks at the enigmatic Dacian god and/or person named Zalmoxis, who might have been a sky deity. Or an earth deity. Or a physician. In Ask Ken and Robin, beloved Patreon backer Walter Manbeck asks Robin […]

We hope you can make it to the Gaming Hut for a discussion of quorum and attendance vagaries. In the History Hut we answer the request of beloved Patreon backer Jeromy French to flesh out a topic we have previously only alluded to—the Toronto clown-fireman riot. Finally Ken’s Bookshelf features a mere half of our […]

Players say they hate linear scenarios. Seasoned convention GMs extoll the efficacy of the greased rail session. In the Gaming Hut we ask what’s up with that. Beloved Patreon backer Monster Talk requests a Ripped from the Headlines on the now world-famous Chicago rat hole. Finally, in keeping with our pre-Oscars tradition, we sneak into […]

Keep your ancient documents well-hidden in the Gaming Hut, as beloved Patreon backer Brian Thomas asks us how to construct a Bookhounds of London one-shot around explorer Aurel Stein, the Great Game, and the Diamond Sutras. When architects go wrong they wind up not in their own hut, but on the Crime Blotter, as is […]

Beloved Patreon backer Mark Kenney inspires us to wear our classiest outfits in the  Gaming Hut as we seek ways to bring the vocabulary of clothing and fashion to tabletop narration. The Food Hut examines an old school staple dessert ingredient and the man who popularized it in North America, with the story of Walter […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved Patreon backer Hector Trelane takes inspiration from Robin’s EZ One Shot system to ask if designers are finding a root language of roleplaying that points toward a less cluttered style of play. At the behest of estimable backer Kristian Groenseth the Cartography Hut investigates the fake stop sign epidemic that […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at the paradox of choice, in which players want many alternative paths yet also want to explore all of them. The Archaeology Hut surveys the career of William Stukeley, the 18th century polymath whose studies of Stonehenge and Avebury made him one of the field’s foundational figures. In the […]

In the Gaming Hut, beloved Patreon backer Joshua Randall asks for help dealing with players who like to shoot down everyone else’s plans. Fans of irony will appreciate the story of Edo firebreaks, as told in the History Hut. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio concludes our excerpts from the Dramatic Interaction panel at Gen Con […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Ludovic Chabant asks Robin to expand on his choice for favorite RPG adventure, as seen on the Scroll for Initiative blog. Naturally Ken also makes a choice or two himself. Estimable backer Fred Kiesche beckons us to the Architecture Hut, which has a Culture Hut inside, and possibly a […]

In the Gaming Hut beloved backer Jamie Twine seeks tips on signaling weirdness and danger in horror games not set in our recognizable world. Esteemed backer Ginger asks for the Tradecraft Hut take on the OSINT journalism entity Bellingcat. Ken and Robin Recycle Audio with the first part of a Dramatic Interaction panel from Gen […]

Everything unravels in the Gaming Hut when beloved Patreon backer Tennant Reed asks us to use the Watergate docudramedy Gaslit as inspiration for a heist gone wrong game. Ken’s Bookshelf delivers a change of pace segment as Robin asks our resident bibliomane to describe the five most specialized books in his collection. In Ripped from […]

The Gaming Hut contains a special rack for displaying fancy blades as beloved Patreon backer Stephen Dosman asks us to find the tabletop fun in Ulfberht swords. In the Cinema Hut we look at the newest cycle of female-focused, character-driven horror films. Estimable backer Manfred Gabriel uses his Ask Ken and Robin powers to seek […]

Our annual live episode recorded at London’s Dragonmeet finds our audience of expert questioners in a substantive mood. Accordingly, after nerdtroping WWII and the Peloponnesian war and contemplating high end snacks, we look at the unsolved problems of gaming, solo game design, troupe play and so much more. That puts 2023 in the rearview mirror […]

The Gaming Hut explodes in a molasses fireball full of staplers, but then does something entirely sensible, as we consider ways to reframe the fumble. The Eliptony Hut studies a locally beloved cryptid, the Loveland Ohio frogman. Finally Ken’s Bookshelf features an unusually sleek and selective London book haul, as our hero describes treasures liberated […]

In the Gaming Hut we come to the aid of beloved Patreon backer Keelan O’Hea, who wants to know how to revive a campaign after a period spent on hold. Recent reports that it is the world’s oldest pyramid surely had you wondering when we were going to discuss Indonesia’s Gunung Padang in the Archaeology […]