Let’s do some talking about S. Donnelly and Hannah Rogers’ Marvelous! Our guests, Emily Buza and Jay Edidin, who you know from their respective podcasts Whelmed: The Young Justice Files and Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men, are with us to talk character creation, what makes this game tick, and give some comic book recommendations that fit with our characters and the kind of deconstructed superhero narratives of Marvelous. Marvelous is a Belonging Outside Belonging game of teen heroes,...

It’s time for the 2nd half of our actual play of S. Donnelly and Hannah Rogers’ Marvelous! This is a Belonging Outside Belonging game of teen heroes, villains, and mundane friends. We’re fortunate to be joined by two powerhouses of comic podcasting: Emily Buza, who you know from Whelmed: The Young Justice Files, and Jay Edidin, who you know from Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men. Find out more and get the game: https://sdonnelly.itch.io/marvelous The CastEmily Buza (she/her, @emilyofarden) —...

We are kicking off our second year with a phenomenal run, playing S. Donnelly and Hannah Rogers’ Marvelous, a Masks-inspired Belonging Outside Belonging game. This is a game about super teens, but not necessarily a super team. Our characters are two heroes finding their powers and their voice, a villain struggling to come into his own, and Brethyn. We’re fortunate to be joined by two powerhouses of comic podcasting: Emily Buza, who you know from Whelmed: The Young Justice Files, and Jay...

We’re celebrating a year of podcasting with an annual episode (never not using comic book metaphors)! Hosts Fiona and Stephanie answer some listener questions, talk about what we’ve learned in a year of superhero RPGs, and talk about a few things we’re excited about for the next year. Will we find the best superhero business RPG? Will Fiona be able to play as Squirrel Girl? Which of Stephanie’s characters does she most resemble? All these and more. Mentioned Links:Lowell Francis’s History of...

Cyphers! Pools! Adjectives, nouns, and verb phrases! Armaan and Ian are with us to dig into Cypher and discuss how it handles superheroic characters and stories. Cypher System is a setting-agnostic RPG from Monte Cook Games. We’re using their Claim the Sky add-on book to inform how to adapt it to superheroic characters and settings. Find out more about Cypher System and Claim the Sky at https://www.montecookgames.com/ Want to hear us discuss something during our Annual Episode, coming in...

It’s the 2nd half of our Cypher System / Claim the Sky AP. We’re re-joined by Armaan Babu and Ian Gregory as three heroes unlock the secrets of The Zephyr’s underground puzzle dungeon in order to save their friend. Cypher System is a setting-agnostic RPG from Monte Cook Games. We’re using their Claim the Sky add-on book to inform how to adapt it to superheroic characters and settings. Find out more about Cypher System and Claim the Sky at https://www.montecookgames.com/ Want to hear us...

Two of our Team-Up Moves All Stars are back to play Cypher System and the Claim the Sky setting book! Our heroes are delving into a supervillain’s death trap in search of a lost friend. What dangers await them there? What amazing technology will they find? And who else might be doing their own scavenging? Cypher System is a setting-agnostic RPG from Monte Cook Games. We’re using their Claim the Sky add-on book to inform how to adapt it to superheroic characters and settings. Find out more...

It’s time to talk about Masks: A New Generation with two of our favorite Masks GMs: James Malloy of Protean City Comics and Indi Tan of Dice Comics are with us to share their perspectives on this game, what makes it tick, and what parts they actually… kind of ignore. Listen as we talk about character creation, the labels mechanism, and share some of our favorite stories in the back issues. Find out more about Masks: A New Generation at https://magpiegames.com/ Back IssuesTeen Titans (2003),...

We’ve got the second half of our Masks: A New Generation AP! James Malloy of Protean City Comics and Indi Tan of Dice Comics are back to finish out this delightful story. Things heat up as Artie tracks down the mysterious figure in the library and discovers she is his missing princess pal, Ness, but she’s not happy to see him. Meanwhile, Gekko unwisely ventures back into the Warehouse District. Find out more about Masks: A New Generation at https://magpiegames.com/ The CastJames Malloy...

It is time for the modern classic, the best superhero TTRPG there is, darling of the podcast scene, Masks: A New Generation by Brendan Conway and published by Magpie Games. We have been saving this game for some very special guests and we found them. James Malloy of Protean City and Indi Tan of Dice Comics came through for a phenomenal AP and insightful discussion. Join a Janus, a Transformed, and an Outsider as the city championship for girls’ varsity basketball (our own New Arcadia North...

We played See Issue X and now it’s time to talk about it! We’re joined by our special guest, Connor Goldsmith of the Cerebro podcast, to learn about his history with comics and TTRPGs, and then dig in to what makes See Issue X tick and what it says about superhero stories. Find out more about See Issue X, by Chris Longhurst, at https://potatocubed.itch.io/see-issue-x Back IssuesUncanny X-Men 129-137 (1979-80), The Dark Phoenix Saga, by Chris Claremont and John ByrneUncanny X-Men 168-176...

We’re back to play See Issue X with our special guest, Connor Goldsmith of the Cerebro podcast. Join us for one more arc as The Sibyl and Chimera deal with an old enemy who hits very close to home. Find out more about See Issue X at https://potatocubed.itch.io/see-issue-x The CastConnor Goldsmith (he/him, @dreamoforgonon) — Charlotte Bishop (“The Sibyl”) Stephanie Burt (she/her, @accommodatingly/@[email protected]) — Maggie Cone (“Chimera”) Fiona Hopkins (she/her,...

We’ve got our decks of cards and we’re ready to deal with the hash demands of superhero continuity of See Issue X with our special guest, Connor Goldsmith of the Cerebro podcast. Find out more about See Issue X at https://potatocubed.itch.io/see-issue-x The CastConnor Goldsmith (he/him, @dreamoforgonon) — Charlotte Bishop (“The Sibyl”) Stephanie Burt (she/her, @accommodatingly/@[email protected]) — Maggie Cone (“Chimera”) Fiona Hopkins (she/her, @fionawhim/@[email protected]) —...

We are closing out our run of Spectaculars from Rodney Thompson and Scratchpad Publishing with our back matter, when we talk about the game mechansims, how they fit in with super hero fiction, and give you some stellar comic book and novel recommendations. We also spend some time talking with Seanan McGuire about her history with RPGs and some of her most memorable dice rolls, which will soon become some of your most memorable dice rolls. Back IssuesX-Men: Spotlight on Starjammers (1990), by...

We are back to play Spectaculars with Seanan McGuire, one of our favorite author, known for Middlegame, the Wayward Children and October Daye series of novels, and many others. Across Gliding, Emmett Low, and Lily have boarded the ragged-looking Facilitator spaceship (with cyborg-cat-person-from-the-future L reluctantly in tow) to find who triggered the distress call and do what they can to keep this infested vessel from colliding with Earth. Find out more about Spectaculars at...

It’s one of our favorite writers! Playing an RPG with us! This run is Spectaculars by Rodney Thompson, and we’re joined by none other than Seanan McGuire, author of Middlegame, the Wayward Children and October Daye series of novels, and many others. Our characters, crew of a space ship they accidentally stole, were about to leave Earth when said ship was in turn nearly stolen from them. Confronting the cybernetic cat thief, they find out about a distress call from the Facilitators — an...

It’s time to dissect A City of Shining Stars by Aaron Lim, with our guest from this run, Jeff Stormer. For our Origin Story segment, we took the opportunity to interview Jeff about how he prepped for this game with a lifetime of watching, reading, and studying superhero stories. Back IssuesMarvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross (1994). The influential, and optimistic, mini-series follows a non-powered photographer through his career in Silver Age Marvel New York, looking at super-people as they...

We’re back with Jeff Stormer of Party of One and All My Fantasy Children — not to mention Anyone Can Wear the Mask — to play Aaron Lim’s A City of Shining Stars. We’re using this superhero city-building game to develop the history of New Olympia, a parallel-universe version of New Arcadia. Find all of Aaron Lim’s games here: https://ehronlime.itch.io/ And, hear Jeff play another baseball-themed superhero, Slugger King, in the Protean City Comics Pride Annual #1: The Hometown Hero of Hillside...

This run we’re joined by Jeff Stormer of Party of One and All My Fantasy Children — not to mention Anyone Can Wear the Mask — to play Aaron Lim’s A City of Shining Stars. We’re using this superhero city-building game to develop the history of New Olympia, a parallel-universe version of New Arcadia. Find all of Aaron Lim’s games here: https://ehronlime.itch.io/ And, read Steph’s New Yorker article about multiverses in superhero media. The CastJeff Stormer (he/him, @PartyOfOnePod) Stephanie...

Time to talk about Sentinel Comics: The Roleplaying Game! In this back matter episode we go over the remarkable guided character creation mechanism, the balance between narrative and simulationist play, and Fiona breaks out a spreadsheet to report on probabilities. Sentinel Comics: The Roleplaying Game was co-developed with Critical Hits Studios and is published by Greater Than Games. Back IssuesInferno (1988) by Louise Simonson, with art by Walter Simonson, Bret Blevins, Terry Shoemaker and...

The conclusion to our actual play of Sentinel Comics: the Roleplaying Game from Greater Than Games. Our heroes have a note from Time Keeper’s future self telling them to go to Monomer’s company office at midnight in a few days. How will they prepare? What will happen when the clock strikes 12:00? The CastIan Gregory (they/them, @fissionmale) — Ursula, the Weird Sister Ceci Mancuso (they/them, @[email protected]) — Horatio “Time Keeper” Holm Stephanie Burt (she/her,...

Part two of our actual play of Sentinel Comics: the Roleplaying Game from Greater Than Games. There’s a volcano in the middle of the Grandsmeddow that is being brought forward in time by a strange device. Our heroes need to contend with an angry fire-wielding supervillain, Flame Jane, and quite a few lava wurms as they work to get to the device and stop it from causing more destruction in New Arcadia. The CastIan Gregory (they/them, @fissionmale) — Ursula, the Weird Sister Ceci Mancuso...

We’ve got Ian and Ceci back to play Sentinel Comics: the Roleplaying Game from Greater Than Games. It’s time for some good ol’ superheroing as a volcano erupts in the middle of New Arcadia. Can our heroes—a scientist/entrepreneur with a powered suit of her own making, a college dropout who stole the wrong magical artifact from the mob, and Ursula, an actual witch from Macbeth—rescue civilians, fight off villains, and put a stop to the lava before it consumes the entire Grandsmeddow? The...

Time to talk about Mutant City Blues! In this back matter episode we discuss our feelings about creating characters using the Quade Diagram, the challenges of GMing a mystery, and the uncomfortable relationships between superheroes and cops. Our Mundane Supernatural Life is written by Vee Hendro and Hayley Gordon, and published by Storybrewers. Back IssuesSuperman: Secret Identity (2004) (trade paperback collecting the run), written by Kurt Busiek, art by Stuart ImmonenAstonishing X-Men...