A chimpanzee, dolphin and octopus walk into a bar. The bartender takes their order.

In this episode, we discuss transhumanism and posthumanism. We consider whether or not to explore what it means to be human (i.e., whether to outnavel-gaze a WoD player or whether to just have fun) and what kind of world to play in (“We have both kinds of topia: dys and u.”).

 

“In blackest day, in darkest night, may the force be with you.”
-Idle Red Hands

Go big or go home. This week we tackle a galactic sized topic with “Cosmic Heroes”. Marvel’s Nova Corps, D.C.’s Green Lantern Corps, the Jedi and other heroes – in spaaaaaaaace.

Let’s look 100 years into the future to see what 2012 will bring!

A pneumatic tube messaging craze will sweep the country!
Science will find the cure for racism: all babies born in 2012 will be white!
Automatons will do all domestic chores! Women will stay in the kitchen for the fun of it!
Man will teach dogs and cats to talk! Will learn that they never really had much to say!
The Idle Red Hands, a radio program about Marxism, will win best show of the year!

In this Literature Lesson, we look at the science fiction of Verne, Wells, and Burroughs. Despite having an outline that includes colonialism, eugenics and xenophobia, we’re actually surprised when the show gets dark.

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
– Winston Churchill

Was Churchill talking about World War Two or a game of Axis and Allies?
With an apocalypse, the end is not really the end either. In fact, it’s where the fun really begins, if radiation sickness, starvation and sterility could be called “fun”.
In this episode, we talk about the post-apocalypse, including zombies, vampires, farmers, and Sam Gamgee’s second favourite topic.

Special Note: The Novel which Chris refers to, in which weapons are used to remove information from matter, is titled “The Gone-Away World” by Nick Harkaway.

“Not to recommend Canadian hip hop; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
“Not to talk about dolphin sex; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
“Not to tear up during an episode; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”

Apparently not, because we break every law. In this episode, we discuss some classic “animal” novels and how to play animals in games.

This was originally supposed to be episode 1, but there were concerns about the sound quality. As a compromise, we decided to make this episode 0, which apparently makes all the difference in the world.

In this episode, we look at how Japan is treated in roleplaying games, and we offer some recommendations on how Japan can be used to spice up your gaming experience. Yes, someone mentions school girls. I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come.

At some point during the recording, Wayne started to think that the topic was “Things I’ve Seen at Toys ‘R’ Us”. We opted to cut out that part out, but you can still hear Lyal referring to it. Apologies for any confusion this may cause.