“Akeyo offers moi a kazi. Tres facile, she says. Cho lucrative, she says. Faces always lie. Tatemae, hombre. Allez, my brain says. OK, my boca says. Weil she with Sergei. His gun is ookii. His ‘tude is zverskiy. Samurai always punish. Sergei no hablo Angelo. He hablo Gewalt.
The paise is gooood. The crew is prooo. The kazi is faciiile. In and out, bra. You win, bra.
But the street don’t lie: THE SYSTEM ALWAYS WINS!”

– Neff Jacks, hardboi runner

In this episode, we present a list of questions that define cyberpunk. If a game, book, or movie checks these boxes, it’s cyberpunk. If not, sorry, bra. Is Shadowrun cyberpunk? Is The Matrix? Listen for the definitive answers.

“They hold it unlawful to talk of anything which it is unlawful to do. The most disgraceful thing in the world, they think, is to tell a lie.”
On the Customs of the Persians, Herodotus

In this installment of Warriors, we honour the Persians by only speaking the truth about their elite soldiers, the Immortals. This means that they were probably called the “Companions” instead of the “Immortals,” and that they were regular men in purple and yellow robes instead of dual katana-wielding orc ninjas. Who knew Zach Snyder took some creative liberties with them?

Take two.

In this installment of GM Corner, we look at an important but often forgotten part of preparation: post session. This is the time to get feedback from players, assess how things went, and decide what to do next, which could include the important decision of whether or not to continue with the game.

We are without Wayne this week. What we lose in gaming insight by his absence, we gain in technical savvy (i.e., knowing that you have to press the record button to record).

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.”).

 

I’m gonna pop some tags,
Only got twenty dollars in my pocket.
I – I – I’m leaving, looking to come ba-ack.
The book was fifty dollars.
Game  Shop” – Idlemore & Red Lewis

In this episode, we discuss what makes a good game store, based on some observations we made during some recent trips to North America, and what could entice people away from online  retailers.

Game stores in your area:

Toronto
401 Games

Ottawa
Fandom II
The Comic Book Shoppe

Los Angeles
The War House

Philadelphia
Atomic City Comics

Schaumburg
Gamer’s World

The D&D image discussed in the introduction.

With 2013 coming to an end, we decide to make gaming resolutions, the geekiest kind of all. Listen to find out what games we will strive to play and make in 2014. Chris’s first resolution opens with an apology of sorts. Unfortunately, as usual, no one can remember what he said before to warrant the apology.  Wayne’s resolution kind of comes out of nowhere, as if he made it up just for this episode. It will be interesting to see if he’ll ever bring it up again. Lyal’s resolution is a repeat from an earlier episode. However, if 2013 has taught us anything, it’s that Lyal can and will repeat himself.

In this installment of Rogues, we discuss hackers and…

****Buy Jordans for cheap at www.wouldyoureallyclickthissite.com.****

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****I always prided myself on being an outsider… but now… I feel the need to connect with someone.****

****All your base are belong to us.****

Peter Parker before being bitten by a radioactive spider, the first 33 years of Frodo Baggins’ life, moisture farming on Tatooine. Aren’t these the stories that we should be telling?

In this episode, we discuss the benefits and drawbacks of running a prequel and the different ways that you can do so.

Should D&D be everyone’s gateway into RPGs?

After about ten minutes of listening to us talk about D&D, you may start to question the “Non-D&D” part of the title, but we do move on to other games. We look at Exalted, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, Runequest, and Dragon Age. We evaluate each game’s system, setting, and presentation. We also discuss which ones would be good gateway games. At the end, we talk about an out-of-print game that presented fantasy races in new and badass ways.

“In the criminal Idle Red Hands system, Rogues will be separated into two separate yet equally important groups: the crimes and the people who commit them. These are their stories.”

The month of debuts gets another debut! This time, it’s Rogues, a look at criminals and the crimes they commit. We look at the proud noble tradition of deal dealers, gunrunners and pimps (and those guys that sold jeans and Beatles records in the Soviet Union). Believe it or not, we actually suggest how to play black marketeers. Chris tries to cheat by recommending a “black” marketeer who provides food to the starving, but Wayne and Lyal put a stop to that nonsense.