“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.

Chris: “Lyal, Can I play Batman in your DC game. Batman with a Scottish accent. ‘Ach. Ay’m the heerooo this city deserves, ya wee lass.'”
Lyal: “Wow. I’m not looking forward to that, but sure. Wayne?”
Wayne: “Hmm, maybe Sen … Sensible … Sensual … Sen … tence. Centennial. The Centennial.”
Lyal: “The Sentry. Wrong universe. How about Superman?”
Wayne: “No thanks. I do like Spee … Speeder … Speederma … Spice. Spicer … Spicerman …”
Lyal: “Spider-Man. Wrong universe, again.”

In this episode, we discuss the advantages of playing iconic characters as well as retelling classic or not so classic stories. Also, listen to find out what all the fuss about Sparks Nevada is.

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word “slavery”? “Fun”? “Engaging”? No? Well, after this episode you just might. Probably not, though.

Plus: The Lord of the Rings: The Untold Story

No guest stars this episode; we stick with the Holy Trinity of Lyal, Chris and Wayne. (Did you see what we did there?)

Rather than focus on specific faiths, myths and rituals in this episode, we look at how religion, in general, would impact your game setting. This includes the tendency to tie faith to power and the idea that “science is the new religion”. We also discuss whether it’s fair to spring setting and rule surprises on players.

We hope to revisit this topic in the future because it’s so big.

Although we talk about religion, we manage to not offend any world faiths. Chris does cost us our creationist listeners, however.