In our last installment of 2012’s Month of Horror, which we missed by six days, we discuss horror movies. Joining us for the discussion is horror movie aficionado (and massive movie spoiler) Josh.
For those hoping to have the first 90 minutes of the 95-minute The Cabin in the Woods explained to them, I’m afraid we cut it out. I guess you’ll have to learn the plot the old-fashioned way: watch it yourself. Fortunately, Lyal, Chris and Wayne don’t have to now. Thanks, Josh.

“Cursed be those who disturb the rest of the Idle Red Hands. They that shall break the seal of this podcast shall meet death by a disease that no doctor can diagnose. What? You’ve invented blood tests and MRIs? Never mind.”
– Updated Curse of the Idle Red Hands

This is the episode we almost lost. Cursed? Or cursed that we recovered it? You be the judge. This episode has an Idle Red Hands first: a tool for gamemasters to use when planning curses for their game. (Which reminds me that we need to get our sample up on the forums.)

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.

“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.

Mae: The light that’s leaving that star right now will take a billion years to get down here. You want to know why you’ve never met a girl like me before?
Caleb: Yeah. Why?
Mae: Because I’ll still be here when the light from that star gets down here to earth in a billion years.
Near Dark

“We don’t cry at twilight. We don’t give interviews. We aren’t anyone’s children, day or night. We’re your fears, your desires, your taboos. We’re your worst nightmare and most delicious dream.” – Prince Idle the Red Hand

In this episode, we put the “red” in Idle Red Hands.

In our debut Creature Feature, we shine the moonlight on werewolves. We discuss werewolf  legends and movies and how to run werewolf antagonists and protagonists. We also talk about The Werewolf of Washington a lot. Never heard of it? There’s a reason for that.

Lyal forgot his notes at home, so “skin-walkers” become “skin-changers” and “The Beast of Gevaudan” becomes “The Beast of B-something”. Chris’s research seems to have consisted of after school specials on safe sex. Wayne is allegedly from the “ghetto”, which explains why Lyal and Chris lose it when he tells his wrapping tube story.

Despite this, we come up with a pretty decent setting to play werewolves in. Can you handle the Werepocalypse?

Special offer! Download Part 1 for free and get Part 2 for the low, low price of nothing. Offer expires in 2056.

In this installment of Campaign Confessions, we look at the World of Darkness system and the Vampire: The Requiem setting and system. We also explain how we track blood/glamour, health, and damage in Vampire and Changeling. (There’s some dispute over who gets credit for that.)

Yujiro guest hosts.

Everything you always wanted to know about pen-and-paper role-playing games but were afraid (or couldn’t be bothered) to ask.

The Idle Red Hands are blessed with some great friends who, despite having no clue about RPGs, listen to our podcast. One recommended that we record an episode that explains some of the basic concepts to help him follow along, so we did. This is for him and all those who have ever wondered why some people choose to spend their Saturday nights rolling dice.

If you’re an experienced gamer, have a listen to see if you agree with our descriptions, definitions, and recommendations.

To start a lifetime of adventure, download these free rules for GURPS 4th Edition from the good people at Steve Jackson Games (or visit your local army recruiting center).

Special note: We debut our new microphone this episode.