* (0:30) What steps do we take to bring a character to life? * (1:49) Ask what’s important. * (6:53) Seeing the good and bad in a single trait. * (8:06) Doug’s personality triangle model. * (...
Today’s ingredient: The dead are consuming the living. Why and how? Let’s find out! Fear the Con 2024’s Kickstarter can be found here. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
* (0:29) In defense of technology at the gaming table. Caleb’s setup with Owlbear Rodeo. * (5:13) Dan’s Lion King sing-a-long and Wayne’s Ghostbusters game. * (6:27) The deeper pool of onli...
I decided to skip over the Iron GM and go for a Tungsten GM. The ingredient? All broadcasts cease because something won’t let them get through. What’s the game plot? Also, the Fear the Con 20...
* (0:30) Dan runs a game a bit too literally. * (4:12) The intersection of technology and roleplaying in a way that isn’t required by the game. * (7:32) Why multimedia doesn’t pay-off the way...
* (0:29) Why talk about intelligence? The Why Files episode about Cicada 3301. * (9:24) A game takes an unhelpfully long break, only to be replaced by another RPG. * (12:44) The lack of a bottoml...
* (0:22) Picking out the point we became curmudgeons and what exactly that means. * (4:48) Being too set in our ways. * (11:19) The self-destruction that comes with stagnation. * (21:32) Wii have...
* (0:29) Reintroducing Julia’s husband, Mike. * (2:24) Lowered expectations, inspired by a post-pandemic world. * (7:25) Being a bit more experimental. * (13:18) Playing online instead of retur...
* (0:29) Thanks to Eric Van Note for Swole Mole! * (3:15) The value of terrible GMing. * (8:42) Everyone is their own most inept critic. Sojourn Volume 2. * (15:28) The worst possible outcome: so...
* (0:29) Dan prefers affiliated groups, Wayne does not. * (2:15) Cohesion, identity, and help. * (9:35) Affiliations you start with as opposed to those you pick up along the way. * (11:56) The pa...
* (0:28) An update on the Actual Play. * (4:48) The InSpectres RPG (at least temporarily back in print!) and our AP interlude using its rules. * (8:09) Why play InSpectres as an interlude to the ...
* (0:28) Things are getting set for Fear the Con! An intro to RPGs game is available for newcomers. * (2:03) A shared Minecraft server. You can find more information on Discord. * (5:52) Reali...
* (0:29) Julia ruins everything. * (1:35) Things are getting set for Fear the Con! An intro to RPGs game is available for newcomers. You can also announce your games on Discord. * (9:03) Coming o...
* (0:28) Running a game when someone else knows the setting a whole lot better than you do. * (2:07) The lack of pronunciation guides in most games. * (3:16) Narrowing down the task by asking wha...
Show links… * StartPlaying Games * Bite Size Tales * Gaming with Gage Hosts: Chris, DJ, Josh, Wayne
* (0:29) The Kickstarter for Fear the Con 2023 is live for one more week! * (1:56) The wonderful confusion new players and GMs bring to a roleplaying game. * (16:59) An imagined internal-consis...
* (0:31) The Kickstarter for Fear the Con 2023 is live! * (1:04) The new fiction podcast, Bite Size Tales. * (3:09) Game mechanics we’re particularly fond of. * (4:54) Rerolls and other roll...
* (0:28) The Kickstarter for Fear the Con 2023 is live! * (1:12) Things a Game Master has done to make a world seem a little more alive (with credit to JoshB for the topic). * (5:46) Plot hooks, ...
* (0:28) The new fiction podcast, Bite Size Tales. * (1:43) Dan re-reads the D&D 2nd Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide. Wayne watches Secrets of Blackmoor. The inspiration D&D’s creators drew fr...
* (0:36) An odd tangent on names. * (3:39) A conversation about AI art. Some parameters we’re putting on this episode. AI art wins a fine arts competition. * (8:08) An admittedly non-technical ...
* (0:30) Giving a remote episode a try. We have a fix for Dan’s audio that should improve the quality on our next remote show. * (1:42) Catching up with Brodeur and DJ, who was on episode 466 t...
* (0:44) Friday night chit-chat on Discord each week, starting at 8pm Central. * (2:18) Fear the Con 2023 dates have been reserved with the hotel for June 16th and 17th of 2023, with the Wing Nig...
* (0:22) The villain as the dark inverse of the hero. * (9:20) A big CGI fight at the end that seems visually out of continuity. * (16:06) Zombies and Lovecraft. * (20:37) The freedom to like or ...
* (0:24) Brodeur recommends a manicure and pedicure to Dan. * (5:58) Dan, Wayne, and their muscle tension. * (11:24) A straight-razor shave and the thrill of death. * (15:56) Fandoms that (at lea...
* (0:28) Brodeur flees to Oregon. * (4:08) Failure comes to East Texas University. * (7:26) Dividing the blame between the players and Game Master. * (11:40) Player silence and passivity. * (17:3...
* (0:33) Wayne gives a shoutout to Gaming with Gage + Friends (but not Brodeur). * (1:53) Wayne ends a D&D campaign without a boss fight. * (3:11) The mutual theft of ideas between video games an...
* (0:29) Brodeur’s post-Gen-Con review. (I know, we’re right on top of the latest news.) A shoutout to Imagining Games, Acheron Books, and RogueOperative. * (8:02) Customizing modules for you...
* (0:29) A listener, James, gets us talking about integrating player-character backstories into your game. It starts with the players giving you something to work with. * (3:01) Sitting for too l...
* (0:29) How awful can a few years be? (Spoilers: Multiple things got worse since this recording!) * (3:49) An experiment in unequal levels of preparation and participation. * (8:34) Not all play...
* (0:24) Releasing episodes out of order. * (1:24) The little convention that could, despite how hard life tried to stop it. * (6:59) All of the hurdles that weren’t COVID. * (14:00) The obstac...
* (0:29) Interrogating Mary on her gaming history. * (1:33) The last few days before Fear the Con! * (4:54) The distinct moral perspective of a child. * (7:39) Leif responds to our show on vertic...
* (0:29) A difficult GM learns a lesson from an Uno game. * (4:10) Navigating the internal conflict between “roleplaying” and “game”. * (11:20) The need for control that ultimately comes ...
* (0:29) Fear the Con appears to have catering, but we could still use more GMs! * (5:21) Laundering identities. * (7:03) Game Masters getting fixated on things that aren’t important to the gam...
* (0:29) A new show type on the horizon: phone the Boot, or something similarly clever. * (2:04) Kids’ games at Fear the Con. Our episode on gaming with children can be found here. * (4:15) Bro...
* (0:29) A shoutout and thanks to WashingCon! * (1:09) Fear the Con is coming up in mid-June. * (2:25) Wayne annihilates his player-characters in a Legion of Liberty game, and they love it. Our e...
* (0:29) June 16th, 17th, and 18th for Fear the Con! You can see Mikey Mason’s material on BandCamp. * (2:40) Reviewing the idea of horizontal and vertical creativity. * (4:56) Horizontal creat...
* (0:29) – Bordeur, Dan, and Julia will be at Washingcon this weekend: March 26th and 27th, 2022. * (2:23) – Defining how we’ll be using “vertical” and “horizontal” creativity over ...
* (0:44) Get signed up for Fear the Con! * (1:02) Brodeur is now on TikTok for some reason. Here’s the link. Do what you will. * (5:45) Welcoming Jason back to the show. * (6:31) There I Was�...
* (0:28) The teeth on the dog go click, click, click. * (1:30) Brodeur discovers New Game+ mode in video games. * (10:23) Weather and environmental effects in an RPG. * (13:09) Weather as a refle...
* (0:18) Time to set the mood for bedtime. * (5:06) Wayne, Boxman, and the latex room. * (14:32) Watching sports for all the wrong reasons. Brodeur joins TikTok. God forgive us all. * (16:57) Way...
* (0:28) The site for Fear the Con is now live! * (2:07) Monday Morning Quarterbacking your own games (the definition for anyone that doesn’t know that phrase). * (3:36) Getting past being your...
* (0:29) A fond farewell to Chad. * (4:50) Keeping the perspective that we all started somewhere. * (7:34) The amount of good advice every human being ignores; sometimes experience is the only ef...
* (0:29) Ghost of Tsushima, Red Dead Redemption 2, and archery in schools. * (8:51) Starting up new games as old ones end. Fear the Boot’s Patreon. * (14:34) East Texas University. Preliminary ...
* (0:23) Brodeur’s interview of Jim Pinto. * (4:10) The Fairview RPG. * (7:29) A descriptive and contextual character sheet. * (15:35) The game’s replayability. * (19:01) The art book. * (23:...
* (0:35) Brodeur’s syphi-list. * (3:48) Continuing a game after mass-character-death by playing in the afterlife. * (16:43) What happens to the characters that didn’t die? * (20:15) When a pl...
* (0:36) Press or entertainment? The Influence Foundation. * (2:41) Asmodee, Embracer Group, and Miniature Market. * (9:57) The consolidation of our hobby. * (16:30) Shareholder vs stakeholder ec...
* (0:28) The scheduling crush of Christmas, and some love for Pete Petrusha. * (7:06) The many stories you can get from a single game idea, as demonstrated by For the Queen. * (11:14) The greater...
* (0:28) Brodeur starts off a game session with a cutscene, which becomes its own pun. * (5:02) Other media as a metaphor for how you structure your storytelling. * (6:50) Not withholding player ...
* (0:44) When only the shell of a character gets made, for lack of knowledge about the world. The episode where we previously discussed this can be found here. * (13:19) Using an opportunity in t...
* (0:33) Brodeur went to Gamehole Con, and Dan can’t take other people’s money. * (8:08) How age changes what you care about. * (10:02) The end-of-year blackhole that consumes our schedules (...
* (0:32) Fear the Con’s room block number is 2413940. You can place your room reservations at this link, which should prepopulate the con dates. * (1:08) Brodeur’s second product pick from th...
* (0:28) Dan is the new Brodeur. * (4:51) Fear the Con coming up June 16th – 18th, 2022. * (5:52) Brodeur hits a few conventions. We start by talking attendance numbers. * (15:33) The companies...
* (0:28) Fear the Con coming up June 16th – 18th, 2022. * (2:54) Making a plot that’s personal to the characters, without falling back to cheap shots. * (9:42) If you don’t want purely viol...
* (0:29) Introducing Vece. You can find the Skies of Glass playtest on our Patreon. * (1:35) Brodeur continues hurting himself. You can find his podcast here. * (11:35) What got us thinking about...
* (0:30) Let the bodies hit the floor! * (5:24) Defining the “action economy”. The video of three master fencers versus 50 random people can be found here. * (14:57) Consider not using a lone...
* (0:28) Dan’s situation with his Blades in the Dark character. * (2:21) The “play cycle” of an RPG. * (6:06) Designing a character that works in the play cycle, but not very well outside o...
* (0:33) Brodeur’s ongoing work to blind himself. * (2:40) Gaming when down a person. Putting some parameters on the discussion. * (7:53) Avoiding cliffhangers that hinge on a single character....
* (0:24) Maybe combat shouldn’t be played to the point of annihilation. Violence as part of the human experience. * (5:50) The social contract of a fight. Jason Brick’s Safest Family on the B...
* (0:29) Wayne gives a shoutout to Old Man Hussey. (Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a link to the AP he ran.) * (3:15) Brodeur gets us started on the joys of combat in roleplaying gam...
* (0:52) A love that makes Brodeur and Wayne uncomfortable. * (4:37) Actor has a seat at Brodeur’s table but doesn’t seem to enjoy it. * (10:14) The importance of looking for context and moti...
* (0:27) Where’s Brodeur? * (2:00) Fear the Con Online, June 25th – 27th. You can create and sign up for games on the website. * (4:04) Having patience for people, whether in discomfort or j...
* (0:28) And the cat came back…! * (1:13) Fear the Con Online, June 25th – 27th. You can create and sign up for games on the website. * (4:00) As we get close to gaming face-to-face again, we...
* (0:39) Silver milk. * (7:54) Spotlight vs. validation. * (12:40) Being a fan of the players. * (18:27) Evaluating whether the idea is genuinely bad, or you’re just being judgmental. * (23:39)...
* (0:40) Delusions of Reference (or not) in a Mexican restaurant. * (21:16) Wayne’s weird skill of making eating interesting. * (23:45) A Dresden game gets a bit depressing, but not all enterta...
* (0:22) Hating on Zoom, and welcoming Tex and Old Man Hussey. * (1:48) Welcoming author and former Assistant BattleTech Line Developer Ben Rome, and other/new Tex from Tex Talks BattleTech (his ...
* (0:24) Blades in the Dark as a Charles Dickens’ book, rewritten by H.P. Lovecraft. Fallen London as a genre. Richard Trager from Outlast. * (8:06) Where Dan’s plans for his character diverg...
* (0:29) Sharing space with other GMs and three kids. * (7:40) XP and loot in a West Marches game. * (11:57) And a child shall lead them… * (19:22) Lifelines to sanity. Wayne’s blog and ficti...
* (0:29) Brodeur’s slamdemic, language choices, and current game. * (6:13) The beginning of Brodeur’s problems with Actor. * (13:18) Cue Ball returns with some insight. * (17:20) Why this mig...
* (0:23) Who is Amy? * (1:07) Why do we tolerate so much bad behavior at our gaming tables? Separating this topic from what one might encounter during public games (e.g. conventions, organized pl...
An update on how COVID is impacting Fear the Con 2021.
* (0:28) In a world where… * (1:29) Laura is Lura, and now Dawn is Don? * (3:50) Explaining Masks and Powered by the Apocalypse. * (7:32) Transitioning the same characters from Masks to Necessa...
* (0:29) Lura struggles with her own name, but we’re there to help! * (3:39) The flash fiction anthology, Worth 1,000 Words, is still available for purchase. * (7:43) Laura is starting a game ...
* (0:24) A literal F-bomb. * (1:27) The fishbowl of gaming in a game shop. * (16:22) The desired safety—yet expected vulnerability—of a public gaming space. Missing context. * (21:49) An alle...
* (0:30) The flash fiction anthology, Worth 1,000 Words, is now out! * (3:35) Love for Johnny Lawrence that no child of the 80s should have. * (17:43) Wayne runs The Secret Lives of Gingerbread M...
* (0:24) Enjoying roleplaying as an artform. * (1:44) When desires collide. * (11:37) The opportunity to express or explore controversial ideas. * (16:54) Indulging a power fantasy. * (23:20) Str...
* (0:29) Brodeur gets back on the ladder again. * (1:13) Dan plays doctor, which gets us wondering what makes people want to roleplay anything at all. * (5:59) Why it’s good to know what motiva...
* (0:29) General Bootspital. * (7:19) More observations from roleplaying in an MMO. Not using freakshow characters to make yourself stand out. * (11:46) The great, unoccupied average. Distinguish...
* (0:29) Fear the Boot: Quarantine Edition. Plus, Brodeur versus Ladder. Ladder wins. NOTE: Brodeur has not actually lost an arm or eye. I meant to say he’d lost use of them. * (3:57) Roleplayi...
* (0:24) Bringing everything together into a single ending. Remembering that the GM should get their say as well. * (8:05) The collaborative building of a world with conflict. The natural concern...
* (0:30) Never humor Brodeur. * (1:17) Jason Brick is launching a new flash fiction anthology, with several Fear the Boot hosts contributing. You can find the Kickstarter here. * (4:23) The fine ...
* (0:24) Brodeur’s response to our critiques. Settling disputes in online games. * (3:12) Minis are just cool to create and use. * (6:32) A form of art and inspiration. * (11:40) The value to v...
* (0:29) Models, minis, figs, and toy soldiers. Brodeur proposes Frostgrave. Why Chad is wrong about the Enclave being fully defeated. * (4:02) Minis in an RPG. Enriching or distracting? Brodeur�...
* (0:28) Brodeur’s site, Wayne’s site, and Fear the Boot’s Patreon. * (3:49) Looking at an updated view of the effect COVID is having on tabletop gaming. Setting some parameters on the disc...
* (0:30) Nagging Brodeur to do an episode of Game Notes. Brodeur’s own show. * (7:21) Revisiting command structures in a game. Waiting to set roles until after you’ve had a chance to play you...
* (0:28) Developing a GMing style. * (2:38) Defining “GMing style,” as it will be used in this show. * (9:19) Laura, as a GM who is running her formative games. * (12:10) Picking up helpful i...
* (0:28) How this topic may tie into the next campaign in our actual play. * (7:47) The particular struggle over captain, as opposed to any other position on the bridge. * (9:21) The attractive f...
* (0:28) Have a game! And an online calendar. * (3:09) When one player asks for a very specific game. * (9:08) Determining exactly what they want from this game. Yes, Chad, Green Squadron really ...
* (0:24) Introducing Zylo and reintroducing Chris. * (0:49) A brief history of Fear the Conline. * (3:42) The dual novelty of running a con game and online game. * (7:10) Position the screen belo...
* (0:29) Are there TWO soulless gingers on the show!? * (4:03) Minnesotans and their grey ducks. * (6:03) Lura explains her tarot deck and witchery. * (14:37) A reading for Gnarl. The Shadowscape...
* (0:29) Bad Brodeur gets bashful. Lura and finding God’s love in F7. * (8:13) Dan prepares to run a West Marches game. You can find our prior episodes on West Marches here and here. * (11:02) ...
* (0:37) Wayne has to rather abruptly put his Dresden Files game on hold. * (10:46) The added difficulty of an ending you couldn’t plan for. * (11:47) Remembering where you left off. Taking a r...
* (0:29) Unplugged cables and the ever-moving studio. * (4:20) The cost of a press pass. * (6:10) The hardest thing to do in a horror game. * (10:35) The lack of numinous fear. When Pat was prepa...
* (0:18) Gen Con was cancelled after this episode was recorded but before it was released. * (1:14) Fear the Con Online, coming up on June 19th – 20th. The promo video can be found here and t...
* (0:29) Fear the Con Online, coming up on June 19th – 20th. The promo video can be found here and the signup site can be found here. * (7:41) Fear the Con 2021 has been locked in for June 25th...
* (1:05) A message from Matt about some issues with a GM. * (2:21) Player creativity can spook the GM into responding in frustrating ways. * (13:35) Reasons why GMs find themselves in this situat...
* (0:36) Adapting the show to current realities. * (1:52) The history of West Marches and the context of the advice we gave. Ben’s blog on his game. Another contribution of his to the hobby: Mi...
* (0:46) Repeating the announcement regarding Fear the Con 2020. * (2:14) New content and general improvements for our Patreon. * (7:10) Explaining what a West Marches style game is. The West Mar...
* (0:41) Some unfortunate news about Fear the Con 2020. A blog post with some more information is coming soon. * (4:14) Brodeur’s new endeavor can be found here (as of this episode, the site is...
* (0:24) Betrayal to the keys to power. * (4:40) Why Wayne abuses utility powers. * (6:19) Chad passes judgment. It might be easier to say, “no,” upfront than to have the fight later. * (13:0...
* (0:24) Putting Dale in the hotseat as a Game Master. * (10:01) Pitching the same idea to Chad and Wayne as theoretical players. * (17:13) Judging the regularity of and motivation for playing un...
* (0:24) Why Chad doesn’t have a strong opinion on splat. Getting to the player’s real reason for the request. Allowing unusual requests as a form of collaborative world-building. * (4:20) Wh...
* (0:28) Our history with podcasts and…iPods…? * (4:44) Fear the Con player and GM signup is ready to go. Fear the Boot new Patreon levels. Getting some old hosts back and relocating the reco...
* (0:25) Introducing Kimi from Happy Jacks, The Mary Sues, and Golden Lasso Girl (Twitter, Instagram). * (7:07) The Decuma Kickstarter, which can be found here. * (11:03) What Decuma is meant to ...
* (0:29) Laura in Chad’s shoes. Dogs in the hood. * (8:18) Fear the Con’s planning site is available and ready for your games! * (12:10) Wayne is in the process of improving our Patreon. * (1...
* (0:22) A very important number. * (8:45) Lura, Chad, Stacy, Cathy, and Karen. * (15:38) Why Lura isn’t allowed on Fear the Boot anymore. * (22:25) Why Julia is still allowed on Fear the Boot....
* (0:28) The joys of having a host rotation again. * (3:10) Errata in tabletop games, and why we’re grateful when companies release them. * (9:34) How publishers can do errata wrong. * (17:39) ...
* (0:28) Dan goes bye-bye! * (0:49) Fear the Boot is now on Pandora. * (2:18) Wayne and Old Man Hussey play Savage Worlds with Gage. You can find the audio of that game here. * (6:00) Wayne repor...
* (0:25) Holiday postmortem of our games. Wayne wastes money on nasty food. * (2:49) The case for and against soup, and the dark gluttony of Palladium books. * (9:21) Chad’s preferred cookbook ...
* (0:29) The holidays came in like a wrecking ball! * (2:01) Wayne’s Family Feud survey is still up for answers! * (3:24) Gnarl is here to save your Christmas! Available on Amazon and Audible....
* (0:23) Wayne’s Family Feud survey. * (3:09) Love for D&D and its sister games. * (5:24) A conversation with Chris Hussey about the strata of podcasts. * (10:46) What D&D has come to represent...
* (0:29) The Audacity that can end the show! * (1:30) A topic from Jesse, with two parameters from Dan. * (5:42) Watch out for any real-world impact between the players. * (18:28) Managing your o...
* (0:28) A big THANK YOU to everyone that backed Fear the Con! * (2:43) Gamers Table’s weekly Big 20 show (previous episodes here). * (5:22) Blades in the Dark gives way to a Traveller game. Wo...
* (0:29) Introducing Laura. The episode where we first setup this topic. * (1:24) Fear the Con has funded! Start getting your games listed! * (2:18) Chris Hussey’s Savage Worlds setting book, T...
* (0:31) Fear the Con’s Kickstarter and Con Planner site. * (1:45) We’d appreciate it if you gave us a review on whatever site or app you use to consume the show! * (4:13) Wayne brings some s...
* (0:24) Knowing why you’re changing the game, and by extension, whether it’s worth doing. * (6:50) Describing damage. Hit points versus wounds versus shock. * (15:57) Remaking characters in ...
* (0:28) Fear the Con 2020’s Kickstarter, with added rewards for people that can’t attend. * (3:38) Wayne does something cool, tells Dan about it, gives Dan a poster from it, and then forget...
* (0:29) Fear the Con’s Kickstarter! * (6:12) An encounter in the Actual Play that felt inorganic to the flow of the main plot. * (14:25) Being aware of what knits your campaign together. * (19...
* (0:29) Fear the Con 2020’s Kickstarter is live! * (4:50) When the party is split, it can make it easier to talk to an NPC. * (8:21) A split party creating a game of telephone. * (13:02) Givin...
* (0:32) The Kickstarter for Gamers Table’s Season of the Glitch. * (1:16) Fear the Con 2020 on June 18th – 20th, with the Kickstarter coming very soon. You can follow our progress in the F...
* (0:33) Fear the Con 2020 on June 18th – 20th! The Kickstarter is coming very soon. In the meantime, you can follow our progress in the Facebook group. * (2:09) Explaining who Brad is. * (2:59...
* (0:54) All that matters is the d-o-g. * (3:18) Answering part of Dustin’s question, and why it’s not getting a full answer just yet. * (5:13) Illustrations from No Man’s Sky, Baldur’s G...
* (0:23) Chad talks a whole lot about not talking. Also, cattywampus. * (4:32) Wayne is playing Dragon Quest Builders 2. * (7:39) Chad is playing Assassin’s Creed Origins. * (16:31) Dale is pla...
* (0:28) Jonathan Belina asks about rules for dice. * (4:45) Cocked dice. Not rolling off the floor. * (8:31) Dice must be legible and visible. * (9:36) Don’t “play” with the dice. * (12:42...
* (0:28) Dan’s voice. A look back at older episodes. * (2:54) The double-standard of how social skills are handled versus any other check. * (8:00) When players cheat around their dump stats. *...
* (0:30) Introducing Dale of Jon Brazer Enterprises. * (7:11) The story of Jon Brazer, the character. * (9:07) How the degree of crunch changes your options for creating material. The OGL and sim...
* (0:32) Dan is having throat issues. * (1:01) A huge “thank you” to Zylo for doing so much for Fear the Con-Line! * (2:18) Wayne created a template to help with game pitches. You can find a ...
* (0:28) This studio is hot. * (2:55) The conundrum of character suicide. How Frankenstein’s monster was actually made. * (16:10) Not being a victim of your own creations. * (31:28) Explaining ...
Excuse the intro. I’ve lost my voice, so that was the best I could do. * (0:28) We are living in the future. We’re at the threshold of hell. * (12:39) An after-action report on bringing in a ...
* (0:28) Charlie goes on a rampage. A tangent on Cluster-B personality disorders. * (6:51) Incorporating new people into the social context of your group. * (11:16) Revising our advice on how to ...
* (0:28) Play and life skills in higher animals. * (3:25) Vote for Reading Radio in the Columbus Podcast Awards. They’re listed in both the art category and podcast of the year. * (6:28) Introd...
* (0:42) Dan’s phone betrays him. Spoilers and thpoilerth. * (14:10) Chopin makes you a superior person. * (14:52) Premises that are meant for one character but invite storytelling for many cha...
* (1:07) The glory and horror of self-insert. * (3:37) Dan does Shadowrun. * (16:45) Wayne does D&D. * (26:43) Chad does Star Wars. Sort of. * (40:31) Julia does Narnia. * (48:17) Dan does Battle...
* (0:31) Brodeur and the broken finger. * (2:57) Fear the Conline is set for June 21st and 22nd. You can sign up for games here and ask questions on Discord here. * (6:55) Explaining what B-plots...
* (0:30) The distinction between GM exposition and NPC voice. * (7:12) Confusion borne from seeing the same person say everything. * (11:14) Distinguishing the source and type of information. * (...
* (0:28) Dan’s chewing monster. * (0:51) Making a lot of money on motion sickness medications. * (11:11) Creating a world where order remains in spite of the players being agents of chaos. Dan�...
* (0:28) A possible online convention in place of this year’s Fear the Con. You can place your vote and find out more on Discord. * (1:04) Cell phone jammers. * (4:13) Accept creative solutions...
* (0:54) A possible online convention in place of this year’s Fear the Con. You can place your vote and find out more on Discord. * (5:07) An episode of Gamers Table inspires a topic (special t...
* (0:28) Secretary Chad brings a glorious gift. * (3:50) Give a backstory the GM can use. * (5:47) Be open to the GM’s input on your character. * (12:06) Learn something about the rules. * (17:...
* (0:29) Wayne learns object permanence. * (2:14) A player gets voted off the island. * (9:12) Not invested in the game or not invested in the group? * (12:16) Picking the kicker. * (22:40) Evalu...
* (0:28) The Itty Bitty Writing Space Kickstarter. * (3:47) A topic from Wendell on our Discord server. * (4:49) Playing to genre, themes, and moods. * (12:59) Hijacking the experience everyone s...
* (0:22) Catching up with how Chad’s campaign ended. * (1:43) The steps taken to set the mood. * (11:08) Pacing of the game. * (15:36) Resolving the prophecies. * (19:37) How the players helped...
* (0:28) Let’s hear it for Devastator! * (1:23) An update on Fear the Con. * (3:30) Game scheduling falls apart one session before the finale. * (12:35) Recovering the game by bringing immediat...
* (0:28) Finally all the way home! * (0:48) The Actual Play actor’s studio. * (3:33) Dan’s PCs are becoming more like NPCs. * (11:34) Not giving up your own enjoyment. Misreading the situatio...
* (0:28) Right place, wrong room. * (1:23) Playing the hatred between two player-characters. * (6:18) You aren’t a victim of your character. * (10:04) Enemy Mine and Hell in the Pacific. * (14:...
* (0:28) Recording at Julia’s. * (1:36) Fear the Boot and Gamers Table Destiny 2 clan. * (2:58) A fond farewell to Don Dehm of Pulp Gamer. * (4:23) Wemic shoes, doo doo doo doo doo doo. * (11:0...
* (0:33) A bottle of bourbon and a letter from the Hellhounds. * (8:11) Brodeur wants to blossom, plus something about Jenna von Oÿ. * (9:13) Discord and the things we won’t do for you. A bi...
* (0:28) Reaching a milestone episode. A topic picked by our Patreon backers. * (2:59) How the podcast started. Its first hosts and logo. The deep well of storytelling topics. * (14:57) The show�...
* (0:29) A topic inspired by a game of Bang. What it will take to make Dan stab someone in the back in a board game. The distinction between factions and a traitor mechanic. * (10:29) Hiding you...
* (0:28) Fear the boot is now on iHeartRadio. You can get the regular show here and the actual play here. * (3:02) A player’s response to an unintentional Game Master error. An example with a d...
* (0:22) The trailer for Bumblebee. * (4:09) The two extremes of product placement. * (8:21) Resizing a robot. Or not. * (12:07) The evolution of an idea when someone can tell you, “No.” * (1...
* (0:28) Dan was a guest on Gaming with Gage. You can find the episode here. * (1:22) Explaining game explainers. An example from a Dresden game. * (10:24) Describing options and risks without di...
* (1:00) Playing robots in a game, focusing on RP, not the stats. * (4:44) Who built you, why, and with what philosophical presuppositions? * (9:05) Some thought exercises to unpack a robot’s m...
* (0:23) Finding Caleb. Finding gaming. * (17:18) The historical inevitability of RPGs. * (22:15) The unusual mechanics of certain weapons. Khopesh. * (32:12) Distinguishing armor. * (36:12) Know...
* (0:28) Fear the Boot is everywhere! The actual play site, Discord, Facebook, our forums, Patreon, and a whole lot of podcast aggregators. * (3:30) Handling player-characters that are being kept...
* (0:28) Creating life from lifelessness. Rapidly replacing a player-character that’s died. * (10:35) Making a character that’s already tied to the party. * (13:05) An introduction that helps...
* (0:47) Derek Knutsen’s Kickstarter for Flower of Heaven. * (0:57) The Kickstarter for GamersTable, Season 2. * (1:25) Explaining what we mean and don’t mean by “recycling.” * (5:51) Rea...
* (0:41) Derek Knutsen’s Kickstarter for Flower of Heaven. * (1:27) The Kickstarter for GamersTable, Season 2. * (2:51) Defining C.A.R. NPCs with a few examples. * (11:42) Why GMs accept unacce...
* (0:27) Never old news! A club eats a mammoth. Or not. * (3:13) Unintentionally scaring your players out of a course of action. * (8:50) Players scaring themselves. * (20:23) The distinction bet...
* (0:28) The wonderful, illusory door. * (5:21) A warning to stop here. Hijacking Lasers and Feelings. * (10:50) Dark improv on a minimal pitch. * (15:20) The role of the alternates. * (18:39) Th...
* (0:17) Thanking the people that made the convention happen. * (3:35) Mikey Mason’s performance can be picked up here. * (4:37) Our thanks to St. Charles Nissan. * (5:29) Heather Phillips does...
* (0:30) Setting a boundary on the topic. * (2:16) Keeping an NPC fair. * (6:07) Tactical vs compassionate vs in-character. * (14:01) Enemy fear and greed. * (33:30) When the enemy’s reality ch...
* (0:29) Fear the Boot’s Patreon site. * (2:05) Dan’s dream comes true! * (4:49) Relationships between characters. Some examples to set it up. * (10:07) The difficulty of engineering relation...
* (0:28) Welcoming Stu and Kimi from Happy Jack’s family of podcasts. * (0:49) Fear the Boot tries to pick out a sponsor. * (3:03) Playing yourself in a roleplaying game. Stu did it in college....
* (0:23) A love letter to an under-served demographic. * (1:43) Surviving without a gaming group. * (11:59) What if podcasting had existed earlier? * (16:39) Wayne and his apes. Monkeys in outer ...
* (0:28) Fear the Con and its Con Planner site. * (1:08) A D&D game gets us talking about pets. * (3:45) How animals affect storytelling and group dynamics. * (9:02) Pets as PCs versus NPCs. P...
* (0:28) Fear the Con and its Con Planner site. The mixer is on June 21st, with the con itself on June 22nd and 23rd. * (1:12) Chad is running a D&D 5th Edition game. The shorthand version of ...
* (0:52) Google searches on some podcasts, and a prank with Brandi that didn’t happen. * (3:26) Letting players develop parts of the setting mid-game, including the NPCs. * (8:04) Fat Tony and ...
* (0:52) Wayne visits Brodeur at Miniature Market (their Facebook page). * (5:21) Prologue games. Taking them seriously while recognizing their disposability. * (15:20) A shared history that’s ...
* (0:29) There and Back Again Kickstarter. * (0:51) Simplification of Fear the Boot’s Patreon. * (5:17) How can a wonderful dream become a nightmare? * (9:57) What We Do in the Shadows. * (12:4...
* (0:29) Welcoming Jason Brick to the show. Baby Shoes, Flash, Sojourn 1, and Sojourn 2. * (3:04) Setting up today’s topic. Jason’s Kickstarter for There and Back Again. * (5:41) Harkening ba...
* (0:41) Welcoming Eric from GamersTable. Almost crashing Brodeur’s place of work. * (1:23) GM Impostor Syndrome. The Dunning-Kruger Effect. * (6:35) Some help with that feeling of intimidation...
* (0:27) What we’re looking forward to in 2018. * (1:02) Roleplaying games and related material. * (8:08) Video games. We somehow failed to mention the upcoming Battletech game. * (29:36) Upcom...
* (0:50) Wayne takes his entire party prisoner in a Necessary Evil game. * (2:03) Setting some boundaries on the discussion. Giving the concept of “agency” a clear definition. * (8:19) Keepin...
This was a short episode I cut a while back when life got in the way of our regularly-scheduled recordings. I’ve got a full-length one we did a bit later, which I’ll be releasing immediately ...
* (0:28) 1d4Con on April 13th – 15th, 2018. * (2:16) Brodeur GTFO. * (4:42) Some comments on Salt in Wounds. Fear the Boot’s Discord server. * (9:43) Keeping a game fresh during someone’s h...
* (0:49) Fear the Con and its Con Planner site. All our love to Fred. * (2:47) The Salt in Wounds game setting, and why it intrigues Brodeur. * (14:40) Unpacking the human psychology of why we li...
* (0:41) A look back at the Big Board. * (3:37) Lesson prep for a church and how it demonstrates a social concept that applies to gaming. * (7:17) Performance by one versus content by all. * (15:...
* (0:28) Fear the Con’s site is ready. * (1:13) Our emails have been fixed, including the confirmation for forum signup. * (8:56) The planned ending for a session of the Actual Play goes awry. ...
* (0:37) Non-player characters that can be used to guide the party. * (2:04) Tying the NPC to the group while avoiding them becoming a GMPC. * (8:14) Needing them all the time is a sign something...
* (1:16) Thanks to Sgt. Dan and Mumswear for the shirts. * (2:33) Thanks to Mark Larson for the Crown Royal bags. * (5:19) A shout-out to Andrew Martin. * (7:33) Brodeur’s two episodes on runni...
* (0:29) Brodeur thanks John Wells, Mark Lawson, and Sgt. Dan for help with Crown Royal bags. * (2:33) Dan gets a copy of Battletech’s Alpha Strike rules. * (4:25) A shift—or new fad—in tab...
Caring Bridge Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Annie’s Hope direct GoFundMe donations
* (0:18) The Caring Bridge site for Pat. * (1:50) An update on Pat. (As of the episode release, the information is a bit outdated. Pat is now home on hospice care.) * (2:47) Whether to continue a...
* (0:28) The father-daughter podcast, Reading Radio. * (1:57) Brodeur beats the negative association with reading. * (8:35) Wayne doesn’t have access to a computer and decides to go retro. * (1...
* (0:28) Event signup for Fear the Con 11 is now open. Additional shots at the stretch goals will be coming up in the next few months. * (2:13) Brodeur’s love for minis. The Toy Soldiers video ...
* (0:36) Chad’s patience. * (1:33) This show will reference episode 13 of the Skies of Glass Actual Play. * (2:41) Characters finding hope in hopelessness. * (6:34) The mixed morality of a gr...
* (0:29) Dan was a guest on The Greatest Show. You can see the video here or grab an audio version here. * (0:53) Dan was also a guest on the Connections radio show, talking about RPG culture...
* (0:29) Brodeur turns a negative episode into a regular one. * (4:52) An end to a long-running D&D campaign. * (6:34) An unexpected finish. Microscope. * (10:20) Balancing player agency against ...
* (0:23) Introducing Beth and Adam. * (1:27) Dan will be on the Connections radio show on Wednesday, November 8th, from 10:30pm – 11:00pm Eastern time. You can find how to tune-in here. * (4:00...
* (0:28) Charles has too little British for Brodeur and too little beef for Wayne. * (3:34) The flash fiction anthology, FLASH!, which you can grab from Amazon. * (4:54) The Lairdbalor. * (6:22) ...
* (1:02) FLASH!, an anthology that includes Dan and several booters. You can get a copy on Amazon. * (2:20) Dan was a guest on The Greatest Show. You can see the video here or grab an audio versi...
* (0:32) Making up reasons for why Wayne couldn’t make it. * (1:45) Brodeur and the Marilith: A Dramatic Reading, coming soon. * (3:29) Trying to win over the group when you have a different pl...
* (0:29) Wayne goes to Washington D.C. * (1:48) Monotonal cities. The public service of preempting nerd rage. * (4:59) The setting has its own story. The Delmar Divide. * (16:47) Whether a city w...
* (0:49) Life problems interfering with our recording schedule. * (1:47) Chad’s latest garage sale find, and why Brodeur is banned from garage sales. * (4:57) The first D&D video game Chad boug...
* (0:35) Hiccups in the release schedule. * (1:14) Enigma, Transcendentalism, and living in the moment. Or having sex in High School. Finding social and psychological freedom in a roleplaying gam...
* (0:30) Brodeur’s psychiatrist. Unfiltered Brodeur at the negative level. * (4:04) Sacrifice in a roleplaying game. Giving up something you want to make the game better. The D&D Actual Play. *...
* (0:29) Episode 9 of the Skies of Glass Actual Play. * (1:06) Murder versus killing. * (14:03) The power of a personal reaction apart from a character reaction. * (16:45) Doing something in-char...
* (0:30) Welcoming George to the show. * (0:52) Fear the Boot’s Actual Plays are now on YouTube. * (2:26) An overview and history of Gen Con. True Dungeon. * (12:46) Spectacle and socialization...
* (0:29) Robots having ghosts and facial hair. Brodeur threw GoBots at people. * (9:16) Thanks to Stephen Brown for giving us the name of the show with plant brains driving vehicles: Jayce and t...
* (0:29) Welcoming Ryan to the show. His Fear the Con game based on Happy Birthday, Robot. * (3:25) Reading the table for emotional effect. * (10:29) Empty space with context. * (18:45) Plot hook...
* (0:28) Lighter rules keeping players from second-guessing their choices. * (12:16) Passing notes during an RPG. Its capacity to rob mature players of part of the game. * (16:07) Third person om...
WARNING: The discussion in the early part of this show is rather crass. If you don’t want to hear that, skip to 7:08. * (0:32) Why we’re on a second take. * (1:23) The pre-recorded Actual Pla...
* (0:28) The Skies of Glass AP is out. * (2:36) Our other AP on Twitch. * (5:46) Brodeur’s new coworker. * (9:19) Timing the ending moment of the game. An unintended murder. * (17:16) The oppos...
* (0:28) Excuse our mess. We’re heading to see Pat at the hospital because of medical complications, and a dog is sleeping on the recording table. Things will be back to normal next week. SIDE ...
We made some changes, so be sure to review your Patreon settings before the end of the month!
* (0:29) White whales. * (2:09) What do you want to run but have never had the chance to? * (10:17) What do you want to play but have never had the chance to? * (18:14) What do you want to get pu...
* (0:30) The Skies of Glass actual play is now public, and Lookout Radio has gone live. * (1:59) Some restructuring of our Patreon. A live-streaming actual play game is coming soon. * (4:47) Bro...
* (0:33) Chad fired Brodeur, Dan is the head of HR, Broflake pending. * (6:26) Fear the Con X, post-con. Special thanks to Adam, Bob, and Derek. Also thanks to Beth, Julia, our Kickstarter backer...
* (1:03) Brodeur was in a frat. He didn’t get paddled, strangely. * (2:51) Ending an ongoing campaign arc. * (8:52) The nature of the ending. What do the players actually want closure on? * (11...
* (0:34) After years of dodging anime, Dan falls in love with One Punch Man. Bill Burr give his take on the show (FAIR WARNING: NSFW language). Antonin Dvorak’s New World Symphony. * (8:01) Two...
* (0:24) Dan’s top three card games in a video game. Chad loses it for Gwent. You can sign up for the Fear the Boot Gwent league on the forums. * (9:28) Entertainment that sounds awful in conc...
* (0:29) Brodeur helps organize Geekway to the West. Vast: The Crystal Caverns, Twilight Struggle, and Battlestar Galactica. * (10:00) Fear the Con X. Charlie talks about Secret Hitler. * (11:59...
* (0:40) A bunch of charity updates! Derek’s charity games (low level, mid level, and high level tiers). Pat’s GoFundMe page. Manicorn work provided by the Mitch STL salon. * (6:10) Explaini...
* (0:28) Chad and Wayne are AWOL. * (1:20) Dan learns a whole lot about Fritz Tornow and Hitler’s dogs. * (4:03) Following up on Brodeur’s lack of combat in his game. * (5:53) Brodeur does...
* (0:27) Catching up on episodes and experimenting with a Skies of Glass actual play. * (2:51) A listener, Steve, asks about keeping characters engaged when their specialty isn’t of any use in...
* (0:23) Some more details on Derek’s charity games (low level, mid level, and high level tiers). * (3:04) Time to go bonus episode! The FAST test for stroke. * (5:10) Customers beat down Brod...
* (0:29) Why Brodeur is scared of Aisha. * (2:49) Some new information on Fear the Con X. Derek’s charity game (low level, mid level, and high level tiers). Booters and Shooters. Email Adam G...
* (1:43) Introducing our topic from Lars-Hendrik: Groups that have been abused by their GM. * (4:10) Knowing about the problems prior to the first game versus finding out when the game is in pr...
* (0:28) Welcoming Zach. * (0:47) Brodeur gets on Facebook and buys a cell phone. * (17:55) Brodeur talks to the kids in a class about game design. After an introduction, they break up into small...
* (0:29) Welcoming Eric. What attracted Karla to Dan. * (3:28) Tabletop roleplaying games as a spectator sport. The showmanship of the Game Master. * (10:59) The most interesting games as a dis...
* (0:36) A second take, and why Brodeur’s wife just might be OK with bigamy. Star wipe. * (4:07) Pat’s new refrigerator. Dan’s plan to conquer Narnia and install Beth as queen. * (8:23) To...
* (0:27) Just Dan and Karla! Well, and the pets. * (1:04) Big Bang Theory. The clip Dan mentioned (WARNING: Yelling and NSFW language.) * (4:57) Celebrity gossip. The names Dan was looking for a...
* (0:35) Introducing James McClure of the Talking Tabletop podcast. You can find his two-part interview with Dan here and here, and his episodes with Chris here and here. * (5:16) The Satanic Pa...
* (1:45) Reviewing the situation with Sara’s self-actualized character. * (6:29) How Wayne handled the situation by finding what Sara cares about instead of just looking at what the character c...
* (0:27) Chad sits up. John is the youngest old man. * (3:45) Fear the Boot’s early episode on RPG predictions. Mad milk and other inanities. * (10:35) What will roleplaying look like in a ge...
* (0:30) Brodeur’s perspective on Valentine’s Day. The value of unexpected gifts. * (12:39) Some perspective on failure, but also why it’s not today’s topic. * (16:16) The value of playin...
* (0:31) Welcoming back Chris, Julia, and Pat. * (1:32) Thanking John Ely for Pugmire and Chris Ings for an outstanding coloring book. The coming war between Corgi and Pug owners. * (8:19) Movie ...
* (0:29) Gnarl’s commentary on a sourcebook for gnolls in 5th edition D&D gets taken a bit too seriously. * (8:41) Dan’s house, Chad’s faux passport, a Twitter poll about homebrewing, rolep...
* (1:03) A shout-out to Richard Thomas and Aaron Sturgill. Fear the Con X, AcadeCon, and a total breakdown in communication. * (4:27) Brodeur gets jealous and Dan throws shade at Gamerstable. * (...
* (0:33) A natural first question presents itself. Magic by Mick Smiley. The story of Pete and Brodeur’s love. * (8:44) Imagining Games and the Dreamchaser Kickstarter. Pete was previously me...
* (0:47) An update on Pat. The GoFundMe page to help him and Beth with medical costs. You can follow his status on Caring Bridge. * (4:05) Sugar-free candy, bloopers, and Wayne’s butt…? * (1...
* (0:35) False alarm on Dan’s interview on Talking Tabletop, but it’s out now (part 1 and part 2). * (2:06) Chad’s unexpected take on Alien: Covenant. The increasing social ubiquity of sc...
* (0:27) The German-language podcast, Eskapodcast. * (2:17) Dan’s idea about “cabinet GMing” that Brodeur, Scott, and the Germans are trying to steal. Having other GMs handle the actions ...
* (0:22) Warning: Content is out of order, like Witcher novels or Firefly. * (1:12) Magic button of Annihilation: What Christmas song would you obliterate? * (7:18) Brodeur hates Trans Siberian ...
* (0:18) Dan and Chad were quoting Still Talkin (NSFW language warning). * (2:19) Music you listen to at the most formative moments of your life. Jidenna’s Long Live the Chief and Method Man...
* (0:47) I lied about part 2, but part 1 of my interview with Jim McClure is out! * (2:50) XCOM 2 gets us thinking about setting the level of challenge in a tabletop roleplaying game. * (9:59) G...
* (0:28) Much ado about butts. Thanks, Patreon supporters! * (3:35) Was this section even legal to air? * (5:58) Fish Donuts and the foxy Ms. Candida. * (9:15) What happened with the cell phones...
* (1:07) Fear the Boot’s Secret Santa, run by Noob13. You can find details on the forums. * (2:15) Dan’s interview on Talking Tabletop with Jim McClure. Fear the Boot’s Twitter and Faceboo...
* (0:35) Dan moves, and the studio moves with him. * (1:47) Fear the Con X’s Kickstarter is in its last week. * (2:32) A big thanks to our Patreon backers for the new chairs. * (3:21) Our homeb...
* (0:46) Fear the Con X’s Kickstarter is live and needs your support. * (1:55) Support the Strays on No Shave November. Also, much love to Matt who joined the team after this show was recorded,...
* (0:28) Picking up where we left off from the prior episode. * (3:10) Research and essays, particularly The Pulling Report, countering the satanic panic. * (4:53) The CBN pamphlet on D&D as a...
* (0:29) Happy Jack’s fishy music-crafting. * (3:24) Today’s topic requires a disclaimer of sorts: Satanic Panic. Jack Chick and, “What’s a tract?” * (8:11) Why Chick is relevant: Dark ...
An important update on one of our hosts. You can stay posted on the Caring Bridge site. Please send any well wishes to nevertellmetheodds99@gmail.com.
* (0:40) Arch-nemeses of today and times gone by. The crazy stuff people do in their sleep. * (15:20) Chad’s gaming topic: Character defining moments. Dan presents a large example. * (25:35) B...
* (0:31) A big thanks to our Patreon backers. * (1:32) NPC AI. Having non-player characters make decisions according to predetermined parameters. Our episode on quitting the field. * (5:43) Why ...
* (0:39) Fear the Con 10, June 22-24, 2017. Fear the Con 9 is lost, probably will be found-footage later. * (4:30) Brodeur goes to Archon for the aftermath of the cosplay. * (6:38) Pete introduce...
* (0:30) Pat is going to kill us all. * (17:03) The horror of the unknown. * (19:25) How Pat surpassed R. Lee Ermey. * (21:43) Creating expectation and setting a mood. * (23:47) Comedy = Expec...
* (0:18) It’s just Dan and Chad today. Whatever happened to Julia? * (3:38) Behaviors tolerated and untolerated. Organization psychology. The book, Zapp! * (5:20) The four styles of leadershi...
* (0:24) The Mic-er Conspiracy, and editing what people say. * (2:26) Dan has a story! * (10:12) How Dan’s story ties into gaming. The Facebook thread on the topic. Chekhov’s Gun. * (15:24) ...
NOTE: This episode is the second half of a recording that began with the prior episode. * (0:24) Spiders of my Mind, a game about psychotic murderers and an insane asylum. The day and night cyc...
NOTE: The raw recording was enough for two shows, but the topic change left for rather uneven times. This is the first portion, and it’s rather short. The upcoming second portion changes topics...
* (0:29) Getting Chris to St. Louis. Lovecraft stories and Easter Eggs in Fallout. * (6:24) The seven intelligences. * (9:43) Presenting information in the right way to a particular person. Exam...
* (0:28) Andy Warhol gets trolled by Dennis Hopper through Strasbergian emotional memory. * (4:30) Dropped glasses become art, perhaps because of Yoko Ono’s famous picture? * (5:41) Chad has...
* (0:24) Dan will record, anyway. The Pimp’s Prayer (NSFW). Brodeur can’t cry. Tyromancy, the cheese magic. * (6:39) The lowest form of horror. The 1979 movie, Zombie. The silent film, Un Chi...
* (0:27) The Facebook post explaining our site difficulties. * (1:32) The Inkwell Ideas’ Kickstarter for Hexographer 2. * (3:14) The cognitive dissonance of many gamers regarding fairness and...
* (0:28) Fear the Boot’s crossover with Dead Games Society. Gaming resources that are not sourcebooks. * (3:43) A sad farewell and all our love to Mark. * (4:39) Everyone begs for new chairs. B...
* (0:29) A loose sound card, Patreon, falling pants, and attack chairs. * (3:42) The TSA, full-body scanners, and having to take your belt off. Wave of babies. * (8:14) RPG people tricks, startin...
* (0:22) Horrible things you can do with Pokémon GO. * (1:04) Augmented Reality and Alternate Reality Games. Drug addiction. * (7:34) Wayne’s wrestling efed. Gnarl’s adventures on Twitter. ...
* (0:33) Moon, Dredd, and Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition. * (8:25) Dan comes up with one nice thing to say about the movie, Battleship. Also, they’re voxels, not pixels. * (12:58) Chad rec...
* (0:31) The end of Brodeur’s honeymoon with 5th edition D&D and his endless honeymoon with a Marilith. * (4:32) Brodeur denies, as all subs do, that he wants to bang the Marilith. * (14:21)�...
* (1:19) The requisite disclaimers. * (1:57) How mental health affects gaming, as the person with the condition. * (2:26) Attendance issues. * (5:15) Accepting that some issues can’t be dealt w...
* (0:39) Mental health as a topic, why we’re talking about it, and some important disclaimers. * (8:49) Why this relates so closely to gaming. * (13:47) Dan’s history and issues. * (18:41) Th...
* (0:40) Pulp Gamer isn’t gone—just the network. * (1:30) Drucon. Special thanks to Adam, Bob, and Derek. * (2:43) Introducing Aisha and thanks to our Patreon backers. Her history with rolep...
* (0:31) With Pulp Gamer closing their network, Fear the Boot is now a proud member of the RPG Academy network of shows. * (1:20) TsunamiCon in Wichita, KS, from October 7th to 9th. You can find ...
* (2:29) Chad’s garage sale find. You can find the relevant images here. * (10:46) On the formation of “The White Box”, the first complete D&D set. * (14:46) Dan reads the sample roleplayi...
* (1:24) Patreon milestones coming up, including a live-stream Shadowrun AP. * (2:36) Dan played D&D 5E, and he liked it. Pat thinks it should feel wrong, but it feels so right, instead. * (14:4...
* (0:29) Fear the Boot is now 10 years old! * (4:39) The three promises of Fear the Boot: no ads in the show, no politics or religion, and never putting primary content behind a pay wall. * (9:...
* (0:54) Revisiting side games. * (1:39) How we deviated from our prior advice. * (3:47) Chad loses InSpectres and switches to Wilderness of Mirrors. * (6:13) On the activities of the players a...
* (0:32) Running a game in a very short time slot. A possible Skies of Glass show series and Wayne’s lunch game. * (2:33) Keeping this a fully-developed game instead of using a specialized sys...
* (0:30) Pat’s messed up sound levels and a really strange rant remind Dan that you can now get Fear the Boot on Google Play. * (4:35) Running smaller, lower-prep games—that are related to yo...
* (0:29) Welcoming back James from The One Shot Podcast. Our prior interview with them can be found here. The Pulp Gamer accent CDs can still be purchased as audiobooks. * (4:08) The Kickstarter ...
* (0:32) Fear the Boot’s Warframe clan, Fear the Ninja, is active again. You can download the game here and find details on the clan here. * (4:21) Get your votes in for what game you’d like...
DISCLAIMER: While profanities were censored from this episode, the subject matter is more crass than what Fear the Boot normally covers. Personal discretion is advised. * (0:40) Welcoming Stu a...
* (0:29) Dan can’t operate a mixer. * (2:21) 1d4Con in Martisburg, WV from April 15th – 17th. * (4:07) Upcoming crossovers with Happy Jacks. * (4:29) Noah the Destroyer. * (11:00) A Twitter p...
* (0:41) Chris’ short film, It Figures. * (6:30) Wayne takes a turn at moderating the show. * (7:18) Leaving a gaming group. Wayne sets some ground rules for the discussion. * (14:26) The paral...
* (0:26) Introducing Bob and offering a fair warning. * (2:24) Eva Amurri, the nanny incident, and Dan’s cynicism. * (5:21) Bob sets the record straight on the drywall incident. * (8:35) Gree...
* (0:36) The new XCOM Saga has started. You can watch it on Twitch here or keep up with the RP and after-action reports here. The next stream will be on Wednesday, February 10th, at 7:00pm Centra...
* (1:09) Pat and the nuclear football can be found in Bedtime Stories 5. * (1:34) Giving life to a location. Making it feel like more than just a stopping-off point in the plot. Our episodes on d...
* (0:35) Preparing a fallback game for one that has yet to die. * (4:36) Brodeur is asked to pass his game notes off to another GM who wants to continue his campaign. * (10:42) The positive reaso...
* (0:29) The Battletech contest is complete! You can find the list of winning game ideas here. I’ll be emailing the winners within the next week to get their mailing addresses. * (1:51) Blades ...
* (0:28) A pregnant pause. Dan hates Skype. Dan hates Norton even more. * (1:11) Voting for the science fiction plot hooks is ending on Sunday, January 10th, at 11:59:59pm Central Time. You can ...
* (0:28) The amount of bleeping in the prior episode. * (2:13) Voting for the science fiction plot hooks is still going on. You can get your votes in here. * (3:32) The flooding in Missouri. * (...
* (0:23) Voting for the science fiction plot hooks has begun. You can get your votes in here. * (1:38) Wayne has creative block while trying to make a character for an online game of Wield. * (5:...
* (0:30) Why it’s not “still” Chris or Brodeur. * (3:12) Chad’s audio, visual, and computer setup for running Blades in the Dark. Google Drive and Myth Weavers. * (5:01) How Blades in the...
* (0:29) This is the last week to enter for the metal Battletech dice. You can enter by leaving your plot idea for Battletech (or generic science fiction) on this website. * (1:55) Chad’s Bla...
* (0:44) Down a few for Thanksgiving. * (1:14) Hamlet’s Hit Points by Robin Laws. Tracking the story beats of an RPG. * (3:37) How much game advice can actually be internalized and used. * (8:...
* (1:54) John observes an uptick of socially competitive games at Gen Con. Are You a Werewolf. Junta. Coup. * (7:15) Undertale and how it changed John’s mind on merciless gaming. * (10:05) Why ...
* (0:27) When Fear the Boot turns into AM radio. * (2:42) Giving away some metal Battletech dice. You can enter by leaving your plot idea for Battletech (or generic science fiction) on this webs...
* (0:42) The value of simplicity, flat math, and limited modifiers. * (5:10) The intentional lack of specificity in the 5th edition rules. The history of Anti-Magic Shell. * (11:22) Are there any...
* (0:35) Introducing Vince of Venture Land Games and The Narrative Game System. * (4:44) Questions we collected from social media. In case you don’t have the links you can find us at: Faceb...
* (1:31) DruCon: the fan convention on June 3rd and 4th of 2016. You can find the Facebook group here and back the funding campaign here. * (2:28) Using a well-established NPC in your game. * (...
* (0:39) Welcoming Dr. Bob Arens to the show. * (0:58) DruCon: the fan convention on June 3rd and 4th of 2016. You can find the Facebook group here and back the funding campaign here. * (3:20) T...
* (0:29) We don’t win ’em all. * (1:07) Character pictures and why Wayne hates them. People that benefit from a visual element in the game. The concept art for the Star League throne. The leg...
* (0:28) Chad vs Pat’s phone. * (5:34) Brodeur hates train games. * (11:09) Dan’s gaming whale gets a certificate of authenticity. * (15:00) Fortune-telling with gnoll coins. * (16:34) There...
* (0:29) Chris is still doing the giveaways on Twitter and Facebook. * (0:47) Wayne gets his first exposure to play-by-post games. You can find the Fear the Boot forum section for them here. * (1...
* (0:32) Chris is doing the video game giveaways on Twitter. * (1:42) Welcoming Joe Wetzel and Keith Curtis. Dan gets a contest entry from a spam bot…? * (7:00) An overview of Inkwell Ideas. ...
* (0:39) Brodeur becomes a host. * (1:07) Follow Fear the Boot on Twitter for Chris’ upcoming giveaway of PC and XBOX 360 games. * (3:10) Dan gets a bunch of Battletech dice that he’ll be giv...
* (0:28) Please let us know if you’re not receiving your Fear the Con 8 Kickstarter rewards. It appears they’re getting blocked as spam. * (2:23) Our experience at a D&D trivia night for Tim ...
* (0:44) Being a fan for a second time. * (2:24) What’s missing in American politics. * (4:26) The winners of the Battletech drawing. More giveaways are coming very soon, so keep up with Fear ...
* (0:32) Medieval torture chairs. * (1:20) Battletech box set giveaway. All you need to do is follow us on Twitter and tweet #GenCon2015 along with the name of a ‘Mech you like. Don’t know t...
* (1:00) Battletech box set giveaway. All you need to do is follow us on Twitter and tweet #GenCon2015 along with the name of a ‘Mech you like. Don’t know the ‘Mechs? Just tell us that, or ...
* (1:02) Asheville Scarefest in Asheville, North Carolina on October 23 – 25. You can find them at their website or on Facebook. * (1:44) Fear the Boot is now available on SoundCloud! * (2:30) ...
* (1:09) Comics and roleplaying games. Early Garfield and Garfield Minus Garfield. * (14:10) Our dearth of comic book and superhero games. * (26:50) Superhero games we’ve played recently. * (4...
* (0:23) Why Brodeur is still on the show. The card game, Poop. * (9:49) Dan versus his Dad. * (13:43) Brodeur versus the city of Valley Park. * (20:14) Chad versus the purse snatcher. * (28:55) ...
* (1:03) Sojourn Volume 3 is accepting submissions. You can find the details here. * (2:03) Collaborative game building on our forums, run by Gyro LC. * (7:46) Being the group dad (or mom) and or...
* (0:35) A thank you note for our community’s donations to The Women’s Safe House. * (3:05) Charity fundraiser for Tim Meehan. You can donate online, or join the D&D trivia night and silent a...
* (1:45) Setting up the topic and defining some terms. Project Rho. * (8:06) Chapter 1: The nature of space combat. The X-Wing and acceleration. * (23:40) Chapter 2: Weapons, distance, and target...
* (0:31) Introducing James and Kat from One Shot Podcast. * (5:14) The history and structure of the show. * (9:05) The value of an actual-play for introducing people to games. * (15:03) Producti...
* (0:32) Welcoming Erik Carl from Metagamers Anonymous. * (2:52) TsunamiCon in Wichita, Kansas, this October. You can support its Kickstarter here! * (8:02) Judge Dan. * (16:20) The difficulty ...
* (1:38) Introducing Derek Knutsen from THE ESTABLiSHED FACTS and Universal Storytelling System. * (3:28) Fear the Fruit. You can make donations here. Please also consider donating toiletr...
* (0:31) Brodeur learns about Chris’ age. * (1:26) Fear the Con 8. * (5:43) What Brodeur would have done in Chad’s failed trip to a game shop. What he would want someone to do if that happe...
* (0:48) Sojourn Volume 2. * (1:55) Gnarl on Twitter. * (4:04) Pat vs Warmachine. * (12:22) The consumer side of war games. * (21:33) Mordheim and Necromunda. * (26:34) New editions and serious ...
* (0:29) Fear the Con 8 has successfully funded! You can create and sign up for games here. * (1:45) Chris’ audio comedy, Gamers Behaving Badly, is attempting to fund a second season. You c...
* (0:37) The surprising efficacy of ThunderShirts. * (1:58) Fear the Con 8’s Kickstarter is still up and running. * (4:01) A remote-play Battletech game using MapTool, TokenTool, Hexographer, H...
Fear the Con 8’s Kickstarter
* (1:29) Need to kill a bug or a baby? Grab Sojourn 2! * (5:35) Getting superheroes right. * (8:36) The kinds of superheroes. * (12:10) Not designing the character around the powers. * (17:22)...
DISCLAIMER: While profanities were censored from this episode, the subject matter is still a bit more crass than what Fear the Boot normally covers. Personal discretion is advised. * (0:52) Jul...
* (0:29) The episode’s line-up. * (2:10) Wayne runs Silent Memories for Chad, which leads to a discussion about Jenga, cats playing Jenga, Pandorum, and furry porn. * (8:22) Games that are pr...
* (1:48) Chris’ comedy series, Gamers Behaving Badly. (It can also be found on YouTube.) * (6:19) Chris finds himself in unexpected conflict when another player pulls out a surprise. * (23:44...
* (0:29) Fear the Con 8, June 11th – 13th, 2015! * (2:34) Pick up a copy of Sojourn Volume 2. * (3:29) Chad versus Monsterhearts. Large Marge from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. * (11:48) The val...
* (0:53) Thanks to Ruben for the Christmas gifts! * (2:25) Sojourn Volume 2 — a collection of short stories written by Fear the Boots hosts, fans, and friends in the RPG industry — is now on ...
* (0:29) Remembering Tobias Parks. * (1:15) Shel Silverstein and our fundraiser for the American Heart Association. * (2:54) Using Method One rolling as a way of challenging yourself in roleplayi...
* (1:12) John and MortarGate. The old anime, Ulysses 31. * (25:24) The bogeyman of TPKing GMs that may not be all that rule, and the more immediate concern about softball games. Evaluating an...
* (0:30) Chris is sad it’s not Hotdish Hursday. * (2:23) The weekly #RPGChat on Twitter, conducted everything Thursday at 2:00pm Central and 9:00pm Central. * (8:21) Fear the Boot’s Bloodbowl...
* (0:29) Wayne causes metaphysical problems for the podcast. Casey Kasem loses it over a death dedication (NSFW language). * (2:24) This Christmas, Fear the Boot is supporting the American Hear...
* (0:29) John and the definition of “stealing”. * (1:41) How GMs can inadvertently train their players to view the game world in certain ways. The importance of players separating the NPC f...
* (0:24) Checking up on Brodeur’s homework. * (1:24) I am Russian man! * (4:37) Grey beard…? * (11:45) If you could go back in time, what gaming advice would you give yourself? * (20:37) Give...
* (0:26) Episode 354, take 2! * (1:09) Chad and Dan will be on Twitch tomorrow, continuing their Rome 2 campaign. * (1:30) What really separates America from England (HINT: it’s not the Atlanti...
* (0:29) Work clothes. Being mistaken for employees of various places. * (4:57) The 1950s milkshake machine. The other Mixmaster. * (11:30) Giving the players rolls they deserve without break...
* (0:29) Dan is totally like Slash. * (1:45) An insult that only works with a British accent. * (3:08) How Enterovirus got Dan thinking about roleplaying a character with a persistent infirmity o...
Fair warning: There are a lot of strange things going on in this episode. It was recorded during a thunderstorm. I was losing my voice (and completely lost it thereafter, so Karla had to do t...
* (0:29) Dan gets hosts back, thanks the fans, and lets Chris now what episode this is. * (2:08) The movie bracket voting on our forums. * (3:48) GM self-perception. The fear of creating a frus...
* (0:31) Why Dan is all alone. * (2:04) Just a few words on Ferguson. You can find local news at KSDK, KMOV, KMOX, KTVI, and STL Today. * (5:48) The Third XCOM Saga is underway. We’ve also ...
* (0:40) If you’re playing Pathfinder Online and looking for a guild, Fear the Boot has aligned itself with Kabal. We also have an upcoming event with Goblinworks that will take place in-game...
* (0:55) “Yes, but…” GMing. The honest movie trailer for Frozen. The adult version (NSFW language). And the parody version. * (10:53) When a character’s description falls well belo...
With a repaired internet connection, we try again at getting John on an episode! After talking about the social difficulties of constraining group size (or removing problem players), we dig in...
When a Game Master repeatedly uses a character’s weaknesses to reduce them to uselessness. We discuss whether it’s a fair tactic or just a quick way to wreck that player’s fun. * (1:10) C...
* (0:59) “Shnotes” and other words that annoy us. * (3:42) Chad introduces us to Rory’s Story Cubes, and we try some RP experiments with them. We discuss the value of random words and im...
In this episode we discuss handling a game after realizing you were wrong about an important rule or bit of setting, and correcting that mistake will alter the course of the game. * (0:29) Tsunam...
In this episode we talk about players that overstep their bounds, going beyond helping the GM to apparently trying to help run the game. We talk about why this might happen and ways to address ...
In this episode, we talk about Chris’ trip home from the con and the misadventures he has with a cop on a fishing expedition and a gas station attendant telling rather implausible war storie...
* (0:29) Reign of the Descended for the Mecha RPG (free quickstart, full version). * (2:02) Fear the Con 7! Information on the pre-con tourism. Take care of the people that take care of you....
* (0:28) Dan and Julia’s Halloween costumes. Cobra Crimson Guard. * (4:40) The Star Wars expanded universe. Yes, there really was a Star Wars movie with Wilford Brimley. * (9:57) The 1812 O...
* (0:39) The buffalo sentence. * (2:00) Chad and Dan are really, really famous. Or at least random people seem to think so. * (7:15) A forbidden episode has been released on the forums. You c...
* (0:30) Granite and truth (though Dan got the phrase slightly wrong). * (2:28) Handling characters of faith that don’t follow any particular god or goddess. The role of game balance. Why ...
* (0:22) Introducing Derek from the THE ESTABLiSHED FACTS. * (2:20) Derek’s charity for Fear the Con 7. * (9:36) Derek’s overnight dungeon marathon. * (12:01) Pat’s Cinco de Mayo leads into...
* (0:43) Solo plots in the context of a group-centered roleplaying game. * (6:51) Handling the plots without boring the rest of the group. * (13:11) What characters can reap from these events. *...
* (1:09) The Sojourn series now has its own website. * (2:07) Fear the Con on June 12th – 14th. * (4:47) One of our Twitch games is now on a schedule. You can join us from 7:00pm – 11:00pm ...
* (0:28) Welcoming back Stu from Happy Jacks. His involvement with the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, CA. * (2:16) Working through the second half of the responses to a GM survey po...
* (0:28) Welcoming Stu and Kimi from Happy Jacks. You can find the episode Wayne and Dan just did on their show right here. * (2:00) Cape Rust wrote a very kind review of Sojourn which you can ...
* (0:27) Johann isn’t dead. * (0:57) Chad’s chosen way of collecting signatures on his copy of Sojourn. * (2:33) The launch of Fear the Boot’s Twitch TV channel. We’ll post the game sch...
* (0:29) Grab a copy of Fear the Boot’s anthology, Sojourn! * (1:25) A patent troll takes on the sum of podcasting. You can make a donation to the legal defense fund here. * (4:23) Player sec...
* (0:29) Announcing Sojourn, an anthology of fiction by Fear the Boot hosts, community members, and industry professionals. You can find all of the places it’s available right here. * (3:22) ...
* (0:18) Foreman selection. * (1:27) Jury deliberations. * (14:59) Reading of the verdict. * (17:34) Post-trial commentary. * (20:49) A big thanks to Trampas for being such a good sport. You ca...
* (0:55) Introducing the trial. * (2:35) Presentation of the case. * (4:54) Plaintiff opening argument. * (6:32) Defense opening argument. * (7:43) Plaintiff case in proper and defense cross-exam...
* (0:29) Welcoming back Trampas from the Dragonlance Canticle and Dragonlance Nexus. The Nexus website is undergoing redevelopment, so you can find its current website here and the new one here...
* (0:29) Welcoming Stu and CADave from Happy Jacks RPG Podcast. The show Julia and Dan recorded for their feed can be found here. * (1:36) Fear the Con 7. The online convention, Jacker Con 20...
* (0:32) If you have any dealer requests for Fear the Con 7, you can post them here. * (1:14) You can find the details on Fear the Fruit here. * (1:48) Chad is running a knowledge-sharing and AMA...
* (0:30) Fear the Con 7 sign-up is in full swing! * (3:22) John explains “datedar”. * (17:17) Knowing when it’s time to kill a game. The story of the dwarf game that never was. * (28:33) ...
* (0:51) Chris’ showing of The Gamers: Hands of Fate on January 23rd. Click here for more information. * (1:47) Setting up the scenario: an actual play podcast we’re working on with Master...
* (0:51) Explaining what “local” means in the suburban sprawl of the St. Louis metro area, which has roughly 1/4th the population of the Los Angeles metro area, but covers almost twice as mu...
* (0:23) Never do True Dungeon with a PUG. * (2:22) John needs helping making and playing an effective rogue in Pathfinder. * (11:29) A groundbreaking and productive topic: What is the most power...
* (1:05) If you have any extra money this Christmas, please consider a contribution to Operation Underground Railroad, which is working to free children from sex trafficking. (I realize O.U.R...
* (0:59) What players owe their Game Master. * (21:10) What players owe their fellow players. Hosts: Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne
* (0:29) Fear the Con 7! * (2:38) You can drop us a vote for the Stitcher Awards. * (3:00) The explicit and implicit social contracts that exist within a gaming group. * (4:04) What a Game Master...
* (1:16) Why Pat won’t GM. The difficulty of GM self-evaluation. * (3:54) The factors that motivate someone to GM. * (11:52) Helping Pat get a start on his setting and campaign. * (14:38) The...
* (0:29) Welcoming guest hosts Brodeur from The Fantasy Shop and Mike from Action Nerds: GO! podcast. This degrades into a raucous tangent on George R.R. Martin. * (3:29) The article by Jason ...
* (1:39) The Urwin Subversion. Lowering a character’s BAUS level as a way of making him or her stand out even more. * (8:42) Deconstructing the differences by comparing Dan’s Dresden charac...
* (0:38) Fear the Con 7 sign-ups are live! * (0:45) Mikey Mason has dropped a new comedy album, Dangerous Gifts, which you can get digitally or on disc. * (2:30) March 7th – 9th, 2014, Coast Co...
* (0:28) Fear the Con 7 will be on June 12th – 14th, 2014. The website will be live this Friday, November 8th. * (4:04) Almost introducing the topic. * (4:48) Everyone gets confused by the ne...
* (0:30) An update on the show length and Dan’s throat problem. * (1:56) What to do when the players remain IC and active, but are taking the mood of a game in a direction you don’t want it t...
* (0:30) Making it rain for a Diabetes charity. * (3:46) When relationships outside of a game spill over into a game. How games of Diplomacy and Succession Wars got us thinking about this. * (1...
* (0:30) Welcoming back Stu and Stork from Happy Jacks RPG Podcast. * (0:41) The dangers in lifting the veil. * (3:24) Playing the good guys. Many players think they’re being good, even thou...
* (0:30) Welcoming Stu and Stork from Happy Jacks RPG Podcast. * (2:17) Giving GMs effective feedback. Wayne gives Chad some feedback from their most recent game. Dan helps Chad with active l...
* (0:27) Welcoming Bill Cavalier, the Dungeon Bastard, here to help Fear the Boot with its gaming problems. * (1:08) Dan’s problem: campaign pitches. * (4:30) Wayne’s problem: bards. * (8:29)...
* (0:33) Welcoming back Tom Lommel (aka Bill Cavalier, the Dungeon Bastard) as a guest host. * (1:44) Gaming outside of genres or sub-genres you’re familiar with. Dealing with problems both a...
* (0:30) A gamer meetup will be happening on November 16th at the Holiday Inn in Forth Washington, Pennsylvania. You can find the details here. * (0:49) A trip to the Japanese festival at the M...
* (0:30) A booter meetup will be occurring at Guardian Games in Portland, Oregon at 12:00pm on Sunday, September 29th. You can find the forum discussion here. * (1:53) Designing pre-generated c...
* (1:00) Illustrating the idea of a proactive player with an analogy from World of Warcraft. * (6:02) Your fun versus my fun. * (7:45) The blessing and curse proactive players present to the Game...
* (0:33) A medical condition will require temporarily changing up the show’s format. * (2:51) Preparing to take a hiatus from a game. * (5:25) Whether it’s easier to setup a hiatus earlier or...
* (0:44) Congratulating Chad for bringing home an ENnie award for Silent Memories! Weather dice, mood dice, and other such oddities. * (5:27) Chris’ Kickstarter for Table Tales is still runni...
* (1:49) Is an intellectual property only as good as its ending? The four types of people in an argument. Bunker from Sentinels of the Multiverse becomes today’s secret word. Battlestar G...
* (0:30) When combat works out a little too well. A variety of suggestions for tweaking fights on the fly to get the results you want. * (27:28) The advantages and disadvantages of varying camp...
* (0:27) Introducing KC Wayland, the writer and director of We’re Alive. * (1:20) How the production got started and where KC found his inspiration. * (4:23) Where the series got its initial fu...
* (0:24) Managing stretch goals that add to the primary product. * (3:58) Setting the rewards at various backer levels. * (7:29) Seeking outside ideas when shaping a reward scheme. Setting real...
I’d like to congratulate Chad for having his RPG, Silent Memories, nominated for “Best Free Game” in the 2013 ENnies! I hope you’ll take a moment to stop by and show him your love with ...
* (0:36) Introducing our four guest hosts and setting up the show’s premise. * (2:59) Welcoming Joanna Gaskell of Standard Action and Starlit Citadel Reviews. * (4:33) Welcoming Matt Forbeck. ...
* (0:20) The biggest myth Mike would like to dispel about his job. * (5:07) The role and importance (or lack thereof) in available play space. * (12:58) Whether it’s necessary to hire people th...
* (0:25) Mike unlocked the “Local Guest” achievement. * (1:25) Derek Knutsen’s Kickstarter for the Universal Storytelling System. * (3:19) Odyssey: The Complete Game Master’s Guide to Ca...
* (0:29) How movies once made songs famous, but now seem to generally select songs that are already famous. You’re The Best by Joe Esposito. * (2:50) Thrift Shop, Pat, a stripper, and his son...
* (0:28) Introducing Greg Stolze. * (2:38) An introduction to Better Angels. An explanation of its premise and the balance between pure and corrupted traits. You can find the game in print or...
* (0:28) How Chris perceives time. * (3:42) Chris resurrects a dead campaign. How meta-game techniques can give players a sense of freedom about how well (or poorly) they remember the game. H...
* (1:19) St. Louis food trucks. The real name of Panera Bread. An upcoming food truck rally at Laumeier Sculpture Park. * (8:11) Chad’s coyote character radically alters the course of a ga...
* (0:40) The Nazi Occult by Ken Hite. * (3:13) Fear the Minicon: East. It will be hosted in Raleigh, NC on August 10th at Game Theory. You can find the details and get signed up here. * (4:20...
* (0:50) A big thanks to Nick for the bonus episode intro music! * (1:15) If you can’t get Happy Jacks, you probably need to update your feed. You can find more info here. * (1:55) A big cong...
* (0:24) Chad forgets how to podcast. * (2:28) Chris meets a person and is impressed by the event. * (8:38) Telling a story at varying levels of epic-ness. What it means for a story to be epic....
* (0:30) Fear the Con 6! Sign up for the games you want to run or play. Also, be sure to get your ticket ordered so we can give you a badge on Wing Night and skip the lines on Friday morning....
* (0:28) You can find Fear the Con 6 t-shirts and other items on our CafePress store. * (0:57) Issues of responsibility. Within a roleplaying group, who buys the books? How do you fairly div...
* (0:20) How Shadowrun 5th edition is adapting to the shifting relevance of cyberpunk’s central themes. The personal information site I mentioned is Radaris. * (12:04) The matrix and its way ...
* (0:40) A toast to Spc. David Tyler Proctor. * (1:43) You can find information on Fear the Con 6’s official charities here. * (4:18) Introducing our guest, Mark Dynna. * (5:54) What Shadowrun...
* (0:43) Dan was a guest host over at The Established Facts. You can find that episode here. * (2:38) The Kickstarter for Hyperreality. * (6:05) Dan versus Grey Goose. Dan wins. * (9:38) Chri...
* (0:30) The Orson Welles recordings. You can find the original here and the surprisingly similar parody here. * (1:29) Thoughts and prayers for Jake and his brother, Erick. You can send wish...
* (0:28) I don’t even know how to describe this. Even Wayne was at a loss for words. * (9:14) A shout-out to the guys who have put out a Matrix RPG. * (10:40) Sign-up for our own convention, ...
* (0:17) Dan doesn’t know his own show. * (1:44) Introducing the one question personality tests. * (4:32) People that don’t own TVs. * (6:10) Red, green, or blue? * (8:52) Protoss, Terran, or...
* (0:29) Nut up and GM! * (3:35) An update on the postcard contest. * (4:17) Fear the Con is coming up. If you’re arriving early for the tourism, please send an email to Dan with your contact...
* (0:24) The traits to expect from a good editor. Determining the kinds of edits you’re looking for. Separating style and other subjective choices from genuine problems with the writing. * ...
* (0:27) Introducing our guests and setting up the discussion. You can find the relevant links at the bottom of this post. * (11:18) What motivated each author to get started. * (17:18) Tips fo...
* (1:05) Dan blames Chris for the burpee. Jackie Joyner-Kersee and fartleks. * (5:49) Fear the Fruit. * (6:38) Boots the Pegasus t-shirt orders. * (7:38) Signup for Fear the Con 6 rolls on, and...
* (0:28) Registration is running for Fear the Con 6. * (0:57) John makes a Shadowrun character. * (7:26) The various models roleplaying games use for representing damage to your character. Shak...
* (0:51) Sign-up is open for Fear the Con 6! There are some changes to the scheduling this year, which are detailed in the podcast. Ticket sales will be available soon. * (5:37) Chad takes um...
* (1:15) Voting for the postcards contest rolls on! Be sure to get your votes in here. * (1:37) Gaming New Years resolutions for 2013. * (22:01) The various approaches to personal wealth and th...
* (0:05) This was originally going to be the next Bedtime Stories before Wayne happened. Regardless, we start with Julia’s misunderstanding of what we mean by “bedtime stories”. * (1:23) ...
You can find a transcript of this show here! * (0:20) John’s Bloodmoon Goblins Pathfinder supplement is now available for sale as a PDF, with print soon to follow. * (2:22) The ecology and...
You can find a transcript of this show here! If you’re interested in backing the Pathfinder Online Kickstarter, you can do so here. * (0:43) The postcards contest is ready for your vote to pic...
* (0:28) If you want to ask Maniah about a Boots the Pegasus t-shirt, you can find that information on our forums. * (1:50) You can find the details on Fear the Fruit here. * (2:27) Voting on the...
* (0:28) Announcing our pick for the Postcards from the Dungeon contest! You’ll be able to see the postcard we picked when the poll goes live later this week. * (2:32) The existence or absenc...
If you need an extra dose of Fear the Boot this week, Dan was a guest on two other podcasts. First, he appeared on Saving the Game to talk about the moral dimension of folklore and re-imagining...
* (2:12) The first pitch. * (9:49) An update from Fear the Boot’s Election Center. * (11:03) The second pitch. * (19:58) Another update from the Election Center. * (20:27) The third pitch. * (2...
* (0:24) Maintaining and expressing individuality while in a command structure. The story of Roy Benavidez. * (3:17) The details of military rank structure and the protocol for addressing other...
* (0:33) Introducing our guests: Cape, Dan, and Ryan. * (8:13) Fear the Boot salutes everyone wearing the real boots. Also, a special shout-out to Sgt. Rose and the 82nd Airborne. * (10:20) A f...
* (0:40) Two new prizes have been added to the postcard contest (a copy of Ultimate Toolbox and World’s Largest Dungeon). The deadline has also been pushed back to November 10th. You can fi...
* (0:35) Whether women can accurately predict who men will find attractive. * (8:13) Rearranging the hosts’ paychecks. Also, hair dye and care tips. * (14:59) When a group template can backfi...
* (0:36) Postcards! Postcards! Send in your postcards and win free stuff! * (1:08) Shock websites and the other horrors of the internet Chad intentionally seeks out. * (12:44) Real-life sha...
* (0:28) The video that explains the intro. * (1:13) Pitching campaign ideas as a practice exercise, and then grading the pitches. * (1:49) Chris’ pitch. * (12:17) Pat’s non-pitch, which turn...
* (0:37) Be sure to get your postcards in for our contest! * (0:53) Chris gives a shout-out for a rather unusual gift. * (4:45) What we each feel is missing in our current gaming groups or would ...
* (0:28) Introducing yet another Adam. * (2:45) The postcards contest is still awaiting your entry! * (4:57) Batman, Superman, Iron Man, a dinosaur, and Toy War 2. You can see the fight that st...
* (0:24) Earth tones! * (1:03) The origin and cogency of evil within real people, and why that makes it hard for some of us to play dark characters. Why it’s easier to play a dark NPC than ...
* (0:29) Welcoming Adam from Kicked in the Dicebags: Player’s Edition. * (1:35) Announcing our first cross-show promotion with Kicked in the Dicebags, Postcards from the Dungeon, and THE ESTABL...
* (1:19) An upcoming, cross-show contest. * (2:37) The expiration date on spoilers. * (16:28) As a Game Master, knowing what you truly want out of a game. Trying to get what you want while stil...
* (0:47) Fear the Boot vs Fear the Boot. The ENnies weren’t even in the room! * (1:53) Wayne falls in love with the idea of games that have a story self-contained story arcs. * (4:30) Music ...
* (0:28) Introducing James. How little we used to know about the names associated with the games we played. * (2:50) Johann must ask the hard-hitting questions. * (6:02) The degree of freedom R...
* (0:29) Introducing Keith Baker. * (2:01) The origin of Eberron and how its publication impacted Keith’s career. * (9:49) Traveling around the world, staying with other gamers, and running the...
* (0:50) Tips and techniques for running a fully improvised game. We start by setting the boundaries for the discussion. * (5:16) Why improv at all? * (6:50) Asking the right questions to get t...
* (0:35) Handling interrogation in a roleplaying game. Allowing the PCs (or NPCs) to get the information they want without degrading into senselessly graphic scenes. Passing off misinforma...
* (0:04) 4th of July comes early! * (0:46) One of our Twitter users correctly observes what makes this show work. * (2:56) Wayne does a brilliant transition that fails, losing out to Trendy Top, ...
* (1:08) This year we’ll be attending San Diego Comic Con instead of Gen Con. However, there may still be some FtB community-sponsored events at Gen Con. Expect details on the activities at...
* (0:30) Fear the Boot sans Dan. Pat makes me proud by his treatment of Chris. * (5:17) Some love for the Darker Days podcast. * (6:13) Free RPG Day coming up on this Saturday, June 16th. * (8:...
FAIR WARNING: The first part of this episode is a bit crass. If you’re offended by that sort of thing, just skip forward to the 18 minute mark and begin listening there. * (0:30) Welcoming gu...
Just to make up for how late we released episode 200!
* (0:40) Welcoming Monte Cook. His first RPG book and the story of how he broke into the industry 24 years ago. How he made it to D&D and what happened to the Marvel stuff he wrote along the ...
* (0:00) Don’t worry. We’ll stick with podcasting. * (2:07) May 5th? Wow, I’m behind on getting these episodes out. But for those of you that didn’t make it, welcome to Fear the Con...
It is indeed the long awaited, much anticipated, frequently masturbated, and now antiquated Episode 200. Promised well over a year ago, this episode is doing everything it is able to do to not li...
* (0:30) Who Stuart is and what he’s been up to lately. His blog, Strange Magic, and his micro-RPG, Weird West. His Deviant Art profile can be found here. * (2:00) Stuart’s participation ...
Fear the Boot is joining up with Kicked in the Dicebags to promote some great charities Derek is running at Fear the Con this year. All the links you need are below! Information on the forums:�...
* (0:40) If you’re coming to Fear the Con V, please note the wandering nature of the street the con center is on. * (1:54) Much love for Anime Eggroll! If you’re in the St. Louis area and l...
* (0:28) Fear the Con V‘s tourism events will begin the evening of Sunday, April 29th. If you’d like to join the communication hub, please send your name, cell phone number, and arrival tim...
* (0:43) Three charities at Fear the Con V for Gamers Outreach. There will be a raffle for an iPad, letters to the troops, and a Pathfinder Society tournament. You can find more details or ...
* (0:05) Caribbean or Caribbean? Dan’s dream of killing a legally protected cryptid. * (3:45) We try to start talking about video games that horribly disappointed us, but somehow end up talki...
* (0:29) First round results from the Power 16 III. You can vote on the second round here. Second round voting ends at 6:00pm Central time on Tuesday, April 3rd. * (6:32) A (hopefully unneces...
* (0:33) Fear the Con V! * (1:25) The Power 16 III is still up and running! You can vote here. Round one will end at 6:00pm Central time on March 20th. * (2:02) We’re delaying the discus...
* (0:30) Dan got his copy of Impotent Nerd Rage by Mikey Mason. * (1:40) The Power 16 III is now up and running! You can vote here. Round one will end at 6:00pm Central time on March 20th. * ...
* (1:04) The hosts versus social media. * (7:51) Fear the Con V is still on its way and looking good! If you’re a GM, we could use your help. If you’re a player, then just be sure to grab...
* (0:05) Dan falls victim to the flu. If you need a visual of how bad it is in our area, check out this map from the CDC! * (2:02) Fear the Con V could use some more Game Masters, if you’re ...
* (0:24) Managing different player styles as a Game Master through such approaches as simultaneous solutions, varying your approach to the game, and setting forth expectations about how the game ...
* (0:44) It feels good to be back, though Chris is sorry for calling Chad names. * (3:25) A big thanks to Wizards of the Coast columnist, Tracy Hurley, for mentioning us in an article on Gamer Re...
* (0:48) Fear the Boot + Pat – (Dan + Dan’s job) = episode 256 * (1:36) Wayne will be posting his first game for Fear the Con V this Friday. If you’re interested in passing out flyers or ...
* (0:12) Johann is an audio freak of nature. * (1:17) Introducing our new game, Naughty or Nice to Chris. We setup the background topic, explain the rules, and have an tangent on “sentient”...
* (0:31) A big thanks to Luna for the Secret Santa gift! You can see a scan of it here and her online gallery here. We also talk about some original Battletech art we have. * (4:44) Handling ...
I apologize in advance for this episode. It was a bonus show recorded on New Years Eve, and nature pretty much just took its course. I have another (regular) episode in the hopper, which I wi...
* (1:52) Wayne tries to one-up John by rolling a method 0.25 character. * (3:52) Dan offers Chris some unsolicited PR advice. * (5:10) Following a suggestion from forum user, Concise Locket, we d...
* (0:29) You, me, them, us, and other difficult pronouns. * (1:10) Fear the Con 5 registration is still up and running quite nicely. * (1:32) An invitation to our Old Republic guild. * (2:18) Met...
* (0:29) What jim’s been up to since we last talked with him. You can find his current blog at Post World Games. * (3:34) jim must defend his name, Y, and W. * (6:05) Pat goes for Father of t...
* (0:30) Dan’s first two games for Fear the Con V have been posted. Be sure to create or sign up for anything that interests you! * (1:39) Chad and Pat’s horrifying idea for episode 300. * ...
* (0:31) If you’re interested in playing the Old Republic MMO, Fear the Boot has a guild forming on the official game site. You can see details and sign up to run with us here! * (3:12) Chris...
* (0:47) The website for Fear the Con 5 is up and ready for you to start creating and joining games! If you’re looking to split a ride or room, be sure to check the thread on our forums w...
You can find a transcript of this show here! * (0:59) An extremely deep, philosophical, scholarly debate over the hottest chick on Star Trek. * (13:07) Using Wheel of Time and Lord of the Rings ...
You can find a transcript of this show here! * (2:09) The website for Fear the Con 5 is up and ready for you to start creating and joining games! If you’re looking to split a ride or room, b...
You can find a transcript of this show here! * (0:24) Introducing guest host, Willie. * (0:49) Introducing Erik Mona. * (1:34) The size, state, and explosive growth of the Pathfinder game and Pa...
You can find a transcript of this show here! * (0:30) Welcoming Adam from Kicked in the Dicebags. * (1:40) The March of Dimes charity auction — with prizes sponsored by Gnome Stew — is still...
You can find a transcript of this show here! * (0:35) Wayne tries to hijack the show to talk about Superman. You know what that means: we talk about Batman instead! The blog post on the host...
You can find a transcript of this show here! * (0:37) Introducing Ken Hite. * (1:39) Contrary to what I said in the episode, This Just In…From Gen Con! is still editing the show I guested on. ...
You can find a transcript of this show here! * (0:30) Happy birthday to Chris! * (1:38) John announces the closing of Bloodmoon Goblins’ fundraiser and explains where things are headed next. * ...
DISCLAIMER: While profanities were censored from this episode, the subject matter is still a bit more crass than what Fear the Boot normally covers. Personal discretion is advised. * (0:00) A b...
* (0:30) John provides an update on the still-running Bloodmoon Goblins Kickstarter. * (2:05) Fear the Boot still plans on attending the GAME Convention in Springfield, Missouri, October 7 – 9,...
* (0:24) Imagining an insufficient universe. * (3:22) Pat has a gift for Wayne’s birthday. This leads to a conversation about comic collections, older comic storylines, and related tangents. ...
* (0:36) John’s Bloodmoon Goblins Kickstarter is still up and running. John has also expressed his willingness to stay up and run games for people in timezones different than our own. * (1:55...
* (0:52) On October 7 -9, 2011, Fear the Boot will be attending the GAME convention in Springfield, MO. We hope some of you can join us! This leads to reminiscing about Gorf and Logo. * (7:28...
DISCLAIMER: While profanities were censored from this episode, the subject matter is still a bit more crass than what Fear the Boot normally covers. Personal discretion is advised. * (0:47) Why...
* (0:44) Some details on the progress and release schedule for Mikey Mason’s new album, Impotent Nerd Rage. * (4:48) Integrating a comedic character in a serious campaign, without that characte...
* (1:13) Fear the Boot is co-sponsoring a cruise through Gamer Adventures on March 24 through April 1, 2012, and we hope you’ll join us. * (3:03) Do geeks have an unusual habit of raging agains...
* (1:26) Congratulating Atomic Array and Kicked in the Dicebags on their ENnie nominations. This leads into a question about the role awards play in consumer decision-making versus content prod...
* (0:29) Introducing our guest hosts, Derek and Ed. * (2:52) Chris gives a shoutout to his nephew who’s landed the leading role in Highlander: The Musical. If you’re interested in learning ...
* (0:31) Welcoming our guest host, Michael, to Fear the Boot! * (1:06) Fear the Boot will be sponsoring This Just In…From Gen Con! during the 2011 convention. Be sure to catch that show for s...
* (0:30) Pointless trivia about Wayne’s introduction on each episode and Chris’ struggles with Left for Dead 2. * (5:27) Fear the Boot will be at Gen Con 2011 with more events organized throu...
* (0:28) Straightening out our seating arrangement. * (3:00) The upcoming reset and renumbering of DC comics. Why we individually think it’s a good idea, bad idea, or mixed bag. * (14:10) Rew...
* (0:55) Fear the Boot and female hosts. * (2:49) Dan’s first awkward confession, plus Unicron, Arcee, and a seven-inch Voltron. * (6:51) Pat rages against 3D movies, and the rest of us pretty ...
* (0:30) Battletech, the map case, and why we’re hesitant to let certain people play characters of another gender. * (5:24) The start of the next March of Dimes charity auction. You have 10 d...
* (0:30) The first auction is over! The second auction will be for a collection of Dresden File books, signed by Fred Hicks, Rob Donoghue, and the FtB cast. It will start when episode 234 dro...
* (0:41) The first March of Dimes charity auction is still in progress. You have a few days left to get your bid in! * (1:35) Using narration instead of rules to resolve combat. Being fair wi...
* (0:37) Bubba mows his lawn in the middle of the night. We won’t call him, but we contemplate calling the D&D help hotline. In case you’ve never heard of it, here are some highlights fro...
A mix of gaming stories, best characters, and worst characters, drawn from the collective history of the hosts in attendance. FAIR WARNING: While all of the outright profanities are bleeped out...
* (1:10) Chris asks what we each want from the grocery store, which turns into an illustration on roleplaying styles. * (5:50) When a game, movie, novel, or TV show is taking a long time to get g...
* (0:25) Less Dan and more Pat! * (0:57) Welcoming Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings. Discussion about his history with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and MMOs. You can find his own band, Trippin...
* (0:30) The March of Dimes charity auction is still in the works. Post your suggestions on the blog or the forums. * (1:23) Mikey Mason needs your help to get his geek comedy album finished. ...
* (0:30) Chad and Dan finish off a bottle of Pannepot donated by Danger Brewery. * (1:19) A coupon code good for 15% off any Arc Dream product purchased through their online store. This code is...
* (0:30) A big thanks to Chris Ings for the Fear the Boot themed ‘Mechs! * (2:41) Some love for the many podcasts that came out to support Fear the Con through promotion, attendance, and on-sit...
UPDATE: Shane has provided our listeners with a discount code good for 15% off anything at the www.arcdream.com online store until May 1. The coupon code is “feartheboot” (without the quotes)...
* (1:50) An important announcement regarding Fear the Con 5. * (2:28) Welcoming the podcasts that joined us for the live recording: Kicked in the Dicebags, Role Playing Public Radio, Postcards fr...
Wayne recorded his thoughts on Fear the Con 4 while driving there. After getting home, he got a few comments from his wife on the Wing Night. This is only a few minutes long and a regular epi...
* (0:33) Wayne thanks Lunar for his get-well gift. We also think back to the monstrosity Chris got as a dice bag at Fear the Con 3. * (3:28) Chad clarifies his views on character death. This ...
* (1:27) Fear the Con 4 shirts are now available for order. A big thanks to Ruben for the design and many other people for getting the project moving again! Trying to figure out who created a...
* (0:34) Pat comes up with a good idea for dinner. * (3:06) A minor change to the forum rules. Starting soon, any account that has never made a single post and also not logged in within the pas...
* (0:33) We welcome back Jeff while Chad welcomes Cee Lo Green. Be sure to check out Jeff’s podcast, Gaming Asylum via their website or iTunes page. This leads into anecdotes about pickin...
* (0:31) Chad makes his first guest appearance on another podcast, sitting in with the rebooted (excuse the pun) Kicked in the Dicebags. * (1:45) Chris wishes a happy birthday to…St. Louis…?�...
* (0:29) Fear the Boot raises a glass to Willie. * (3:07) RPG tropes we individually find annoying or overused. Plus counterpoints on why each one may not be so bad. * (27:59) Jumping into an N...
* (0:37) Chad asks a mammoth question, and somehow that leads into a discussion on soundboards. * (6:44) Fear the Froot is back for Fear the Con 4! You can find details on where to send donatio...
* (0:27) Chad questions Dan’s dice hoodoo and is proven wrong. Pat also brings even more ice to the table. * (2:26) The early numbers for Fear the Con 4 are shaping up quite nicely. Dan is ...
* (0:30) Chris makes introductions hard for Pat. Meanwhile, the podcast is doing better than our games! We also learn that Chad and Johann are not mutually exclusive realities. * (2:59) Intro...
After years of poking fun at the subculture, we figured it was time to let a furry come on the show and have his say! We talk about what it means to be a furry, how people pursue the hobby, and...
* (0:27) Dan has a problem, but that doesn’t mean dice magic isn’t real. Also a tangent on facial hair. * (5:10) How we each got our start in roleplaying games. What attracted us to the h...
* (0:29) Chad is making a science fiction game of some kind for Fear the Con 4. * (2:07) If you’re interested in helping promote Fear the Con 4 around your town, we have two different fliers av...
* (0:38) Chad enjoys a 4th edition dungeon run! Unfortunately, he did not get to play a level one thief named Boba Fett. The great group he played with and restraining the urge to RP. * (21:0...
* (0:45) The JCPenney’s catalog, red box D&D, old radio shows, and meeting famous people. * (4:40) Be sure to get signed up for Fear the Con 4! We look forward to seeing you all there. * (5:0...
* (1:09) Chris puts out a request for short audio and video clips for use in episode 200. Please send submissions to feartheboot@gmail.com by December 10th. * (3:48) RPG Toolkit for the iPhone ...
* (0:34) Welcoming back Tracy Hickman. Also, Dan asks about an urban legend that apparently only he has heard. * (5:18) Tracy makes an announcement about an unexpected work-in-progress. I won...
Looks like we do have something to release this week! Chad and Wayne just sent me another Fear en Route, which is a sort of blog they do during the car ride to the weekly recordings. This one...
* (0:49) Don’t forget to sign up for Fear the Con 4, on March 18th and 19th, 2011 (Wing Night will be on March 17th)! * (2:11) A decent chance Chris will be returning to the show in the near fu...
FAIR WARNING: This episode was recorded just prior to Halloween, so those sorts of subjects were on our mind. However, even for a bonus episode, this show wanders into some strange places we do...
* (0:28) Fear the Con 4 sign-up is now running. You can find the forum area for ride and room sharing here. If there was a race, Runester’s already won. * (2:22) Separating a character from...
* (0:55) Journey Quest, a web series from Matt Vancil and the other creators of The Gamers. * (1:45) Wayne has passed the 20,000 word mark on his serial fiction over on the Skies of Glass site. *...
* (0:33) We’d like to thank RPG Geek for nominating us for a Golden Geek award. If you’re a member of that community, we hope you’ll go vote on all of the award categories! * (2:12) If yo...
* (0:30) Why Chris is becoming our new monthly visitor. * (2:39) Using game mechanics as the basis for a plot, encounter, or player character. How rules can serve as a great inspiration for man...
* (0:28) Fear the Con 4 will be on March 18th and 19th of 2011. Wing Night will be the night before on March 17th. Tourism and social events will be held the Sunday through Wednesday beforeha...
* (0:24) Game titles that are popular in Ireland, Israel, and Sweden. The consumption of local games versus those produced in America. * (5:46) The ubiquity of English in entertainment and how ...
* (0:59) Introducing the panel: Itamar from Israel, Jenny from Sweden, and Shane from Ireland. * (4:24) A discussion about LARPing in Europe quickly shifts into a conversation about gaming organi...
* (0:29) September 15th is the deadline for Tracy Hickman’s Dragon’s Bard offer. If you want to join in, be sure to get the discount code here and enter it here. As mentioned in the show,...
* (0:57) Fear the Con 4 dates have been set! The convention will be on March 18th and 19th of 2011. Wing Night will be the night before on March 17th. Both will be held at the same location...
* (0:19) The role of online communities in finding, building, and sustaining an audience. If you’re interested in Dragonlance, be sure to check out the Dragonlance Nexus. * (3:44) The value o...
* (0:32) Who Tracy Hickman is and where you probably know him from. * (3:41) The story of how Tracy’s wife and a missed ride got him into gaming. * (8:25) The current trend in complexity and ex...
* (0:30) Johann gets a new, rating-friendly nickname, and Chris learns about numbers. * (1:48) Gen Con coverage is available on our blog. Quite a few videos are already out, and more are still ...
* (0:44) The TOFTBCH network is still accepting sign-ups. Be sure to join us for all the social and gaming events we’ll be setting up during Gen Con. They’ve also gotten reservations for ...
* (0:55) Our planned Gen Con coverage. * (1:11) The TOFTBCH network is still open for sign-ups and available for anyone with some free time during the con. * (2:49) Getting Pat to talk. * (8:38) ...
* (0:28) The TOFTBCH network continues to prep and grow. Be sure to get signed up! * (1:11) Wayne’s Skies of Glass fiction. * (5:06) There’s no point without progress? * (22:20) Revitalizin...
* (1:28) We’re not proud Chris’ daughter is reading. * (5:49) Where’s my support group? * (11:21) Gen Con 2010 draws near. Be sure to get signed up for the TOFTBCH network and join in on ...
* (0:29) The passing of a friend. * (1:47) A big thanks to the companies that supported Raina’s Wings with prizes. You can find the list of those folks here. * (3:08) Hat day on Fear the Boot...
* (1:14) Raina’s Wings charity drive results. * (1:42) Using models on the cheap. * (4:55) RPGs make failure fun! * (12:31) The difficulty of telling a good gaming story. * (22:39) An exercise ...
* (0:38) John Grana, DA. * (1:16) Wayne visits the Superman festival. * (6:25) Adventure Week, as brought to you by Dice, Food, and Lodging. * (12:12) This versus that. * (13:53) The benefits and...
* (0:29) Pat causes confusion. * (1:48) The FtB: Night of Carnage. * (6:54) Planning for Gen Con 2010. If you want to join the TOFTBCH network, be sure to sign up here. * (9:30) Chad was using ...
This episode was originally intended to be 193. However, we never quite got to the RPG topic, so we’re releasing it as a bonus episode instead. * (0:07) Chad’s dad and 24. * (12:16) The TOF...
* (0:28) We’re in the last few days of the contest with Raina’s Wings, with prize support provided by Arc Dream, DriveThru, and Polymancer. Make your donations here, and be sure to either l...
* (0:49) Raina’s Wings continues with prize support provided by Arc Dream, DriveThru, and Polymancer. Make your donations here, and be sure to either leave a comment with your donation or let...
Fear the Boot Bedtime Stories, part 4.
* (0:29) Johann, Descent, and Star Trek. * (4:10) Raina’s Wings is still going on with prize support provided by Arc Dream, DriveThru, and Polymancer. Make your donations here, and be sure to...
* (0:29) Chad’s monthly board game meet-up and Chris’ memory. * (9:00) We’re delaying the start of the Blood Bowl league by two weeks. You can still get signed up here. * (9:35) Fear the ...
In this interview we talk with Fred Hicks from Evil Hat Productions about being a transparent game company, keeping that “small company” feel, his background as a gamer, and of course the Dre...
* (0:35) Pat’s confession and the other nonsense on our Twitter feed. * (3:15) Raina’s Wings is continuing as a contest with prize support provided by Arc Dream, DriveThru, and Polymancer. ...
In this interview we talk with Eddy Webb from White Wolf about new media in gaming, piracy, and living the dream. The new media episode I mentioned was indeed 136. Eddy’s website can be fou...
* (0:45) Raina’s Wings is now a contest with prize support provided by Arc Dream, DriveThru, and Polymancer. Make your donations here, and be sure to either leave a comment with your donation...
* (0:31) Future predictions about Fear the Con 3. The joys of being ahead a few episodes, I suppose. * (3:48) You can still donate to Raina’s Wings! * (4:37) Decorating your ultimate geek hou...
While the recording quality is better than the show from Fear the Con 2, it’s still not perfect. Also, there was a hardware glitch that got fixed right around the 10 minute mark. All of tha...
I want to thank Dave Dankel from Iron Agenda for taking my seat on the show this week and letting the guys record with his setup. I desperately needed the time to work on Fear the Con stuff, an...
* (0:29) Revisiting Raina’s Wings. You can make your donation here. * (4:18) If you’re coming in on the Wednesday before Fear the Con, we’ll be having an impromptu social gathering at Mar...
* (0:29) Fear the Con 3 now has t-shirts you can order. * (4:04) The new emotion: Muscle March. * (7:14) Fear the Fruit is still going strong. * (9:22) The sorts of dice you own and how you carry...
In this interview we talk with Matt Vancil from Dead Gentlemen, writer and director of The Gamers and The Gamers: Dorkness Rising. We talk about the making of his previous films, the prospect o...
* (0:30) A screwed up intro and how editing affects the show. * (2:13) When passing notes during the game goes too far. * (12:44) Controlling the temptation to eat. * (23:40) Fear the Fruit remin...
* (0:31) Fear the Con 3 just got a trivia game show. Fear the Con 3 items are also now available for sale in our CafePress store. * (2:17) Ira Glass on overcoming creative perfectionism. * (5:0...
* (0:45) The man that really keeps Pat down. * (1:35) Get your health questions to Chris for episode 180! * (2:09) A big thanks to Totten for the pizza. * (3:10) DriveThruRPG is running a charity...
* (0:35) Dan makes a confession. * (4:07) Fear the Con 3! * (4:43) Soliciting questions for the upcoming episode on gamer health. * (7:05) How Chad keeps his incidental GM decisions straight with...
* (0:29) Pat gets a local port. * (1:15) Dan’s rant on impassible terrain. * (7:13) How Pat made Chad and Dan proud with his first MMO. * (9:19) The GM and player toolbox. * (11:29) The moment ...
* (0:00) Dan’s favorite part of Fear the Con. * (1:56) Why you don’t want to miss the Wing Night beforehand. * (2:40) Some highlights for people that aren’t going to the con. If you want ...
* (0:29) Fear the Con 3 sign-up has begun! * (1:44) Thanking our secret Santas. Legos, Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress, Master of the Game, and SPANC. * (8:40) Swapping games to expose peo...
* (0:38) Congratulating Chris. * (2:22) Fear the Boot made it to 175. * (3:19) Fear the Con 3 online ticketing and sign-up will be live on January 1st. * (6:06) Chad has a sexy voice? * (7:16) Jo...
I was hoping to run a regular episode this week, but Christmas happened. Since I couldn’t get enough hosts, I dug into the archive of unreleased stuff and pulled out a bonus episode we did wi...
* (0:32) How a person’s real skills can affect game play. * (4:57) The additional costs associated with LARP. * (8:27) Setting and time periods. * (12:08) Where someone looking to join the hobb...
* (1:09) Fear the Boot, now with timestamps! * (1:45) Fear the Con 3 sign-up is coming very soon. * (2:20) Introducing our guests. * (5:05) What separates LARP from tabletop RPGs? * (10:32) The n...
* (0:55) Wayne’s surprise gift for Dan. * (2:13) A childhood full of toys. * (11:51) The limited release of The Road. * (14:36) Predictions on the future of media distribution. * (28:55) Pick...
We talk about board games with a tangent into cooperative vs competitive gaming.
* Welcoming comedian Mikey Mason. * Dan is answering his Fear the Boot email account again. Let’s see how long that lasts. * Fear the Fruit is back at Fear the Con 3. You can find information o...
* Some basic information on Fear the Con 3 is up. More details — and ticketing — will follow soon! * Checking in on how Wayne’s Mutants & Masterminds game went. * Getting your players uns...
* The top 10 reasons we miss having Chris on Fear the Boot. * Chad makes a special presentation. You can find the RPG swap thread on our forum. Be sure to check out Atomic Robo! The story o...
* Bitter beer. You can find the beer podcast Mikey Mason is on here. * Keeping your players focused on the game and stopping the table talk. * Getting your players to be more proactive about ro...
You can see Pat’s jack-o’-latern here.
* Fear the Boot is looking for LARPers! See the forums for details. * Our struggles with miniature war games. * Keeping roleplaying alive in combat. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne
* Reviewing reviews. The website we mentioned is Spill. * The odd obscurity of (or at least our ignorance regarding) LARPing rulebooks. You can find the Fallout LARP pictures here. * The effe...
* Chris is off to take his PT exam. * Fear the Con 3 has dates! March 11, 2010 for Wing Night, March 12 – 13 for the con, March 14 – 17 for additional social events. * The City of Villains ...
* Fear the Boot just finished its first election…? * Why the website has been coming and going. * Fear the Con 3. After recording this episode, we got the location reserved and dates locked dow...
In this interview we talk with Jim Pinto from Alderac Entertainment Group. You can find his gaming blog here and portfolio here. Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Wayne Guests: Jim Pinto
* I hate Skype. * Happy birthday to Chris! * Pat finds Devil Cremes. * Sherlock Holmes, the upcoming movie, and reimagining popular stories. * Old games that we miss…!? * The creep of roleplayi...
* Sister-kisser redux. * Nerd d**k waving. * The soda map. * Chad’s Fear the Con 3 blog. * Bookstores and bookstoring. * Character advancement and atrophy. Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat, Wayne
* Welcoming Wayne as a host. * What is your favorite word? Super Troopers meow clip. * This is Chris’ 50th episode! * Pocket gaming books. * One-shot roleplaying games. * Special thanks to Zi...
* Chad is out sick. * Comic books, trade paperbacks, and graphic novels. Wayne provided links to The Boys and an online “pull” service. * An apology to Rhiannon. * Acclimating a new player to...
A final look back at Gen Con 2009, a few shout-outs, and some things we want to do differently next year.
Since I was stuck at home, Chris Hussey took my place on an episode of This Just In…From Gen Con.
Interview regarding Pulp City.
An irreverent look at tabletop roleplaying games and a little bit more.
Wednesday was the day Chad, John and I arrived in Indianapolis for Gen Con. They beat me there, and headed over to a different hotel for a hastily assembled “Pot Luck & Beer Tasting” event. B...
Fear the Boot Bedtime Stories, part 3.
* Power 16 II has ended! We’ll announce the bracket and contest winners in the first post-Gencon show. * Gencon is upon us! If you haven’t already, get signed up for the guerrilla events....
* Power 16 II final battle this week! * Battletech’s 25th anniversary and the unseen ‘Mechs. * Sign-up continues for our Gencon guerrilla event network! * A big thanks to Kellum. * Midnight R...
* Where’s Pat? * Power 16 II final battle this week! * Numbering churches and banks. (Note from Dan: I checked the ending credits of Contra and realized I had games mixed up. It was from th...
* iTunes and WordPress are both against us! * The new Mechwarrior game. After watching the trailer, seeing the restored “unseen” ‘Mechs and flavor they’re going for, Dan retracts his in...
* Yes, both cities are real places. * This week, the Power 16 II enters the finals for the Denny’s League. * If you’ve enjoyed Skullossus’ bracketology art, check out his comic, The Princes...
* Power 16 II continues! This week is the final round of the Shadowrun League. * Be sure to get signed up for our Gencon guerilla event list. * Chad’s random aside on industrial music. * Five...
* Learning a little more about Pat. * Power 16 II rolls on! This week is the second round of the Denny’s League. * Can’t Stop the Serenity charity. * Some mathematical facts about 153. * Re...
* You can find Chad’s Twitter feed here. * Power 16 II, round 2 of the Shadowrun League. Get your votes in! You can find the on-going bracketology thread here. * When is it too soon? * Handling...
* Power 16 II continues! It’s time to vote on the first round of the Denny’s League. You can find the bracketology thread here. * Wii Fit. * Chad gets screwed by another video game. * Bre...
* Star Trek Bridge Commander and other Star Trek video games. * The Power 16 2 begins today! The first round of competition within the Shadowrun League will run for a week or two. Get your vo...
* Chad’s personalized mug. * Fear the Boot TOFtBCHes at Gencon! If you want to be a part of the action, get signed up! * Power 16 II, starting next episode! * Television ratings, cancellation...
* Is it fair to prejudge a movie based on its trailers? * Fear the Boot float trip and camping trip June 5th – 7th. You can find the Facebook event page here and forum thread here. * Fear the...
* “Dan’s not quite long enough” has concluded. However, this cause still goes on, so if you want to make a donation, please do so here. You can now see Chad bald and Dan with short hair...
* If you register for the forums and don’t get your confirmation email, send a message to the General Mailbox with your forum user name. * “Dan’s not quite long enough” is in its last wee...
* “Dan’s not quite long enough” continues! To make your donation to March of Dimes’ Raina’s Wings charity, do so here. * Skies of Glass comic artist search! The character document...
* “Dan’s not quite long enough” has started! To make your donation to March of Dimes’ Raina’s Wings charity, do so here. * Fear the Boot community’s Neverwinter Nights mod. * We dis...
* A big thanks to the guys at The Core gaming shop in Cedar Falls, Iowa. * Things that wouldn’t work as roleplaying games. Apparently clips of The Letter People aren’t hard to find. * Playi...
* Dan’s not quite long enough. * Chris introduces his son’s friends to D&D. * We ponder why video games aren’t held to the same product standards common to every other industry. * Roleplayi...
* This show was recorded while on a Gamer Adventures trip. * Fear the Boot will soon be joining the Pulp Gamer network. * Introducing Darren Lacoste, winner of Mayfair’s Catan tournament. * Gam...
In this interview we talk with Trampas Whiteman from Dragonlance Nexus. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat Guests: Trampas Whiteman
* Jeffcon at Just For Fun in Peoria, IL. * Playing villainous characters. * Adding cults to your roleplaying game. Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, Pat
* You can see the trunk monkey videos here. * Preparing a con game. Really good advice, presented with really questionable sound quality. Hosts: Chad, Chris, Dan, John, Pat…and a whole lot of...
* You can still pre-register and pre-pay for a few more days on the convention website. * You can find addresses and maps for the convention center, wing night location, hotel, and (I hope) Watch...
* Raina’s Wings. You can donate here and read the full story behind this charity on our forums. * Remembering the importance of player contribution to an RPG’s unfolding story. * Fear the C...
* Pat hasn’t played Oregon Trail…? If you want to play around with Logo, there are some modern adaptations in Flash. * RPGs in a bad economy. * Shepherding your off-topic players. * Know wh...
* Making Ed’s kids gamers. * The real reason we play MMOs and the lack of innovation in the industry. * Media companies don’t realize what year it is. * Are RPG companies adapating to meet ch...
* A viewing of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 leads to a broader discussion of anime. The anime Chad recommends is Planetes and Last Exile. * Heroes of Lesser Earth. * Fear the Boot’s Twitter feed can...
* Funny names, Johnny Cash, and the Gamer Adventures cruise. * Some events going on outside of Fear the Con: a wing night on Thursday, March 5th and a Watchmen viewing on Friday, March 6th. * A p...
* Direct-to-video, low budget, art house, and “scam” movies. And, yes, Snakes on a Train is a real movie. * What the small RPG publishers have (and don’t have) in common with small movie ...
* Pat turns 35, and how our perceptions of age change with age. * Pirates of the Cursed Sea. I found some pictures of a play area similar to the one I saw at Gencon. * Fear the Con 2. You can...
* The things we do for this hobby. * Fear the Con 2! You can find more information on the forum or the con’s website. * Getting more in-character and how it helps or hurts a game. You can f...
In this episode, we have a very candid discussion about violent crime and morality in roleplaying games. We felt it was important to cover this topic, but some of the content may be unsettling ...
* Welcoming back Ed Healy of Atomic Array. * Fear the Con’s hotel block is now ready for reservations. You can find details on the con’s website. If you’re looking to share rooms or rid...
* Sign up for Fear the Con! And if you’re interested in running a game, be sure to contact Chad. * If you’re interested in playing Warhammer Online, join us on the Order side, Monolith serv...
Listen along as Chris reads the Battletech love letters he wrote his wife back when they were dating!
* The awesome result of our Cattletech charity drive. * Voting on the GM profile entries has ended. Congratulations to Keith for winning! * Fear the Con 2 is ready for your sign-up! * Some tips...
* Embarrass Chris and feed a village! You just can’t lose with this charity. We’re collecting money to purchase livestock for struggling communities around the world. Each animal purc...
* The Fear the Con site is now up for registration. If you want to run a game, sign up first and then contact Chad, telling him about the game you’re running (title, description, system, desi...
* This episode was recorded in Seattle, so I was away from my normal equipment. Tex and I were joined by Ed Healy from Atomic Array. * Kobold Quarterly’s place among gaming magazines. * Game ...
* If you haven’t already, be sure to visit the blog! You can find Dragonlance Canticle here. * Chris and his photon torpedo. * John’s confession. * Tom Bombadil and other things regarding L...
We put out the call for listener-submitted GM profiles, and we got some excellent entries! Check out the show and then head over to the forum to vote for the profiles you thought were the best....
* Last call on World Wide Wing Night 5! The podcast we mention is Game On. * You can find the thread on the forum card game here. * If you send us email from a Yahoo address, be sure to watch y...
* An online Diplomacy game is starting! If you’d like to join, click here for more information. * World Wide Wing Night 5! You can find information about the St. Louis and other locations h...
* World Wide Wing Night 5 on November 8th! You can find the details for the St. Louis location here. If you’re not in St. Louis, you can find a list of gatherings in other cities here. * Fe...
* Murphy’s Law strikes again! * The Warhammer Online guild is going strong. You can find the details here. * World Wide Wing Night 5. You can find details here. * Email addresses for all ho...
* World Wide Wing Night 5 on Saturday, November 8th is coming up soon. You can find details here. * The Seinfeld/Microsoft commercials. * Our Warhammer Online guild is doing unexpectedly well!�...
* The episode 115 tutorials are NOT available on CD. We’re having problems getting CafePress to process the sound files properly. However, if you want to create your own CD, we’ve compile...
* Chris is old! * Will we outgrow roleplaying games? * The episode 115 tutorials are NOT available on CD. We’re having problems getting CafePress to process the sound files properly. Howeve...
An explanation of the diversity you’ll see in how people play or modify their RPGs.
Like every hobby, roleplaying has its own jargon. We’ll help you make sense of it.
If you’re willing to give roleplaying games a try, where should you start? We explain what you’ll need and where you can find it.
We tackle the four most common objections to the RPG hobby.
Reasons why roleplaying games are a beneficial and worthwhile hobby.
A general definition of “role playing game,” along with a quick example of play.
An introduction to the series. We explain who we are and why we’re putting these shows together.
We’re doing something a little unusual with our “new gamer” and “non-gamer” episodes, so we wanted to explain what you can expect.
* World Wide Wing Night 5! You can find details here. * GM profile for Chris. * Introducing non-gamers to the RPG hobby. The FAQ we mention for dealing with religious objections to roleplayin...
* If you want to join the Fantasy Football game Dan built, you can find a participating location at http://www.fschallenge.com. * A big thanks to our Gencon TOFTBCHes! * GM profile for Pat. * Sen...
* Chris’ blog of Gencon can be found here. * What we’ll do differently next year. You can find information on True Dungeon here. * We answer audience questions live. Questions came from�...
Don’t forget to keep checking our forum for changes and more details. I’d also like to give a big thanks to ZeikeCopperEyes for all of his hard work in making this happen!
* The death of Gleemax. * Shout-outs to Cigar_smkr and Jlhburnett of Hex Games. * Check out the new forums here. * One last time: here’s our schedule for Gencon 2008! And our social gathering...
* Fear the Boot welcomes guest hosts, Rob and Matt, from the Bear Swarm podcast. * Our events at Gencon. You can still find the link for the FtB social gathering here and the general list of al...
* The Gamer Adventures site can be found here. * Back Seat Producers can be found here. Hosts: Dan, John, Luke, Matt
* Fear the Boot’s Age of Conan guild has migrated to the PvE server, Set. * We’ll be doing several panels and a live recording at Gencon. Be sure to check out the schedule here. * We’re s...
* The new portal will be uploaded shortly. If you actually have a recipe for gamer muffins, feel free to post it before the old forums get shut down! * Don’t forget to let us know if you’ll...
* Fear the Boot moves…upstairs. * The new portal is still on its way and should be up soon. * If you’re going to be at Gencon, there’s a get-together for FtB listeners being planned. Be s...
* Chris’ Battletech romance of his wife…?! * The dark history of Dan, Tex, and Chris. * Crappy Kahlua and high quality water. * If you’re playing Age of Conan, stop by and check out our gui...
* Chris tries to blame Dan for his flatulence. * A shout-out to Halbert for giving Dan a code for an item in Age of Conan! * How our review show won’t be a review show. If you want to start g...
* Phil’s wisdom on packaging. * Join Phil in developing his sci-fi setting, Red Earth Saga. * An in-depth explanation of Fear the Boot’s future. * BATMAN! * Dan and the great Lord of the Ring...
* Here’s your chance to support a gamer-driven charity for a women’s shelter! Click here for more information. * Some changes coming to Fear the Boot. * John’s first brush with D&D 4th ed...
* How not to get the ladies to join your roleplaying game. * “Choose your own adventure” books that play like RPGs. * The rational place for gamer shame. (For anyone that’s confused by Ch...
* An update on episode 100. * Fear the Boot has started an Age of Conan guild, House Nachash, on the Stormrage server. You can find more information here. * This episode brought to you by Gorka...
In this interview we talk with Luke Crane from The Burning Wheel. Hosts: Dan, John, Luke, Matt Guests: Luke Crane
In this interview we talk with Luke Crane from The Burning Wheel. Hosts: Dan, John, Luke, Matt Guests: Luke Crane WARNING: This version of the interview contains uncensored language. If you wis...
* Episode 100 is coming up next. If you have any questions for that show, please send them quickly to Dan or Luke. Also, there may be only a bonus episode since, since 100 will take two weeks...
* Chris is finally on the podcast, despite being a host for several months. * A big thanks to James, Christopher, and all the folks at I-Con! Also, congratulations to Christopher for his impend...
* For episode 100, we’ll be taking your questions about our views, hosts, or anything else you want to talk about. So please send your questions to Luke or Dan! * If you’re in the St. Louis...
In this interview we talk with Erik Mona from Paizo Publishing. Hosts: Dan, Luke, Matt Guests: Erik Mona
* Host absence and…murder…? * Dan and John will be in New York this weekend for I-Con 27! While there, Fear the Boot will be receiving the Robin D. Laws Award for Excellence in Gaming. * If...
* John and Dan will be I-CON 27 in New York, April 4 – 6. We’ve also found out we’re to be awarded the Robin D. Laws Award for Excellence in Gaming while there! * If you sent Dan any emai...
* John and Dan will be I-CON 27 in New York, April 4 – 6. * Kerrigan, Conan, and Luke’s crappy gaming PC. You can find Tara Strong’s credits on IMDB. * Do people take gaming too seriously...
* John and Dan will be I-CON 27 in New York, April 4 – 6. * Skies of Glass, Tier 1, will be released as a PDF document when the next episode drops. * Ah, the Dragonlance episode. Be sure to c...
* Fear the Con on March 8th! Don’t forget World Wide Wing Night at Side Pockets the Friday before, eye exams from Luke the Sunday after, and Fear the Froot during the event. * An FtB commenta...
* Dan’s taking a trip to Miami while failing to organize his trip to Gencon. * Fear the Con on March 8th! Don’t forget World Wide Wing Night at Side Pockets the Friday before, eye exams fro...
WARNING: The content of this episode is a little more coarse than usual. * BJ’s Liquo store…? * How Valentine’s Day has destroyed this episode. * Fear the Con on March 8th! Don’t forget...
WARNING: The content of this episode is a little more coarse than usual. * Contrary to what Luke thinks, Furreals are not sexual. * Fear the Boot PSA #2. Here is the relevant link. * Join us fo...
* Matt’s brief introduction. * Skyrocket reminds us of a major perk of the FLGS: the dice bin. * Is it possible to cheat in dice rolling with pure physics? * Fear the Con is still coming up on ...
Since we’re releasing a bonus episode in place of the regular episode this week, I’ll at least give the show notes in the usual format. Also, we’ll be back to a regular episode next week!...
* Fear the Con on March 8th! Warmachine tournament and the Watchmen debate. * D&D 4th edition modules. * Historical accuracy in gaming. * Dialog in your roleplaying game. The accent CDs from ...
* Fear the Con and World Wide Wing Night 4! * If you want a Fear the Boot hoodie, you can find them here. Be sure to type “feartheboot” (without the quotes) in the coupon field. This offe...
* An introduction of the hosts and their geek interests. * Who the girls love in the sci-fi/fantasy world. * Conventions, Renaissance Fairs, etc. * Ice-O-Hedron gaming con in Toronto. * Fear the ...
* The joy of Jelly Bellies. * Dan’s New Years resolution. * Christmas stories. * Animals, familiars, and mounts in a roleplaying game. * Designing and running factions in your RPG. * Phil’s p...
Fear the Boot bedtime stories, part II.
* Oboe Cops’ generic holiday greetings. * Adam loses his World of Warcraft account. * A Fear the Con update. * December is out to destroy your games. * Running a holiday-themed game. And, sadly...
* A shout-out to Khan Durian and Craig Pierce. * Fear the Con. * When Game Masters try to cover subject areas they don’t know much about. * Designing roleplaying game modules for use at a conve...
Information on the upcoming convention, Fear the Con. Details and registration can be found at: http://www.warhorn.net/fearthecon
* We welcome Keith Curtis as a guest host. You can view his website at http://www.kacurtis.com. The song website he mentioned can be found here. * Fear the Con now has an official website at ...
* There really is a game called The Hunters Hunted! * The Summoning convention coming up for anyone in the Florida area. * Reserve March 8th, 2008 for Fear the Con! Details can be found here. *...
* The TV shows getting passed around. * A shout-out to Phil’s podcast, Insert Coin Live, and a look forward to our joint Conan MMO guild. * Dan’s bad gaming experiences. * Introducing new pla...
* W3N3 stories. If you missed the pictures, you can find them here and here. * A shout-out to Shawn Willet, the drunk wookie trucker! * Luke’s reviews: Colonial Gothic and Eschalon: Book I. *...
Fear the Boot hosts take each other on in our first trivia challenge!
* World Wide Wing Night 3 pictures can be found in various threads. The writers’ strike post by Shamus Young can be found here. * Skies of Glass play-test results. The “developers” thin...
* World Wide Wing Night 3. The St. Louis group will be meeting at the Syberg’s on Dorsett. * Fear the Boot sponsored convention on March 8th, 2008. * See Luke for your eye care needs! * Luke ...
* The podcast spoof contest is over! Stick around after the show to hear the winners. * World Wide Wing Night 3. The St. Louis group will be meeting at the Syberg’s on Dorsett. * Donating y...
In this interview we talk with Shane Hensley from Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Hosts: Dan, John, Luke Guests: Shane Hensley
* Not Fear the Boot Con. * Congratulations to Tony Mast on the birth of his daughter! * Fear the Boot spoof contest. * World Wide Wing Night 3! St. Louis now has a reserved location at Sybergs....
* World Wide Wing Night 3! * Fear the Boot EVE guild. * Spoof Fear the Boot podcast contest. * Tex’s dating update. * A review of Catalyst Game’s new Battletech products. * Festivuscon recap....
* World Wide Wing Night 3 on November 10th. * Our EVE guild is thriving. We hope you’ll join us! * Spoof Fear the Boot podcast contest. * The relationship between the number of modules and th...
* An announcement about announcements. * Keeping track of your GM notes. * Roleplaying game modules. * Our favorite RPG game mechanics. Hosts: Adam, Dan, John, Luke
* How beer has affected this episode. * Spoof contest reminder. * World Wide Wing Night 3 on Saturday, November 10th. * Gaming pet peeves. * Dan’s Ennies speech on YouTube. * Drinking and gamin...
* A Fear the Boot EVE guild? * A possible St. Louis con early in 2008, sponsored by Fear the Boot. * Spoof Fear the Boot podcast contest. * The disappearance of FASA Studios. * Making good villai...
* Spoof FtB podcast contest. * Shout-out to Carpe GM and Theory From the Closet podcasts. * See Adam as a furry! * How do you stop your players from over-planning how to handle a plot point? * At...
With DM of the Rings coming to a close, Fear the Boot is proud to announce Chainmail Bikini, a new RPG-oriented web comic coming to our site, developed by Shamus Young and Shawn Gaston!
* A quick thanks to Zac at the Groovecast. * Flatcon October 5th – 7th in Bloomington, IL. * The revival of the Fear the Boot World of Warcraft guild. Sort of. * D&D 4th edition. * CDs to hel...
* Atomic Squash game night on October 6th. * Where did Tex get his nickname? * What makes a roleplaying game “mature”? * Organized/persistent/living/etc RPG events. * Sleeping arrangements an...
* Why Dan isn’t on the show. * Light liquor versus dark liquor. * Our tour of the dealer room, including our hands-on with Conan. * Returning to gaming after a long hiatus. Or why people take...
* Recording with a broken air conditioner. * A shout-out to Accidental Survivors and Gamer Traveler podcasts. * Why we’re a bit slow in responding to email right now. * Gencon podcasting meet a...
Like all Fear the Boot bonus episodes, this show is neither edited nor on our usual subject. So if this is your first time here, we recommend checking out a regular episode first. Also, excus...
* A brief request to treat the ENnie staff with courtesy, even if you disagree with them. * We spent the weekend at Archon, so we record a round-up of the con. Excuse the sound quality as we’...
* Welcoming Tex and Luke as our new hosts! * Clearing Tex’s name. * Power 16 update. Vote here and check the bracket here. * A call for commission artists that will do custom art (for pay) in...
* A correction on who actually made the flying train picture. * You can find Angstboy’s site at http://www.daddymonkeylives.com. * Don’t forget to vote for us in the ENnie Awards if you haven...
In this interview we talk with Jess Hartley, an author working for White Wolf who’s had a big hand in shaping the new Changeling book. Her website: http://www.jesshartley.com/ Hosts: Adam, Dan,...
The Phil praise episode! We try as hard as we can to be nice to Phil. Also, don’t forget to vote in the ENnie Awards! And if you voted early on Monday, they had to reset the votes, so be su...
* John’s cougar. * Fear the Boot has been nominated for an ENnie Award! Don’t forget to vote here! * Power 16 update. You can see the current bracket here and vote for the next round here...
* Fear the Boot nominated for an ENnie award! Don’t forget to vote for us from July 16th to July 29th. You can find the ENnie site here. * Some changes at Fear the Boot. * Using electronic ...
* The Beatles version of Lord of the Rings?! Also, here’s the song with Leonard Nimoy singing about Bilbo. * Power 16 update. You can see the bracket here. And be sure to vote on the next...
* The Phil Challenge! * Finding a new gaming group. * Gamer desperation when you can’t find a group. The online play community we mentioned can be found here. * Knowing when it’s time to qu...
* Power 16 update. You can find the current bracket here. And don’t forget to vote here! * Star Wars Saga Edition. * Fog of war at the gaming table. * The best RPG purchases we’ve made. H...
* What’s the difference between playing a hack n’ slash video game and a hack n’ slash tabletop RPG? * How can you integrate roleplaying into combat? * Gencon event reminders. * Using rando...
* We’re still messing with the compressor, so hopefully the sound quality is getting a little better. * Fear the Boot’s Power 16! See the candidates, brackets, and voting both here. * Embar...
* Changes to the way the show is recorded and produced. * The results of World Wide Wing Night 2 and planning for World Wide Wing Night 3. * Scourge of Worlds, redux. The website we’re talkin...
* A report on the Ziggurat Con donation drive. You can find more details on the forums here. * Fear the Boot will be attending a general reception for the gaming podcasters and listeners at Gen...
Like all Fear the Boot bonus episodes, this show is neither edited nor on our usual subject. So if this is your first time here, we recommend checking out a regular episode first. This episode ...
* The D&D play-by-DVD game, Scourge of Worlds. Pictures of the woman that voice-acted Lidda can be found here. * The Rifts challenge. * World Wide Wing Night 2, final reminder. * Supporting you...
* Why Dan hates Woodson Terrace, Missouri. The “350” clip referred to can be found here. * The final reminder for Ziggurat Con donations. This Saturday is the cut-off for donations. * Wor...
In this interview we talk with Shamus Young, author of the web comic, DM of the Rings, a parody of Lord of the Rings, presented as if the movie was the plot of an RPG. His website: http://www.sha...
Though we’ve gotten out of the habit, we want to do something different every 10th episode. Since episode 50 falls pretty close to our one-year anniversary, we spend this show looking back on...
* Contacting Fear the Boot. * A reminder on Ziggurat con. The 60-second promo is located here. * Chad and Dan, revisit their favorite RPGs, this time sticking to store-bought products. * Dragon...
* Though it will have minimal impact on the show, we’ve changed our recording date from Saturday to Monday. Release will still be on Wednesdays. * We’re accepting donations to prepare gamin...
* A discussion of 300. We promise, there are no spoilers. * Picking a Star Wars fighter. * A conversation about costuming leads into an ode to the Brotherhood of Nod. * DuckTales. Yes, you re...
* Chris Engler is joining a charity bowling contest that will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters. If RPG podcast listeners will pledge enough money, several companies (including Highmoon Media an...
* Chad: The Travesty contest reminder. * Gaming groups through local libraries, redux. * The editions of D&D. * Using maps for combat in an RPG. * Running a horror game. Hosts: Adam, Chad, Dan, J...
* The Brownsburg Library D&D group and using your library to promote RPG play. * A big “thank you” to the community for the donations for Skye. * Gamer Traveler podcast. * Chad: The Travesty ...
* Chad and Dawn’s baby * Chad: The Travesty contest. Enter here! * Whether rolling dice is unfair to unlucky players. * The future of Fear the Boot. * Designing expansions for your roleplayin...
* Who wants a body massage? * Do Adam and John sound too much alike? * Boardgaming. * Chad calls 911. * BBS games. The instance of Legend of the Green Dragon I signed up with can be found here....
In the second interview episode, we talk with Mike West from Lionhead Studios. Mike contributed to script development for Fable and is currently the lead script developer for Fable 2. Our convers...
* Hurting yourself while playing video games. * Fear the Boot would like to thank… Accidental Survivors Dragons Landing Inn Harping Monkey Pulp Gamer Fanboy Smackdown Geeklabel * The timing and...
* Fear the Boot store update. * A preview of the upcoming interviews. * The backlog of resource documents. * Gaming comics. * Players and GMs make the game. * Designing character advancement for ...
The resource document for this episode will be rather extensive, so it won’t be up along with this episode, but it should be posted by the end of the week. * John’s date report. * Chad’s co...
Since starting this podcast, Fear the Boot has made contact with quite a few professionals in the gaming market. Rather than let these opportunities go to waste, we decided to start a new inter...
During the show, we make a few jokes about an “oooooh” noise. During the show I said I would link the video that comes from, so here it is. Please be aware it includes foul language. * Ka...
Like all Fear the Boot bonus episodes, this show is neither edited nor on our usual subject. So if this is your first time here, we recommend checking out a regular episode first. This particul...
* A review of World Wide Wing Night. * Our take on Wizards of the Coast’s D&D club sponsorship program. You can find the article we’re discussing here. * Based on some feedback we’ve got...
This episode was intended to be a warm-up for Mike, a new host we’re bringing on at FTB to help out with several new efforts we’re preparing to launch. However, true to form, we spend most ...
For this episode, we welcome guest host, Chris Hussey, an author that used to work for FASA. * Character advancement: why is it emotionally integral to the RPG experience? * A reminder about Worl...
Before I get to the show notes, a listener asked us to mention an upcoming gaming con. I didn’t get the note in time for the recording, so I’ll mention it here instead. The con is Chattac...
WARNING: This episode of Fear the Boot deals with handling sensitive subjects in your role-playing game. While it maintains the usual rating of a Fear the Boot episode, it includes candid disc...
The resource document for this show will be posted either Wednesday or Thursday. Until then, enjoy the recording! * Stories from gaming stores, good and bad. * Is it easier to be negative than ...
* A reminder that some domains stuff our emails into your spam folder. * Giving back to the boot. * Based on a voice mail from a listener, we ponder whether our game plots change to reflect our c...
To save myself the weekly struggle of presenting our show notes in prose form, I’m going to start using a more traditional, bulleted format. This episode continues our series on RPG design. *...
To follow-up on our open letter in the previous episode, we’re happy to announce the show is back on track and doing well! However, based on the suggestion of several listeners, FTB will now ...
One of our forum users, Crafterofcode, sent us a box of Australian candies. We spend this bonus episode sampling the candy and discussing international food. We also bring Tex back via Skype, s...
Our Xbox Live contest continues for another week. Don’t forget to enter again, using the “Contest Entry Form” link at the top of our site. Also, we forgot to mention it during the episo...
Since Tex was in town, we decided to do a bonus episode on video games. In this show, we talk about storytelling and artificial intelligence. If this is your first time here, we suggest checkin...
Congratulations to Keith Curtis, winner of our Baron von Bad Ass art contest! Thanks again to all of you that entered. We were really impressed by the quality of the entries. During this show...
We recorded this episode immediately after watching the two Dungeons & Dragons movies. We spend the first half of the episode reviewing those two films before we broaden the topic to talk about...
We start this episode with a bad player habit that we missed in our previous two shows. After that, we take on a series of topics related to character creation: unlisted perks and penalties, re...
This is normally a pretty light-hearted show, however, not everything in life is a joke. Heart disease is the number one killer in the developed world, and we at FTB want to do our part to help.�...
This bonus episode is a round-up of unrelated stories from the hosts. As with all bonus episodes, this is both unedited and off topic. If this is your first time here, we suggest checking out...
Before digging into the episode, we mention two art-related things. First, there’s an art contest for drawing Baron von Badass. If you want to enter, you can find the relevant information h...
As a follow-up to our previous episode on GM mistakes, we spend this episode talking about bad player habits. We had too many points to cover, so this is part 1 of 2. Hosts: Chad, Dan, Dawn
We kick off the episode with a story about our trip to a hibachi restaurant. When it’s time to discuss roleplaying games, we begin with a look at what sort of person wants to be a GM. We th...
We recorded this episode live in the gaming area of the Archon sci-fi, fantasy, and gaming convention. If this is your first time listening, this episode is not recorded or presented in the way...
We’d like to remind everyone FTB will be at Archon this Thursday – Sunday, so if you’re going to be near the St. Louis area, please stop by and say, “hi!” In addition to our panels an...
You should quickly realize this episode isn’t quite right. This is part of a promotion that’s being done between a dozen gaming podcasts. One week in September, each show will be run by t...
Before every show, we go through a dysfunctional routine which we describe at the start of this episode. We also talk about the market penetration of podcasts in the gaming community and one of...
Just as I promised on the forums, here’s a bonus episode to go hand-in-hand with episode 18! We intended to make this bonus episode about our take on where Battletech went wrong. However, we ...
In this show we cover some fond memories of FASA product catalogs, name the winner of our “freak show” character contest, offer our thoughts on card games, kick around some settings we wish h...
I want to remind everyone of the contest we’re running right now. You can find details in this episode, the show notes for episode 16, or our forums. Continuing a topic we started in bonus ep...
We’re probably just as opinionated about video games as we are roleplaying games, but the former just isn’t what this podcast is about. However, for this bonus episode, we decided to talk o...
We start this episode with several announcements. I’ll post those here along with relevant links. First, we’ll be at Archon from October 5th – 8th. * http://archonstl.org/30/index2.html S...
At the start of this episode, we mention a WoW guild Fear the Boot listeners and hosts have started. If you’re interested in joining, you can find details at: http://www.feartheboot.com/forum...
Our Gencon experience was short and fruitless. We start off the episode by explaining what happened and then offer some advice on allowing players to run multiple characters during the same ga...
This episode was supposed to be our farewell to John, who’s leaving for Rome soon. However, it quickly degrades into tangents about travel, foreign beer, and international family. WARNING! ...
Episode 13 indeed! We found ourselves down a host and had several other problems getting this show ready. But we made it through nonetheless. In this episode, we talk about how our roleplaying ...
This episode is all about the roleplaying environment, both inside and outside of the game. We talk about the best sort of room to game in, eating while gaming, using mood music, and we offer adv...
This is quite possibly the most pointless and meandering show we have ever recorded. So why are we releasing it? Because these bonus episodes never come with a quality guarantee! This show ...
In this bonus episode, we talk about how and why we love Battletech. As always, this bonus show is unscripted and unedited.
Since several people have asked about the cons we’ll be attending, we start episode 11 with our convention schedule. We then pause to talk about our first two episodes which seem to have offend...
The third bonus episode — and the final one on this topic, at least for now — is a discussion of the internet-related tasks that go into making a podcast. We talk about posting the show onl...
Episode 10 is an anomaly for our show. For this one episode, we turn over the mics to our wives. They give us a woman’s perspective on gaming and what it’s like to be a non-gamer married to a...
We were down a host for this episode, and a bit more serious than normal, but we still covered a lot of good information. The episode starts with a discussion of the overuse of setting in some ca...
We start this show by discussing various character- and player-related problems that can occur during a roleplaying game. Topics include Adam’s difficulty naming his characters, deciding betw...
Episode 7 begins with us trying to figure out how to pronounce Aram’s name. He regales us with his single, tragic experience with D&D, the details of which get us thinking about how roleplayers...
Our second bonus episode covers the hardware (mics, mixer, etc) we use to make the podcast. I want to remind everyone the bonus episodes — unlike our regular shows — are completely unedited...
Episode 6 begins with a discussion on using the Monstrous Manual as a campaign setting and plotline! Please don’t ever do that. We then pause to remind everyone about the ways you can get i...
This is the first in a series of bonus episodes we want to release. These shows are 10 – 20 minutes long and cover topics that don’t fit in the scope of our normal podcasts. They’re com...
Before I get into the content of episode 5, I want to draw your attention to something. At the time we recorded this episode, we had not yet gotten in touch with the folks at GOBLIN. That has...
Why exactly do we play roleplaying games? Episode 4 starts with that question getting kicked around. As we try to answer it, we also think back to a GURPs “trip to the lake” game we saw b...
We kick this show off with an explanation of how making a podcast is like running a roleplaying game. The hosts are introduced, and then John and Chad tell us their tongue-in-cheek (?) vision o...
For the next several episodes, we’ll be using a mock Shadowrun game to walk you through the do’s and don’ts of roleplaying games. In this podcast, we talk about the first step a group sho...
After a conversation about why roleplaying game stories are so terrible to listen to, we move on to the types of gaming groups and a debate about resolving situations where players have a social ...
This podcast is an introduction to our show, explaining what we’ll talk about: tabletop roleplaying games (RPGs), product reviews, industry news, and related topics. Hosts: Dan