The D&D Attention Economy – Greyhawk ’76 (Ep. 7) Lair Of Secrets podcast

14:29:00

Join us for the Lair of Secrets’ annual summer reading list! We run down a few of the books on our respective lists, but we’re always looking for more! Featured in this episode are: Red Sonja Consumed by Gail Simone When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente Infinite Archive (The Midsolar Murders #3) by Mur Lafferty Vicious by V.E. Schwab As well as side quests to talk about Iain Banks’ The Culture series, Terry Prachett’s Discworld, and Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves. Suggest your own book ideas in the comments! Chapters 0:00 Intro & Rocket Misfires 0:40 Red Sonja : Sword & Sorcery Revival1:45 Moon Cheese Madness: Scalzi’s Absurd Apocalypse 3:10 Seveneves vs. Moon Made of Cheese 4:20 Ghosts in Cryo: Cold Eternity Breakdown 5:35 Space Opera and the Glam-paign Idea 6:50 Infinite Archive: Murder, She Wrote in Space 8:00 Vicious by V.E. Schwab: Superpowered Rivalry 9:10 The Overflowing To-Read Pile 10:20 Pratchett’s Final Discworld Reflections 11:20 Saying Goodbye to The Culture Series 12:00 More Books, More Time: Summer Reading Goals 13:10 Share Your Book Picks! 14:00 Outro & Call to Action Listen to the Episode Watch to the Episode Watch Summer Reading List 2025 (S4E24) on YouTube . Show Notes Red Sonja Consumed by Gail Simone (Ken) – I got this as a Christmas present, and I’m looking forward to Gail’s take on Red Sonja in novel form (I already read the comic book series she wrote; it was great). From the book blurb: The gutsy, wild, tortured free spirit, forged in pain yet unafraid of life or death, Red Sonja, the famous, fiery She-Devil and barbarian of Hyrkania has never concerned herself with the consequences of her actions. She’s taken what she wanted, from treasure to drink to the companionship of bedfellows. She’s fought who deserved it (and sometimes those who didn’t). And she’s never looked back. But when rumors start bubbling up from her homeland—rumors of unknown horrors emerging from the ground and pulling their unsuspecting victims to their deaths—and a strange voice begins whispering to her in her sleep, she realizes she may have to return to the country that abandoned her. And finally do the only thing that has ever scared her: confront her past. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi (David) – I’ve been a fan of most of Scalzi’s books. This is one of his more humorous books like Starter Villain and Kaiju Preservation Society . I’m looking forward to it. It’s also going to hold me over until the next Old Man’s War book comes out. The moon has turned into cheese. Now humanity has to deal with it. For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now… something absolutely impossible . Astronauts and billionaires, comedians and bank executives, professors and presidents, teenagers and terminal patients at the end of their lives — over the length of an entire lunar cycle, each get their moment in the moonlight. To panic, to plan, to wonder and to pray, to laugh and to grieve. All in a kaleidoscopic novel that goes all the places you’d expect, and then to so many places you wouldn’t. It’s a wild moonage daydream. Ride this rocket. Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes (Ken) – Barnes’ third sci-fi/horror/ghost story novel is out. I loved the creepy atmosphere of the first two, which makes this one an easy pick. Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads for what seems like the perfect place to lay low: a gigantic space barge storing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth’s most fortunate citizens from more than a century ago… The cryo program, created by trillionaire tech genius Zale Winfeld, is long defunct, and the AI hologram “hosts,” ghoulishly created in the likeness of Winfeld’s three adult children, are glitchy. The ship feels like a crypt, and the isolation gets to Halley almost immediately. She starts to see figures crawling in the hallways, and there’s a constant scraping, slithering, and rattling echoing in the vents. It’s not long before Halley realizes she may have gotten herself trapped in an even more dangerous situation than the one she was running from…. Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente – This one has been on my Kindle for way too long. It’s about time I ready what is described as “ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets the joy and glamour of Eurovision”. It may also feed into my vision of creating a Glampaign game. A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented—something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding. Once every cycle, the great galactic civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Species far and wide compete in feats of song, dance and/or whatever facsimile of these can be performed by various creatures who may or may not possess, in the traditional sense, feet, mouths, larynxes, or faces. And if a new species should wish to be counted among the high and the mighty, if a new planet has produced some savage group of animals, machines, or algae that claim to be, against all odds, sentient? Well, then they will have to compete. And if they fail? Sudden extermination for their entire species. This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick, and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny—they must sing. Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes have been chosen to represent their planet on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of Earth lies in their ability to rock. Infinite Archive (The Midsolar Murders #3) by Mur Laffery (Ken) – The third book in Mur’s space murder whodunnit series comes out July 1st, 2025, which means it’s definitely going to be on my vacation reading list. Who doesn’t want to take a cozy sci fi murder mystery book to the beach? Amateur sleuth Mallory Viridian has just about got her bearings aboard the space station she calls home, but now the physical embodiment of the Internet is on its way, and it’s bringing murder with it. Mallory Viridian has had a quiet few months. Even with the increased influx of humans visiting Station Eternity, she hasn’t seen so much as a bar brawl. Used to people dying left and right around her, the lack of murders to solve has left her unexpectedly . . . bored. But humanity’s favorite way to waste time is on its way to her sector of the galaxy. A giant, one-of-a-kind data ship called Metis is bringing the entire Internet from Earth—as well as a mystery fan convention. On top of that, Mallory’s literary agent is aboard, and he tells Mallory that she’s the keynote speaker. It’s almost a relief when a killer decides to strike at the convention. When Mallory finds her agent dead, she knows she has to work fast to find the murderer. With a strange new alien with unknown motives, a ship with impossible abilities, a lonely living, comprehensive Internet, and a deadly crime to solve, Mallory has her work cut out for her …. Vicious by V.E. Schwab – Erin gave this to me as a gift longer than I would like to think about. It’s time to read it. Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end? In Vicious , V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn’t automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question. Feedback We love feedback! You post a comment below or connect with us using these channels: Email Bluesky Discord DiceCamp (Mastodon) YouTube Twitch Featured Image Meta Seven President’s Beach in Long Branch, NJ. Photo by Ken. The post Summer Reading List 2025 (S4E24) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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Fallout 2d20 Chapter 5: Thriftway Throwdown (S4E23) 1:41:30

13 days ago1:41:30

1:41:30

The crew infiltrates a raider lair to rescue a kidnapped girl, navigating irradiated sewers, sentry turrets, and a heavily armed Thriftway gang. Steve NuGunnar faces off against his nemesis Thriftway in a brutal final encounter to reclaim his prized NuRay 3000. Fallout 2d20 Campaign Page: An overview of the campaign, plus links to episodes and related game resources. Fallout 2d20 Resources: Links to community forums, wikis, rules, podcasts, and cheat sheets. Chapters 0:00 Intro & Recap 2:10 Turret Ambush! 4:59 Raider Chase Begins 7:35 Ghoulardi Loots, Team Pushes Forward 14:00 Echoes and Radiation 20:00 The Showdown Chamber 28:00 Frag Grenade Chicken Toss 36:00 Raider Meltdown in the Water 45:00 Lucky Buck and the Leg Blasts 54:00 Ghoulardi’s Sniper Shot 1:03:00 Nuka Cherry Rage Shotgun 1:12:00 Raider Wrath and Ramming Speed 1:20:00 The Last Shot at Thriftway 1:27:00 Terminal Hacking Mini-Game 1:39:00 Brotherhood Logs & Power Armor 1:41:00 Cliffhanger Ending Listen to the Episode Watch to the Episode Watch Fallout 2d20 Chapter 5: Thriftway Throwdown on YouTube . Show Notes Recap of the mission: tracking the kidnapped girl from Covenant Opening battle: turret gun ambush and team tactics Nurse 17 charges into the fray armed with teddy bears and tea party rage Lucky Buck’s accidental luck-fueled sharpshooting streak Ghoulardi’s chicken-stuffed frag grenade attack Steve NuGunnar confronts Thriftway for the NuRay 3000 Girl rescued from a makeshift cage by Nurse 17 Fallout-style terminal hacking minigame live! Discovery of Brotherhood T-60 power armor and terminal logs Time freezes, leaving the team mid-victory… Featured Image A view of sewers from Fallout 4. Feedback We love feedback! You post a comment below or connect with us using these channels: Email Bluesky Discord DiceCamp (Mastodon) YouTube Twitch The post Fallout 2d20 Chapter 5: Thriftway Throwdown (S4E23) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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Support Your Local Convention: ShadowDark, Mothership, & Gaslands Recaps (S4E22) 35:55

18 days ago35:55

35:55

On this episode, Ken recaps running ShadowDark , Mothership , and Gaslands Refueled at a local RPG convention. We also delve into how to support your local conventions ( MEPACon in the Pennsylvania, and Who’s Yer Con? in Indiana). Chapters 0:00 Intro & MEPACon Setup 2:10 Venue Upgrade & Con History 4:00 ShadowDark: Morka Norden Recap 7:00 Learning from Live Play & Light Mechanics 9:30 Mothership Funnel: Decanted Breakdown 13:00 Emergency Decanting & Medical Mishaps 17:00 Engineering, Design Tweaks, & Player Strategy 22:00 Gaslands: Straight to Hell Tutorial 26:00 Concrete Jungle & Advanced Play Challenges 30:00 Why Local Cons Matter & Final Reflections Listen to the Episode Watch to the Episode Watch Support your Local Convention (S4E22) on YouTube . Show Notes MEPACon RECAP What is MEPACon? MEPACon stands for “Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania Gaming Convention” Located near Allentown, PA About 30 minutes from Ken’s house. Held every six month, in spring and fall Not sure on the exact head count, but Ken’s thinking 150 people. Probably more. Moved to Delta Hotels by Marriott, which is a MUCH better hotel than the previous one (which is being torn down) Ken ran four games: Decanted: A Mothership funnel … that failed at being a funnel. Except, maybe not? Morka Nordan : A ShadowDark adventure ripped from Ken’s lunchtime adventure Got used to the digital tabletop handling all the light stuff. It’s harder to do in the real world. This is the game where Ken realized just how many ShadowDark mistakes he’d made with his lunch time game. Two Gaslands Refueled games Straight to Hell: A 2-hour intro game Concrete Jungle: A 2-hour race/battle royal game that probably needs to be 4 hours. And maybe I just need to run three 2-hour slot tutorials during the weekend to build up a base of experienced players. Supporting Your Local Conventions Importance of local conventions for playtesting, community, and outreach Thoughts on prepping for Who’s Yer Con and leveraging past games Reflections on building in-person player communities post-pandemic Feedback We love feedback! You post a comment below or connect with us using these channels: Email Bluesky Discord DiceCamp (Mastodon) YouTube Twitch Featured Image Meta An old-time ariel map of Allentown, PA. The post Support Your Local Convention: ShadowDark, Mothership, & Gaslands Recaps (S4E22) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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Fallout 2d20 Chapter 4: Shotgun Justice (S4E20) 1:42:46

27 days ago1:42:46

1:42:46

After some bartering in Covenant, the Wastelanders continue their quest to hunt down Thriftway’s raiders. The Wastelanders’ goal? Recover Steve NuGunner’s NuRay 3000. Oh, and a girl who was kidnapped from Covenant by the raiders. Fallout 2d20 Campaign Page: An overview of the campaign, plus links to episodes and related game resources. Fallout 2d20 Resources: Links to community forums, wikis, rules, podcasts, and cheatsheets. Chapters 0:00 Intro & Wasteland Recap 5:15 Covenant Refuge and Raider Fallout 13:10 Upgrades, Bartering & Lars’ Plea 20:40 Junkyard Clues & Mole Rat Mayhem 31:25 Tracking Raiders & Teddy Bear Prep 40:10 Ambush in the Wastes: Sneak or Shoot 52:45 Sewer Entrance & Guard Elimination 1:00:50 Shotgun Justice & Laser Luck 1:17:35 Sewer Showdown & Whip Disarm 1:33:55 The Turret Twist & Fallout Cliffhanger Listen to the Episode Watch to the Episode Watch Fallout 2d20 Chapter 4: Shotgun Justice on YouTube. Show Notes The wasteland adventurers delve deeper into the irradiated heart of the wasteland as Steve NuGunner, Lucky Buck, Goulardi , and Nurse 17 arrive at the battered settlement of Covenant. After narrowly fending off raiders, they resupply, regroup, and are thrust into a high-stakes mission: rescue a kidnapped girl taken by Thriftway’s Enclave-aligned raiders. Nurse 17 gets upgraded with stealth and speed, becoming a teddy bear-draped death machine, while Steve is laser-focused on retrieving his beloved NuRay 3000. Following tracks to a junkyard-turned-camp, the group uncovers clues leading them to an ominous sewer entrance. Their infiltration escalates quickly as stealth gives way to gunfire and buzzsaws. From sneak attacks to shotgun justice, the team cuts through the raiders, pushing deeper and deeper into the base. Along the way, they interrogate a survivor, sprint into potential traps, and navigate the green-tinged threat of an oncoming radiation storm. The episode crescendos with a chase into the sewer depths—just in time for the hum of an auto-turret coming online. Featured Image Meta A man aims a shotgun in a screenshot from Fallout 4 . Feedback We love feedback! You post a comment below or connect with us using these channels: Email Bluesky Discord DiceCamp (Mastodon) YouTube Twitch The post Fallout 2d20 Chapter 4: Shotgun Justice (S4E20) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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Moonbeam Chasing (S4E20) 36:06

5 weeks ago36:06

36:06

Ken and David explore Moonbeam.stream, a streaming platform made for tabletop gamers and creatives, while sharing their live-streaming experiments and future content plans. They also dive into their respective ShadowDark campaigns, filled with dungeon chefs, dagger-bound skeletons, and low-level party drama. Ken preps for his return to Philmont, while David tempts fate with yet another enticing Kickstarter. Moonbeam sites Moonbeam.streaming The Lair’s Realm on Moonbeam Chapters 0:09 What Is Moonbeam.stream? 1:19 Streaming Past and Present 2:48 Live Streaming Experiments 3:28 Ken’s OBS Trials & Switch Bridge Setup 4:50 Drawing Dungeons and Mothership Maps 5:46 Streaming One-Shots and Actual Plays 6:07 The DIE: Die Improvement Environment 7:24 Portal Vibes & Co-Working Streams 9:29 Scheduling & Chaos Coordination 14:21 Ken’s Training for Philmont 18:18 Altitude, Monsoons, and Backpack Logistics 25:04 Cooking in the Dungeon: ShadowDark Update 28:24 Party Health Woes and Lucky Rolls 30:55 Skeletons, Dire Rats & Goblin Politics 33:49 ShadowDark Western Reaches Kickstarter 35:13 Alien RPG Evolved Temptation 35:55 Wrap-Up and Community Links Listen to the Episode Watch to the Episode Watch Moonbeam Chasing (S4E20) on YouTube . Show Notes What is Moonbeam? Not a crypto-currency. Ok, it is, but we’re not talking about THAT Moonbeam. It’s a streaming platform, currently in beta, that’s meant to have better moderation capabilities and a more creator-friendly pay structure. What are we doing with Moonbeam? Game Prep Campaign Notes Map Prep FoundryVTT exploration Random experiments Video Games? Maybe. Ken’s thinking about a Switch bridge. Actual Play RPGs The Die Improvement Environment or D.I.E. Helping rehabilitate those recalcitrant dice. Stuff we like so far Co-working Streams Random folks playing video games Haven’t watched an RPG session yet (probably should) Stuff we probably need to figure out A recording schedule? Posting? Figuring out how Realms work. (We’ve got a Lair of Secrets realm, but how does it interact with other realms?) Feedback We love feedback! You post a comment below or connect with us using these channels: Email Bluesky Discord DiceCamp (Mastodon) YouTube Twitch Featured Image Meta A black and white image of the moon over Lake Champlain. Photo by Ken. The post Moonbeam Chasing (S4E20) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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d8 ShadowDark Mistakes We Made (S4E19) 33:01

6 weeks ago33:01

33:01

On this episode, we talk about the top mistakes we made running ShadowDark (aka “how Ken accidentally enabled hard mode for his campaign”). Our mistakes include “overly complicate torch management”, “create deadlier rat diseases”, “don’t use Luck points”, and more! Looking for more ShadowDark content? Check out these Lair episodes: d12 Ways ShadowDark is Awesome! (S4E15) Shadowdark Impressions (Campaigns & Coffee) Chapters Listen to the Episode Watch to the Episode Watch d8 ShadowDark Mistakes We Made on YouTube . Show Notes 1. Overcomplicate Torch Management You don’t need to do torch gymnastics to light a new one. If your old one is burning down, and the players want to start a new torch, they do it. The timer is reset to 60 minutes, and the old torch is discarded. Keeping fractional torches around (“But we had 15 minutes left on this torch!”) is a natural impulse given the importances (and potential scarcity) of light, but fractional torches make things complicated. And the mechanic isn’t meant to be complicated. A reasonable house rule I’ve seen for torches that go out less than halfway through their burn cycle is to round down to 30 minutes. Keeping track of “half torches” is still work, but less work than breaking it down further. That said, if you’re under threat, then yes, there are torch gymnastics. There’s a DC 12 Dexterity check to ignite a torch under such conditions. – If it’s dark, same DC, but with disadvantage. We’ll talk more about that in our ShadowDark house rules episode coming up. (Sly Flourish – https://slyflourish.com/shadowdark_house_rules.html) 2. Create even deadlier rat diseases The common rat in ShadowDark is infected with a fast acting disease that immediately saps the adventurer’s Constitution. Depending on how you interpret the rule, it either prevents all healing until the adventurer makes a saving throw OR the adventure can’t recover their lost Con until they make a saving throw. Ken chose the latter. 3. Don’t use luck points For Ken’s first few games, he didn’t use Luck points at all. Which, given how deadly ShadowDark is, can be a pretty big difficulty upgrade for players. Running the same scenario at a convention (and swapping in a Seer character from Cursed Scrolls #3 ) revealed just how helpful Luck tokens are (the seer being able to create Luck tokens 3x per day). 4. Get Spell Mishaps Wrong Ken’s game made spell failure MUCH more dangerous by rolling on the mishap chart whenever a spell casting attempt failed (and not just on critical fumbles, as per the rules). This makes it much more likely your 1st level character is going to get killed when failing to cast a spell. 5. Don’t Plan for Carousing Carousing is a big part of the game. During downtime, players can spend gold to have adventures in town, earning XP, acquiring allies (and maybe an enemy). But to do it, they need gold … so it helps to make sure that they’ll actually have that gold when they got home. Also, read the carousing and “learn skills” downtime activities before you start the adventure, so you know what the players can do at the end. 6. Get Stuck in D&D 5e Mode ShadowDark is a cousin of D&D 5e … and 5e has a rule for everything. It’s easy to bring in default 5e assumptions (I’m looking at you, opportunity attacks) rather than looking for the ShadowDark equivalent. 7. Stress about when to level up Do you level up at session’s end or in the middle of the session? This is more a preference than a mistake (though your mileage may vary). Leveling up is super easy in ShadowDark , but it does slow things down a bit. 8 Wasting time looking up rules that don’t exist ShadowDark is a rules-light game. D&D or Pathfinder fans may come in looking for detailed rules for, well, just about everything. Most of the time, ShadowDark doesn’t have them. Like “Learning” during downtime. The book provides some guidelines for what they can’t do (learn another class’s or ancestries’ unique talents) and two examples of what they can (a new language, how to ride a sandworm using a harness). There’s no big list of skills (but though you could steal from backgrounds). Don’t worry. Just roll with it. Feedback We love feedback! You post a comment below or connect with us using these channels: Email Bluesky Discord DiceCamp (Mastodon) YouTube Twitch Featured Image Meta The background image is the map from Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur , featured in the ShadowDark quick-start rules . The post d8 ShadowDark Mistakes We Made (S4E19) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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Fallout 2d20 Chapter 3: Raiders & Rumors (S4E18) 1:05:45

7 weeks ago1:05:45

1:05:45

Our group of wastelanders (and one former Vault dwelling weapons tester) defend the fortified town of Covenant from raiders in the latest chapter of our Fallout 2d20 Actual Play campaign . The raiders defeated, the group gains access to Covenant, where they uncover rumors about a ghoul named Thriftway dealing in slaves for the Enclave . Fallout 2d20 Campaign Page: An overview of the campaign, plus links to episodes and related game resources. Fallout 2d20 Resources: Links to community forums, wikis, rules, podcasts, and cheatsheets. Chapters 0:00 – Intro: Welcome to the Wasteland 1:00 – Raiders at the Gates: Defending Covenant 4:30 – Entering Covenant: A Safe Haven or a Lie? 9:45 – The Barter Extravaganza: Caps, Junk, and Haggling 26:00 – The Junk Jet Temptation: A Heavy Investment 31:30 – Thriftway’s Shadow: Raiders, Slavery, and the Enclave 44:10 – The Alarm Sounds: Lars Returns, Badly Wounded 50:15 – A Mission Forms: Tracking Thriftway and Saving the Girl 1:03:30 – Outro: Next Stop – The Hunt Begins! Listen to the Episode Watch to the Episode Watch Fallout 2d20 Chapter 3: Rumors & Raiders on YouTube. Show Notes Raiders at the Gates – The team helps Covenant fend off a raider attack and earns the town’s trust. Covenant’s Secrets – The town appears friendly, but there’s an undercurrent of unease, especially toward ghouls. The Great Barter Session – A deep dive into Fallout’s economy as the group haggles for ammo, supplies, and a stealth module for Nurse 17. The Junk Jet Temptation – Lucky Buck eyes a bizarre but deadly weapon. A Growing Threat – The group hears rumors that the Enclave is buying slaves from Thriftway, but his location remains unknown. A Sudden Attack – Lars, a local mechanic, returns badly injured, revealing that raiders took his daughter. A New Mission – With a lead on Thriftway, the party gears up for a rescue operation. Featured Image Meta A raider base in Fallout 4 . Credit: Bethesda. Feedback We love feedback! You post a comment below or connect with us using these channels: Email Bluesky Discord DiceCamp (Mastodon) YouTube Twitch The post Fallout 2d20 Chapter 3: Raiders & Rumors (S4E18) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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Fallout Zones (S4E17) 38:55

8 weeks ago38:55

38:55

Fallout 2d20 uses zones instead of conventional battle maps or theater of the mind to describe where your characters (and their enemies) are in the game world. In this episode, we talk about how Fallout zones work, offer advice on how to use them, and take a peak at some other games that use zones. After fighting our way through the wasteland, we geek out about Alien: Isolation , the excellent survival horror game now available on the Switch, and the F oundry Virtual Table Top . Fallout 2d20 Campaign Page: An overview of the campaign, plus links to episodes and related game resources. Fallout 2d20 Resources: Links to community forums, wikis, rules, podcasts, and cheatsheets. Chapters 0:00 Intro – Welcome to the Lair of Secrets 1:00 What Are Fallout Zones? 3:45 How Zones Improve Tactical Combat 9:30 Obstacles, Cover & Hazards in Zone-Based Play 15:20 Zone-Based Games – Fate, Shadowdark, Alien, and More 19:45 Jump Scares – Playing ALIEN: Isolation in the Dark 26:30 How Alien: Isolation Preps You for Running an Alien RPG 31:10 David’s New Obsession: Foundry VTT 34:50 Foundry vs. Roll20 – Which Virtual Tabletop is Better? 37:45 Final Thoughts & Sign Off Listen to the Episode Watch to the Episode Watch Fallout Zones on YouTube . Show Notes Main Topic Overview of zones in Fallout 2d20 What and why? Abstract way of representing regions and distances in a game. Half-way between battle map and theatre of the mind … sort of. Great for RPGs featuring more abstract locales. Lets you avoid infinite 5-foot-squares. Fallout 2d20 zones Reach – Arms reach (within close, but not an actual zone; minor action to close; confusing wording) Close – Any distance within the zone you’re in. Medium – Distance of one zone Long – Distance of two zones Extreme – Distance of three or more zones How do they impact movement / weapons? Difficult terrain: “A zone may be filled with difficult terrain, slowing anyone attempting to cross it.” Fallout 2d20 core rules (p. 38) Obstacles are similar in that they hinder your movement, but they exist between zones—attempts to move from one zone to another where an obstacle is present may slow your progress. Fallout 2d20 core rules (p. 38) Hazards are parts of the environment that inflict damage to creatures caught in them. A hazard may be present in a specific zone, or it may be spread among multiple zones. Fallout 2d20 core rules (p. 39) How to Represent Zones Theater of the Mind How far can you take it in theatre of the mind? Visual Zones Use index cards or draw out boxes representing zones. Battle Maps Create your map. Draw lines on it indicating zones Outside Example: Zone 1: The near battlefield, on the shores of a stream. Between zone 1 and 2: the stream that must be crossed Zone 2: The field on the far side of the stream Zone 3: A stand of broken boulders & battle tank Zone 4: The edge of a forest. Hulks of buildings looms in the distance Inside Example: Zone 1: The Library Zone 2: The Entrance Hallway Zone 3: The Kitchen Zone 4: The Basement Zone 5: The Balcony and second for overlooking the dining room Prior experience with zones in other systems FATE Index Card RPG Professor DM / Dungeon Craft Alien (Year Zero system) Forbidden Lands Adjacent Shadowdark Fallout scenarios we ran The Lab (small scale zones) Surface Fight (open range) The Dungeon (larger, longer-range zones) Advantages & Disadvantages Advantages Makes range more abstracted; in Cyberpunk RED, if I want to give the solo a chance to use his sniper or assault rifle skills, I probably need to scale up my map. With zones, the distance gets abstracted … and the map doesn’t even need to exist. Disadvantages Breaks your brain a little. Can be hard to conceptualize (particularly if you come from a minis-based game. Reach vs. Close Building-as-a-zone vs. floors as a zone Banter ALIEN: Isolation Released 10 years ago And now it’s out for Switch! How to play: On the sofa, in the near dark, with AirPods in. FoundryVTT My favorite so far It has lived up to the hype I have heard from others Easy to pick up and start running with Very extensible Featured Image Meta The muddled background is the local map for Vault 88 in Fallout 4 . Credit: Bethesda. Feedback We love feedback! You post a comment below or connect with us using these channels: Email Bluesky Discord DiceCamp (Mastodon) YouTube Twitch The post Fallout Zones (S4E17) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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Fallout 2d20 Chapter 2: Covenant Clash (S4E16) 1:03:44

9 weeks ago1:03:44

1:03:44

As our Fallout 2d20 Actual Play campaign continues, the party treks across the wasteland toward the settlement of Covenant . Along the way they encounter dangers both grotesque and ridiculous, from gutting radioactive bugs for dinner to dodging their own teammate’s grenades. And yeah, Steve’s still trying to recover his prototype laser pistol from the bandit leader known as Thriftway … Fallout 2d20 Campaign Page: An overview of the campaign, plus links to episodes and related game resources. Fallout 2d20 Resources: Links to community forums, wikis, rules, podcasts, and cheatsheets. Chapters 0:00 – Intro: Welcome Back to the Wasteland 1:04 – Meet the Survivors: Ghoul Chemists, Security Officers, and a Nurse Handy 3:15 – Scavenging, Cooking, and Campfire Debriefs 7:40 – Lucky Buck’s (Un)fortunate Grenade Luck 12:30 – Wasteland Travel & Gunfire in the Distance 18:05 – Sneaking Into Trouble: Raiders at Covenant 22:50 – Explosive Ambush: Baseball Grenades & Laser Blasts 30:20 – The Last Stand: Raiders’ Final Moments 37:45 – Covenant Welcomes the Survivors 45:10 – What’s Next? The Mystery of Thriftway 55:20 – Outro: Join Us Again in the Wasteland! Listen to the Episode Watch to the Episode Watch Fallout 2d20 Chapter 2: Covenant� Clash on YouTube. Show Notes Picking up from last time: The team emerges from their bloatfly battle at Taffington Boathouse, scavenging for supplies and making camp. Character Highlights: Ghoulardi , the chem-crafting ghoul, prepares a fine (if unsettling) wasteland feast. Steve NuGunnar , still haunted by the theft of his NewRay 3000, is determined to reclaim it from Thriftway. Nurse 17 plays both den mother and war machine, tending to the team and disarming Lucky Buck in the most literal sense. Lucky Buck , ever a source of accidental chaos, makes up for past grenade mishaps with a well-placed explosive. Svenghoulie , the enigmatic wasteland ghoul, provides a Molotov cocktail mid-battle as a thoughtful gift. Tense Wasteland Travel: Gunfire in the distance signals trouble near Covenant. Raider Ambush at Covenant: The team executes a surprise attack, eliminating hostiles with a mix of precision, explosions, and mechanical saws. A Welcome at Covenant: The settlement’s guards thank the party for their assistance, allowing them entry. On the Horizon: The mystery of Thriftway and his stolen tech looms large, promising more danger ahead. Featured Image Meta The town of Covenant, as depicted in Fallout 4 . Credit: Bethesda. Feedback We love feedback! You post a comment below or connect with us using these channels: Email Bluesky Discord DiceCamp (Mastodon) YouTube Twitch The post Fallout 2d20 Chapter 2: Covenant Clash (S4E16) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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d12 Ways ShadowDark is Awesome! (S4E15) 33:25

11 weeks ago33:25

33:25

On this episode, we delve far from the light to geek out about Shadowdark . The old-school-inspired RPG strips Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition to its essentials, and then adds in some modern sensibilities. We talk about our favorite mechanics, how it’s impacted our other games (looking at you D&D 5th Edition!), and our players’ penchant for wandering off into the dark. PLUS: Squishy wizards! Unlimited spells (if they don’t kill you!) Morale failures! AND the upcoming Western Reaches Campaign Setting Kickstarter (link in the comments) Chapters 0:00 – Intro: Straight into the ShadowDark 1:30 – Rolling Old-School Attributes (3D6 in Order!) 4:10 – The Darkness is Your Enemy: Why Light Matters 7:30 – Inventory Tetris: The Beauty of Gear Slots 10:00 – Squishy Wizards and the Horror of 1 HP 13:00 – No XP for Combat? Time to Get Creative 15:20 – Skills? Where we’re going, we don’t need skills! 18:00 – Morale Checks: Making Enemies Run in Fear 20:30 – Unlimited Spells (But at What Cost?) 23:00 – Clerical Penance: Displease Your God and Suffer 26:00 – Rolling on the Chaos Tables: Why Randomness is Fun 28:40 – Limited Rules, Maximum Improv 31:00 – Excited for Western Reaches—More ShadowDark Content! 32:30 – Final Thoughts & Where to Find Us Online Listen to the Episode Watch to the Episode Watch d12 Ways ShadowDark is Awesome! on YouTube Show Notes Old School Attributes. Roll 3d6. In order. Re-roll if you all your stats are under 14, re-roll. No one can see in the dark But the monsters can. Where do the monsters lurk? Gear Slots Carry a number of items equal to your STR stat or 10. All gear besides typical clothing fills one gear slot. Gear that is hard to transport might fill more than one slot. Squishy heroes A wizard with 3 hit points? Good luck. Skills Easy? You do it. (It’s infectious … started doing that in D&D too) Hard? You roll? Something make it easier? Advantage, Harder? Disadvantage Morale Enemies who are reduced to half their number (or half their hit points for a solo enemy) flee if they fail a DC 15 Wisdom check. Large Groups. Make one check using the leader’s WIS modifier. Throwback to old school D&D Your spells can kill you Dare to roll on the spell failure charts Magic missile bathes you in purple light? Unlimited Spells Just. Keep. Casting. But do you risk it Clerical Penance Inadequate or subversive penance (such as donating your sacrifice to a party member) only displeases your deity further and makes the spell loss permanent. Embrace the Random Talents depend on a die, not choice Limited rules. Maximum improv. Stripped down version of 5e removes a lot of the game’s specific rules. Improvise when the specific is needed. The rules system can fit in your head once you play it enough It’s in the Goldilocks zone of size The Western Reaches Kickstarter! Shadowdark RPG: The Western Reaches Setting ShadowDark Quickstart Shadowdark RPG Quickstart Set (PDF) Feedback We love feedback! You post a comment below or connect with us using these channels: Email Bluesky Discord DiceCamp (Mastodon) YouTube Twitch The post d12 Ways ShadowDark is Awesome! (S4E15) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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Fallout 2d20 Chapter 1: Wasteland Wake-Up (S4E14) 1:26:01

12 weeks ago1:26:01

1:26:01

We kickoff our Fallout 2d20 campaign with the protagonists (not sure we can call them “heroes” just yet) waking up in the Wasteland. Chapters 0:00 – Intro & Audio Shenanigans3:15 – Meet the Survivors8:40 – Escape from the Hospital Basement14:55 – Reg the Super Mutant Chef22:10 – Journey Through the Wasteland29:30 – EyeBot Encounters & […] The post Fallout 2d20 Chapter 1: Wasteland Wake-Up (S4E14) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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The D&D Attention Economy – Greyhawk ’76 (Ep. 7) 5:55

13 weeks ago5:55

5:55

Ken elaborates on the Attention Economy – how many things people need to keep track of – for D&D 2024, and how it differs from the 2014. (and yeah, this explains his initial reaction to the Blade Ward cantrip back in Episode 5). He reviews the idea of the Action Economy (how many things a […] The post The D&D Attention Economy – Greyhawk ’76 (Ep. 7) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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Enemy Mine – Greyhawk ’76 (Ep. 6) 8:03

14 weeks ago8:03

8:03

Ken recaps his group’s second session using the D&D 2024 rules, with specific looks at Blade Ward (spiffy spell, won’t save you from critical) and Mastery (a character ability that unlocks special characteristics of weapons). Chapters 0:00 – Welcome to Greyhawk ’761:10 – The Burrow Boys Arrive: Ogres, Halflings, and a Goliath3:20 – Trickery and […] The post Enemy Mine – Greyhawk ’76 (Ep. 6) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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Shadowdark Impressions (Campaigns & Coffee) 22:06

15 weeks ago22:06

22:06

After venturing into the dark with only a torch to guide their way, the Campaigns & Coffee crew talks about their experiences playing the ShadowDark RPG (where they ARE very likely to be eaten by a grue). They discuss the dungeon-delving, old-school-inspired game’s real-time torch mechanics, its focus on fast-paced and high-stakes decision-making. They also […] The post Shadowdark Impressions (Campaigns & Coffee) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets .…

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The Lair’s Guide for New Game Masters (S4E13) 25:43

16 weeks ago25:43