Just a brief update on the podcast, which is going on a brief hiatus due to various personal issues.

Our intro music is

"Magic Escape Room" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this nominally spooky episode, we’re talking about DEATH. Who decides when a hero falls - is it the whims of the dice, the demands of the narrative, or a knife-edge entente between the two?

Violet calculates the exact value of her friends’ lives. Freya uses a stake to take a break.

Violet brings a gun to a dice fight. Freya gets knocked down, but gets back up again.

Our thanks to the listeners who mailed in with comments on last week’s topic, Initiative - if you have a question, idea, or interesting game you’d like to share with us, email systemshoppodcast@gmail.com!

Games discussed in this episode:

Call of Cthulhu

Wanderhome

OD&D

Traveller

Vampire: the Masquerade

Dogs in the Vineyard

Apocalypse World / Powered by the Apocalypse

Monsterhearts

Vaesen

Dread

Ten Candles*

Mothership

Delta Green

Paranoia

Phoenix: Dawn Command

Blades in the Dark

Pathfinder (1e)

Edge of the Empire / Genesys

Cosmere RPG

Armour Astir

Daggerheart

Wildsea

Old School Essentials

Heart

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins

Pendragon

Mummy: the Curse

Rogue Trader

Arkham Horror

Aeon’s End

Star Wars Armada

Grandia

Battletech**

Forbidden Stars

Game of Thrones (the board game)

Gears of War

Control

Wildermyth

Rogue***

Magic: the Gathering

Notes:

* less spooky, but perhaps more manageable, than thirteen candles.

** the videogame by Harebrained Schemes, not the tabletop wargame, for once!

*** and its roguelike descendants.

1. Violet’s Bag Jam can be found at https://itch.io/jam/token-bag , running from Friday 1st to Saturday 23rd November 2024.

2. Shared Fantasy: Role Playing Games as Social Worlds, by Gary Alan Fine, was first published in 1983.

3. A helpful chart: https://xkcd.com/1890/

A disclaimer:

Freya is a volunteer playtester for both the Cosmere RPG and Daggerheart. She is not being paid in any way, and draws examples from their open beta material when relevant because they’re fresh in her mind!

Additional credits:

Our intro music is

"Magic Escape Room" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Spooky halloween music by Divider Line (dividerline.bandcamp.com)

Sound effects by the BBC © copyright 2024 BBC (https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07043402)

Editing, musical stings, and other sound effects by Violet Henderson

How do you figure out who’s on first? And how do you balance the excitement of surprise against the satisfaction of a perfectly executed plan?

Violet advocates for inaction. Freya trusts in the heart of the cards. Violet reaches into her bag of tricks. Freya turns into a lighthouse.

Games discussed in this episode:

• D&D
• Tunnels & Trolls
• Traveler
• Phoenix: Dawn Command*
• Deadlands / Savage Worlds
• Troika
• Edge of the Empire / Genesys
• Vaesen / Mutant Year Zero
• Daggerheart**
• Cosmere RPG
• Mothership
• 13th Age (briefly)
• Monsters & Other Childish Things / Reign / One Role System

• Arkham Horror
• Blood Bowl
• Battletech
• Falling
• Space Alert
• Quacks of Quedlinburg
• Cobalt Core
• Tactical Breach Wizards

Notes:

* I don’t know why this is the only game where I also named the author. No disrespect intended towards other designers! - F

** Speaking of which, and to answer a Q from the discussion: the lead designer is Spenser Starke; Mr Mercer is credited as creative advisor.

A disclaimer:

Freya is a volunteer playtester for both the Cosmere RPG and Daggerheart. She is not being paid in any way, and draws examples from their open beta material when relevant because they’re fresh in her mind!

Additional credits:

Our intro music is

"Magic Escape Room" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Editing, musical stings, and other sound effects by Violet Henderson

Welcome to the very first* episode of System Shop, the podcast where we deep dive into RPG design, one subsystem at a time.

Today, we’re talking about inventory systems: what’s the point of tracking all your bits and bobs, and can it actually be fun?

Violet can’t wait to talk about Ryuutama, and wants everyone to know it. Freya can’t stop talking about counting missiles (ancient and modern). Violet gleefully torments her players with maths homework. Freya has no idea how heavy 1lb is**. Blades in the Dark defies the Taxonomicon, for what will surely not be the last time.

Games discussed in this episode:

• Dungeons and Dragons
• World of Darkness
• Apocalypse World / PBTA
• Pathfinder
• Blades in the Dark
• Dogs in the Vineyard
• Knave
• Ryuutama
• Troika
• Mausritter
• Heavy Gear
• Black Hack
• Shadow of Mogg
• They Do Not Stop, You Must Not Fail
• Mistborn (the 2011 TTRPG, not the upcoming one)

• Wingspan
• Battletech (the tabletop wargame, not the excellent strategy videogame)
• Battlestar Galactica (the board game)
• Galaxy Trucker
• Resident Evil
• Diablo
• Megaman: Battle Network 2 (Blue Version)
• Backpack Hero
• Halo: Combat Evolved
• Going Under
• Breath of the Wild
• Gears of War
• Homestuck

Notes:

* Unless we become bold enough at a later date to release our secret Episode Zero!

** The D&D 5e Player’s Handbook says a longsword weighs 3lbs, in defiance of Wikipedia’s estimate of 4-6.6lbs. Either way, I was way out - F.

The “inciting blog post” discussed in this episode can be found at https://harbingergames.blogspot.com/2020/04/if-your-torches-burn-for-only-one-hour.html

Additional credits:

Our intro music is

"Magic Escape Room" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Editing, musical stings, and other sound effects by Violet Henderson