Tag: The Empire Strikes Back (movie)

Episode 227: How To Play Star Wars

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If you played Star Wars as a kid on the playground or with the almost endless number of Kenner toys, you probably wanted to try it on the tabletop as a role-playing game. What is the best way to do it? What system would you use? Of the licensed game out there from West End Games or Fantasy Flight Games and also the fan homebrews, which system would you choose? Are there better systems that have never been adapted? We try to cover the topic including what makes a game feel like Star Wars and how you explore the universe without the rules getting in the way. This discussion could equally apply to all games based on popular intellectual properties and how to make a successful translation to the tabletop. Session zero and understanding player expectations as well as what are the limitations of the setting are also covered.

So sharpen those lightsabers and swaddle those HVTs as we dive deep into playing Star Wars as a roleplaying game from three different perspectives.
#starwars #westendgames #pbta #fantasyflightgames

 

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Episode 119: Endings

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“You know, the only thing that matters is the ending. It’s the most important part of the story.”
—Mort, Secret Window

So, why leave it up to your players? Kidding.

In this Waynelss episode, Chris and Lyal discuss the different types of endings you can have in your game. This episode seems better than usual for some reason. We can’t figure it out, though.

Episode 41: Cartoons

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Idle Red H.A.N.D.S. (Hero Action and Network Defense Squad) is the code name for Japan’s daring, highly trained special mission force. Its purpose: to defend gamer freedom against the Active Blue T.O.E.s (Terrorist Organization of Evil), a ruthless terrorist organization of, uh, evil determined to rule the Internet.

In this episode, the Idle Red H.A.N.D.S. discuss the cartoons they watched as kids and which elements they could use in their games. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Correction: The name of the Visionary Darkling Lord discussed is Cravex, not Craven. Who knew that a cartoon could be so subtle?

Episode 35: Secrets and Lies

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In this episode, we talk about how to best use lying and secrecy in your games.

The secrets of this episode:

  • Wayne’s d100 joke was originally Lyal’s. It was also originally funny.
  • Wayne has never seen Goodfellas, and Lyal has never seen Family Guy. This actually won’t seem like much of a secret after you listen to the episode.
  • Chris initially had a joke where he said the episode was about fantasy. Get it? It was a lie. It’s no secret why this “joke” never made it in.

Episode 33: Addicted to Hands

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Get your Idle Red Hands fix here. The first taste is free and so is the second taste. Hold on, all tastes are free. We would make really bad drug dealers.

In this episode, we look at addiction. Since we live in a country with extremely harsh drug laws (and darn glad of it, officer), we don’t have a lot of advice for the method role players out there. Instead, we discuss different types of addiction and how to include them in your game.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:44 — 61.1MB) | Embed

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Episode 14: Mashups: The Twist

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Another Idle Red Hands first (for us, at least)! We debut Mashups, where we blend different elements to make new(ish) game settings. In this episode, we add twists to fictional and historical settings.

It’s an extra long episode (or as the Japanese say, plus alpha) because we had so much fun doing the first two mashups, we decided to do a third one. How much fun they are to listen to is up to you. The consensus is that the first one is the weakest link (or as the Japanese say, the red-headed stepchild).

Corrections:

The Hyborian Age is set after Atlantis sank, not before. Kull is part of the Thurian Age, not the Hyborian Age, and is actually from Atlantis. Both were created by Robert E. Howard. Lyal has since turned in his Conan Fan Club card.

Kirk Douglas was a contemporary of Burt Lancaster, not Kurt Russell. Yes, Lyal again. He refuses to turn in his Kurt Russell Fan Club card, however.

Jason Straham was in Crank, not Crash. Chris was going to turn in his Jason Straham Fan Club card until he was reminded that it was the only one in existence.