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PODCAST

Fear the Boot

Fear the Boot is an irreverent, round table discussion of tabletop role playing games. In this weekly show we debate game-related issues, offer advice for improving your game, and poke fun at the hobby. Our cast changes a little from show to show, but we always assemble a group of dynamic individuals with divergent views, guaranteeing you will hear several perspectives on everything we discuss.

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All Episodes

01:01:24

Episode 580 - compelling depth

Fear the Boot ·

2021/10/16

* (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 violent responses, don’t rely on purely violent hooks. * (15:43) An example about a Firbolg. Our two episodes on West Marches games can be found here and here. * (23:52) Finding out you were the villain’s stooge. * (32:33) Why overdoing any motivation can end in meta-game problems. * (41:19) Looking at the facts you

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01:05:26

Episode 579 - playtesting a game

Fear the Boot ·

2021/10/07

* (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 playtesting a roleplaying game. Gage’s playtest survey. * (14:43) Why you may not know what you need to ask. * (18:35) Taking feedback seriously, while remembering no one’s opinion is “right”. * (25:58) Testing obscure facets of a game. * (31:58) Playtesting the fluff (i.e. setting, introductory text,

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50:36

Episode 578 - action economy

Fear the Boot ·

2021/09/24

* (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 enemy. * (17:48) Using objectives instead of enemies. * (27:37) The erosion of the Game Master’s enjoyment. The idea of “action equity”. * (37:58) The value of a cooperative table, where the GM and players aren’t trying to one-up each other. * (46:22) Setting the tone for your table. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan,

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52:09

Episode 577 - evolve instead of excise

Fear the Boot ·

2021/08/20

* (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 of it. * (24:54) Why not just play another character or revise the existing character traits? * (32:55) “That’s not what my character would do!” * (37:28) Adding onto what exists. * (48:27) An issue of sympathy. * (50:51) Chris Hussey’s AP for Pinnacle can be found here: part 1 and part 2. Hosts: Chad, Dan,

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59:53

Episode 576 - cliffhangers and missing players

Fear the Boot ·

2021/08/10

* (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. * (11:58) Subtly reframing the scene to obscure the unknowns. * (16:31) Get a few what-if tips from the missing player to help you guide the scene. * (20:33) Being flexible, not just in executing the situation, but also in adjusting the outcome. * (22:44) Using pacing to avoid the issue completely. * (40:54)

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49:39

Episode 575 - tension and violence, part 2

Fear the Boot ·

2021/07/16

* (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 Block show. * (9:43) Playing the enemies sub-optimally, or managing combat according to your strengths as a GM. * (21:18) The “soft” rules that different RPGs offer for resolving combat. * (33:47) The freedom that comes from what’s never seen behind the GM screen. * (38:54) GMing under the sword of Damocles. *

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40:00

Episode 574 - tension and violence, part 1

Fear the Boot ·

2021/07/09

* (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 games. How initiative balances the spotlight. * (7:05) Why fight at all? * (11:31) Intermixing roleplaying and combat. * (16:09) Rolling back to spotlight management. * (23:10) Creating tension in combat through narrative or numbers. * (32:15) When the game doesn’t allowing for fudging. Hosts: Brodeur, Chad, Dan,

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59:15

Episode 573 - meeting people halfway

Fear the Boot ·

2021/06/28

* (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 motive to understand a behavior. * (18:50) Someone else’s struggles don’t invalidate your boundaries. * (26:33) Getting perspective, possibly with the help of a third party. Fault vs responsibility. * (35:49) Sometimes something has to be broken to create a new opportunity. * (41:05) The power in just talking to

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50:01

Episode 572 - reentry to in-person games

Fear the Boot ·

2021/06/18

* (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 just struggling with old habits dying hard. * (6:42) Neglected gaming spaces and snack stashes. * (13:01) Change up your gaming traditions. * (14:54) Have minimal expectations for your first gathering. * (19:20) People may have fundamentally changed. * (25:43) Put together all of the gaming supplies that weren’t

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01:05:39

Episode 571 - remote gaming post-mortem

Fear the Boot ·

2021/06/14

* (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 look back at over a year of online gaming. * (5:43) It’s better than not gaming at all, and there’s no commute. * (8:38) The self-consciousness that comes from being on camera. * (16:19) No one has to host the game. * (22:41) You’re not away from your nest. * (26:26) Electronic resources are accessible from the

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52:08

Episode 570 - validating questionable ideas

Fear the Boot ·

2021/05/21

* (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) Asking players why they think their ideas would work. * (27:25) Picking the hills that are worth dying on. * (36:36) Not punishing someone’s moment of bravery. * (41:39) Why is this on the Game Master? * (46:08) The inherent risk of shooting someone down. Separating success from validation. Hosts: Brodeur,

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56:24

Episode 569 - managing a dark tone

Fear the Boot ·

2021/05/18

* (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 entertainment needs the same tone to succeed. * (30:47) An engaging story, that’s true to your creative vision, is worth more than cheap thrills. * (35:09) Stories don’t have to have a single tone. * (41:12) Not wanting to be pigeon-holed as someone that has no range. * (47:28) The value of narrow questions and

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01:01:24

Bonus Episode 92 - the stories behind the fiction

Fear the Boot ·

2021/05/07

* (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 recommended episodes for BattleTech veterans and the one for non-players). * (6:21) BattleTech in the 80s, including the greatest piece of art it inspired. * (11:05) Virtual World and early VR gaming. * (21:45) If Virtual World drove the nature of Clan ‘Mechs, then what real-world events drove BattleTech’s

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47:22

Episode 568 - GM negotiation, part 2

Fear the Boot ·

2021/04/30

* (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 diverge from what our game can reasonably handle. * (15:42) Balancing resources a player wants for their character. * (27:36) Not doing the work, but wanting the reward. * (38:38) The freedom that comes when trappings matter more than rules. * (40:15) Being fixated on a particular way of accomplishing a goal. *

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39:44

Episode 567 - GM negotiation, part 1

Fear the Boot ·

2021/04/28

* (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 fiction fragments. * (21:16) Player negotiation with the Game Master. Seven questions to help develop characters. * (29:17) When players want something without understanding its context in the world. * (32:37) An example from our Blades in the Dark actual play. * (36:25) A big thanks to the people giving us feedback

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01:03:07

Episode 566 - on different rails

Fear the Boot ·

2021/04/16

* (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 might have been the wrong solution for Brodeur and/or a misunderstanding of Actor. * (23:42) Understanding where Actor is coming from. Why was Brodeur the only one addressing this? The much-referenced interview with Chad on Brodeur’s podcast. * (27:26) The balance of power around the table. * (36:48) How would

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01:02:24

Bonus Episode 91 - the things we tolerate

Fear the Boot ·

2021/04/07

* (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 play). * (8:41) Friendships aren’t transitive. Also, perhaps we put up with the bad because it’s less than the good the same person brings. * (10:37) Opinions are identity. * (11:37) Hating confrontation while thriving on the drama. * (18:36) People are a bank. * (24:41) Social vampires that draw something

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01:40

Fear the Con 2021 update

Fear the Boot ·

2021/03/23

An update on how COVID is impacting Fear the Con 2021.

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48:45

Episode 565 - translating characters

Fear the Boot ·

2021/03/23

* (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 Necessary Evil. * (12:44) The implicit model of every RPG system. * (17:17) Rebuilding the character instead of trying to directly translate it. * (21:40) Transliteration versus paraphrasing. * (31:06) Or just make a new character! * (39:02) The possible fragmentation of Pathfinder. * (45:04) Why We Game podcast

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59:59

Episode 564 - Wayne recovers a game

Fear the Boot ·

2021/02/24

* (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 for minority and marginalized people. You can contact her to learn more on her TikTok account, email (Laura@FearTheBoot.com), or by PMing her on our forums. * (11:40) Wayne is also starting up a game, unrelated to Laura’s. You can contact him via email (Wayne@FearTheBoot.com) for more information. * (13:27)

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