Show overview
Fear the Boot has been publishing since 2015, and across the 9 years since has built a catalogue of 311 episodes. That works out to roughly 250 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 42 min and 56 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Leisure show.
The catalogue appears to be on hiatus or wound down — the most recent episode landed 1.4 years ago, with no new episodes in over a year. The busiest year was 2017, with 52 episodes published.
From the publisher
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.
Latest Episodes
View all 311 episodes
Bonus Episode 104 - WPC 1: random traits
* (0:24) A joke to an AI becomes a show topic. * (2:48) Characters born in a cursed forest, without sunlight. * (7:48) Characters who compulsively collect…feathers…? * (13:18) Characters who accidentally caused a rebellion. * (19:29) Characters with an unusual knowledge of fungi. * (25:03) Characters who cannot stand the sight of open water. Hosts: Dan, Julia, Mary, Wayne
Episode 628 - player bucket list
* (0:29) Switching to a bucket list of what we want to play. * (1:30) Wayne wants to play Dresden Files. * (4:13) Dan still wants to play an Injustice game. * (6:11) Mary wants to play a necromancer. * (9:05) Doug wants to play Stargate (or something like it). * (10:18) Wayne wants a settlement building game. Rebuild 3 demands  compliance! * (14:38) Dan wants to play ourselves. . * (18:08) Mary wants to play multiple characters. * (22:25) Doug wants to play Greek mythology. * (26:00) Wayne wants to play a  game with plenty of alternate history. * (28:50) Dan wants to play Battletech (plus Mechwarrior). * (30:17) Mary wants to play a group of paladins (with strong nods to David Eddings’ ). * (35:37) Doug wants to play assistants to Cold War spies. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Episode 627 – GM bucket list
* (0:29) The bucket list of games we want to run. * (1:31) Doug’s long-term campaign. * (3:10) Wayne’s : St. Louis game. * (7:03) Dan’s Battletech: Silver Scorpions game. A . * (9:37) Mary’s Castle Ravenloft / Curse of Strahd game. * (12:41) Doug’s western game. * (14:58) Wayne’s campaign based on .  and . * (18:57) Dan’s Hunter game. , watchable on Netflix. . * (22:39) Mary’s Mummy game. . * (25:40) Doug’s  campaign. * (26:51) Whatever Wayne backed last on Kickstarter. Right now, that’s . * (29:47) Dan’s Battletech: Solaris VII game. * (33:36) Mary’s Oregon Trail (with dragons). Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Episode 626 - video games to tabletop
* (0:30) An old Apple //c computer and early computer RPGs. * (4:16) Transitioning from video games into tabletop RPGs. * (9:44) The expectations players bring from a video game to pen-and-paper games. * (12:41) The tyranny of choice brought on by a lack of a character-driven path. * (18:05) A lack of clear and connected outcomes. * (19:50) Mixing new and veteran players. * (26:13) Expanding intra-party roleplaying. * (28:39) Asking why someone wanted to make the jump. * (35:06) Trying to translate one medium into another. Hosts: Caleb, Dan, Doug, Mary
Episode 625 - profiting from session one
* (0:29) What is your goal for the first session of a game? * (2:10) Who are these characters really? * (6:08) When who you wanted to be isn’t who you became. * (11:34) A buffet of NPCs. * (16:14) Keeping the first session low pressure and shorter length. * (20:33) The social leader of the group. * (25:30) The flexibility in session one. Using the first game as a test of session zero. * (33:43) Testing the waters as the Game Master. * (37:09) Using rules and rolls a bit more than you otherwise would. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Bonus Episode 103 – WGM 3: clockwork crystals
* (0:23) Prompts and prepositions. The clockwork circus is coming to town! * (1:40) Wayne’s circus in space. * (4:13) Mary’s circus on the frontier. * (7:53) Doug’s carnival of nightmares. * (8:41) Dan’s carnival of hope. * (13:10) Celestial crystals that grant power. * (14:05) Mary’s crystal preppers. * (16:08) Dan’s crystal entanglement. * (19:45) Wayne’s crystal invasion. * (24:57) Doug’s crystal gift. * (27:05) A whole lot of tests, quandaries, and Faustian deals. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Episode 624 - back to what you enjoy
* (0:29) Fear the Con has funded and ! We hope to see you Thursday, June 20th to Saturday, June 22nd. * (1:58) Getting back to what you love, inspired by Ray Bradbury’s . * (5:16) The tyranny of compromise. * (9:54) Wanting the GM to build the world instead of “yes-and” player input. * (15:43) Why Wayne discarded some ideas he was excited about. * (19:06) The passion for sharing stories. * (22:06) Watching players engage with obstacles and NPCs. * (26:06) Hopeful or despondent? Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Episode 623 - too big to fail
* (0:29) Wayne has a problem: the Wardens from Dresden Files. Coming up with too many excuses for why powerful organizations don’t care about the characters’ problems. * (7:14) Session Zero can help…or maybe not. * (10:29) There’s always someone bigger, and maybe your allies lack what you need. * (14:42) What if the characters are the backup? Or maybe they’re starting to get a reputation. * (17:41) Not letting it become a chip on the GM’s shoulder. Players that hamstring themselves. * (23:45) The assistance not being what the players expected. * (27:54) Falling back to the mature answer. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Episode 622 – bringing your PC to life
* (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. * (10:54) Demonstrating character quirks. * (16:34) Making characters that both have and express personal growth. * (18:57) Taking a hobby, off-topic skill, or development path. Keeping your character in continuity. * (23:11) Practicing a character. * (29:43) Developing your idea in other creative media, but consider leaving a gap before the game begins. * (35:35) The last few days of the ! Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Bonus Episode 102 – WGM 2: dead consuming the living
Today’s ingredient: The dead are consuming the living. Why and how? Let’s find out! Fear the Con 2024’s Kickstarter . Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Episode 621 – juice is worth the squeeze
* (0:29) In defense of technology at the gaming table. Caleb’s setup with . * (5:13) Dan’s Lion King sing-a-long and Wayne’s Ghostbusters game. * (6:27) The deeper pool of online players, including AIs. Remoting in a missing player for an in-person game. * (14:04) Working distance and distraction into the game. * (17:54) Digital storage and organization. The wonder of CTRL-F. * (25:21) Minimalization of the gaming experience. * (30:01) Dodging some issues by allowing only one person to have technology. The visual obstruction created by laptops and such. * (41:01) Getting digital audio to work for you. * (45:00) Balancing it all out. Advantages, disadvantages, familiarity, and the passage of time. Hosts: Caleb, Dan, Mary, Wayne
Bonus Episode 101 - WGM 1: dead air
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 2024 Kickstarter is ! Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Episode 620 – juice ain’t worth the squeeze
* (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 it does in other forms of storytelling. * (13:36) The prep time technology adds, and the stability it takes away. * (15:59) The time spent digging up the right asset on-the-spot. * (20:52) The physical space taken up by technology. Playing “follow the leader” at a subconscious level. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Epoch of Rysos, Episode 8
Digging through the lives of a family trapped in a gilded cage.
Episode 619 - a closed setting
* (0:29) Why talk about intelligence?  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 bottomless “buffet of ideas” in a closed setting. * (14:24) Use minimal starting information to give you room to work. * (18:12) How to run a school (everyone go play Persona 5). * (24:48) Create a wide variety of NPCs and give them their own lives. * (30:38) Keeping the party together, even if it doesn’t quite make sense. * (31:57) PC-specific NPCs, so you know the players are bought it. Hosts: Dan, Mary, Wayne
Bonus Episode 100 – becoming the curmudgeon
* (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 a solution. * (24:32) Ducking new games while at a convention. Playing  on an airplane. * (32:57) The role of pragmatism. Why expand your horizons when no one lets you go there, anyway? * (38:43) There’s always going to be something wrong. * (41:09) A lesson learned from . Hosts: Dan, Doug, Wayne
Episode 617 - the value of questionable
* (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. . * (15:28) The worst possible outcome: something being forgettable. * (22:20) Asking Doug to grade his own game. * (25:35) The value of creating art, simply for the act of creation. * (37:04) A few  in someone’s eyes. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Mary, Wayne
Episode 616 - affiliated or not
* (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 party’s direction and motivation. Affiliating with an ideal. * (20:23) Affiliations create an obvious pool of NPC relationships. * (25:40) External versus internal affiliations, and how they’re not mutually exclusive. * (32:06) Taking extreme positions just to highlight the topic. Hosts: Dan, Doug, Julia, Wayne
Episode 615 - inspecting InSpectres
* (0:28) An update on the . * (4:48) The  (at least temporarily back in print!) and our . * (8:09) Why play InSpectres as an interlude to the main campaign? Apparently only Dan has heard of . * (12:58) Plus an extra player. * (16:10) The, “yes and,” style of gaming. * (21:31) Assisting new players when they’re stuck. * (26:24) Seeing roleplaying games as a starting point, not a finished product. * (33:43) It’s not just a game; it’s on the mics. * (39:19) No takebacks! Hosts: Dan, Mary, Wayne
Episode 614 - session X.5
* (0:28) Things are getting set for ! An intro to RPGs game is . * (2:03) A shared Minecraft server. You can find more information . * (5:52) Realigning your game with a mid-campaign session zero. Special thanks to . * (8:46) Making the case to have one. * (12:59) Remembering the times we did this during the Skies of Glass campaign. * (16:38) Reusing or reviewing the exact same work you did in session zero. * (23:15) Being too specific or too general. Hosts: Dan, Mary, Wayne