Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff

  Evade lasting shame by joining us for tea and scones in the Gaming Hut, where Patreon backer Tom Abella asks us to riff on the subject of social spirals. Sneak into the Tradecraft Hut for a look back at the career of WWII spy Jeanne Rousseau. Ken has oft-spoken of the dire Bochcoization. Now […]

  We situate the Gaming Hut near a wolf trap as we answer a request from Patreon backer Dicegeeks and find ways to use the Green Children of Woolpit in a game. In the Food Hut backer Bryan Gustafson asks us to talk about snack bar purveyor and philanthropist Daniel Lubetsky. Our Cinema Hut 101s […]

  In the Gaming Hut we examine a classic dichotomy in GMing technique: when do you use the world to nudge the story, and when do you address the players out-of-character? The Tradecraft Hut looks at 2017’s most eliptonic spy story, the apparent sonic attacks in Cuba that have led the US State Department to […]

  Some monsters we want to kill. But others we want to figure out, then kill. The Gaming Hut looks at designing creatures that make for good mysteries. Then at the behest of Patreon backer Fridrik Bjarnason we journey across route revealed by codes and numbers to the Eliptony Hut, where we consider the theory […]

Robin is back from his annual sojourn to the Toronto International Film Festival, so it’s time to open up the Cinema Hut to alert you to the best and nerdiest of the 44 titles he saw there. From zombies to noir, he’s got your watch list for the next 12-18 months. In the Gaming Hut […]

Hold onto your wallet when you enter this Gaming Hut. It’s full of scamsters, as we look at clipjoint towns in F20 games. Patreon backer Elias Helfer digs into the files for a declassified Tradecraft Hut as he asks for the 101 on espionage in WWI. Then Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, as […]

  When Ken and Robin go live, as they do here in this episode recorded in August at Gen Con, the audience, aided by a mythic pack of index cards, tells us what the topics are. And in this case they jointly demanded Crimean War mecha, Bannonesque intrigue, Ken’s beef with the Gnostics, time machine […]

  In That Thing I Always Say, we examine Ken’s maxim that death spirals make for good gaming. With Labor Day in the rear view mirror, the Cinema Hut looks back at blockbuster season for a round up of the summer movies that were. Finally the Consulting Occultist serves up a reply to Patreon backer […]

  A couple of episodes ago we put a pin in the idea of Magic Blackwater and now in the Gaming Hut we unpin it for further consideration. In yet more business arising from the previous minutes, the Mythology Hut looks at the kinship between the vampire and the serial killer. Then Ken and/or Robin […]

  Annual traditions happen only once a year, and since Gen Con has now happened fifty times, we must bring you an extra special convention review Gaming Hut. With a Travel Advisory on something that won’t happen for a long time or possibly ever–Ken’s journey into eclipse totality! Want to pose a question to the […]

  That ambient sound you hear is the muffled bustle of the Embassy Suites in beautiful downtown Indianapolis as we record a face-to-face episode immediately prior to the sweet chaos of Gen Con. We start in a portable version of the Gaming Hut to answer a question from Patreon backer Alexandria Permann, who wants to […]

The Gaming Hut goes inside the design process as Robin discovers he wants to make a humble sub-system a little less humble. The Food Hut goes inside the casing as Ken waxes rhapsodic on the history and virtues of the Chicago hot dog. Ask Ken and Robin goes inside the business as Patreon backer David […]

The Gaming Hut goes inside the design process as Robin discovers he wants to make a humble sub-system a little less humble. The Food Hut goes inside the casing as Ken waxes rhapsodic on the history and virtues of the Chicago hot dog. Ask Ken and Robin goes inside the business as Patreon backer David […]

We clatter our dice and thump our miniatures in the Gaming Hut, considering a Patreon backer Travis Johnson question about what to do when the players break the tone they asked you to instill. With a Kickstarter and then a vacation, Robin hasn’t been paying attention to the news lately. So he meets Ken in […]

The Gaming Hut falls all over itself answering a question from Patreon backer Daniel Krauklis: “What does the choice to have fumbles in your rules that tell us about your game and the moral universe in which the characters operate?” We fortify the Cartography Hut for a workshop on designing strategic locations into your world. […]

Are your modern investigators getting cocky? Join us in the Gaming Hut as we riff a rival team to toss some sand in their gears. The Cartography Hut looks at the process of mapping fictional cities, like those invented by H. P. Lovecraft. In Ask Ken and Robin, John Scheib wants to know about habits […]

As heard on this very podcast, I and Atomic Overmind Press are launching — nay, have already launched — the Kickstarter for my book Tour de Lovecraft: the Destinations, the sequel to my much beloved volume Tour de Lovecraft: the Tales. Drop by the Kickstarter and back us if you care to, and we would […]

As one Kickstarter ends, another begins, specifically on Wednesday, July 26. In Among My Many Hats Ken tells us about his cool new book, Tour de Lovecraft: The Destinations, which is Kickstarting on Wednesday, July 26. The Gaming Hut poses a GMing question: when is it best for us, as Game Masters, not to talk? […]

Who would have believed that when they started a podcast two scrappy writer/game designers could make it all the way to episode 250? You know what that means: time once again for another Lightning Round, in which we fire through as many questions as we can, starting with those posed to us by our indispensible […]

  Run! Hide! The Gaming Hut is coming for you, with a look at chase rules for horror RPGs. Homicide and puppets collide as the Crime Blotter recounts 1929’s Benny Evangelist murders. The recent theft of Dawson City’s Downtown Hotel severed drinking toe prompts a Food Hut consideration of appalling drink rituals. Then we rev up […]

In the Gaming Hut we find ways to design compelling consequences, with a particular nod toward Robin’s recent work on GUMSHOE One-2-One and The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. The Tradecraft Hut provides a briefing requested by Patreon backer Stephen Brandon: given the recent Reality Winner case, what can player characters do to avoid her mistakes […]

Stare! Stare my friends, into the most psychically destablizing hat of all. For this week Among My Many Hats has the Yellow Sign neatly embroidered upon it, and you know what that means: Robin’s new GUMSHOE project for Pelgrane Press, The Yellow King Roleplaying Game, is Kickstarting now. Ken hangs onto his last Composure point […]

We interrupt the tranquility of your regular podcast subscription feed to riff briefly on some long anticipated yet terrifying news. The Yellow King Roleplaying Game, which Robin has been covertly promoting for many months, is now up for your decadent assessment on Kickstarter. We’ll be back in Friday to discuss it in detail, but we […]

Uh-oh, looks like Robin wants to introduce another term of art into the RPG design lexicon. Ken joins him in the Gaming Hut to consider system humility. Transfixed by the hypnotic gaze of Patreon backer Andrea Coletta, we shuffle into the History Hut to reveal all on the Rasputin phenomenon, as most recently echoed by […]

A guy in a hat was going to tell us what was in the Gaming Hut this week, but then one of your PCs just shot him with a crossbow. That leaves us to figure out what to do when the players kill off their information sources. In the Book Hut, Patreon backer Andy Young […]

We knew you were going to join us in the Gaming Hut, where we answer Patreon backer Bret Kramer’s question on running omniscient GMCs as allies or enemies of the player characters. In the Food Hut we look at cocktails, subject of a recently concluded quest by Robin. The Tradecraft Hut goes Gallic with the […]

We know you want to hear about it, so Among Our Many Hats digs into the announcement that a certain Ken Hite will serve as lead designer for the new edition of Vampire: the Masquerade. But that’s not all the hats! Then Robin looks at ways to use the Story Beats web app, which allows […]

The Gaming Hut has a thatched roof this time out as we riff a cast of pseudo-medieval villagers for your next F20. In The Business of Gaming we puzzle the mystery of the generic supplement. In the Food Hut we look at foodstuffs as treasure. Finally we pry open the bars of the Eliptony Hut […]

In the Gaming Hut we look at premise rejection from a player perspective. How do you catch yourself doing it, and how do you find your way through it? We crawl over to the Cinema Hut to discuss the motifs of the war movie and how they’re adjusting to contemporary conflicts. In Ken and/or Robin […]

Our second consecutive all-request episode kicks off in the Gaming Hut, as Ray Slakinksi asks for tips on running Night’s Black Agents at conventions. In the History Hut Andy Young wants to know about the Mythos truth behind the death of legendary Canadian painter Tom Thomson. Rick Neal uses the kind offices of Ask Ken […]

Another all-request episode kicks off in the Gaming Hut, as Stewart Robertson asks how to make a BSM (Big Science McGuffin) integral to a game series. The History Hut, takes on a yurt-like configuration as Morgan Ellis demands the scoop on the Mad Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. Joshua Hillerup convenes an installment of Ask Ken […]

The Gaming Hut gets foundational as we discuss the meaning and implications of Gygaxian naturalism. Patreon backer Derrick McMullin meets us in the History Hut to ask for the hidden truth behind the Utah War. In Ask Ken and Robin, backer Steve K invites us to opine on what might have been lost in a […]

Get outside your own perspective and inside the Gaming Hut as Ken and Robin envision a gun that triggers out of body experiences. With espionage everywhere in the news, it’s time for that Tradecraft Hut primer on contemporary Russian intelligence. In How to Write Good we look enthusiastically at reluctant heroes. Then thanks to a […]

Get ready to argue logistics as the Gaming Hut considers player planning. When is it prelude to play, and when is it play? The Crime Blotter opens one of the most famous cold cases of all: the Black Dahlia murder. Ask Ken and Robin features a query from Patreon backer Padriag Griffin about the plausibility […]

In the Gaming Hut Patreon backer Joan Guardiet asks us to make a game set in a warrior woman society work for a party of male PCs. Speaking of requests, in Ask Ken and Robin backer Kalin Kadiev seeks tips on researching Bulgarian occultism. Tell Me More teams up with the Cartography Hut for a […]

We creep into the Gaming Hut at the command of Patreon backer Alexander Permann, who assigns us the mission of envisioning a Night’s Black Agents spinoff featuring the Kingdom of Asturias. In a joint session of the Horror Hut and our Tell Me More feature, we look at that crowdsourced urban legend, Slenderman. Robin vents […]

The Gaming Hut goes abstract as we discuss metagaming. At the behest of Patreon backer Vana Stillwater, the Food Hut hosts a look at culinary crimes and scams. Then we paw through the contents of Ken’s Bookshelf, as acquired during his annual raid on the Bay Area. Support the KARTAS Patreon! Snag Ken and Robin […]

The Gaming Hut may seem friendly and bucolic, but this time it’s full of danger, as we riff a cast of conspiratorial small town NPCs. Take your seat and suppress your coughing as the Culture Hut gets classical. Patreon backer Noel Warford asks us for the scoop on such theosophically influenced composers as Henry Cowell, […]

The Hoary Hosts of Patreon backer Elias Helfer command the opening of the Gaming Hut! Therein we shall describe ways to portray weird and magnficent landscapes like those seen in the Doctor Strange movie in roleplaying sessions! Backer Alex Johnston penetrates the vaunted infosec of the Tradecraft Hut to demand our dossier on Nikolai Vavilov […]

Know us by our funny voices and exaggerated mannerisms as we meet in the Gaming Hut to discuss what makes a Game Master character easy to play. Grab a mojito and light a fine cigar as Ken supplies a Travel Advisory on his recent jaunt to Cuba. It’s Oscar time, and you know what that […]

The Gaming Hut stands at the service of Patreon backer Vince Arebalo’s son Dax, who asks for tips on getting comfortable around unfamiliar fellow players. The CIA has finally put its trove of declassified historical documents in a readily accessible online database. In the Tradecraft Hut we find out what Ken searched for first. Backer […]

In the Gaming Hut we ask ourselves how far rules and GM influence should go to prevent the players from idiot plotting their own characters. Speaking of gaming the system, esteemed Patreon backer Jeremy Forbing acts as a stalking horse for a certain shadowy figure to convene the Politics Hut. With a mysterious knowledge of […]

Another all-request episode starts in the Gaming Hut, where Patreon backer Gerald Sear wants us to consider the Mythos implications of the Disney corporation. Then assemble your miniature greenhouses and sail over to the History Hut, where we make up interesting facts about botanist and tea smuggler Robert Fortune at the behest of backer Steve […]

A surrealist sandbox and a structured mystery make a date in the Gaming Hut, as Josh Rose asks how to run Dreamhounds of Paris as a GUMSHOE One-2-One setting. Given that the world has turned into a spy novel, and not a particularly believable one at that, maybe it’s time to duck into the Tradecraft […]

Patreon backer Zachary Joyner poses some Gaming Hut questions about improvising a GUMSHOE game. How quickly do you give out clues? How do you maintain pace without leading the players? Though our latest trip to London has faded into the mist of nostalgia, we would be remiss not to paw through the books Ken raided […]

Gather in the Gaming Hut as we ask ourselves when one should take historical license when running or designing a game set in the real past. Spoiler: we also answer ourselves. In the Book Hut, Patreon backers Scott Haring and Kalin team up to demand a rundown on the works of Tim Powers. Sorting one’s […]

The contents of this podcast become too horrible to correlate as we slip into the Gaming Hut to answer a question from Patreon backer Laurel Halbany about handling secret mythos knowledge in an age of ever-present information. In Ask Ken and Robin, backer Jeff Kahrs ask us to expound on the contradictions of opting out […]

Finally, after ceding all recent chapeaus to Ken, Robin seizes control of Among My Many Hats to talk about Cthulhu Confidential and the design of the GUMSHOE One-2-One system. Because it’s finally up for pre-order over at the Pelgrane store. While we’re mulling Cthulhu Confidential, Ken and/or Robin Talks To Someone Else has a word […]

If it’s December, Ken and Robin must be coming to you live from Dragonmeet, the little London convention that isn’t so little any more. Join us as Ken emerges triumphant from a draw of the nerdtrope deck that definitely, definitely happened exactly just as Robin describes it. Plus red herrings, steak, and more stupid gnomes. […]

In the Gaming Hut, urged on by Patreon backer Fred Kiesche, Ken takes us under the hood of his Rex of the Old 97 campaign. What does he do behind that Peter Frampton GM screen, and how does he do it? But stranger requests await us still! Patreon backer Jeromy French convenes a meeting in […]