Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff

  The Gaming Hut lies at the end of a ten foot corridor this week as Patreon backer Elias Helfer asks us, as paragons of story-driven RPGs, to explain why we think dungeons are awesome. In Fun With Science we extrapolate a future with affordable carbon reclamation. With the Over the Edge Kickstarter now in […]

  It’s been 300 installments, just a smidge shy of six years, and longtime listeners and backers know what that means. Time for another episode-length Lightning Round, as we provide uncharacteristically snappy As to Qs about games, beverages, monsters, bees and the ever-proverbial so much more. Want to pose a question to the show? Get […]

  The Gaming Hut has a bunch of vampires in the shop for adjustments as we look at the process of adapting creatures between systems. In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, Ken talks to Rich Ranallo about the new edition of Velvet Generation, now on Kickstarter. Listen close and you’ll hear Ken’s lightning […]

Having both recently moved big projects off our plates and into post-production, we convene in the Gaming Hut to look at lessons and surprises from our design work on Vampire: the Masquerade 5th Edition and The Yellow King Roleplaying Game. In the Horror Hut, we respond to the wish of Patreon backer Stephen Perpitch-Harvey to […]

Do gamers like choice more than ordinary humans? We raised the question several episodes back, and now it’s all grown up into its very own Gaming Hut segment. In the Tradecraft Hut we look at the espionage allegations leveled against the Chinese telecom giant ZTE. Then the time comes for a brand new segment, the […]

  Not by chance do we start in the Gaming Hut, for a look at the role of coincidence in various mystery genres. Then at the behest of Patreon backer Stewart Robertson we duck into the secret recesses of the Mythology Hut for a 101 on Gnosticism. In Ask Ken and Robin, backer Aaron Galen […]

  Another all-request episode begins in the Gaming Hut, where Patreon backer David Shaw wants us to turn supermarket tokens into an eldritch menace. In the Architecture Hut Ken fills us in on the Chicago Spire Pit, at the behest of backer Neal Kaplan. Backer Steve Sick joins us in the plush seating of the […]

  Patreon backer Andy Olson invites us to plan a fantasy heist in the Gaming Hut. In the Tradecraft Hut backer Andrew Miller debriefs us on the Fat Leonard case. How to Write Good looks at invented slang, with examples from Robin’s upcoming King in Yellow novel, The Missing and the Lost. Then we check […]

  Stop plinking those kobolds and pop into the Gaming Hut as we ask if today’s median gamer is less motivated than before by the prospect of in-game reward. In Ask Ken and Robin, Patreon backer Neal Dalton asks Ken how he chooses game systems and pitches them to his players. We enter the Cartography […]

  The Gaming Hut takes place inside the Tradecraft Hut, or is it the other way around, as we, with the assistance of a FOIA request, investigate CIA-designed board games. How to Write Good looks at the particular challenges of creating game fiction. In the Food Hut we open a few bottles alongside Patreon backer […]

  In the Gaming Hut, Patreon backer SR points us to an archived trove of CounterSpy magazine and asks how to make use of it in Fall of DELTA GREEN. We wouldn’t lead you on in an elaborate scheme of deception, and so have returned for the second part of a Cinema Hut question from […]

  In the Gaming Hut we cover ways to design monsters to star in investigative scenarios. We tromp into the Command Hut at the behest of Patreon backer Thomas Vallejos, who wants to know the deep secrets behind a proposal to revive the US Army’s iconic WWII-era uniform style. In Ask Ken and Robin, backer […]

  Picking up a thread left hanging a few episodes back, the Gaming Hut looks at ways to make a mundane solution to an apparently occult mystery work satisfyingly for your players. The Tradecraft Hut peers behind the headlines of the Skripal poisoning case. In the Cinema Hut Patreon backer Chris Camfield asks for the […]

Another all-request episode begins in the Gaming Hut, as Patreon backer Ruth Tillman asks us how we might game Annihilation in both its film and novel iterations. We head into the Book Hut at the behest of backer Sean Gomez, who wants to know more about Ken’s recent William Haggard fixation and spy thriller inspiration […]

Robin tries out a new maxim in That Thing I Always Say: in a game RPG session, the only way to go off track is a dead end. In The Culture of Gaming, we look at gatekeeping, which rears its head once more with the rise of streamed play. Finally, in Ken’s Bookshelf, our resident […]

  Keep a close eye on your open beverage as the Gaming Hut spins a Fall of DELTA GREEN arc from that most notorious of covert programs, MKULTRA. The Food Hut goes sequel for Instant Pot II: The Instant Pottening. Look over your shoulder for copycats as the Horror Hut investigates doppelgangers and body snatchers. […]

You have nothing to lose but your chains, and also your handcuffs, and possibly also your orange prison scrubs, as the Gaming Hut shows you what to do the next time your PC gets captured. The Tradecraft Hut probes off-books financial arrangements in covert operations, as inspired by a request from Patreon backer Chris Sellers. […]

Ken dons raffish 60s-vintage headgear to give The Fall of DELTA GREEN, now available for preorder, the Among My Many Hats treatment. Robin reviews ways to shape a dramatic scene in How to Write Good. We look at the science of choice and its implications for tabletop design in the Gaming Hut. Referenced in this […]

  We gather suspiciously in the Gaming Hut to ask if and how GMs can assist players in horror games who want their characters to exercise a Scully-like skepticism. We break into the History Hut at the behest of Patreon backer Andy Young, who seeks the scoop on fresh-faced 19th century burglar Edward Jones. In […]

In the Gaming Hut we put up our dukes and look at ways to frame fights that advance the story. Oscar time is upon us, so as is our annual wont we pop into the Cinema Hut for a look back at our favorite films of 2017. Recovering from the red carpet, we visit the […]

We swear we didn’t plan this, but Patreon backer Chris Sellers showed up unexpectedly in the Gaming Hut to ask about improvising GUMSHOE scenarios. The location of the Tradecraft Hut has been dangerously exposed, and only our look at fitness apps as a threat to operational security will save us. In an equally sudden turn, […]

  February loses its rep as the cruelest month when we confront it with an all-hut, all-request episode, in tribute to our fabulous Patreon backers. In the Gaming Hut, Tom Bagatelle seeks guidance on a sandbox time travel campaign. Peter Williamson adds reclining couches to the Food Hut as we consider the Roman cookbook attributed […]

  Brace yourself for musical metaphors as we head into the Gaming Hut and find that Patreon backer Brian Thomas has left us the logical analogy Orchestra: jazz combo :: play’s ensemble cast : role playing gaming group. In Ken and/or Robin Talk To Someone Else, Ken and Robin talk to Delta Green writer and […]

  In Among My Many Hats Robin talks about Beating the Story, which gears the story beat system you may know from Hamlet’s Hit Points to fiction writing in all of its forms. Pre-order the print book now and get it in electronic form immediately! As the world continues to turn into one big Conspiracy […]

Ladies and tigers abound as the Gaming Hut looks at story choices and how players respond to them. Then Patreon backer Scott Wachter dusts off the Archaeology Hut to ask why King Tut armed himself with a meteor dagger. Move over, Project Blue Book. There’s a new defunct US government effort to investigate UFOs in […]

  Yeah verily and anon, the Gaming Hut goes iambic pentameter as Patreon backer Chris Camfield asks us how to add Shakespearean flavor to a roleplaying campaign. Then your sweet and savory hosts venture into the Food Hut to reveal unbeatable flavor combinations. Sandhogs and aqueducts turn from research into terror as Ken and Robin […]

  In the Gaming Hut we mull the process of scenario writing, specifically the differences between writing first, or playing first. Backer Fred Kiesche takes advantage of his Patreon priveleges in Ask Ken and Robin, seeking deeper info on Ken’s current 13th Age campaign, Poikila Hellenistika. We take our seats in the Cinema Hut to […]

  It’s 2018 and we’re back, starting as usual in the Gaming Hut. Within its cozy confines we answer a question from a mystery backer on achieving genuine emotional investment in roleplaying. The History Hut unfolds its secret plans at the behest of Patreon backer Antti Elomaa, who wants to know why military operations have […]

  Our final episode of 2017 arrives with bells a-jangling in the form of our traditional live show from Dragonmeet. Learn about Stalin and Atlantis, what elements of our work we think other designers have picked up on, which beverages go with which iterations of a beloved nerd franchise, why Nazis are stupid, and much […]

Our throats showing the wear of travel to that most lurghy-inducing of wonderlands, we issue a Travel Advisory on Dragonmeet and the Modigliani show at the Tate Modern in London. In the Gaming Hut we compare and contrast two ways of structuring mystery scenarios: Robin’s Maze of Clues and Ken’s Ocean of Clues. Longtime listeners […]

  Hey, it’s an all-request episode! Patreon backer Joshua Trowbridge entreats us in the Gaming Hut to return to a perennial puzzler: how to convince change-averse players to try the awesome new thing you want to run for them. Patreon backer Josh Mannon summons us to the Cartography Hut, to explain that hole where the […]

  Patreon backer Doc Cross pulls his satin bell-cord to summon us to the Gaming Hut to mull the droll possibilities of P. G. Wodehouse gaming. In the Tradecraft Hut we journey to the shadowy isle of Malta. The Food Hut documents Robin’s conversion to the cult of Instant Pot. And finally the Consulting Occultist […]

  We’ve installed additional measures in the Gaming Hut to discuss security camera surveillance and how to stop it from wrecking your mystery plots. Jump scares await in the Horror Hut as we look at the bogeyman and his pals, the evil spirits. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, we chat with marketing […]

  Make sure your copy of this podcast has been properly authenticated, preferably by a person in a pointy hat, as the Gaming Hut looks at forgery in worlds with truth magic. Get your drama on in How to Write Good as we make sure that your scenes of interaction further the plot, instead of […]

  Gather in the Gaming Hut but keep an eye on who might be creeping up on you with a knife or candlestick as we riff a cast of murder suspects. Ken then meets you in the Cinema Hut to report on what he saw at this year’s Chicago Film Festival. In Ask Ken and […]

  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. […]