Episode 64: GMless Games
Hosts: JOHNKELLY, Rob, Majdi, Scott, Todd, Timo, Megan

Hello darkness my old friend. . .
Megan laughing
Todd’s freaking chart!
Examples: Fiasco, Shock, Polaris, Grey Ranks, Hell for Leather, The Shab-Al-Hiri Roach

Rants
Scott: Stories from the L: Check your fly
Majdi: Geese and Sparrows
Rob: The Warriors
JOHNKELLY: Jared Cole, this is for you
Megan: JOHNKELLY is dumb
Timo: GMs don’t hold a story together
Todd: Swear in front of your kids

Wait for it…

You have been listening to The Jank Cast, copyright 2010 under the creative commons license. You can find out more about us at jankcast.com. All the music in the show is from the song, “Jank is a Dork Word” written and recorded by Todd and is used with his permission. You can send comments and feedback to feedback@jankcast.com Again, we are sponsored by Chicagoland Games, and this is JOHNKELLY reminding you to support your local gaming store. Now go out and roll some dice.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

No tags

Hosts: John Kelly, Todd, Timo, Lexx, Scott

In which we discuss our facial hair. Scott is big in China and loves the North. Lexx doesn’t know geography. Todd went to a wedding. JohnKelly is moving. Scott and his gravy-tas. JohnKelly is balding ugly. Timo has been doing martial arts (badly) as long as JohnKelly has been alive. Speaking of gravy, rape, White Fence Farm, Gale Street Inn and gumming the bones. (3:20)

Main Topic: playing by the rules vs playing by feel (11:10)
First edition AD&D was very narrow (12:55)
JohnKelly’s theater as an example. (14:30)
Cars and motorcycles (15:50)
Autership of games: (18:00)
AD&D First ed in historical perspective (19:45)
How do you know you’re playing as intended: the Forge, Dust Devils and Ron Edwards (21:00)
The intent of L5R (22:30)
When the designers stated goal isn’t reflected in the mechanics (23:30)
Trust in the author (24:45)
Tweaking a game you’re very familiar with. (28:12)
Creative agenda and how dissonance makes people want to homebrew (29:50)
JP says: you don’t have to switch games because you want to explore. (31:05)
Consumption is creative (33:20)
What do you do when you pick up a game? (35:30)
JohnKelly: is a waste of skin and has nothing to say about Alpha Omega (35:55)
Scott: Character development and stories. More specifically, buzzwords. (38:30)
Lexx: Setting above all. (40:20)
World creation can very different between games (My life with master is ok, In a wicked age is not) (42:45)
Timo: The rules and what they are trying to do. Fluff comes from play. (45:40)
Rules shouldn’t try to be too “real.” Lexx disagrees. (47:25)
Todd: Can this game actualise my idea (can I make Elle Woods?) (48:15)
Finding the right game in which to run a game (50:15)
Fudging the rules to keep the story going (54:20)
Unhallowed metropolis: the rules are burdensome (56:15)
Fluff to disguise the mechanics (57:45)
Different types of zombies (58:45)

Rants (1:00:35)
JohnKelly: Wil Wheaton please pimp us out.
Todd: 30,000 feet, and no one’s worried?
Timo: Meatmarket the game.
Lexx: RPGA has taught me how to love gaming again.
Scott: Dark Sun almost made me buy
4th Ed.

Once again, JohnKelly really isn’t funny. This time he admitted it (1:09:25)

You have been listening to The Jank Cast, copyright 2010 under the creative commons license. You can find out more about us at jankcast.com. All the music in the show is from the song, “Jank is a Dork Word” written and recorded by Todd and is used with his permission. You can send comments and feedback to feedback@jankcast.com Again, we are sponsored by Chicagoland Games, and this is JOHNKELLY reminding you to support your local gaming store. Now go out and roll some dice.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

No tags

Episode 62: Secrets in Gaming
Hosts: Timo, Scott, Majdi, Megan

I think Timo is trying to tone down the creepy. . . instead he’s creepier.
Megan’s Show
How did they end up talking about being naked in public bathrooms?
God there is a lot of poop talk. . .
Main Topic: Secrets in gaming
Don’t listen to the Walking Eye
Mist + Fire = Smoke
Steal away Jordan
BASH!
Unhallowed Metropolis

Rants
Scott: PSA: Fuck Me Ray Bradbury
Majdi: The L or EL
Megan: Playing someone else’s character
Timo: Theory from the Closet

You have been listening to The Jank Cast, copyright 2010 under the creative commons license. You can find out more about us at jankcast.com. All the music in the show is from the song, “Jank is a Dork Word” written and recorded by Todd and is used with his permission. You can send comments and feedback to feedback@jankcast.com Again, we are sponsored by Chicagoland Games, and this is JOHNKELLY reminding you to support your local gaming store. Now go out and roll some dice.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

No tags

Episode 61: GenCon 2010
Hosts: JOHNKELLY, Scott, Timo, Lexx, Megan with a special message from Todd

Megan’s First GenCon
Lexx’s Tenth GenCon
Timo’s Seventh GenCon

Lots and lots of mentioning of games/stuff that we played and/or bought at GenCon.
Including: Misspent Youth, Fiasco, HoboCon, Free Market, Iron Tyrants, The Adventure Burner,
PARP: Photo Action Role-Playing
The Embassy Suites
Games On Demand
The Chicken Sandwiches!
Rob Justice was not seen by Megan. What the fuck Rob?
Lexx throws podcasters under the bus.
We realize that Wil Wheaton is more powerful than us.
Felicia Day is awesome.

Todd speaks about GenCon

Rants
Timo: Dice Stealing / Hexatube
Scott: Fiasco & Glomping
JOHNKELLY: the MSG at the Cajin Grill
Megan: I go to GenCon to game

Congrats to Derek!

You have been listening to The Jank Cast, copyright 2010 under the creative commons license. You can find out more about us at jankcast.com. All the music in the show is from the song, “Jank is a Dork Word” written and recorded by Todd and is used with his permission. You can send comments and feedback to feedback@jankcast.com Again, we are sponsored by Chicagoland Games, and this is JOHNKELLY reminding you to support your local gaming store. Now go out and roll some dice.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

No tags

Episode 60: Independent Games
Hosts: Todd, Megan, Scott, Rob, Timo

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day, you fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way. Or, if you’re us, you chew over the gristle of a topic like independent games for an hour on Sundays. More fritter than waste, but a bit of both in the end.

Lot’s of games mentioned here, so the show notes will be longer.

BRING ME THE MUNCHKIN!
Angel Eyes Concert: Fuck amps.
Too many nice guys in metal
Google search of Black Metal
Denny’s
Magician’s Arrest
GM-less game day at Chicagoland Games
Main Topic: Indie games
Some sort of definition of Indie, and some ill-spoken history
What do you think of when you think of indie game
Scott: Story from players imagination
Introduction of Rob
Rob: System interaction with the kind of story
Timo: Individual designers not trying to be big distributors
Todd: One off book
Megan: Anything that’s not D&D; Games that afford me the opportunity to create and explore with others.
The argument for randomized tables instead of source books.
Colonial Gothic
Unhallowed Metropolis
Indie Aesthetic
Zine production quality
Weapons of the Gods
Shared Creation
Basic Action Super Heroes! (BASH)
Spirit of the Century
The WOTC bouncers
No right way to game
Sorceror
In a Wicked Age
Shock
Orc’s, gelatinous cubes and dragons.
Sewer’s and Slaves
Constraint as freedom
identifying the douchebag
Fiasco
Story elements direct play, don’t rule.
Grognard theory: Supplements are the product of gaming, not the input. (Reply 42, by Walt Freitag)
Emphasize the internal conflict highlighted
a rant in favour of social mechanics
pared down mechanics
Trust the people at the table
gaming vs improv games (aka: JP is a bad person)
stylistic differences between games and game designers
Apocalypse World
s/lay w/me
Why is there hate?

Rants
Scott: Metal Places of the world: the south is Metal!
Megan: Heaping the abuse
Todd: Tommy Bartlett’s sky, ski and stage show
Timo: Eve Ellis and the phantom referral.
Rob: Lucasarts games

You have been listening to The Jank Cast, copyright 2010 under the creative commons license. You can find out more about us at jankcast.com. All the music in the show is from the song, “Jank is a Dork Word” written and recorded by Todd and is used with his permission. You can send comments and feedback to feedback@jankcast.com Again, we are sponsored by Chicagoland Games, and this is JOHNKELLY reminding you to support your local gaming store. Now go out and roll some dice.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

No tags

Episode 59: Race in Gaming
Hosts: Scott, Vak, Majdi, Lexx, Megan, Timo

Possibly one of the more serious conversations we had. Which we at times address with a bunch of juvenile and offensive humour, but hey, that’s what we term “quality” around here. We had some problems with Vak and Majdi’s mike, so their levels are pretty low.

Megan’s Father and the Really Weird Food!
Main Topic: Race in gaming
Warning of Asshole-dom and racial identification
Being a minority in gaming: Conventions, Belegarth
Gaming came from middle-aged white suburban historians
Racism in Video Games
L5R
Robert E. Howard and Conan
Tolkien and other ideas that gaming was based on
“Gaming would be different if made by black guys”
race IN games
The Table of Hatred
Avoidance of racism in games
Shadowrun is an exception
Race is not necessarily something people want to talk about
Steal Away Jordan
Call of Cthulhu
race in historical versus fantasy settings
Dark Elves
Getting Shifty in Games, letting something “slip”
Superficiality and Bigotry: being white and playing minorities
Improv rule: play it big, or don’t play it at all.
Playing your own race/heritage.
What if someone is actually being racist at the table
Being overly polite

Rants
Lexx: Why aren’t there more Indian Villains.
Megan: Being single in your 30′s is like Zombieland.
Timo: Enough with the Nostalgia
Vak: Timo, your childhood is dead
Scott: Beware the dice witch!
Majdi: The future train

Angel Eyes Record Release (Todd’s Concert)
Ronny’s
2101 N. California
21+ Show
July 23 (Bar at 9/Music at 10)

Little Shop of Horrors (JOHNKELLY’s Show)
5900 W. Belmont
Chicago, IL
July 23, 24, 25, 30, 31 August 1
Friday/Saturdays: Doors at 7 pm, Show at 7:30 pm
Sundays: Doors at 11:30 am, Show at Noon
Tickets: $12
(773) 282-8844, ext. 277

You have been listening to The Jank Cast, copyright 2010 under the creative commons license. You can find out more about us at jankcast.com. All the music in the show is from the song, “Jank is a Dork Word” written and recorded by Todd and is used with his permission. You can send comments and feedback to feedback@jankcast.com Again, we are sponsored by Chicagoland Games, and this is JOHNKELLY reminding you to support your local gaming store. Now go out and roll some dice.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

No tags

Episode 58: Gaming Social Graces
Hosts: JOHNKELLY, Scott, Megan, Majdi, Reek, Todd

Hello, delicious friends! A little note to tell you that your episode is being delivered by Timo this week, because John Kelly might in fact be a punk ass-chump (note the hyphenation). The scientific study has only now received it’s funding, so we won’t expect a definitive answer for another few years, but I think we all know what’s going to be confirmed.

Regardless, your show notes will be a little haphazard so that we might get the aural abuse out to you a little faster. Enjoy!

No crying in gaming (the fat kid)
The new theme song
False start
Deodorant commercials
And we’re off (real intro)
Mortal Kombat teaser
Shameless plugs
Sending invites on Facebook
Drunken Reek
Main Topic: gamer social graces
Fatbeard and the Febreeze
The tell-tale stench
Gameboy denied
tusslin’ at the LARP
Tales from the Southland: trailer gamin’
John Kelly: put away the internet
the 80′s controversy and the Elfish Gene
Little Ricky
Majdi misuses the word svelte
Gamers aren’t nice
Social Hobby, and the Pig Roast
Getting in to the game
Investment in Character death
Ritual demarcation from normal time (maaaagical!)
Well actually (rules lawyering stopping the game)
A kid enters the store, and West Side story rears it’s ugly head
Character creation and min-maxing

Rants
Majdi: The universe is a giant game.
Reek waffles and havers through to a rant in the end.
Megan: Don’t be a dick about booking burlesque shows with me.
Todd: 1) Seattle 2) Banana pudding (this get’s a little … odd)
Scott: The happy little pig, and how he was consumed.
JOHNKELLY: Fails, then talks about being on the train.

Burlesque Bingo
Playground Theater
3209 North Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60657
July 17th

Angel Eyes Record Release (Todd’s Concert)
Ronny’s
2101 N. California
21+ Show
July 23 (Bar at 9/Music at 10)

Little Shop of Horrors (JOHNKELLY’s Show)
5900 W. Belmont
Chicago, IL
July 23, 24, 25, 30, 31 August 1
Friday/Saturdays: Doors at 7 pm, Show at 7:30 pm
Sundays: Doors at 11:30 am, Show at Noon
Tickets: $12
(773) 282-8844, ext. 277

You have been listening to The Jank Cast, copyright 2010 under the creative commons license. You can find out more about us at jankcast.com. All the music in the show is from the song, “Jank is a Dork Word” written and recorded by Todd and is used with his permission. You can send comments and feedback to feedback@jankcast.com Again, we are sponsored by Chicagoland Games, and this is JOHNKELLY reminding you to support your local gaming store. Now go out and roll some dice.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

No tags

Episode 57: Historical Gaming
Hosts: JOHNKELLY, Timo, Lexx, Scott, Megan, Juan

The Under-boob discussion
The LOST Jank Cast Episodes
Stone Mountain
Main Topic: Historical Gaming
Colonial Gothic
God Like
Cold City/Hot War
Unhallowed Metropolis
Black Cadalics

Rants
JOHNKELLY: Little Shop of Horrors (more details bellow)
Timo: A War Zone
Lexx: Congratulations Twilight
Scott: Steve the FNG
Megan: Eowyn’s Challenge
Juan: Festia Mexicana!

Angel Eyes Record Release (Todd’s Concert)
Ronny’s
2101 N. California
21+ Show
July 24 (Bar at 9/Music at 10)

Little Shop of Horrors (JOHNKELLY’s Show)
5900 W. Belmont
Chicago, IL
July 23, 24, 25, 30, 31 August 1
Friday/Saturdays: Doors at 7 pm, Show at 7:30 pm
Sundays: Doors at 11:30 am, Show at Noon
Tickets: $12
(773) 282-8844, ext. 277

You have been listening to The Jank Cast, copyright 2010 under the creative commons license. You can find out more about us at jankcast.com. All the music in the show is from the song, “Jank is a Dork Word” written and recorded by Todd and is used with his permission. You can send comments and feedback to feedback@jankcast.com Again, we are sponsored by Chicagoland Games, and this is JOHNKELLY reminding you to support your local gaming store. Now go out and roll some dice.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

No tags

Episode 56: Pulling your weight
Hosts: JOHNKELLY, Todd, Megan, Lexx

Lots of banter including:Dentist, Orcus, Comic Shop stories, bad audio, food stories, Google SketchUp, Let me Google that for you

Main Topic: Pulling your weight within a group
Mechanical vs. Backstory
Spirit of the Century
BASH

Rants
Todd: The Dunkin Donuts Breakfast Sandwich
JOHNKELLY: Thursday is an important day
Lexx: GW: Really?
Megan: Kittens = Old Feeling

Go see Todd’s band

You have been listening to The Jank Cast, copyright 2010 under the creative commons license. You can find out more about us at jankcast.com. All the music in the show is from the song, “Jank is a Dork Word” written and recorded by Todd and is used with his permission. You can send comments and feedback to feedback@jankcast.com Again, we are sponsored by Chicagoland Games, and this is JOHNKELLY reminding you to support your local gaming store. Now go out and roll some dice.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

No tags

Episode 55: PvP -Special Edition-
Hosts: JOHNKELLY, Majdi, Lexx, Scott, Vak, Reek

Happy Birthday Reek (hurray!)
Thanks Jason
Reek caused the apocalypse/the scene from the first Ghostbusters
Main Topic: Player vs. Player combat
JOHNKELLY can’t host episodes
Lexx, the word is Gank not Yank

Rants
JOHNKELLY: Raid. Mud. Water. Fuck you Reek.
Majdi: Tumblin’ Dice!
Lexx: Player Egos
Scott: What would I have got?
Vak: Why is there no save point in life?
Reek: Welcome to my Life.

Questions for Gaming Gods

This week’s question is for Geoff Johns

You have been listening to The Jank Cast, copyright 2010 under the creative commons license. You can find out more about us at jankcast.com. All the music in the show is from the song, “Jank is a Dork Word” written and recorded by Todd and is used with his permission. You can send comments and feedback to feedback@jankcast.com Again, we are sponsored by Chicagoland Games, and this is JOHNKELLY reminding you to support your local gaming store. Now go out and roll some dice.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

No tags