Episodes
Tuesday Apr 02, 2019
STG 149 - Unlikely Heroes (with Rev. Derek White)
Tuesday Apr 02, 2019
Tuesday Apr 02, 2019
Rev. Derek "The GeekPreacher" White joins us once again, and this time it's even more special than usual. This episode is a sort of test case for a new thing we might be doing with Derek more regularly—having Derek on to talk about specific theological topics from a geek perspective! First, though we've got a Patreon question to answer from Doug Hagler, who asks us what our individual D&D alignments are, and some Scripture we've picked out for the topic.
Then we let Derek take the lead as we discuss the unlikely sorts of heroes we see in both Scripture and in pop culture, from Moses and David to Frodo and Hawkeye. Accidental heroes, broken heroes, screwed-up heroes—we've got them all, and we're happy to talk about them!
Also mentioned in this episode: Unsong; the Critical Core Kickstarter from Game to Grow; and STG 115, "RPGs in Social Skills Therapy (with Adam Davis and Adam Johns)".
Scripture: Exodus 4:10-17, Isaiah 6:5-8, 1 Corinthians 15:2-11
Tuesday Mar 05, 2019
STG 147 - Angels and Angelology
Tuesday Mar 05, 2019
Tuesday Mar 05, 2019
It's time for our Patreon-selected topic for the quarter, and this one's so big it'll take up two episodes! Our topic this week is angels, and with so much material to work with we just had to break this topic up. This episode has relatively little pure gaming content, because we had to push all of that off until next week! First, though, we talk about recording another session with City on a Hill Gaming, and Peter's side quest episode, as well as a brief note about Grant's upcoming Vampire game.
Our Patreon question this week comes from Kenning, who asks, "What is your favorite movie to talk about? Not necessarily a good movie, but an interesting one to talk about?"
After quite a lot of Scripture to read—turns out there's plenty of verses about angels!—we tackle our main topic: Angels and angelology! What even are angels? What's their purpose? What do we know about them, and from what sources? How do they appear in popular culture? And why do we care about the opinions of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite on the matter?
Mentioned in this episode: Gustav Davidson’s A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels, Gill's Exposition of the Bible, STG 110, "Spiritual Warfare (with Rev. Derek White)", Min/Max Podcast #83, "Devastation: By Kobold"
Scripture: Genesis 3:23-24, 2 Kings 6:17, Isaiah 6:1-4, Ezekiel 1:4-21, Daniel 10:5-14, Luke 2:8-14, Colossians 1:16
Tuesday Feb 19, 2019
STG 146 - Adultery (The Ten Commandments, Part Seven)
Tuesday Feb 19, 2019
Tuesday Feb 19, 2019
Well, it was inevitable, folks: When we committed to doing a series on The Ten Commandments, we knew we'd eventually have to talk about adultery. Fair warning: This episode does talk about sex. We're not explicit or anything, but keep that in mind! First, though, we've got a few other things to talk about—specifically, Grant's D&D game in Sharn (or the lack of it) and a new Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition game he's running.
Our Patreon question this week comes from John & Ginny Swann, who ask about TORG, running a horror story within a larger campaign, and getting otherwise light-hearted players to switch emotional gears for a more serious arc.
After a lot of Scripture, we start talking about adultery and marriage. Why is "You shall not commit adultery" a commandment at all? What did adultery and marriage look like in Old Testament Israel? And how do we tell stories involving adultery without being crass (or worse?)
Also mentioned in this episode: Our Virtues & Vices series episodes on Lust and Chastity, respectively; Fear the Boot 178, "Running a horror game"; and Eureka: 501 Adventure Plots to Inspire Game Masters.
Scripture: Exodus 20:14, Leviticus 20:10, 2 Samuel 12:1-10, Matthew 5:27-30, Mark 2:23-27, John 8:3-11, 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
STG 145 - Roleplaying Mental Illnesses
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
Tuesday Feb 05, 2019
We're tackling a difficult and complex topic in this episode: How to roleplay characters with mental illnesses with sensitivity and grace. First, though, we've got a bit of other business to talk about, starting with our forthcoming appearances on City on a Hill Gaming (including Jenny's very cool special episode, Side Quest #4 - The Crimson In Your Veins.) Grant's also very happy to talk about his officially-started Eberron game, which went great! We also take a minute to remind everyone about our YouTube channel, which is finally updating with new episodes like this one and old episodes as we can.
Our Patreon question is from Raymond Dickson, who asks: How do you like to deal with a planned hiatus in a game (summer, scheduled surgery, travel, etc.)—not just going ahead with someone missing from the game, but putting the whole thing on hold for a bit? Unfortunately, our advice to Raymond is ... not optimistic. But we do our best!
After an enthusiastic Scripture reading, we get right into this one, starting off with a lot of caveats and notes. We then break this down into three general (and largely artificial) categories, talking about persistent and ongoing mental illnesses; temporary, acute insanities; and artificial "madnesses" brought on by the sort of external causes we encounter in genre fiction. We talk a lot about the use of these at the table, but also do our best—within our limited abilities as non-experts—to give what advice we can about helping others deal with these issues at the table and in life, too.
Mentioned in this episode: Our previous episodes on mental health with mental health experts; "spoon theory"; and Sea Lions.
Scripture: Isaiah 1:17; Matthew 25:41-43; James 5:14; 1 John 3:17-18
Tuesday Jan 08, 2019
STG 144 - Hacking Published Adventures
Tuesday Jan 08, 2019
Tuesday Jan 08, 2019
With Jenny traveling for the holidays, we're back to Grant and Peter on the mics for an episode! We cover our Christmas stories and Grant's Christmas stream of the Link to the Past Holiday Randomizer, and remind our listeners about the very exciting upcoming Actual Play series we're doing courtesy of City on a Hill Gaming.
Our Patreon question this week comes from Kevin VonFeldt, who asks us about the Kickstarters we wish we'd backed, but didn't. This is also a good excuse to prompt our ever-generous Patreon supporters to send in questions like these!
Our main topic this episode is how to hack published adventure material into your game. For what was supposed to be a quick-and-easy Christmas topic, we had a ton to say about this! We briefly cover the pros and cons of adventures themselves, then start tearing down pieces of modules to explain why you might want to borrow those pieces, and how to adjust them for your own game. From maps to encounters to entire plot lines, we tackle everything you can think of—and wrap up with an idea about running entire modules in your own campaign in ways that don't detract from your own homebrew settings.
Scripture: Proverbs 22:29, Colossians 3:23-24
Wednesday Dec 19, 2018
STG 143 - Good Gaming Sessions (with Greg Stolze)
Wednesday Dec 19, 2018
Wednesday Dec 19, 2018
Author and game designer Greg Stolze joins us once again, this time to talk about systematically creating good gaming sessions! We had Greg on once before, talking about personal horror and Unknown Armies on STG 83, and it's great to have him back to give some excellent game-mastering advice. Greg's also got a Kickstarter for Termination Shock just wrapping up, and will be Kickstarting a second edition of Grim War in early 2019, so definitely check those out!
We end up spending a lot of time answering our Patreon question from Tom Stephens this episode, since he asked about how much time we spend researching, recording, and editing for an average episode of Saving the Game. Greg recorded some podcast episodes to promote Termination Shock, and so he's got plenty to add to that discussion as well!
After our Scripture readings, we go deep into the hard, practical steps gamemasters can take to build individual sessions and plan their game arcs built into both Termination Shock and Grim War. These are two rather different methods, but both are aimed squarely at new GMs, and designed to teach GMs how to keep players engaged and tell good stories without years of literary theory classes! Both the "playbook" approach of Termination Shock and the "lit-crit" approach of Grim War are worth testing in your own games, so give them a try (and consider picking up these games for more details!)
Scripture: Leviticus 19:34, Proverbs 4:6-7, Proverbs 15:22, Luke 6:39-40
Tuesday Dec 11, 2018
STG 142 - Biblical Figures: Samson
Tuesday Dec 11, 2018
Tuesday Dec 11, 2018
Jenny and Peter oversee the promotion of our ongoing series on gamifying Biblical figures with one of the most difficult yet: Samson! Though his story is found in the Book of Judges, Samson is a notorious and often actively awful outlier among Biblical figures. He's a drunken, womanizing barbarian who only occasionally interacts with God, and often seems more like Heracles or other mythic figures. What, then, can we learn from Samson and his story? And what can we take back to the gaming table?
Scripture: Judges 13:2-5, Judges 16:28-30
Tuesday Oct 30, 2018
Episode 140 - Undeath
Tuesday Oct 30, 2018
Tuesday Oct 30, 2018
It's a special Halloween episode, this time on undeath! Well, okay, it's at least a Halloween episode, and that counts for something. We start things off with a quick update on our Twitch stream schedule (Peter's streaming Pathfinder: Kingmaker on Wednesdays for a while, leaving Jenny and Grant to stream on Fridays.) Jenny also has a special thank-you for Renegade Studios for being helpful in getting her copy of Overlight shipped correctly; and Grant plugs for his friend Patrick's appearance on The Gauntlet Podcast, which is really a well-deserved plug for the entire Gauntlet community as a haven of indie gaming and game design. We also handle a question from Patreon supporter Zach over at Back Burner Games, who asks us what roleplaying game we'd make if we had absolutely no obstacles.
Then, after our very apt Scripture readings, we start talking about undeath! We obviously can't cover the entirety of the topic in half an hour, but we do talk about what 'undeath' means, and briefly touch on some sample historical and cultural beliefs about the undead. We also discuss what Scripture has to say about the undead; why the undead in their various incarnations are scary; and how to use the undead in interesting ways as both a player and as a gamemaster. Enjoy!
Scripture: 1 Samuel 28:13-17, 1 Chronicles 10:13-14, Matthew 14:25-28, Luke 24:36-39
Tuesday Oct 16, 2018
Episode 139 - Character Backstories (with Krissi Woodward)
Tuesday Oct 16, 2018
Tuesday Oct 16, 2018
Krissi Woodward joins us again this episode to help Grant and Jenny speak a little less, since they're both pretty sick in this episode, and to talk about character backstories with everyone! Krissi's been on a few previous episodes can be found on Twitter as @d20mom.
We catch up a bit and talk about our upcoming streaming schedule over on Twitch, and then answer a question about fictional characters we'd want to GM for from Patreon supporter Richard Lorenz. Then after our Scripture readings, we dive into character backstories: What makes a good background, common pitfalls, some general advice, and the methods we each use for coming up with backstories for our characters.
Scripture: Genesis 37: 19-26, Isaiah 43: 18-19, Acts 9:1-6, 2 Corinthians 5:16-17
Tuesday Oct 02, 2018
Bonus Episode 16 - Biblical Figures: Matthew
Tuesday Oct 02, 2018
Tuesday Oct 02, 2018
Jenny's off exploring France this week, so Peter and Grant sat down together for another bonus episode in our Biblical Figures series! This time, we're talking about Matthew—apostle, Gospel author, and reformed tax collector. We provide some Fun Facts about Matthew Levi before Grant gives an overview of the peculiar system of Roman taxation. Then we talk about Matthew's major appearance in Scripture, as well as his role as one of the four traditional authors of the Gospels and the different martyrdoms traditionally ascribed to Matthew. Finally, we wrap up by exploring ways to use elements of Matthew's story in our own games. Enjoy!
Mentioned in this episode: Alfred Edersheim's Sketches of Jewish Social Life and Fausset's Bible Dictionary.
Scripture: Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 18:9-14, Luke 19:1-10, Revelation 4:5-8