Episodes
Tuesday May 01, 2018
Episode 130 - Outreach (with Stephen Weese)
Tuesday May 01, 2018
Tuesday May 01, 2018
Author, actor, programmer, and preacher Stephen Weese joins us for a fascinating discussion on subculture ministry! Stephen's book God Loves the Freaks: A Guide to Subculture Ministry was one of the books we read as background material for Saving the Game when we were just starting the podcast, and it was great to finally have him on our show. We covered a lot of ground in this episode, so buckle up!
Our Patreon question this week is from Nathanael Farley, who asks "Which game system do you dislike the most, and what do you LIKE about it?"
Other things mentioned in this episode: The Grave Robbers; The Exodus Adventure Game; Fear the Con 11; City on a Hill Gaming; Sister Agony's Academy.
Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:4-7, Mark 16:15, John 13:35, Galatians 3:28
Tuesday Apr 17, 2018
Episode 129 - Support Characters
Tuesday Apr 17, 2018
Tuesday Apr 17, 2018
Gamer and pastor Tim Decker of Christ Community Etc in Owosso, MI joins us to talk about playing support characters in our roleplaying games, in response to the eternal complaints of players who don't want to play the cleric! We also discuss how to end a game that's stopped being fun without any hard feelings, as Grant's Fellowship group did, and the conclusion of Jenny's "moidah mystery" prequel to Keep on the Borderlands. We also spend quite a lot of time answering Patreon backer "ComposerDad", who asks whether gaming groups share the same unifying, cross-subcultural nature of churches. Once that's done, we dive deep into ways to make those "boring" support characters into something more interesting than a healbot. Enjoy!
Also mentioned in this episode: STG 95, "Hospitality".
Scripture: Exodus 17:8-13, Hebrews 13:15-16, Luke 10:36-37
Tuesday Oct 31, 2017
Bonus Episode 11 - Save Against Fear 2017 Con Report
Tuesday Oct 31, 2017
Tuesday Oct 31, 2017
Jenny and her mother Shannon (of STG 10 fame!) deliver an after-action report on Save Against Fear 2017, held Oct. 13-15 in Harrisburg, PA! Everyone had a great time, and the con was exceptionally well-run and definitely worth attending next year.
Some specific shoutouts: First, to our former co-host Branden, who was in attendance and ran a fantastic Mistborn game! Also to the Harrisburg Mall for providing an excellent con space; Harrisburg University's game design program; and of course to The Bodhana Group for putting on a great con and continuing to be wonderful people doing good for hurting people.
Games mentioned in this episode: Dreamchaser by Imagining Games; We Didn't Playtest This At All by Asmadi Games; Starfall by Pandasaurus Games; Spirit Island by Greater Than Games; Clank by Renegade Game Studios; Smallworld by Days of Wonder; Castle Dice and Epic PvP by Fun To 11; Cthulhu Invictus by Chaosium; Mistborn by Crafty Games; Kingmaker by Avalon Hill; Mysterium by Asmodee; and "Into the Dragon's Maw" by Dragonix.
Tuesday Oct 17, 2017
Episode 119 - Gaming Evangelism (with Gospel and Gaming)
Tuesday Oct 17, 2017
Tuesday Oct 17, 2017
Peter and Jenny have two special guests this week: Jacob Toman and Michael Mendis from Gospel & Gaming! Gospel & Gaming is, in their own words, "a ministry dedicated to sharing the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ with gamers all over the world." Jacob and Michael did a great job representing them, explaining their mission in online gaming communities and tabletop gaming communities alike.
We also addressed a question from Patreon backer Jim Nanban, who asked us about the coolest piece of RPG paraphernalia we each own. (As promised, there's a picture of Peter's dice bag right here in the show notes.) We also briefly plug our Discord channel, which is continuing to grow as a community. Then everyone settles in to talk about evangelism and how Gospel & Gaming approaches it—even to the point where Michael and Jacob turn the interview around and start asking the hosts questions!
A couple of quick notes about this episode: First, Grant was very sick and missed out on a pair of awesome guests. (He's better now.) Second, Peter's audio sounds very bad this episode; there was a hardware problem writing his track to disk that wasn't apparent during the discussion. And third, as hard as Grant tried we simply could not edit Blarey the Podcast Train out of this episode. That means that this is Blarey's first official podcast appearance. Enjoy!
Also mentioned in this episode were three books Jacob highly recommended as primers for Gospel & Gaming's mission: Michael Green's Evangelism in the Early Church; Jerram Barr's The Heart of Evangelism; and Jane McGonigal's Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World.
Scripture: Psalm 105:1-4, Matthew 13:10-13, Romans 10:11-15
Tuesday Sep 19, 2017
Episode 117 - Con Planning (with Adam Gottfried)
Tuesday Sep 19, 2017
Tuesday Sep 19, 2017
Booter, con organizer, and friend Adam Gottfried joins us to talk about planning Fear the Con and other conventions! First, Adam has an announcement (the first piece of news ever broken on Saving the Game!)—Fear the Con 11 will be June 22-23, 2018. Also, there will be a Kickstarter for the con at some point, although those dates aren't exactly set in stone yet. (For more Fear the Con, see Episode 61 with Derek Knutsen and a host of others.)
Having made that announcement, we tackle Patreon backer Jim's question about obscure media we'd want to turn into a RPG. We also discuss an impending visit from the Bishop of Jerusalem, which naturally leads into a discussion of Jerusalem Syndrome. Jenny also plugs Scott Westerfeld's "Leviathan" series, and especially its map.
All that done, we move on to our Scripture for the episode, and the episode's main topic: Planning and running a convention like Fear the Con. Most of this discussion is very much focused on Fear the Con, for obvious reasons; but we do manage to address the main things you need to think of when running a con, and how to handle problems as they arise!
Also:follow him on Mixer Grant's started to livestream the audio editing process! If you want to hear the raw episode, and chat with Grant while he edits, keep an eye on our social media feeds (especially Twitter) for announcements of streaming times. You can also and get notifications there!
Scripture: Proverbs 11:5-6, Hebrews 10:24-25, Romans 12:10-16
Tuesday Sep 05, 2017
Episode 116 - Therapeutic Gaming Revisited (with Jack Berkenstock)
Tuesday Sep 05, 2017
Tuesday Sep 05, 2017
We're delighted to welcome Jack Berkenstock Jr. of The Bodhana Group back onto the mics this week! Jack previously joined us on STG 25, when he introduced us to the idea of roleplaying games as an adjunct therapeutic tool for children who were victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse, among others. This time, he's here to talk more about RPGs in treatment for social skills, grief, loss, and more. After catching up with our old friend a bit, we let him plug Save Against Fear 2017 (Oct. 13-15 in Harrisburg, PA)—which we can confirm Jenny will attend this year, so catch up with her there too if you see her! We also plug the /r/ChristianDnD subreddit, especially for anyone looking to find other folks to game online with.
That done, we chat briefly about the 2017 total solar eclipse and answer (another) question from Patreon backer Fernando about Saturday morning cartoons we'd want to turn into games. Naturally, this gave us a chance to plug our podcasting friends over at the Gameable Saturday Morning Podcast, and Peter's episodes on Batman: The Animated Series there. Our other choices: E.X.O. Squad, Reboot, Star Blazers, and Toad Patrol! (And yes, please nominate your own cartoons to game in the comments.)
Finally, we settle in and let Jack talk about his introduction to gaming, how he found out he wanted to do therapy for kids who were hurting badly, and how he figured out that those two loves might work together. In particular, we discuss methodologies, what kind of metrics work and don't work in these sorts of situations, Olivia's House, and how the therapeutic sessions Bodhana runs differ from your average tabletop game.
Games mentioned this episode: Unknown Armies; Cartoon Action Hour; Blades in the Dark; No Thank You, Evil!; Pugmire; Retrostar. Also mentioned: Face Value Comics; The Anglican Church's "Prayer for Reconciliation".
Scripture: Psalm 16:7-10, Psalm 91:2-6, John 8:2-11, Galatians 6:1-2
Tuesday Aug 22, 2017
Episode 115 - RPGs in Social Skills Therapy (with Adam Davis and Adam Johns)
Tuesday Aug 22, 2017
Tuesday Aug 22, 2017
Adam Davis and Adam Johns from Wheelhouse Workshop join us to discuss how and why they use Dungeons & Dragons in social skills therapy! Their Seattle-based organization has been doing this for a couple of years now, and they've got a lot to say. (We've also worked with Adam and Adam previously on some Game to Grow content.) We also tackle a question from Patreon supporter Francisco (of the Retro Rewind Podcast) about replacing our favorite RPGs with board games in a pinch, and Grant briefly describes his trip to Electric City Comic-Con 2017 and his terrible-but-awesome decision to help his daughter get into the Pokémon TCG.
Adam and Adam then discuss Wheelhouse Workshop's work: Why RPGs in general, and D&D in particular, are useful therapeutic tools; how a game session in their offices differs from your usual tabletop session; their house rules for their games; some success stories and interesting moments; and much more. Also, we mention in passing Monte Cook Games' The Strange and Microscope, both of which are excellent games.
For more information about Wheelhouse Workshop, visit their website or find them on Twitter and Facebook.
Scripture: Numbers 23:8, Mark 2:15-17, 1 Peter 5:6-10
Tuesday Aug 08, 2017
Episode 114 - Gaming and Counseling (with Matthew Surber)
Tuesday Aug 08, 2017
Tuesday Aug 08, 2017
We're joined this week by Matthew Surber, who's both the Program Director at the West River Center in Maryland and a game designer affiliated with Defy Danger Adventures. We actually found Matthew through the most unlikely of sources (Reddit comments, of all things) but he turned out to be a fantastic guest! After addressing Patreon backer Tom's question about broad and narrow skills in roleplaying games, and a quick diversion from Jenny about the dangers of Canada's nuclear wildlife, we buckled down with Matthew to discuss applying counseling principles to games. Matthew's got a Master's degree in counseling and a Dungeon World game he runs for his other camp counselors; naturally, he had a lot of excellent advice to give about trust, bonds, empathy, and saying 'yes' as a GM and player.
Games mentioned this episode: Dungeon World; Beyond The Wall; Pugmire; Honey Heist; The Skeletons; Ten Candles.
Other things mentioned this episode: MegaDumbCast (MDC); Defy Danger Adventures; STG 25 with Jack Berkenstock; The Bodhana Group; Wheelhouse Workshop; and that rad Honey Heist t-shirt.
Matthew can be found on Twitter at @TheRealSurberus.
Scripture: Jonah 2:2, Psalm 119:76, Mark 2:15-17
Tuesday Jun 13, 2017
Episode 111 - LARP and the Psychology of Play (with Dr. Sarah Lynne Bowman)
Tuesday Jun 13, 2017
Tuesday Jun 13, 2017
Psychology researcher, professor, and LARPer Dr. Sarah Lynne Bowman joins us for a fascinating discussion of LARP and the psychology of play and roleplaying! Sarah had an enormous amount of information to pass along to us about different styles of live-action roleplay, terminology and concepts in LARP and in the psychology of play, the seeming dichotomy between tabletop and live-action play, and so much more. It's a bit less organized than many of our episodes, simply because we let Sarah take charge of much of the conversation, but we definitely think it turned out better for that! (And check below for a long list of links Sarah provided for us.)
We also answer a question from Patreon supporter Paige, who wanted to know how much time we spend each week on tabletop gaming; briefly discuss Overwatch; and mention Bottlequest, a Golden Cobra two-page LARP game we used in our recent Fellowship game as a one-shot bottle episode mechanic. Plus, a bit more information about fake beards and Fear the Con X!
For more information about Sarah, check out her website and her book, The Function of Role-Playing Games: How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems, and Explore Identity. You can also check out the Game to Grow episode we hosted, where Sarah was a guest; she's been on and hosted a few other episodes as well.
Things mentioned in this episode, or passed on after recording by Sarah:
- Living Games Conference
- Nordic Conference (Knutepunkt)
- The Hirelings, a one-shot LARP
- Larps From The Factory
- "Papers" (a Nordic LARP)
- "Immersion into LARP: Theories of Embodied Narrative Experience" - an article by Dr. Bowman
- Shut Up & Sit Down's painfully intense review of Dog Eat Dog
- Dystopia Rising (LARP community)
- LARPs: Legion: Siberian Story. Conscience; Magischola; Enlightenment in Blood (Vampire); End of the Line; Just a Little Lovin'; Kapo;
- TED Talk: The Power of Vulnerability
- The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA)
Special thanks to Peter for editing this one while Grant was on vacation—especially given how long the episode went!
Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7, Proverbs 16:3, Luke 12:2
Tuesday May 30, 2017
Episode 110 - Spiritual Warfare (with Rev. Derek White)
Tuesday May 30, 2017
Tuesday May 30, 2017
The Rev. Derek White, longtime friend of the show and known to the Internet as "The Geekpreacher", joins us once again to discuss spiritual warfare! After introducing Derek (and letting him plug GaryCon), we turn our attention to some important information about fake beards and Fear the Con. Peter and Jenny will be wearing fake beards (ridiculous, nonsensical fake beards, to be clear) to Fear the Con in support of Pat Roper (one of Fear the Boot's hosts) and his ongoing treatment for Stage 3 pancreatic cancer. We also pass on the news of a listener's new game, the KARMA RPG System, funding on IndieGoGo.
With that taken care of, we address a question from Patreon supporter Francisco (of the Retro Rewind Podcast) about our favorite psalms, and any we might have memorized. (Turns out at least half of us really like Psalm 40, either live in concert or from the original album.) Then we settle in on our main topic: Spiritual warfare, in its various forms and interpretations among Christian traditions as well as in our roleplaying games. Derek and Peter both draw heavily from the book Reviving Old Scratch: Demons and Devils for the Disenchanted by Richard Beck for this discussion; likewise, Grant pulls from the PCUSA's "What We Believe" series, specifically this article on the problem of evil.
Also mentioned in this episode: Gustav Davidson's A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels; Mayfair's Role Aids line of RPG supplements; and Daniel Solis's Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple.
Scripture:Genesis 3:13-15, 2 Kings 6:15-17, Luke 8:26-31, Ephesians 6:10-13.