Sat, 25 December 2010
This episode continues the Discussion of our Dresden Files game. We talk about running larger fights and the FATE point economy. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher |
Fri, 17 December 2010
This episode we continue discussing our Dresden Files game. We talk about integrating new players and characters to the group, compels from the player's perspective, and managing opposition as the GM. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions The Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher |
Fri, 10 December 2010
This week we resume the discussion of our Dresden Files RPG game. We talk about interacting with canon characters, the PC's relationships with each other, the compel mechanic. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions The Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher |
Fri, 3 December 2010
This week we continue the discussion of our Gamma World game. We talk about the Alpha Mutation and Omega Tech cards, the overall difficulty level, and what might be done if we were going to have some longer term play with the game. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will |
Sun, 28 November 2010
This episode is the first of a two part series on the new 4e Gamma World game from Wizards of the Coast. We discuss the games use of the 4e rule set, character creation, and running the game from a published module. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will |
Sun, 7 November 2010
This week we take a break from our Dresden Files game to play Fiasco from Bully Pulpit Games. We talk about how the game emulates the genre it was inspired, by creating characters, and how the game's structure replaces the GM. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will Fiasco from Bully Pulpit Games The New York 1913 play set we used |
Sun, 17 October 2010
This week we continue our Dresden Files RPG series. We discuss, the game usefulness as a tool to create Dresden Files stories, teamwork in the game, and Jesse's process for creating the scenario we just played. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions The Walking Eye podcast The Golden Geek Awards at Board Game Geek The RPG Chill |
Sun, 10 October 2010
In this episode we continue the discussion of our Dresden Files game. We talk about the magic system, the or of concessions, and what it's like to run a game in the Dresdenverse. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions The Walking Eye podcast |
Sun, 26 September 2010
This episode we continue discussing our Dresden Files game. We talk about, Aspect, our first impressions as players, and the GM's first experience running a FATE game. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions The Walking Eye podcast |
Sun, 19 September 2010
In this episode we continue our series on the Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions. This week we cover character creation. We talk about the process for creating characters, how we decided on our characters, and how the GM takes the characters the players made and comes up with a game. If you are interested in listening to a recording of people going through the character creation process, check out our friends over at The Walking Eye Podcast. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions
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Sun, 12 September 2010
We're back! This episode begins a series on The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions, and based on the Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher. In this episode we talk about the city creation process. If you are interested in listening to a recording of people going through the city creation process, check out our friends over at The Walking Eye Podcast. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions |
Fri, 13 August 2010
Do to some unforeseen scheduling conflicts, Actual People, Actual Play will be going on hiatus for next one to four weeks. After things settle down we begin playing The Dresden Files RPG. The currant plan is to play Dresden for an extended period of time and take breaks from that game every few sessions to play a one shot of something else.
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Sun, 1 August 2010
This week we discuss Lady Blackbird from One Seven Design Studios. Lady Blackbird is science fiction fantasy game, sort of a cross between Firefly and Final Fantasy. We talk about the game's somewhat unique nature, the role keys play during play, and how the GM constructs the scenario from the framework provided. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will |
Sun, 25 July 2010
The week we revisit The Drifter's Escape from, TAO Games, but with a twist. We modified the rules to play Doctor Who. We talk about how we adapted the rules to play Doctor Who, playing in an setting with established canon, and the challenges of keeping focused on the companion when The Doctor is such a dominate character. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com |
Sun, 18 July 2010
This week we discuss UnSeakable, a Lovecraftian rules variant for the InSpectres roleplaying came. We talk about how effective this rules variant is for creating Lovecraft inspired stories, the differences between UnSpeakable and core InSpectres, and the GM's role when a significant amount of narrative authority is invested in the players. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will |
Sun, 11 July 2010
This is the final episode in our series on Dirty Secrets. We discuss the game's novel format, how the story is wrapped up once the perpetrators are determined, and strategies for moving the whiteness around the grid. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Wikipedia entry on Hardboiled detective novels. |
Sun, 4 July 2010
This episode is part three of our series on Dirty Secrets, This week we played the first half of the game's novel format. We discuss how race figures into the game, the role of violence, and the role of Reflection and Revelation scenes. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Wikipedia entry on Hardboiled detective novels. |
Sun, 27 June 2010
This week we continue our Dirty Secrets series. We talk about Dirty Secrets' default setting, the short story mode of play, and using persistent characters over several session of Dirty Secrets play. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Wikipedia entry on Hardboiled detective novels. |
Sun, 20 June 2010
This episode begins a series on Dirty Secrets, a game of hardboiled noir detective fiction from Dark Omen Games. We talk about how well Dirty Secrets emulates this genre of fiction, the unique complications that can arise if children are included as characters, and since it's a "GMless" we talk about how the game's structure replaces the role of GM. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Wikipedia entry on Hardboiled detective novels. |
Sun, 13 June 2010
On this episode we talk about the Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions. Two special guests, Paul Tevis and Ryan Macklin, join us this week as we discuss how the Dresden Files RPG allows players to play characters with varying amounts of supernatural power without having lower powered characters out classed by the more powerful ones. We also talk about the process for creating characters. Finally, we talk about challenges and techniques for running the game in a convention setting. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The Dresden Files RPG from Evil Hat Productions Paul Tevis Podcaster Emeritus Ryan Macklin, from the Internet |
Sun, 6 June 2010
On this episode we talk about The Drifter's Escape from TAO Games. We discuss the game's rules for situation creation, the roles deals and demands play, and the game's unique GM-Player structure. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com |
Wed, 2 June 2010
Once again we had more to say about a game than would fit into the episodes we did for it. On this bonus episode we talk about where our game went wrong and answer some questions from one of our listeners. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will Diaspora Hard Science-Fiction Roleplaying With FATE The Object of the Game on Jesse's blog, Play Passionately |
Sun, 30 May 2010
This episode is the last in our series on Diaspora. We talk about the role of Fate, strengths and weaknesses of the minigames, and the rules text. We mention a lot of frustrations and criticism we had Diaspora this episode. However, this is not a negative review. We all really liked Diaspora, but it is not without its flaws. Don't let that stop you from playing it though. It's a great game. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will Diaspora Hard Science-Fiction Roleplaying With FATE |
Sun, 23 May 2010
This week, we continue our series on Diaspora. We talk about aspects, space combat, and hour our game unexpectedly became one of politics and intrigue. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The 2010 RPG Podcast Listener Survey Diaspora Hard Science-Fiction Roleplaying With FATE |
Sun, 16 May 2010
This episode we continue our series on Diaspora. This session we discuss the Personal and Social Combat mini games and what excited us about playing Diaspora. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The 2010 RPG Podcast Listener Survey Diaspora Hard Science-Fiction Roleplaying With FATE Post any Diaspora questions you have for us here. The venerable Traveller RPG Shock: Social Science Fiction Bed Time the episode of Coupling Will mentioned |
Sun, 9 May 2010
With this episode, we begin a series on the hard science fiction game, Diaspora, from VSCA Publishing. On this episode we discuss Cluster Creation, Character Creation, and how a GM can keep track of all the aspects generated in Diaspora. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will The 2010 RPG Podcast Listener Survey Diaspora Hard Science-Fiction Roleplaying With FATE Post any Diaspora questions you have for us here. The venerable Traveller RPG |
Sun, 2 May 2010
On this episode we discuss the Japanese roleplaying game Maid. We talk about the game's extensive use of random tables, the favor/stress economy, and the controversy surrounding the games sexual content. This episode was recorded at the campsite for Nerdly Beach Party in San Simeon State Park. As a result there is some background noise from the campgrounds and wind. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will Maid the Roleplaying Game |
Sun, 25 April 2010
In this episode we wrap up the discussion of our Grey Ranks game. The recap runs a little longer than usual for this episode. Those of you who are not interested in this part of the show may want to skip ahead to 9 minutes 26 seconds into the episode. After the recap, we revisit the topic of playing in a historical setting, this time with the consideration that people who participated in the events are still living. Next we talk about the role mission and personal scenes play in telling your character's story. Lastly, we ask Laura about being the only girl playing in a game with strong themes of love and romance. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will |
Sun, 18 April 2010
On this episode we continue the discussion of our Grey Ranks game. We talk about Lines and Veils, the games "Thing You Hold Dear" mechanic, and singling players out after missions. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will Grey Ranks from Bully Pulpit Games Meguey Baker's article on I Will Not Abandon You versus Nobody Gets Hurt play |
Sun, 11 April 2010
This episode begins a three part series on Grey Ranks from Bully Pulpit Games. Grey Ranks is a game about teenagers taking part in the Warsaw uprising in 1944. We talk about the appeal of playing this game, the nuts and bolts of how scenes work, and our standard GMless question of how the game mechanically fills the GM's role. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will Grey Ranks from Bully Pulpit Games |
Sun, 4 April 2010
On this episode we discuss Zombie Cinema from Arkenstone Publishing. We talk about the roll of zombies in films and the game, what you need to do for your character to escape the undead hordes, and, like all GMless games, we talk about how the game system fills the role of GM. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will Zombie Cinema from Akenstone Publishing |
Wed, 31 March 2010
After wrapping up our Burning Empires game, we still had a couple questions from some listeners and some other things we wanted to talk about. So, we sat down and recorded this bonus episode. It doesn't follow our regular format. There is no fiction recap and the discussion is a little less focused on the system. Sunday we will return with another regular episode. Sunday's episode will be on Zombie Cinema. We will begin our run of Grey Ranks episodes the following week. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will This Modern Death podcast |
Sun, 28 March 2010
On this episode we cover the last session of our Burning Empires Game. We talk how the constraints place ply by the scene economy impact creativity, whether or not we are satisfied with our characters story arc, and whether or not the game can still be fun once defeat becomes certain. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com |
Sun, 21 March 2010
This episode we return to the discussion of our Burning Empires game. We revisit the topic of beliefs. Specifically, we talk about why fewer beliefs have been resolved in recent sessions. We take another look at the firefight system and share some frustrations we have had with it. Finally, we discuss the GM's job of setting stakes and failure conditions. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com |
Sun, 14 March 2010
This week we had to take another break from our Burning Empires game, due to a player absence. Laura, Jesse, Patrick, and Will got together and played a game of Montsegur 1244. We talk about playing within the constraints of real historical events, playing with a set cast of characters and their built in relationships and situation, finally we cover our standard topic for GMless games; who does the game fill the GM's role systematically. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will Montsegur 1244 from Thoughtful Games In this AP thread on Story Games, I give a more thorough breakdown of the different games that emerge during play. Here are the pictures of the ruins and surrounding area I printed out to show the group. After recording this episode we did some further research and learned the ruins there today are not from the time of the Cathars, but these photos still help give a picture of what they went through. |
Sun, 7 March 2010
This episode we continue the discussion of our Burning Empires game. We kicked off the invasion phase and the we contrast the start of this phase with the beginning of infiltration, downtime and the practice rules, and some options the GM has available to him concerning his FoN and skills needed. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com |
Sun, 28 February 2010
In this episode we continue the discussion of our Burning Empires game. We wrapped up the infiltration phase and did a trait vote. We talk about the way the trait vote is supposed to work, what we changed, and why we changed it. We then discuss the need for your side to initiate a conflict when you choose certain maneuvers, and the impact that has on play during the maneuver. After that we take a look back at the infiltration phase from the GM's perspective. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com |
Sun, 21 February 2010
This week we are joined by Christopher Kubasik and Patrick Pilati, so we have the whole Burning Empires crew together to discuss the game. We talk about the Artha cycle and the role beliefs play in Burning Empires, the need to engage the game as a game i.e. playing to win, and Jesse's experience running other games after having spent time running Burning Empires. This episode is a little longer than normal. We had a lot to say on these topics. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will Check out Christopher's blog Play Sorcerer
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Sun, 14 February 2010
This week we took another break from our Burning Empires game because of scheduling conflict. Jesse, Laura, Patrick, and Will played a game of Serial Homicide Unit from Incarnadine Press. We talk about the game's unique presentation, how juggling multiple roles influences plays, and the type of experience the game produces. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter Laura, Jesse, and Will Serial Homicide Unit at Incarnadine Press
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Sun, 7 February 2010
Again, we continue the discussion of our Burning Empires game. This week, we discuss relationship between the characters' stories and the planet wide Vaylen infection story. We revisit the scene economy, this time with an emphasis on pacing. Finally, we talk about the rule for GM characters getting helping dice in the infection mechanic. Links: Actual People, Actual Play forum at Spooky Outhouse Productions Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com |
Sun, 31 January 2010
This week we continue the discussion of our Burning Empires game. We talk about our use of the scene economy, the scope of scenes, and what is and is not appropriate to accomplish with scene verses maneuver intent. We also revisit the Firefight and Duel of Wits subsystems, where we talk about our growing familiarity with Burning Empires' various moving parts. Finally we cover the loss of the Vaylen FoN, Garret Smiley and what that means for the GM Links: Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com |
Sun, 24 January 2010
This week we return to the discussion of our Burning Empires campaign. We talk about how beliefs change during play as well as their mechanical and fictional effects, the Psychic Duel subsystem, and our experiences with the scene economy.
Links: Email the show at actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com You can Follow Will on Twitter @Will_H_ You can Follow Laura on Twitter @LauraBishop You can Follow Jesse on Twitter @jburneko Burning Wheel HQ |
Sun, 17 January 2010
Due to some player absences, we took a break from our usual Burning Empires game. Jesse, Laura, and Will sat down to play a session of The Shab-al-Hiri Roach. We discuss our love for the roach, the different feel the game has when played with only three people, and the nature of GMless games.
Links: Email the show: actualpeopleactualplay@gmail.com The Shab-al-Hiri Roach Grey Ranks Zombie Cinema |
Sun, 10 January 2010
In this Episode we continue the discussion of our ongoing Burning Empires game, specifically our first session of maneuvers in the Infection Phase. We cover our experience with Burning Empires' learning curve, Duels of Wits, and Fire Fights.
We have settled into our format of summary of fiction, general discussion, player focused discussion, and finally GM focused discussion. This episode runs for 31 minutes. Our target length for the show is 30 minutes, so you should expect most future episodes to be approximately the same length. A slight word of warning, I had to remove some noise during the first couple minutes of this episode. A side affect of doing this is the audio is slightly distorted during that time. The audio clears up after minute two. Links: Burning Wheel HQ Mouseguard RPG Picture of the custom Burning Empires Dice I had made for the group. |
Sun, 3 January 2010
In this first Episode we discuss the processes of world burning and character burning for our upcoming Burning Empires campaign.
Things mentioned on the show: Burning Empires Burning Wheel Mouseguard RPG |

