AGC News May 15th 2011 (46:26)

With Mark, Carol, and Mags. RIP M.A.R. Barker. Court defeats "Amazon Tax" law. A battle of distributors. GenCon's 2012 charity! A mass market edition of Dixit! Once Upon A Time 3rd Edition! Tsuro of the Seas! Mage Wars plans. Lord of the Rings Card Game Hobbit expansions. Mayfair TV ads! SLA Industries on the way to the silver screen? Over The Edge system going OGL! Signal Fire releases. Rise of the Underdark. Star Wars X-Wing! Ogre 6th Edition crushes Kickstarter! The softening of Cthulhu.


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Show links
M.A.R. Barker (Wikipedia)
Once Upon A Time (Atlas Games)
Tsuro (Calliope Games)
WaRP System (Atlas Games)
Ogre 6th Edition (Steve Jackson Games/Kickstarter)

RPG Buffet 26 (Cat) (27:21)

In an last-minute emergency change of game for April, Mags ran John Wick's Cat RPG for Kae, John, Steve, and Layne! Plus, wine tasting, folks (stay after for Layne's reviews)!

No specific recipe as such for April, because circumstances didn't really allow us to cook. So the Buffet decided on a tapas approach, with Mags bringing chicken salad, quinoa salad, crackers, and a sandwich platter from CostCo, John providing cheeses and wine, Layne provided assorted chocolates and wine, Steve bringing wine and fresh fruit, and Kae bringing fresh veggie platters and soda.

You can see our recommendations for a wine-and-cheese supper in the show notes from AGC Episode 54 in June 2007. If you're interested in how we Louisvillians approach finger sandwiches, take a look at this recipe for a local favorite: Benedictine spread.


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Cat (John Wick Presents...)

RPG Podcast Listener Survey

The 2012 RPG Podcast Listener Survey is up and available. It's your opportunity to help us take the pulse of the podcastosphere :). Check it out here: 2012 RPG Podcast Listener Survey and thanks for listening!

AGC 163 April 30th 2012 (ConGlomeration 2012) (41:52)

With Mark Kinney and Carol, and our special ConGlomeration 2012 guests Carinn Seabolt and Sean Patrick Fannon (Gaming Guests of Honor) and Michael Williams (Author Guest of Honor). Michael Williams answers our tradtional first question (writing DragonLance novels and working with Pacesetter). The Dragonlance experience, his other work, gaming in education, and Mark has to ask about Pacesetter. Moving over to Sean and Carinn: DriveThruRPG developments and Print on Demand. Silvermeet Studios. Shaintar: Legends Arise and Shaintar: Legends Unleashed, and the Shaintar fantasy setting in general. Audience questions: Writing to electronic formats? Other media?


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Show links
Blackwyrm Publishing (Trajan's Arch, Vine)
DriveThruRPG
Silvermeet Studios
Reality Blurs (Shaintar)
Pinnacle Entertainment Group Forums


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Promos
Game Knights podcast

RPG Buffet 24 (QAGS Actual Play)

Yes, we know it's out of order, and technically not actually a podcast. We did, however, promise an actual play of Hex Games' QAGS, and here it is, the RPG Buffet's run by Hex Games' Colin Thomas. Mags made this episode 24, so that's why it is how it is. I encoded it as a nearly 120 megabyte mp3, and now it's available to those who dig the actual play and/or wanted to see how QAGS works!

You'll find the link to the file over in the Additional Content section of the All Games Considered site. Enjoy!

RPG Buffet 25 (Eclipse Phase) (12:56)

Note that Episode 24 is the soon-to-be-made available actual play file of the QAGS game from episode 23! That's why this is episode 25.

Brandon ran Eclipse Phase for the RPG Buffet, as discussed by Mags, Brandon, John, and Louis!

In belated honor of Saint Patrick's Day, the RPG Buffet decided to prepare Corned Beef & Cabbage for supper. Misty is the Buffet's Keeper of the Pressure Cooker, and prepared the meal using this recipe from Miss Vickie's Guide to Modern Pressure Cookery:

Corned Beef with all the Fixings

Step One: The Meat
A corned beef brisket with the spice packet, choose either a flat or point cut, allowing at least 1/3 lb, or a more generous 1/2 lb, per serving
3 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
include the seasoning pkt, or a make a suitable spice blend
16 ounces of a stout or a similar full-flavored beer, or other combinations flavoring liquids such as beef broth or wine with water

Discard the packing brine and rinse the meat well, trimming off any visible fat. Lay the meat with the fattiest side up on the cooking rack in the bottom of the pressure cooker. Add spices and the flavoring liquid, and enough cold water to just cover the meat.

Lock the lid in place. Bring to 15psi over high heat, immediately reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting to stabilize and maintain that pressure. Cook 50 minutes. Remove from heat and use the natural release method before opening the lid. A corned beef will have a natural pinkish-red color after cooking. This does not mean it isn't done. Nitrite is used in the curing process and this fixes the pigment in the meat and gives it the distinctive color. Transfer the meat to a cutting board and cover it with foil and a folded towel and let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. This allows the meat to absorb its natural liquids, and it will continue to cook itself at the same time.

Test for doneness; the meat should be "fork-tender", meaning that a fork goes through it like its soft butter. If you can easily pull up a sliver of meat with a fork, it is a good indication of doneness. The internal temperature should be at least 160°F. If necessary, return to pressure for an additional 10 minutes and repeat the natural release, but do not overcook or your corned beef will be dry and stringy.

Step Two: The Vegetables

While the meat is resting, its time to cook the vegetables. Include at least 1lb of assorted vegetables per serving, increase as you like to add variety, stretch your budget, and for planned leftovers. Choose from a variety of root vegetables like carrots and parsnips, red or white boiling potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, boiling or yellow onions. Cut the pieces to a similar size -- I like hefty 2 inch chunks -- so they cook uniformly.

Use any variety of cabbage cut into thick 2-3 inch wedges, or use Kale or Brussels sprouts instead.

You can also add any type of cut hard winter squash, sweet potatoes, or any other veggies your family likes.

Discard all but 1 cup of the cooking broth. Place the cut root vegetables in a large steamer if you have one. Alternately, just put the cooking rack in the pressure cooker and add the cut root vegetables. If your pressure cooker is large enough, add the cabbage wedges on top of the cut root vegetables. Lock the lid in place. Bring to 15psi over high heat, immediately reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting to stabilize and maintain that pressure. Cook 4 minutes. Remove from heat and use the quick or cold water release method before opening the lid. Using a slotted spoon, remove vegetables from pressure cooker and put the root vegetables and cabbage in separate serving bowls.

Alternatively, steam the cabbage separately using a second pressure cooker, or wait and cook them after the root vegetables are done. You can also steam cabbage wedges in a covered regular pot in about 15 minutes.


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Eclipse Phase (Posthuman Studios)

AGC 162 March 20th 2012 (Dear Gamemaster) (55:01)

With Carol and Mags. Missing someone? The girls conspire over sushi. Carol gets a Buffet lunch franchise. The Buffet's upcoming games. Carol gets Pan's Labyrinth. Just in time for Valentine's Day, the ladies ponder character sheets as love letters to the GM. Comments about character backstory. Life doesn't start at the tavern. The evolution of character sheets. Respecting the gamemaster's time--give an executive summary, not a novella. Layne likes to give the GM rope. How ignorance, normalcy, and downtime can inspire adventures. How do you decide PCs need a sense of normalcy? Dealing with Mary Sue-ism in characters. GMs love connections to the other PCs. It's not just the GM's story. Don't make the GM do too much homework. Another comment from Facebook. Explaining Mary Sue-ism in detail. Lesbian stripper ninjas who try to get the game to revolve around them. Every character should get a moment to shine. Raiding Mags's bookshelf: QAGS, Cold City, Blowback, and what each game does to encourage players in giving info to the GM. Email us your suggestions! Listener feedback. Also, any content creators who worked for the now-defunct Guardians of Order should contact Steve Wieck at DriveThruRPG.


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Show links
Executive Summary (Wikipedia)
Birka (Wikipedia)
The Dresden Files RPG (Evil Hat Productions)
Mary Sue (Wikipedia)
"A Trekkie's Tale", by Paula Smith (the story that gave us the term "Mary Sue")
QAGS 2nd Edition (Hex Games)
Cold City (Contested Ground Studios)
Mags's reading review of Cold City
RPG Buffet playtest review of Cold City
Blowback RPG
Contact forms for Steve Wieck at OneBookShelf (which owns DriveThruRPG.com)


Be sure to check out Gamerati!


AGC's DriveThruRPG Picks for this episode!
Mags & Carol:Strange Dead Love (White Wolf)


Promos
Rolling 20s
BaltiCon Podcast
Game Knights podcast
Solid Symbols

AGC News March 16th 2011 (26:47)

With Mark, Carol, and Mags. Hobby game growth! Purple Pawn survey! Creative Play charity event coming in April. Barnes and Noble growth. Some glances at how games are doing. Yu-Gi-Oh! suit settled. Marvel Super Hero Squad TCG coming. Steve Jackson Games doubles down on dice games! Killer Bunnies! Dixit: Journey. Cryptozoic keeps on rolling... Talk of top five RPGS. Dungeon Crawl Classics release coming! Dystopian Wars. The 2012 Windhammer Prize is coming! An Ascension Proposal...


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Show links
Purple Pawn Game Industry Survey Report (pdf)
Creative Play Project
Chronicles of Arborell
Windhammer Prize (Arborell)
An Ascension Proposal
The Proposal (Youtube)