Episode 38: Torture and Interrogation

“Look, I get it. You guys thought that without Chris you could squeeze two topics into one episode. One less host means less talking. Does that sound about right?”
“Uh, yeah. Something like that.”
“There’s just one thing: you guys always knew it would run long! Chris wasn’t the reason episodes ran long in the past. If anything, his ability to kill a conversation kept the episode times down. So, when did you realize he wasn’t the problem, before or after you killed him?”
“Wu-what? We never thought he was a problem.”
“Oh, so you killed him for nothing.”

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Episode 37: Literature Lesson: Lovecrafted

We opin the Month o’ Horror with aower debut Literature Lesson. In this un, we look at H.P. Lovecraft and haow te use ’is queer themes in yer games. Naow, dis Lovecraft feller kin set a body thinkin’, an’ when we git ta thinkin’, we git ta talkin’. Thar’s plenty here ta stir ye up an’ make yer blood tickle. See ef ye kin find aower leetle soorprises fer ye.

Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. I ain’t never heerd nothing like this befer, but ’tis paowerful stuff. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. Naow, don’t that beat all. Queer haow suthin’ gits a holt on ye. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh

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Episode 36: Time for War

War. Huh. Yeah.
What is it good for?

-”War” Edwin Starr

Well, a plus-sized podcast episode for a start.
In this episode, we look at the three stages of war, the buildup, during and the aftermath, and the kinds of stories you can play in them. We also discuss how a focus on technology can make for some pretty intriguing games no matter which era you play in.

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Episode 35: Secrets and Lies

In this episode, we talk about how to best use lying and secrecy in your games.

The secrets of this episode:

  • Wayne’s d100 joke was originally Lyal’s. It was also originally funny.
  • Wayne has never seen Goodfellas, and Lyal has never seen Family Guy. This actually won’t seem like much of a secret after you listen to the episode.
  • Chris initially had a joke where he said the episode was about fantasy. Get it? It was a lie. It’s no secret why this “joke” never made it in.
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Episode 34: Pantheon Pandemonium: Norse Play

Praise not the day until evening has come; praise not a woman until she is burnt; praise not a sword until it is tried; praise not a maiden until she is married; praise not ice until it is crossed; praise not beer until it is drunk; praise a podcast any time. -Norse proverb (well, most of it)

In this episode, we discuss the Norse pantheon. We also uncover startling parallels between the Aesir and a certain American subculture.

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Episode 33: Addicted to Hands

Get your Idle Red Hands fix here. The first taste is free and so is the second taste. Hold on, all tastes are free. We would make really bad drug dealers.

In this episode, we look at addiction. Since we live in a country with extremely harsh drug laws (and darn glad of it, officer), we don’t have a lot of advice for the method role players out there. Instead, we discuss different types of addiction and how to include them in your game.

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Episode 32: Creature Feature: Cyborgs

LIST CREATURE FEATURE: CYBORG PRIME DIRECTIVES

1: DISCUSS CYBORGS, REAL AND FICTIONAL
2: DISCUSS HOW TO USE CYBORGS AS PROTAGONISTS
3: DISCUSS HOW TO USE CYBORGS AS ANTAGONISTS
4: [CLASSIFIED] (I think it has something to do with anime or transsexuals.)

Special Note: The Medal of Honor recipient mentioned in the episode is Leroy Petry. He received the award for his actions during a firefight in Afghanistan.

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DriveThruRPG.com Giveaway

In case you haven’t noticed, Idle Red Hand podcast episodes are now available for download on DriveThruRPG.com. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we’re having our first contest. Ever.

The rules are, like us, quite simple. Anyone who posts on our forums between now and September 10th, 2011, will be awarded a special code for DriveThruRPG that gives them 20% off the purchase any or all of the following titles:

In addition, one lucky poster will receive a copy of Iron Dynasty: Way of the Ronin completely free. Awesome! The prize codes will be awarded on September 11th, 2011, and must be redeemed before September 20th, 2011.

So register for the forums (if you haven’t done so already) and drop us a line. Even if it’s just to say hello.

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Episode 31: Warmachine & Hordes

In this episode, we look at the miniature wargames Warmachine and Hordes. We discuss our first impressions, for Chris and Yujiro, second impressions, for Lyal and Wayne, and whether we’ll play the games again.

If Privateer Press ever gets tired of the motto “Play Like You’ve Got a Pair”, here are a few suggested alternatives in the same spirit:

  • Ladies Need Not Apply
  • Men’s Time!
  • You’ll Die Alone
  • With an Apartment Filled with Miniatures, Dating Is Not Your Priority
  • Play Like It’s the 1950s
  • You’ll Have a Better Chance Meeting Women at Prison Than Across a Wargaming Table
  • Femiwhat?
  • All Sausage All the Time
  • Girls Have Cooties
  • Games Workshop Is for Women (and a lot of Men).
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Episode 30: Hardboiled

Good evening, hepcats, greasers and squares. We got the skinny on playing hardboiled in La La Land in the early ’60s, a land of queens, dreams and inbetweens. Dig Lyal laying on some heavy RPG experiments. Dig Wayne going talk, talk, talk (over Lyal). Dig Chris offering some funky advice.

So, tune in and dig the baaaad vibe we lay down. It’ll be a gas. From the podcast that’s on the record, off the QT and never very hush-hush.

Correction: Elfenland is actually like the travelling salesman problem, not “dilemma”.

Special Note 1: The Ryan and Matt mentioned in the podcast are the forum’s very own Ryan and Matt.

Special Note 2: It’s not mentioned in the episode, but we used the World of Darkness system.

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