A podcast about board games, role playing games and gaming conventions! We bring on game designers, creators, players and game masters to talk about their passion.
Episodes
Tuesday Oct 09, 2018
Tuesday Oct 09, 2018
This week Rich and I talk about an early favorite of our Friday Night streams, Scythe by Stonemaier Games! When we first started our friday night streams we played this game a ton and finally made time to talk about it. Part instruction, part review this episode goes all over the basic board game and talks about the 3 expansions as well.
The thing about this game is that it combines a lot of the things we love from other games, with a dramatic setting that evokes real feelings of strife. The minis are great and I could see using them at the RPG table (ok maybe not the mechs but the heroes definitely).
We snuck in a little give away at the end too, so be on the lookout!
Listen now on:
iTunes GooglePlay Spotify Stitcher
Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:
Facebook @High Shelf Gaming Podcast
Twitter @highshelfgaming
Friday Night Twitch /highshelfgaming
Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN
Tuesday Sep 11, 2018
Tuesday Sep 11, 2018
This week my great friend Phillip joins us to share his newfound love of Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu. Rich and I have played the pandemic series extensively, never this game and Phil is the opposite of us! so lots of good discussion about the game, how it compares to the base editions and a ton of good details on how to get into the Cthulhu lore (Phil is quite the expert)
Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:
Facebook @High Shelf Gaming Podcast
Twitter @highshelfgaming
Friday Night Twitch /highshelfgaming
Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN
Wednesday Sep 05, 2018
Wednesday Sep 05, 2018
This week we continue our talk with Cody Pondsmith from R. Talsorian games who just designed and published the tabletop RPG of The Witcher, based on the video game series by CD Projekt Red. The co-creative projects between these two companies have been a favorite topic around here at High Shelf Gaming. Getting to talk with Cody covering so much material has been a real treat for us.
This episode covers much of the lethality in the system, some mechanics discussion and reasoning behind those rules along with some future expectation for the product line. Lastly, we get into some fun stories about the trials of being a GM.
We don't talk about it in the episode but Cody and the rest of the development team have been doing an absolute ton of Q&A discussion with the community. Every week they post several Q&A threads detailing different aspects of the game and updating errata as necessary.
Catch R. Talsorian Games and the TRPG Witcher Community here:
TRPG Witcher Facebook group
TRPG Subreddit
Listen now on:
iTunes GooglePlay Spotify Stitcher
Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:
Facebook @High Shelf Gaming Podcast
Twitter @highshelfgaming
Friday Night Twitch /highshelfgaming
Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN
Tuesday Aug 28, 2018
Tuesday Aug 28, 2018
This week we're joined by Cody Pondsmith from R. Talsorian games who just designed and published the tabletop RPG of The Witcher, based on the video game series by CD Projekt Red. The co-creative projects between these two companies have been a favorite topic around here at High Shelf Gaming. Getting to talk with Cody covering so much material has been a real treat for us.
This episode covers much of the genesis of the game, their process for putting it together and the depth that Lisa and Cody Pondsmith went through to get it right from a lore perspective. Impressive effort on their part. I don't think another studio would have contributed so much to the lore of another product in such a responsible way as they have. Already their product is credited with confirming several rumors about Witcher Schools other than the one which gave rise to Geralt.
We don't talk about it in the episode but Cody and the rest of the development team have been doing an absolute ton of Q&A discussion with the community. Every week they post several Q&A threads detailing different aspects of the game and updating errata as necessary.
Catch R. Talsorian Games and the TRPG Witcher Community here:
TRPG Witcher Facebook group
TRPG Subreddit
Listen now on:
iTunes GooglePlay Spotify Stitcher
Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:
Facebook @High Shelf Gaming Podcast
Twitter @highshelfgaming
Friday Night Twitch /highshelfgaming
Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN
Friday Aug 17, 2018
Friday Aug 17, 2018
This week Rich and I recap our best GenCon yet! we played several great games but more importantly had a ton of really great moments with other creators, fans of the show, and some special celebrity interactions that really couldn't happen anywhere else but GenCon.
What we got up to
- D&D 1st Edition
- Fireball Island
- Super Robo Rally!
- Eclipse Phase 2nd Edition (beta testing)
- Rising Sun
- True Dungeon N2 & N3
- We met Joe Manganiello
- And Met Mike, Lisa, and Cody Pondsmith (of Cyberpunk 2020 / Witcher RPG Fame)
And of course an excellent Gen Con Meetup with the High shelf gaming family
Special thanks to Amy and Paul for taking such great care of the HSG family, you rock! Hugo and Fernando for finding us and spending so much time talking games with us at the show. And of course Dicks Last Resort for providing us with tons of giveaways and gift-cards for our fans and the GenCon community at large!
Listen now on:
iTunes GooglePlay Spotify Stitcher
Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:
Facebook @High Shelf Gaming Podcast
Twitter @highshelfgaming
Friday Night Twitch /highshelfgaming
Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN
Monday Aug 06, 2018
Monday Aug 06, 2018
Rich and I take this week to talk about a game Rich loves that's going away soon. We just got back from Gen Con 2018 (Episodes are coming!) but for this week we wanted to just bask in the memory and fun this game provides Rich and his family.
Uplifting Bonus! he has an awesome idea on how to hack this card game into the likes of Cyberpunk 2020 / Shadowrun. We'll be spending some time in the coming months working out the kinks and when we're ready we'll roll out the system hacks for everyone to see.
Listen now on:
iTunes GooglePlay Spotify Stitcher
Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:
Facebook @High Shelf Gaming Podcast
Twitter @highshelfgaming
Friday Night Twitch /highshelfgaming
Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN
Monday Jul 30, 2018
Monday Jul 30, 2018
This week Mike returns to talk with Rich and me about Cyberpunk 2077/2020's primary location: Night City!
We had to come back to talk about the history of the city, take a safari and discuss the local wildlife... Gangs, Corps, and of course the Combat Zone. We also talk DM tips for finding great floorplans for any combat scenes you want to put together.
Mike talked about this Soviet-era abandoned airbase which he uses regularly to inspire firefight terrain.
RPG books worth picking up (affiliate links):
- Night City sourcebook full of general city knowledge good for folks hungry for details of what might be in Cyberpunk 2077
- Cyberpunk 2020 game system
- Chrome books 1 & 2 Gear
- Chrome books 3 & 4 More Gear
Listen now on:
iTunes GooglePlay Spotify Stitcher
Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:
Facebook @High Shelf Gaming Podcast
Twitter @highshelfgaming
Friday Night Twitch /highshelfgaming
Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN
Tuesday Jul 10, 2018
Tuesday Jul 10, 2018
Heather (@kratrina) returns to tell Rich and me all about Shadowrun 5th Edition (affiliate link)! This is such a large game to unpack. We just scratch the surface and provide an introduction to the game and setting. We'll be revisiting this game to dive deeper into the storyline and system.
Bonus towards the end: Heist sessions can involve a ton of planning, where characters figure out how to do the heist. If your game struggles to fit all that planning time in at the table and still do the heist, this rule hack from HSG can help! It serves to make the heist more cinematic, and encourage improvisation and adaptability from the players and GM.
Listen now on:
iTunes GooglePlay Spotify Stitcher
Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:
Facebook @High Shelf Gaming Podcast
Twitter @highshelfgaming
Friday Night Twitch /highshelfgaming
Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN
Tuesday Jul 03, 2018
Tuesday Jul 03, 2018
This week Al comes back to chat about his and Rich's time at Origins Game Fair, and their experiences with the upcoming playtest for Pathfinder 2nd Edition! This episode is packed full of system detail and commentary about what they gleaned from a short 2-hour game.
Quick plug for Glass Cannon Podcast, Al had listened to part of their series on Pathfinder 2e and shared some tidbits from their own research. Great guys! give them a listen.
We talk about the Tripple action economy, 3 Phases of gameplay, Death and Dying, and so much more
Listen now on:
iTunes GooglePlay Spotify Stitcher
Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:
Facebook @High Shelf Gaming Podcast
Twitter @highshelfgaming
Friday Night Twitch /highshelfgaming
Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN
Monday Jun 25, 2018
Monday Jun 25, 2018
This week Mike returns to talk about Cyberpunk 2020, a roleplaying game from the 90s and how it influences the upcoming PC game Cyberpunk 2077. We talk about the system a bit, how lethal it is. Mostly we focus on the setting, Night City, and about how that's likely to be present in Cyberpunk 2077. We're super excited about this project from CD Projekt Red. If you're as excited as we are about the game and want to try your hand at the pen and paper RPG we've got lots of resources in the episode about how to sink your teeth into this game and setting.
RPG books worth picking up (affiliate links):
Night City sourcebook full of general city knowledge good for folks hungry for details of what might be in Cyberpunk 2077
Chrome books 1 & 2 Gear
Chrome books 3 & 4 More Gear
Listen now on:
iTunes GooglePlay Spotify Stitcher
Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:
Facebook @High Shelf Gaming Podcast
Twitter @highshelfgaming
Friday Night Twitch /highshelfgaming
Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN