High Shelf Gaming Podcast

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Twitter @highshelfgaming

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Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN

Thursday Jan 16, 2020

HSG103: 2019 BGG Con Wrap-Up [8 games reviewed]

Thursday Jan 16, 2020

Rich and David review the new location for Board Game Geek Con, in Downtown Dallas and 8 boardgames rich got to play at the show. Having left the DFW airport, BGG Con has followed in the footsteps of some incredible DFW based cons such as A-Kon and Anime-Fest which now see much larger attendance numbers. But with that growth came some growing pains. Rich sites a few of them along with the benefit of being closer to better food options and the rest of what Dallas has to offer.

We cover several games!
Masmorra Dungeons of Arcadia
First Martians
Homeworld by Looney Labs
Spynet by Z-man Games & Richard Garfield
Shobu
Cretaceous Rails (proto-alley)
Lucidity
Too Many Bones

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Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea

Twitter @highshelfgaming

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Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN

Wednesday Jan 08, 2020

HSG102: Old School Revival RPGs with Luke the Goon

Wednesday Jan 08, 2020

Luke the Goon from the Dark Future podcast joins us to talk about his second gaming passion, OSR RPGs! or Old School Revival Role-Playing Games. Luke brings a ton of experience with these games and some great input on what games to will get you started. Come on and dive into the nostalgic reboots of D&D.

Mentioned in this episode:
basicfantasy.org

Black Hack RPG

[free] White Box - Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game

TenkarsTavern.com

You can find Luke and his Dark Future here:
Twitter
YouTube
Blog
Podcast
Cyberpunk Discord (which we founded together along with JonJonthewise)

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Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:

Twitter @highshelfgaming

Twitch /highshelfgaming

Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN

Monday Dec 30, 2019

HSG101: Gen Con Survival Guide: Food and Drink [Refreshed]

Monday Dec 30, 2019

HSG returns to Gen Con Food and Drink in and around the convention center. We add more tips and advice from our first attempt in 2017, and make sure to talk about places that are still open! 2017's guide was great but it mentions a few places that have since closed down. Rich and David walk you through the most likely places to find food, and some tips on what you can do to get better food options with a tiny bit of effort. One point we don't say enough in the episode is stay hydrated. Gen Con's wonderful air conditioning and all the walking is going to dry you out. We recommend getting a little flat-pack water bladder just to keep your head cleared while you play in the world's best games and tournaments.

As always we love feedback and more food suggestions. be sure to leave comments on Facebook or twitter, wherever the discussion is.

Lastly - we are running a giveaway! contest winners will get a bundle of goods!
We will be accepting submissions from December 23rd, 2019 through January 10th, 2020.

Contest details: To enter simply go to Facebook or Twitter and tell your friends and followers about your favorite HSG episode! Maybe tell them a bit about why you like that episode. Tag us so we see it. 1 entry per human. After January 10th we will gather all the submissions and roll a die to figure out who our two winners will be!

#2 - You will also get beta access to Legend Keeper + something special from Rich (details in the episode)

Huge thank you goes to R. Talsorian Games for their continuous boosting of our show on social media and sponsoring this episode. We are all pumped for what 2020 will mean for RTG.

Also, we want to thank Legend Keeper for kicking off an ongoing sponsorship of HSG staring now with 2 give away licenses! We'll be giving away more of these in the future, we're so excited for this relationship and the success of LK.

Listen on:

Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:

Twitter @highshelfgaming

Twitch /highshelfgaming

Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN

Monday Dec 23, 2019

HSG100: 100th Episode! [giveaways inside]

Monday Dec 23, 2019

We can hardly believe we've made 100 MP3 files in just over 2 years. High Shelf Gaming has been a fantastic passion project during this time so we wanted to celebrate for a bit during the holidays. There are giveaways inside this episode! Two lucky winners will get a bundle of awesome!

We will be accepting submissions from December 23rd, 2019 (today) through January 10th, 2020.

#1 - You will get a copy of the Cyberpunk Red Jump Start Kit! (US winners get a physical copy, international sorry but we hope the .PDFs will suffice) + Beta access to Legend Keeper a tool that helps you track your imaginary world, RPG campaign, or write your next fantasy or sci-fi novel. It effectively combines Google Maps with Wikipedia just for your projects. + something special from Rich (details in the episode).

#2 - You will also get beta access to Legend Keeper + something special from Rich (details in the episode)

Huge thank you goes to R. Talsorian Games for their continuous boosting of our show on social media and sponsoring this episode. We are all pumped for what 2020 will mean for RTG.

Also, we want to thank Legend Keeper for kicking off an ongoing sponsorship of HSG staring now with 2 give away licenses! We'll be giving away more of these in the future, we're so excited for this relationship and the success of LK.

Listen on:

Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:

Twitter @highshelfgaming

Twitch /highshelfgaming

Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN

Monday Dec 16, 2019

HSG99: Gen Con Survival Guide: Registration [Refreshed]

Monday Dec 16, 2019

HSG takes on Gen Con Event Registration to add more tips and advice from our first attempt in 2017. Rich and David break down strategies for groups of gamers who can pool their effort and are comfortable paying each other back for events registered. We cover solo attendees and some good suggestions there and give some insights into how Event Organizers are measured by Gen Con. Also, we talk about the things you can do without registering, there are tons of ways to enjoy Gen Con without booking every second of your time.

Not mentioned in this episode, which we should have, try not to over-book your Gen Con. Leave time in there for food, socializing, walking the dealer hall. If you have back to back events all convention long you will be exhausted by the end of it.

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Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:

Twitter @highshelfgaming

Twitch /highshelfgaming

Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN

Wednesday Dec 11, 2019

HSG98: Gen Con Survival Guide: Running Your Own Event [Refreshed]

Wednesday Dec 11, 2019

Running events at Gen Con is one of the most rewarding things we do every year. Last year, we went bigger than ever and plan to grow again in 2020. This episode shares the lessons High Shelf Gaming has learned over the years to help individuals and groups of event organizers have a successful con!

Rich and David have been running events at Gen Con and other conventions for years, so this is a blending of not only Gen Con-specific knowledge but also general convention gaming prep. We also sneak in some pro tips for players too, so if you attend Gen Con or one of the larger conventions there are some kernels of wisdom here for you.

High Shelf Gaming will run events at Gen Con. If you want to join us as a GM or play in our games, be sure to join the HSG Facebook group and Discord where we organize all those efforts. We have many independent contributors and folks from other podcasts and channels who team up to make for an awesome group of games. This all helps us pool our efforts to earn badges and hotel reimbursement from Gen Con, which is a big deal!

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Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:

Twitter @highshelfgaming

Twitch /highshelfgaming

Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN

Wednesday Dec 04, 2019

HSG97: Gen Con Survival Guide: Housing [Refreshed]

Wednesday Dec 04, 2019

The Gen Con Survival Guide series that launched HSG has aged a bit and changes have hit Gen Con and Indy. Meaning, we need to remake this series and update it with current tips and suggestions.

In this episode, David and Rich talk all about housing for Gen Con. We cover the housing portal and how it behaves leading up to the con when rooms will suddenly become available. HSG discusses how to stack the odds in your favor as well as contingency plans with places like Airbnb, VRBO, and some…err creative solutions for when the portal doesn’t go well.

Episode Correction: We talk about changing and canceling rooms in the housing portal. Changing rooms is free, canceling entirely is where you get hit with a $50 fee.

Helpful links:
Gen Con housing and travel
Fans of Gen Con Facebook group (EXCELLENT RESOURCE)
Gen Con Housing Portal auto-checker (Github link, programmer-friendly resource)

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Other places you can connect with the HSG Squad:

Twitter @highshelfgaming

Twitch /highshelfgaming

Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN

Wednesday Nov 27, 2019

HSG96: Gamer Gift Ideas

Wednesday Nov 27, 2019

It's that time of year again, when we think of others and imagine the best gift for them to receive during the holidays. Rich and David go all over books, games, and gaming accessories for those in your life you'd like to bring some gamer joy to. Got a friend with a new kid? got just the thing! another friend that seems to have everything they need for their RPGs? bet they don't have what we suggest in here. This was fun to record and timely to release.

Game Rundown:
Exploding Kittens
Ticket To ride
Evolution
Unlock - escape room in a box
Pandemic
Power Grid
Trains
Roll for the Galaxy
King of Tokyo
Settlers of Catan
Pirates Cove (Catan)
X-Com Board Game
Rising Sun
Agricola
Scythe
Pandemic Legacy
Gloomhaven

iTunes GooglePlay Spotify Stitcher

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Twitter @highshelfgaming

Twitch /highshelfgaming

Discord Chat https://discord.gg/tMPCXgN

Wednesday Nov 20, 2019

HSG95: RPG Storytelling Part 3: Theme & Structure: How to boost or accidentally kill your game

Wednesday Nov 20, 2019

Our series on RPG storytelling concepts and tools continues with us diving into the murky topics of theme and structure. These tend to be tools for authors and filmmakers, but tabletop role-playing games have them too! They tend to be emergent only becoming clear after a few sessions, and not so much prescribed like they are in traditional media. Being aware of your theme can be very powerful for players and dungeon masters alike, staying true to the theme keeps a game alive, knowing how to build on or play with the theme can amplify a good game into greatness.

Story structure reminds us that all storytelling follows a structure but then we provide methods that each of us uses to create games. Rich talks about creating modules, Rob talks about creating short campaigns through a chapter approach and David talks about creating an epic campaign arch, which also contributes to world-building.

This episode was fantastic to record.

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