Welcome home.
This is Audio EXP for the 21st of October, and the episode title is “This isn’t a holiday yet”
[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #215]
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Scoundrel Game Labs is in the Spotlight this month, as voted for by Patreons.
The interview with T. A. Gray of Scoundrel is up. T. A. worked in a law firm before stepping into RPG publishing; in this interview, he says something remarkable. He says, “WOTC has never been overly litigious”.
That’s probably true, although Geek Native has had trouble, and TSR was legendary for attacking lawyers. I think he’s right, as weird as that seems.
Now, in Friday’s RPG news summary, I mentioned that team Geek Native was safe despite Storm Babet. That was melodramatic. It felt intense here on the coast, but compared to elsewhere in Scotland, where people have died, it was nothing.
Sorry about that.
The most considerable risk this weekend was that this podcast would be late. Bronwen and I are back from Mimi’s Bake House on the Water of Leith and a Halloween high tea where a gazillion spooky calories were wolfed down, and I followed up with a bottle of wine.
It’s a first-world risk. It reminds me that I’ve not looked ahead at the festive schedule and when it clashes with Routinely Itemised or the Audio EXP podcast. Hopefully, we’ll be okay, although I know we’re both due to tour Edinburgh Castle, lit up to become the Castle of Light on one Friday.
It’s not a holiday yet, but we have started the years-old tradition of the 12 Masks of Halloween on the blog. We kick off with the Mammoth Chomping Spider, and I nearly didn’t post it.
Don’t get me wrong, as this indie creation is fantastic. It’s incredible. It’s a speculator mask, but it’s also scary. I worried I’d trigger people.
Should I have worried about a hail Satan?
Maybe.
But I wasn’t.
Our friends at Sneak Energy are launching a new range and it’s full-on occult. It’s devil bunny. It’s inverted crosses and zero sugar.
The creative agency must have had a load of fun with this one!
By the way, it’s fair to ask, is Sneak worth it? That’s hard to say. I don’t think it boosts your gaming ability, but it is like a hard-hitting multivitamin in drink form. When I have some, I have it for that.
If there was any one type of geek I’d talk to about health and attention to duty, it wouldn’t be gamers, but cosplayers. I don’t have the skill, the devotion or attention span.
That’s why I was staggered by Bronwen’s piece on Polaris where nearly 500 cosplayers took the world record for volume. They had Tiktok as a sponsor, clever of the Chinese app.
By the way, Geek Native is on TikTok, and perhaps that’s where you’re listening to this, and of this week, our social media accounts include BlueSky as well. That means we’re on Telegram, Discord, Mastodon, X, Threads, Facebook, Instagram, Google News, Pinterest, Apple News, Soundcloud and email.
Oh no. Before you ask, we won’t go through a whole Audio EXP Geek Native podcast without talking about RPGs.
Kobold Press released their SRD for Project Black Flag this week. Except, of course, it’s the BFRD, or Black Flag Reference Document.
You may have thought ‘Project Black Flag’ was the name of the project and games like Tales of the Valiant sprang from it.
I guess it’s not quite straightforward as Black Flag is a brand that’s more immortal than that, which is why it has a Reference Document to govern third-party usage.
Another and possible quirky story that Geek Native covered this week was the 12 Days of XXXMas from Phoenix Gray and Lewd Dungeon Adventures.
Yes, it’s an RPG in which adult acts are needed to progress unless you’re playing the 5e version, and I fully expected some backlash. I got none.
I’d say I was prepared for it, that I was all dressed up and with nowhere to go, but I think dressing up isn’t in the spirit of the 12 Days of XXXmas.
Another possibly controversial piece was a look at whether Netflix was worth it after the latest round of price hikes.
JustWatch crunched in the numbers and seemed to conclude – no, Netflix isn’t worth it.
In the US and UK, Netflix does not have the highest-rated shows, nor the highest number of shows and yet is often the most expensive platform.
Surprisingly, I think Prime Video did much better.
Now, onto RPGs and bundles because it’s a good week.
The Bundle of Holding has two on Kult: Divinity Lost, which might be one of the best horror games of all time.
At Humble, there’s a big deal from Roll20 and DriveThruRPG with Everything for your Adventures and many core rules.
Lastly, from Geek Native and for listeners in the UK, there’s a chance to win Apex Legends: The Official Cookbook. That’s right, food and computer games. There are just a few days shy of two weeks left.
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On that note, keep safe, stay dry, and see you next week.
