I’m on a quest for new RPG Podcasts. It’s been a while since I listened to them extensively — you can blame Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings audiobook for that — but I’ve got the itch again. Oh … and I have a Knights of the Dinner Table “Summon Web Scryer” column that needs to be written…
I have a number of old standbys still in my podcast queue, including the Accidental Survivors, All Games Considered, Atomic Array, The Dungeons & Dragons Podcast, Fear the Boot, Flagons & Dragons, Order 66, Smiling Jack’s Bar & Grill, and Yog-Sothoth Podcast.
It’s a good mix, but I find I’m under-represented in a few categories, notably Pathfinder, game theory, and game mastery.
For Pathfinder, I’ve tried the Chronicles podcast from d20radio, but I’ve found their shows tend to run long; with few exceptions, my tastes run to 20-30 minute podcasts that I can listen to during my (admittedly very short) commute. Chronicles has much, much longer than that; 3-4 hour shows are not uncommon.
More my style are is the Know Direction podcast at 3.5 Private Sanctuary. The podcast had gone quiet for a while, but it seems to be going strong now. The Gamer’s Guide to Pathfinder has episodes looking at naval combat, romance, and alchemy in Pathfinder.
As far as game theory goes, I just came across the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, in which two of my favorite RPG authors — Ken Hite and Robin Laws — talk about, um, stuff. This stuff includes current events, role-playing game theory, and a variety of geeky topics. I haven’t listened yet, but it’s at the top of my queue.
The Master Plan podcast is actually an old one that had lain fallow for two years but is now seeing renewed activity. Host Ryan Macklin ran a small Kickstarter to fun the creation a new 10-episode season consisting of two unpublished “basement tape” interviews (one with Keith Baker on Ebberon, another with Luke Crane about Mouse Guard) as well as eight new episodes. The kickstarter was funded with stretch coals that fund a second full season.
In terms of game master advice, I didn’t find much. There used to be some podcasts dedicated to this topic — The Dungeon Master Guys at Critical Hits and The Game Master Show but unfortunately, they’re both defunct now. If anyone has suggestions for a good GM advice show — or any other podcasts worth listening to — I’d love to hear about them.