This month's episode:

(duration: 1:00:32.  You can download the file directly from this link)

This month, Ryan interviews game designer Neil Gow, creator of Napoleonic-era RPGs Duty & Honour and Beat to Quarters.   In the first half-hour, Ryan takes the time to break down for WalkerP the mechanics of character generation and conflicts as well as some of the historical context for the games.

Both of Neil’s games and their supplements can be purchased in print form directly from his website, omnihedron.co.uk.   His shipping rates from the UK (at least to Canada) are extremely competitive, actually the best I’ve ever seen to the point where I suspect he is taking a loss on them.  So take advantage!  They can also be purchased in pdf form from the Omnihedron Games page at rpg.now.

Also, this month we are participating in the Free RPG Blog‘s 60-second Guerilla  Podcast.  Rob Lang, the owner of this wonderful resource, is sending out 10 60-second mini-reviews of free RPG’s to various podcasts and The RPG Haven Podcast was very happy to be chosen among them.   Listen early in the podcast for the mini-review.  I won’t give away which game it is, but it definitely intrigued me.  See if you can find all 10 out there in the podcast-o-sphere!  And definitely add The Free RPG Blog to your regular gaming blogs to visit.  It’s a real treasure chest of great free games and gaming resources.

This month's episode:

(direct download link here – running time 56:43)

Happy holidays dear listeners! We kick off December with the second installment of Ryan’s exploration of gaming groups and how they operate. Personally, I found it fascinating to listen to how Mike’s group plays together. And these guys are pretty hard core!

We also discuss two very pleasant interactions we’ve had with gaming stores recently. Ryan is very happy that the new store Organized Play has opened up not too far from him in the Knoxville, TN. I had a chance to go to Chicago and discovered that Games Plus, in nearby Mt. Prospect, lives up to its excellent reputation indeed.

Ryan has been loving Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies and you can find a link to the wiki for his ongoing Lexicon game here: http://lexicon-rpg.wikispaces.com/

We are always looking for new subjects for the Friendly Neighbourhood Gamer interviews, so if you know anyone, let us know in the comments. We’re interested in how other groups play together and trying to get people who aren’t connected to the online community (tricky to do from a blog, natch). But if you think about it, I’m sure you know someone in your group who would be interested in talking to Ryan and sharing the way you all play together.

We hope you enjoy the show!

This month's episode:

(running time: 51:38)

This month, I talk to Simon Washbourne about how he designs his games, the history and production process behind Barbarians of Lemuria and some of the exciting projects he is currently working on. I have wanted to talk to Simon for a long time and I’m quite happy with the way the interview turned out.

Here is the link for those of you who want to download the audio file directly.

Barbarians of Lemuria will be available in better game stores in December and is currently available, along with the rest of his oeuvre, in pdf form at RPGNow. He also has several free games available as well as some earlier versions of his published games for free as well over at 1KM1KT. I strongly recommend that you check them out.

Below is a list of Simon’s published games in chronological order, for your reference.

Lashings of Ginger Beer (2003) (although there was a free version around before that)

It’s a Dog’s Life (2004) (ditto the above)

Go Fer Yer Gun! (2005)

Medieval Murder Mysteries (2005)

Tales from The Wood (2005) (there was/is a free version around before that and you can still get it at 1KM1KT)

Medieval Mysteries 1PG (Heyoka Studios 2007)

Battleforce Bravo Adventure Pack (Heyoka Studios 2007)

Barbarians of Lemuria (2008) (Free version around since about 2003)

I’d like to correct one error I made in the interview, where I called mistook Dave “Grubman” Bezio’s first name, calling him Jeff. This is the second time I’ve done this and I really have no idea why. My apologies, Grubman.

As always, I’d love to hear your feedback.

This month's episode:

Draconis, Montreal’s Gaming Convention, takes place next week and it gives me an opportunity to get a lot of interesting recorded material.  We begin with an interview with three of the organizers of the convention: Christopher Hammock, the Con Chair; Martin Sirois, the Head of Publicity and Jason Rivest, Head of Programming.  We discuss what each of their roles are, the challenges they face and the current state of the con.  If you are interested in organizing your own local convention or are already doing so, I think you will find our discussion informative.

Here is the file for direct download.

This month's episode:

This month, I interview Chris Rutkowsky, the creator of the Basic Action Super Heroes system. He is on the verge of releasing the BASH Ultimate Edition. As well as getting pretty deep into the mechanics of BASH, we talk about his gaming background, what led him to create BASH, what other projects he’s working on and his gaming community. Chris can be seen around the internet under the handle BASHMAN and the website for his game can be found at http://www.bashrpg.com/.

The mp3 file can be downloaded directly from this link, if that be your pleasure.

This month's episode:

We have an interesting two-course meal for you this month. Boulet gives us a brief review and history of the French RPG Bloodlust, where the players take on the role of God-Weapons or the characters they possess. The main segment is the first episode of Ryan’s Friendly Neighbourhood Gamer where he talks to Mike in an attempt to learn more about the myriad ways we come together and play in our hobby.

You can download the mp3 file directly here.