All Episodes - House Of Bards
Long-time friends Alex and Beth look at the challenges and techniques involved in tabletop roleplaying via the "shared narrative" style.
View Podcast Details42 Episodes
Wizards Of The Coast Post Cringe And Loose Subscriber
The Bards stir from their slumber to take a three and a half hour stock of the fat WotC L everyone's talking about. Follow our Twitter: @Bardscast TRACK DOGS on itchio: https://clevercrumbish.itch.io/track-dogs and on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Z4Kuzq5 The Alexandrian's Video: https://youtu.be/8pK4r556VoU Linda Codega's Original article on Gizmodo:https://gizmodo.com/dnd-wizards-of-the-coast-ogl-1-1-open-gaming-license-1849950634 Kobold Press announcement: https://koboldpress.com/kobold-press-announces-new-core-fantasy-experiment/ Paizo Announcement: https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6si7v Foundry Statement: https://foundryvtt.com/article/ogl-update-20230113/ WotC Statement: https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1423-an-update-on-the-open-game-license-ogl "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Actual Play Update (Q-Con XXVI and Critter Castle)
An episode from a while ago, about events from even longer back. Join the bards, with special guest Maxi (@marquessm0nk) as they talk about running actual play games at Q-Con and Critter Castle. Steve "Vorpal" Fidler, creator of the Prism class Maxi mentions: https://twitter.com/vorpaldicepress Mage Hand Press' "Dark Matter": https://store.magehandpress.com/products/dark-matter-alpha Follow our Twitter: @Bardscast "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Separation of Church and State
Alex rants for an hour and fifteen minutes about the worst decision Wizards Of The Coast have made in the last five years and their apparent hostility to their audience, and Beth eventually gets on board. Follow our Twitter: @Bardscast "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
QCon XXV: Part 1
In the first part of the recap of events at 2018's Q-Con, Alex talks to Beth and Maxi about running a game about time travel- and the 50 character sheets it unfortunately required. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
QCon XXV: Part 2
In the second part of the recap of events at 2018's Q-Con, Maxi tells a tale involving a two-part game about revenge. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Combat
Beth drags Alex along on an bumpy ride across the subject of combat in tabletop roleplaying. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Matt
In an admittedly slightly self-indulgent episode of House Of Bards Alex and guest bard Matt discuss... Matt, and his characters and their outlooks. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Politics: Part 2
Alex and Beth continue talking, sometimes even about politics, which is supposed to be the topic at hand. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 From Alex's original post on youtube regarding this episode: "Okay, so, this episode. This episode is bad. I'm not going to make excuses for it. It's unfocused, too long and doesn't really address its principal topic in more than a cursory way. Longtime fans of the show will probably still enjoy it because it features Beth and I Talking About Stuff in the way characteristic of HoB, but ultimately I was disappointed with what I could edit out of this session, especially since the flow between tangents made it very difficult to cut anything. Despite it being below the usual House Of Bards standards, I'm still publishing it for two reasons: 1. Neither of us actually wanted to address this topic very much, and we did not enjoy doing so, so I want this episode published so that it's clear we've done it once and won't be revisiting it. 2. The next (already recorded) episode is another episode like [Season 2 Episode 5] with just me and a guest, and I wanted to pace those so it didn't appear like Beth had disappeared off the face of the earth. So if you just come for Beth and I shooting the shit, this one's probably worth a listen. If you're here for actual tabletop roleplaying advice... eh, there's some worthwhile stuff here but I wouldn't blame you if you decided this episode isn't deserving of your time."
Politics: Part 1
With some trepidation and a lot of tangents, Alex and Beth attempt to discuss putting politics in your game, and the futility of attempting not to. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 From Alex's original post on youtube regarding this episode: "Okay, so, this episode. This episode is bad. I'm not going to make excuses for it. It's unfocused, too long and doesn't really address its principal topic in more than a cursory way. Longtime fans of the show will probably still enjoy it because it features Beth and I Talking About Stuff in the way characteristic of HoB, but ultimately I was disappointed with what I could edit out of this session, especially since the flow between tangents made it very difficult to cut anything. Despite it being below the usual House Of Bards standards, I'm still publishing it for two reasons: 1. Neither of us actually wanted to address this topic very much, and we did not enjoy doing so, so I want this episode published so that it's clear we've done it once and won't be revisiting it. 2. The next (already recorded) episode is another episode like [Season 2 Episode 5] with just me and a guest, and I wanted to pace those so it didn't appear like Beth had disappeared off the face of the earth. So if you just come for Beth and I shooting the shit, this one's probably worth a listen. If you're here for actual tabletop roleplaying advice... eh, there's some worthwhile stuff here but I wouldn't blame you if you decided this episode isn't deserving of your time."
The Q-Con Correspondent
Alex couldn't make it to Q-Con this year, but thankfully friend of the show Maxi made it there to continue the tradition of weird exciting D&D. In Beth's absence, Alex asks her all about it. Maxi on twitter: twitter.com/MarquessM0nk "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Monstrosity Manufacturing Facility: Part 2
Alex and Beth continue to build a horrifying monster for dungeons and dragons 5th edition. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Monstrosity Manufacturing Facility: Part 1
Alex and Beth draw the scope of the custom content miniseries back inward again, and discuss making your own monsters for 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Strange Games: Part 2
Alex and Beth embark on an epic two-part journey to come up with the next big tabletop RPG. Hilarity Ensues. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Strange Games Part 1
Alex and Beth embark on an epic two-part journey to come up with the next big tabletop RPG. Hilarity Ensues. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Building your first scenario
Alex and Beth discuss writing your first original adventure, and then brainstorm an example scenario where the party must save a magical school from an evil basilisk. Cause that's original. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Getting started on a budget
Beth and Alex have talked about getting started roleplaying before, but this time, with the help of Elaine, a hypothetical farm-dwelling amateur writer from Illinois, they delve into the subject of trying the hobby for free or cheap, and the resources available to help one do so. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Class studies: The Warlock
Alex and Beth discuss the relatively recent innovation of the Warlock in Dungeons and Dragons, and some of its influences in media. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Qcon XXIII
Alex and special guest Maxi talk to Beth about their activities at Q-con 2016 and the following Tuesday. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Backstories
Alex and Beth discuss how to properly integrate player characters' backstories into the wider campaign. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Mary Sues
Do Mary Sues exist, and if they do, what are they, and is Rey from The Force Awakens one? Alex and Beth tussle with the thorny issue of the woman who can ostensibly do everything. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Playing Outside Yourself
As a partial excuse for Beth to publicly condemn The 100 showrunner Jason Rothenberg, the Bards discuss how best to handle playing a character who is emphatically not like their player. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
The OGL and You
Wizards Of The Coast recently made an announcement that might be pretty important to some of you. Alex and Beth chat about the Open Gaming Licence and what it and similar policies mean for roleplaying games in general. Link to the SRD: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
PC Rivalries
How to be two people who don't like each other in the pretend, by Alex and Beth. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
DM Improv
Alex and Beth talk about what it falls to a DM to do when a game goes off the rails. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Game Starts
Alex and Beth talk about what's wrong with some the "classic" ways to begin a campaign. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Class studies: The Bard
In the first episode of a new House Of Bards subseries, Alex and Beth discuss the titular Bard. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Crack a Monster Manual Part 2
In this two-part Halloween special, Alex and Beth embark on a journey through the 5th edition D&D monster manual's spookiest offerings. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Crack a Monster Manual Part 1
In this two-part Halloween special, Alex and Beth embark on a journey through the 5th edition D&D monster manual's spookiest offerings. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Worldbuilding from the ground up
Alex and Beth perhaps inadvisably try to fit the whole premise of the podcast itself into a single episode. Standford University Polygon Map Generation: http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/game-programming/polygon-map-generation/demo.html "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Relationships
Alex and Beth tackle the tricky subject of inter-character relationships in RPGs. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Cynicism vs Idealism
Alex and Beth discuss the problems that can arise when two players with very different expectations sit down at the table together, and Alex explains why Jeremy Corbyn won the Labour leadership election. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
NPCs
House Of Bards returns with a discussion on playing Non-Player Characters as a DM. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Armageddon
Alex and Beth attempt to tackle dealing with the end of the world. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Gods and Religion
Religion is a pretty inescapable part of D&D, so Alex and Beth go over how to make it interesting and what living in a world where all gods are real truly means. "Crunk Knight" and "Anxiety" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Magic Vs Technology
The topics from episodes 2 and 5 return, and Alex and Beth ask: Is pitting them against each other a good idea? "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Fantasy Tropes
Beth leads Alex down a journey of common fantasy tropes. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
The Wildlife
Alex and Beth talk about monsters and environments. Donjon: http://donjon.bin.sh/ Lomion 2e Monster Manual: http://www.lomion.de/cmm/_contents.php Tucker's Kobolds: http://www.tuckerskobolds.com/ "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Magic
Alex and Beth talk about ways to model magic in your setting. Mette Ivie Harrison's 12 questions about magic: https://metteivieharrison.tumblr.com/post/29057069965/12-questions-to-ask-yourself-about-your-magic "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Villains
Alex and Beth talk disjointedly about villains and villainy. There's a bit of REAL TALK, and Beth expresses a childhood disappointment in Lauren Faust. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
The Q-Con XXII experiment
Burglars and poisonings and not-quite-time-travel-shenanigans, oh my! In this episode, Alex talks about running a series of games at QUB Q-Con XXII. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Technology
You should probably stop worrying about anachronistic technology in your game world quite so much, and Alex and Beth are here to tell you why. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Getting Started
Alex and Beth work through creating a game world for DMs, and creating characters for that world for players. Alex cringes during editing and makes a mental note to acquire a pop screen. "Crunk Knight" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0