I am starting my podcasting this week and I would like some ideas from the community here. What types of things would you like to hear? I am covering some basics, though nothing in great detail. That is, until I really get started, but I'm really going to focus in on custom information that I've done and that I've gathered from other people, as well as some ideas for Storytellers and players.

If you have any ideas, please send me a message, email or post here and I'll be sure to try adding it to the show.

If there's anything you would like to personally talk about, feel free to tell me and I'll be sure to add you into the show through Skype (for a talk session) or as a prerecorded session (all it takes is a simple e-mail).

I'd love to hear from the creators, but anyone is more than welcome. The podcast is for non-professional Storytellers who want to get better or who want to get new ideas for stories. More often than not, the guests I pull in will be friends from school, forums and even from outside tabletop gaming to give their points of view (my first guest being part of a LARPing group called Northcoast NERO).

Also, the podcast will be split into three parts. One being focused on Desolation, one on Storytelling itself (advice mostly) and the third being a White Wolf game called Promethean: The Created. All three of which everyone is freely invited to help.

Sorry I didn't see this till now. Hope it's not too late.

Some bullet points that are interesting (to us):

* Game preparation to create a story arc without forcing players down a linear path -- how to be flexible, yet prepared.
* Going beyond quests and dungeon crawls to create new RPG tropes.
* How to get players invested in their characters.
* How to weave characters' backgrounds into your plot to keep players invested in the game.
* Props!
* When, and how, to move the story along.
* How to get players to hate your NPCs.
* Ensuring the players are rewarded by how the story ends.

Where can we find your podcast?

The podcast (once I have a reliable audio editor) will be found at http://www.aes.podbean.com.

As for the suggestions:

My main love for Desolation as a storytelling system is flexibility. One of the goals of the podcast is to explain how to develop creative ways for the players to interact with the setting in new ways that are much harder to do in typical settings but are so easy to pull off in the Desolation setting that it should be criminal.

I fully plan on having a session on creating NPCs, and not just enemies, but also allies and "backdrop characters" as the enemy in Desolation isn't always another person, but many times the world itself (plague, famine, drought, lack of resources in general). Though creating a successful villain will be introduced and harped on heavily throughout.

Something that I will be talking about interspersed throughout the sessions is players becoming their characters for a ession, falling into that character and personifying it. What I've been making the characters do is draw part of the character (an item, and arm, a scar, a face, or a whole drawing, sometimes even just what a spell effect looks like) to help them get a feel for what the character is really like (concretion of the abstract idea of a fictional character).

There will be many a session on starytelling in general (from both amateur and hopefully more professional storytellers). And how to progress a story will definitely be included, as well as how to prepare for a story and rewarding characters for their involvement with a story.

Props are a two-way street for me. I love players that keep a journal as a character in-game (so much so I do it myself), but sometimes it causes silliness to erupt. If you have a a serious group of players and they all want to dress as their characters and bring weapons and items they are using as characters (even had a player bring in-period food once, a full roast suckling pig - delicious)' then so be it, and have a great time. I just preach exercising caution with it at times.

If you have any more suggestions, or comments, feel free to send them my way, I'd love to hear even more.

Oh boy. There're so many things I could just start babbling about, but for my sanity's sake I'll focus on one specific aspect that comes to mind.

Be open to player participation beyond their characters. In our gaming group, we have a saying that gets invoked frequently: "Players write the best adventures."

As the game progresses, keep an ear out for comments from your group, usually starting with the phrase, "Wouldn't it be funny/great if...?" Take that sort of input to heart, maybe not right away, but at some point later in the game.

It could be a complicating factor in the plot, a handy NPC to show up at the right time, or even an instance of outrageous fortune. If you think it'll make the adventure that much more fun, don't hesitate to include it. If you feel some negotiation is necessary, you can offer it as an option ("Maybe a Style point or two could make it happen..."). As the GM, you always have the final word, but just try to be flexible.

In the games I've played, some of our more memorable NPCs came from creative input by us the players. And, as your players realize you're willing to accept this sort of feedback, they'll be more willing to provide it in the future, making it easier to keep them (and you) entertained.

And in the end, that's what this is all about, right?

The first session of the podcast will be online at 12:00 EST today. It is not Desolation specific, that's next week's show actually, this week I have decided that the first show will focus on player types. This week the spotlight falls on Actor-type players. I am joined by my good friend' comic writer and fellow student Kristin Brumley. It's around 24 minutes long if you have the time for a quick listen and critique.

Hullo, Nestor,



While you're correct, your babblings are always fascinating to hear.



Isn't it the truth? One of the things my players hate is that they'll say something, and I jot it down for use in the game or a later scenario. I've even been known to give them Style points immediately for giving me something to add in to the current scenario they're playing.



Flexibility is really the key, isn't it?



Remind me to tell you the tale of Mad Lomax, a memorable NPC that was created by the players more through happenstance than anything I might have come up with!

Or perhaps this slight thread highjacking needs to be in a new thread? Jamie, GMD folks?

Hullo, Arsenal,



Nothing in depth or detailed comes to my mind.

That said, a discussion of character generation would be very useful and appropriate methinks, as well as concepts for character types, new archetypes, new motivations, and that sort of thing.

A discussion of the setting of DESOLATION, both Before and After, might be rewarding as well. There are so many facets and aspects of life in the Before and the After that could be discussed as to be staggering.

Discussion on the different races found in Scondera, and some matters to consider before taking a character of a given face, could be an interesting subject for discussion.

Just off the top of my head.

Thanks for all the replies so far, keep them coming! I'm going to mostly focus on setting for the primer next week, but character generation is something that I'm going to spend plenty of time on because the characters make the stories.

I've given out style points, XP, or just generally gave something favorable for a useful idea. If they gave something as an NPC it helps them or involves them more deeply as a reward.