Show us what three things are most important for a new GM to learn! Phil and Senda talk through what we think — do you agree? Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us what you want from a rulebook! Phil and Senda tackle a question about what we most want to see in a rule book, for running a game or for potentially purchasing a game. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our linktree: https://polygamero.us/pand…

Show us how you create an engaging core loop — as another part of your setting creation! Phil and Senda talk core loops and how they drive investment and character creation, and also how to get people attached to the setting at a micro level instead of a macro level. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com…

Show us how you handle facilitation and collaboration at the table…and specifically, how do you make sure everyone stays involved! Phil and Senda are pretty passionate about this because it’s part of both their hobby and their respective day jobs! References: Divergent/convergent thinking for brain storming Psychological safety Soft Skills on the M…

Show us how you manage players missing games! Phil and Senda talk about what you may need to take into consideration, including length of absence, how key that character is to the story, etc. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our linktree: https://po…

Show us your favorite things to include in your session 0! Phil and Senda are joined by invisible third panda Ryan Boelter (our editor) in celebration of their 100th show with us. Thanks Ryan!! Check out the Creation Cast session 0 document here: https://sessionzero.charactercreationcast.com/ Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and …

Show us how you bring an iced campaign back from a long hiatus! Phil and Senda both have some experience with this. As usual this is a buffet, so some may be helpful for your specific situation or not! Take what works and leave what doesn’t. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the inter…

Show us how you manage tech at the table for players and GMs! Phil and Senda talk about everything except the monster in the corner (focus). Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us how you manage patterns of behavior at your table! We love games, and games require people, which means that sometimes you will run into a social dynamic that’s just not working. We do our best to help in one specific scenario! Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or…

Show us how you prep for play vs. prepping for reading! Phil and Senda talk about the different ways we use prepared adventure materials, and things you may consider to make your prep work for you, accessibly, in play at the table. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or dro…

Show us your tips for new players — and for getting old players back to the table! Phil and Senda talk new players and players returning after a hiatus (for whatever reason). Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us ho GMing is manipulation — or not! Or, how to make sure you’re not doing it by accident or for the wrong reasons. Phil and Senda talk when you might be subconsciously manipulating the table and some ways to dodge it. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a …

Show us how you go from GM to player — especially if you’re a forever GM! How do you transition your skills and hand over default leadership gracefully? Phil and Senda talk this and also accidentally GM manipulation. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on…

Phil and Senda are having a busy *life* moment, so for your listening pleasure we bring you this chit chat! The chit chat is not our normal format of show, for which we’d recommend going back (or probably forward) an episode. We talk about what’s giving us life in gaming and in life, and Senda expounds a lot on her extreme excitement for the LARP s…

Show us how you handle known characters in known IPs (intellectual properties)! Phil and Senda talk characters, setting, and what kind of characters you might be bringing in. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us how you take inspiration from the books you’re reading — or really any media? Phil and Senda talk about distilling the experience of reading to various levels of specificity and applying that potential to your game. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a t…

Show us how you world build — and is it collaborative? Phil and Senda talk worldbuilding in quadrants from not collaborative to all collaborative and do you do it alone or as a group (trust me, it makes more sense in the show). Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us…

Show us how you play a one on one game! Phil and Senda talk one on one games and some tips on making them successful. We are back! Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us how project management skills can help you GM — and vice versa! Phil and Senda are both professionals in various project management offices at this point in their careers, and have a conversation about how those skills work in both places and how you can use one to hone the other. Also! This is our last show of 2024. We will be on podcastin…

Show us…Gary Gygax’s tenants of GM Mastery! Phil and Senda go back for one more part on the 1987 book Role-Playing Mastery. Do they stand up to the test of time? Our take is…well, mostly. Also this episode: HOLIDAY HIATUS DATES. We will be taking some time off — but we will be back in January! Specific dates and information at the top of the show. …

Show us how Gary Gygax thought you should be a master GM! Phil and Senda continue their conversation about the 1987 title Role-Playing Mastery by Gary Gygax, deciding what they think still holds true, what can be reinterpreted to modern play/situations, and what we have evolved beyond. In this episode, the beginning of GM Mastery! (CW: definitely c…

Show us what Gygax considered a master player! Do we agree? Do you?! Phil and Senda talk through the first 9 steps to being a Master Player according to Gary Gygax/s 1987 book Role Playing Mastery. As a refresher, here are the first 9 points: Study the rules of your chosen role-playing game. Learn the goal(s) of the game. Discover the spirit of the…

Show us what Gygax considered a master player! Do we agree? Do you?! Phil and Senda talk through the first 9 steps to being a Master Player according to Gary Gygax/s 1987 book Role Playing Mastery. Here are the first 9 points: Study the rules of your chosen role-playing game. Learn the goal(s) of the game. Discover the spirit of the game, and make …

Show us how you balance a player that is much much more proactive than the rest of your table! Phil and Senda cover when it’s actually a problem and some ideas on how to address it. THERE WILL BE NO NEW EPISODE NEXT WEEK, OCTOBER 30th! We’ll be back in November! Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp.…

Show us how you find people…to be new gamers! Phil and Senda talk introducing people to gaming and finding the kind of people who a) would be interested and b) would be interested in the kind of gaming you are interested in. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a …

Show us how you find a new gaming group! Phil and Senda talk approaches to finding people and how to figure out who you might be looking for. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us how you make gaming goals happen! Phil and Senda follow up on their gaming goals from last episode, including an extemporaneous brain storm on positive feedback at the table. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://p…

Episode 365 – after a whole year of numbered episodes, it’s like a New Year’s resolution? Phil and Senda talk personal goals for gaming – for how they play, facilitate, and engage with the industry and community. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our…

Today we answered a grab bag of questions all submitted by folks whose names start with J! Coincidence? We think….yes absolutely didn’t notice it until partway through the show. Today’s questions cover analysis paralysis and hustle vs. play. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the inter…

Show us how you manage the conversation when you realize your game has lost momentum! Phil and Senda use their own campaign as a live demo to put their money where their mouth is and talk (like they always advise) about their ongoing game night and what to do with it. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.co…

Today we’re addressing some of our smaller questions! Realism vs. Playability in Combat Spotlight sharing at the table How to pick con games Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us how you play an evil game! Phil and Senda talk how to make it work and the pitfalls of chaos vs. purpose in an evil game. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic on our shiny new linktree: https://polygamero.us/panda…

Show us how you make a good player goal! Phil and Senda talk what and why, and how a strong “why” can make even a generic or potentially boring “what” really interesting. It’s also back to one shots and campaigns! Check out Starscape from Golden Lasso Games on kickstarter right now! Found family and space travel, oh my! https://www.kickstarter.com/…

Show us how major life changes might change your gaming! Phil and Senda speak from experience on many of these. Have you experienced changes in your gaming due to changes in your life? Check out Starscape from Golden Lasso Games on kickstarter right now! Found family and space travel, oh my! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/goldenlassogames/sta…

Show us how you make space in your game for different kinds of “fun” when different things give energy to different folks at your table! Senda and Phil talk about “fun,” defining it for yourself, and how to create space for your fun and other people’s as a GM and as a player. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://pa…

Show us how you add a romantic sideplot, without sidelining your main plot! Phil and Senda talk involved players, uninvolved players, and GMs as well as spotlight sharing and setting up the proximity of the characters involved in the romance. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the inte…

Show us how you can get a board game friend to try TTRPGs — and maybe when it’s not a good idea! Phil and Senda talk about some of the signs that your friend’s fun comes from parts of board games that TTRPGs are good at, and how to identify when they might not be. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mm…

Show us how you share your world building! One very traditional approach to facilitating games is for the GM to be in charge of all the world building, so Phil and Senda are here to talk about the spectrum of shared world building responsibilities and some ways to approach it. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://p…

Show us how you embody an NPC at the table when advance prep is your stronger skill, or show us how you prep for a character when improv is where you excel! Phil and Senda talk small actions, mindset, and approaches to embodying NPCs, whether you’re doing some of that work up front or making it up as you go. The podcast episode Senda referenced in …

Show us how you mechanically handle downtime! Phil and Senda talk through Phil’s homebrew approach to downtime mechanics in Mutants in the Now, and how to create or apply something to any game you’re playing that doesn’t have a downtime mechanic built in. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find u…

MicroRPGs, how we personally start doing game design, and contract work vs. hobby time, oh my! Phil and Senda sit down to answer a series of questions on game design and playtesting when you have limited play test resources. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a …

Show us how you tell stories in your session — structure that story! It was our 7 year podaversary and we completely forgot, so we’re taking this one to do a topic that Phil had been thinking about a lot as he planned one of his current games. How do *you* structure a session? Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://p…

Show us how you…do a bunch of littler topics! It’s been a little while since we’ve done a topic round up! On today’s episode we talk about: The value of discussing game theory with people you also play games with Rolling GMs (vs. round table, vs. troupe style) Tips for how to prepare to GM at a US convention Check out the Lumberjils kickstarter her…

Show us how you use daydreaming as GM prep! Phil and Senda talk daydreaming, both intentional/focused and not, as well as where we do it best and when and how you might want to write it down. Misdirected Mark has officially become the Polygamerous Podcast Network! You can read more here: https://polygamero.us/misdirected-mark-productions-is-becomin…

Show us how you get the old group back together! Phil went on a trip and did some game prep for a very unique and specific circumstance, and we’re going to talk about it. Welcome to the Polygamerous Podcast Network! Misdirected Mark is officially becoming the PGN. You can read more here: https://polygamero.us/misdirected-mark-productions-is-becomin…

Show us how you run or play a game when you’ve only dabbled in a particular IP! Phil and Senda talk being the GM or being a player when you’re not the expert in something like Star Wars, Marvel, or Lord of the Rings. Welcome to the Polygamerous Podcast Network! Misdirected Mark is officially becoming the PGN. You can read more here: https://polygam…

Hey friends! We ran into a crunch and needed to turn out a lower stakes episode this week, so here we present to you (drum roll please!) a chit chat! If this is your first time listening, you may wish to go back or forward an episode to hear our normal show style. In this chit chat, we talk giving us life in gaming and lessons you might be able to …

Show us how much of a game you can replace before you may as well write your own! Senda and Phil chat about the Ship of Theseus syndrome of games (if you replace all the parts, is it still the same game?) as well as when it might make sense to write your own game and when it wouldn’t (most of the time, in our opinion). Link! Senda’s per page readin…

Show us how you get emotional investment in one shots and the beginnings of campaigns! Phil and Senda talk player and GM responsibilities and faking it til you make it, along with some other ideas to get you started. Link! Senda’s per page fundraising for the Trans Rights Read-a-thon can be found here: https://go.rallyup.com/trr2024senda Bamboo Lou…

Show us how you handle conditions and agency! Character agency vs. player agency — is there a difference? Phil and Senda talk agency and conditions, and when conditions have the potential to infringe on player agency. Bamboo Lounge for Patreon backers today! Find these and more at http://patreon.com/mmp. Find us on the internet or drop us a topic o…