Status report

Okay, here's the thing. Some of my situation has changed, but the primary obstacle is that I can't find "quiet time" to record. My computer is in the same room as my wife's, and she's got a "buckling spring" keyboard... it's very "clicky". So I can only record when she's off doing something else.

I have a half-day off work every week, and when I first started this podcast, I was finding it pretty easy to sit down and record on those afternoons... my wife was always off working on some sewing or pattern drafting, as she has a part-time business making collectable bears, and my half-day off was her day to work on bears.

She's put the business on hiatus to get a major programming project done, so now those half-days are spent on the computer five feet away, clicky-clicky-clicking. The last several half-days off, she said she was going to go grocery shopping, but it's never worked out.

So I can't reliably schedule recording time... I have to ask her to leave the computer and go do something quiet, and that's not working out with our schedules. (She doesn't like coding on the laptop.) So it looks like I'm not going to be able to promise any kind of schedule until I get my room in the basement cleaned out and my office moved back down there.

I'm not giving up, but I need the private space to record whenever the mood strikes me. Thanks for being patient.

Time flies when you're avoiding work

There's this long and involved story about why I haven't recorded episode 3 in several months. I started to write it here, but it turned into the introduction for episode 3. It boils down to "crisis of faith," figuring out just what it is I'm trying to say, and figuring out how to say it. (Oh, and a bit of real life getting in the way, too. There's always that.)

I'm recording episode 3 on Wednesday. No guarantees on how long it takes to edit, but middle of next week at the latest, I think. Stay tuned!

Tao RP, Episode 2

Summary: I respond to some feedback, and wrap up that mess with dice and fudge points. (Really, last episode about dice for awhile.)

Later than I wanted, but real life is conspiring against me... at least this time it isn't being released six months after recording. I've shortened that to less than a week, even with the real life stuff.

Thanks for all the feedback, I hope you enjoy this one. Next episode I'm going to try to bring in a second host, and we'll talk about communication.

Listen online:

Download the MP3: ::TAO-RP Episode 2 (25:15, 12 Meg)

Show Notes

• ::Cold City, by Contested Ground Studios.
• ::Polaris, by Tao Games.

Back from San Francisco

Back from my brother's wedding in San Francisco... the train from Kansas to California is not conducive to recording, and it really sucks up the time (and vacation time).

I'll try to record, edit and post by the end of the weekend. My wife's got bronchitis again, so I'm going to answer some questions from the last two podcasts, except much more coherently this time, and we'll put this dice and fudge-points thing to rest for awhile. (I could do an entire podcast based on the topic of dice. And I don't mean episode. Really.)

(And to anyone in SF who just went, "Why didn't you say you were coming?" I barely had time to run by ::Endgame in Oakland, meet Chris Hanrahan (of ::Ogre Cave Audio Report and ::2d6 Feet In a Random Direction), and buy the t-shirt, let alone hang out for the mini-con at Endgame, or actually sit down and talk to anybody. Alas, the time-debt of the 42-hours-each-way train ride.)

Tao RP, Episode 1

Summary: I talk a bit more about why dice give me trouble, and then about something I'm working on doing about it... Keys.

Wow, it's like I podfaded before I got started or something. Amazing how time flies when something's giving you trouble. Podcasting isn't like writing when you're not working from a script!

Anyhow, here it is... a little rough around the edges, and sure to be misunderstood because I'm talking about dice and bad rolls. Episode 2 won't take nearly so long.

Listen online:

Download the MP3: TAO-RP Episode 1 (24:18, 11 Meg)

Show Notes

• ::The Shadow of Yesterday, by Clinton R Nixon, from ::CRN Games
• ::Fudge
• ::Champions
• ::Spirit of the Century

The music is "Affectionately Stumbled" by ::Ernesto Sett, via the ::Podsafe Music Network.

Tao RP, Promo #1

Summary: Our first promo! And in the fine tradition of roleplaying podcasts, it starts with a dorky skit.

Download the MP3: TAO-RP Promo 1 (00:01, 0.94 Meg)

The music is "Aftermath (With You)" by ::Meter with Karen Neary, via the ::Podsafe Music Network.

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Excuse me while I "claim" my feed on Odeo. My Odeo Channel (odeo/cc220375fae45e07)

Tao RP, Episode 0

Summary: Our debut podcast, I spend about 15 minutes in introduction and the next half-hour, my wife, Karen, and I discuss the fickle nature of dice as pertains to story, and fudge/plot/hero/karma/drama/whatever points as part of the solution.

Download the MP3: TAO-RP Episode 0 (45:50, 22 Meg)

Show Notes

The ::Theatrix ::Hotel Fight example, courtesy of John H Kim's ::RPG Theory archive.

The music is "Affectionately Stumbled" by ::Ernesto Sett, via the ::Podsafe Music Network.

Update: Fixed Ernesto's link to point to a page in English. :) Update: Added show notes to Theatrix info.

About the Podcast

What is The Art of Roleplaying Podcast about? Other than roleplaying, you mean?

It's about improving the roleplaying experience. Developing and discovering tools, skills and creativity that allow us to enjoy roleplaying more. To put it another way, the acronym Tao RP is no coincidence... ::Tao (or Dao for you purists) means "the way" or "path". Tao RP is a journey of roleplaying discovery.

It's not quite as "progressive" as ::Forge-like story-games, but it's not stuck in the past of traditional games either. We'll gladly steal useful bits from any game we can get our hands on.

But it's more than just about using good rules, it's about developing good roleplaying skills. While roleplaying isn't acting in the sense of putting on Hamlet, it certainly involves a lot of improvisational dialog, and I think we can learn to improve those skills through deliberate practice and trying new ideas.

We'll explore topics from tools for adventure and world design to exercises to improve roleplaying interaction. We'll have special guests, and we'll invite listener interaction... the questions and comments you put forth will determine the things we talk about in the show.

Enough of all that. You came here to listen. Time to press "play".

-- Carl Cravens (raven @ phoenyx .net)

Who is the Raven?

(Updated October 7, 2006: Just minor details, like correcting my son's age.)

I'm Carl Cravens, and I'm a lot of things.

I'm a regular guy...

I'm a late-thirty-something husband, and father to a six-year-old boy. I'm a software developer and systems admin by trade. I'm just like a whole lot of other computer and gaming geeks out there, except that I married a gal I met online, on a computer bulletin board devoted to play-by-email RPGs... the great-grandfather of the internet-based ::Phoenyx.net. We've been happily married for over fourteen years. No, you can't have her.

I've been roleplaying since the seventh grade... over two-thirds of my life. My current play style is rules-light, character-driven, and story-oriented. Or something like that... I'm very much in an exploratory mode, trying to figure out what I really want out of gaming and what does and doesn't work for me. That's a lot of what my blog and this podcast is about... exploring roleplaying. I'll talk about ::the Forge and indie games, but I'm not a Forgeite or a fan of the Narrativist approach.

...and would-be game writer...

I've only got a couple minor publishing credits with ::Grey Ghost Games, and a few articles on ::RPGNet and ::Fudge Factor magazine.

• "::The Gramarye," a magic system for the roleplaying game ::Fudge, published in ::A Magical Medley and now available online (link above).

• "::Department 13," a mini-setting based loosely on a mash-up of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and SciFi Channel's Invisible Man.

• "Just Fudge It," a much-praised article in the Fudge 10th Anniversary Edition.

...who runs too many projects...

• I'm the owner of the ::Fudge List, which is dedicated to the ::Fudge Roleplaying Game.

• I'm the organizer of the ::Wichita_Roleplayers, a face-to-face roleplaying club based around a Yahoo Group message board.

• I'm co-owner of ::The Phoenyx, which is a free discussion forum server for the play-by-messaging roleplaying community. (The Phoenyx is in transition at the moment, so it's kind of quiet.)

...and still tries to find time to game.

I'm a dedicated gamer who hasn't gotten to game much in the past few years because of getting a bachelor's degree, having a kid, getting a second bachelors degree, and having trouble putting together a group of people. But I'm gaming regularly now, which is great.