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.