DiceCast Episode 17: D&D Next, "indie" vs. "mainstream" RPGs, and an interview with Stan Sakai

This is our first episode in quite some time. The initial discussion of "D&D Fifth Edition" (now officially known as "D&D Next") was recorded in February 2012 and is thus, dated; at the time, the most current news about it was in an article in the New York Times. Many recent podcasts (particularly ones made after Gen Con 2012) have discussed this topic in greater detail. We include this discussion to offer some perspective: this illustrates the various expectations and speculations that have been made about what will be the newest edition of what was once the most popular roleplaying game on the market, when it released in 2014 (or is projected to be at that time).

Furthermore, we discuss the dividing line between "indie" and "mainstream" roleplaying games. The line is thinner and fuzzier than many people believe and after you hear our discussion, you will have much food for thought.

Finally, we interviewed cartoonist extraordinare Stan Sakai at Montreal Comicon 2011. Mr. Sakai is famous for his work on the Usagi Yojimbo comic and many other fine works.

Other links

• Polymancer main site
• Polymancer corporate web site
• Polymancer on Twitter
• Polymancer on LiveJournal
• Polymancer on MySpace
• Polymancer on Facebook
• RSS feed for DiceCast
• Subscribe to DiceCast in iTunes

Holiday message from Polymancer Studios, Inc.

Hello all,

From our Staff and their families, we wish you all the very best of this holiday season; regardless of your faith or religious background. It is a time of well wishing and friendship and may you benefit from all of these. May peace and safety envelop you and yours.

To all be well, may health be yours, may happiness be a part of your life for 2012, and may good fortune shine upon all of you in the New Year.

Cheers,


From the staff of Polymancer Studios and the guys at Polymancer Game and Hobby.

DiceCast Episode 16: Using Miniatures In Your RPG & "You Are A Cat"

We return with an honest-to-goodness episode about a game topic! As much as we love interviewing interesting people who are connected to popular culture, it feels good to be back to the game table for an episode. In this one, we talk about miniatures; not miniatures wargaming, but the use of miniatures in roleplaying games (RPGs).

It seems almost odd that we have to introduce miniatures to roleplayers, because RPGs evolved from miniatures wargaming. Indeed, the first RPGs were miniatures wargames optimized to playing a single character, rather than an entire army; a character who went on to evolve from scenario to scenario; scenarios which were more than just a battle. It was when the emphasis switched to interaction and plots and away from combat that roleplaying games evolved into something in which miniatures were optional. This has been great for the maturation of the hobby, but maybe roleplayers are missing out on something.

To that end, we introduce miniatures to roleplayers in this episode, with a few tips on how to get started using them. THere is nothing in here about painting or customizing miniatures or producing scenery. Those are topics for future episodes. Rather, we talk about the general concerns that come with using miniatures at the roleplaying table. We also give the quick and dirty rules to PUMMEL!^® (Pick-Up, Multigenre Miniatures, Easy to Learn), a miniatures wargame that can be adapted to any RPG for mass combats; and we offer the quickstart rules for free download.

We also have an interview with Sherwin Tjia, author of the Choose Your Own Adventure-style adventure book You Are A Cat (published on Conundrum Press). Mr. Tija discusses his love of cats, of adventure books, and why he made You Are A Cat. We mention the Cat RPG by John Wick.

Other links

• Polymancer main site
• Polymancer corporate web site
• Polymancer on Twitter
• Polymancer on LiveJournal
• Polymancer on MySpace
• Polymancer on Facebook
• RSS feed for DiceCast
• Subscribe to DiceCast in iTunes
  

Official Trailer: Interview With Nancy Kilpatrick

Links

• Polymancer main site
• Polymancer corporate web site
• Polymancer on Twitter
• Polymancer on LiveJournal
• Polymancer on MySpace
• Polymancer on Facebook
• RSS feed for DiceCast
• Subscribe to DiceCast in iTunes
  

DiceCast Halloween 2011 Special Episode: Interview with Nancy Kilpatrick

Nancy Kilpatrick is an author of horror fiction. Many of her 18 novels, over 200 short stories, and anthologies have been about vampires. Her breadth and depth of knowledge of the entire vampire sub-genre of horror is staggering, being able to speak about it with eloquence and good humor, without at all belittling the subject or its fans.

We met up with Nancy Kilpatrick at Con*Cept 2011, a science fiction and fantasy convention held in Montreal, every autumn; this year, she was the guest of honor. She gave a great, lively interview that we are proud to share with you in this episode.

Other links

• Polymancer main site
• Polymancer corporate web site
• Polymancer on Twitter
• Polymancer on LiveJournal
• Polymancer on MySpace
• Polymancer on Facebook
• RSS feed for DiceCast
• Subscribe to DiceCast in iTunes
  

Tráiler por Entravista con el Hijo Del Santo

Other links

• Polymancer main site
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Dice Cast Episodio:Intrevista con Sergio Aragones y El Hijo del Santo

This special episode of DiceCast is in Spanish. Este episodio especial de DiceCast está en español.

Te nemos el plaser de intrevistar a uno de los mejores caricaturista el Sr. Sergio Aragones que fue entrivistado en la sede Montreal Comiccon. Este episodio es espesial para todas las personas que an leida la revista Mad, Groo y Sergio Aragones Funnies. Tambien tenemos una intrevista espesial con un personaje que es reconocido en la lucha libre El Hijo del Santo.

Sergio Aragones habla sobre su vida y sus prollectos realizados y por realizar.El sellor Aragones se ha destaca por la calidad de sus dibujos en las revista Mad y por sus habilidades caricaturistica en el comic Groo y la nueva comic Sergio Aragones Funnies.

El Hijo del Santo es reconocido en la lucha libre, y otras de sus cualidades es haber realisado librros comicos y caricaturas , el hijo del Santo se encuentra partisipando como bocero representando ala fundasion Will Cost que se dedica ala, preservasion, protecsion y cuidado delas espesies marinas en peligro de extision. Esta intrevista fue realisada en FanExpo en Toronto Canada.

Other links

• Polymancer main site
• Polymancer corporate web site
• Polymancer on Twitter
• Polymancer on LiveJournal
• Polymancer on MySpace
• Polymancer on Facebook
• RSS feed for DiceCast
• Subscribe to DiceCast in iTunes
  

DiceCast Special Episode: Interview With Sergio Aragones

We had the pleasure of interviewing the great cartoonist and comic artist Sergio Aragonés at Montreal Comiccon this month. This episode is a special treat for fans of Mad magazine, Groo, and funny cartoons and comics.

Sergio Aragonés discussed his life as a cartoonist with us, as well as his work. Mr. Aragonés is famous for his "Drawn Out Dramas" and "Marginals" from Mad magazine and for his epic comic series about the terminally stupid, buffoonish barbarian Groo The Wanderer. He has recently began a new series called Sergio Aragonés Funnies, a semi-autobiographical collection of cartoons, puzzles, and other vignettes in his distinct style.

Other links

• Polymancer main site
• Polymancer corporate web site
• Polymancer on Twitter
• Polymancer on LiveJournal
• Polymancer on MySpace
• Polymancer on Facebook
• RSS feed for DiceCast
• Subscribe to DiceCast in iTunes
  

Special Episode: Otakuthon 2011

Otakuthon is Montreal's convention for fans of all things related to anime, manga, and similar fun stuff. It is held every August and they recently completed their 6^th annual convention, with as many as 10,000 people attending.Otakuthon features a huge exhibitor's hall, panel discussions, games, music, a dance, a masquerade, and of course, screenings.

We went to Otakuthon and we interviewed participants, exhibitors, and organizers.

Interviewed in this episode

• One of many participants who offers free hugs to fellow Otakuthon attendees; just one of the many things that make the experience unique and friendly.


• Eric Allard, creator of the Herobot webcomic, which has recently had its first chapter published in print. A more extensive interview with Allard is available in our French podcast, Royale With Cheese.


• Dawn, a representative of Costumecon 32, to be held in Toronto in late April or early May of 2014 (the official date is TBA). This is an annual convention that moves from city to city, similar to Worldcon, and which is all about costuming.


• Amanda Arrizza, chair of Otakuthon.

Bumpers in this episode

• The Gaming Genius Awards: A new awards recognizing excellence in game design, game publishing, game creation, and game enjoyment and covering all aspects of the hobby games industry. The Gaming Genius Awards is an effort of the Gamer's Guild, under sponsorship of Polymancer Studios, Inc..


• RPGPodcasts.com: Where you can find many other great game podcasts like this one.


• All Games Considered: A great podcast about tabletop roleplaying games and similar hobbies.

Other links

• More interviews from Otakuthon 2011 are available at the site for our French podcast, Royale With Cheese.
• Polymancer main site
• Polymancer corporate web site
• Polymancer on Twitter
• Polymancer on LiveJournal
• Polymancer on MySpace
• Polymancer on Facebook
• RSS feed for DiceCast
• Subscribe to DiceCast in iTunes
  

Gaming Genius Awards podcast spot (Spanish)

Las nominaciones están abiertas para los premios de juegos genio (www.thegoldepawns.org), que reconoce la excelencia en el diseño de juegos, juegos publicados, la creación de juegos inspirado, y todo lo relativo a los juegos. Editores, diseñadores, otros profesionales creativos y fanáticos de los juegos están invitados a contactarnos.