Tales From The Hydian Way

We talk about a topic from the discord regarding mixed groups and how to make it feel that everyone is in the story, instead of just given simple tasks to do. From magic users and Genesys to how to get force users to constrain their powers, we have ideas. Things we talk about in the … Continue reading "The Group of Individuals Tale"

We talk about villains in your game, from introducing them, how much different types of adventures bring a villain out to the players, and so many places in between. We have advice and tales of when things didn’t go right. Things talked about in this episode Die Hard Under Siege Indiana Jones with Belloq Curse … Continue reading "The Villainous Tale"

From policing what or why your character would act a certain way to figuring out ways to make sure your split party compartmentalizes we have ideas on how to get your players and characters to identify closer to each other. We talk about how to metagame with a much freer conscience and a few simple … Continue reading "The In Character Tale"

Your players do weird things and will deal with situations out of the order in your head. We talk about some of our experiences with players going left when we’d have expected them to go right, and give a few ideas on how to deal with it otherwise. Talked about in this episode: Mission Impossible … Continue reading "The Plotting Tale"

Ben has players that through paying attention to all the little throw away ideas he had have found enough parts to go into business for themselves as an arms manufacturer. This boggled his mind, so he asked Rissa for advice. Also there are tales of a wookiee rescue and commune. Things talked about in this … Continue reading "The Going into Business Tale"

Sometimes players get analysis paralysis and it gets frustrating for both the GM and the players alike. We have a few strategies to lessen the effect of it at the start of a session when the last session seems so long ago Things talked about in this episode: Force Majeure Podcast Silverwing Armory Newfounlander dog … Continue reading "The Player Guidance Tale"

Ben is joined by Heroes Kristine and Leslie to talk about character backstory and motivations. From informing the characters actions to providing hooks for the Game Master to propel the story along we dive deep in these concepts. Things talked about in the show: Kristine Leslie West Marches Fagin Tony Toponi Princess Bride Leverage Critical … Continue reading "The Backstory Tale"

We talk about challenges we’ve had as GMs to get players engaged with the stories we’re trying to tell and some of the solutions we’ve had for when the players actively try to derail your plot. Things talked about in this episode: Total Eclipse of the Heart Assassin Corvette Fiasco Imperial Assault You can find … Continue reading "The Lost in Space Tale"

Rissa and Ben set out to talk a little about making careers in Genesys, that idea was a red herring apparently as they fall into the trap of making a whole murder mystery one shot for you to use. Things talked about in this episode: The Steam Setting Tale Poirot Sherlock Holmes Nancy Drew Peter … Continue reading "The Murder Mystery Tale"

From discipline to astrogation many skills are forgotten by the whole table. We talk about several ways to make them more valuable for you and your players. Things talked about in this episode: Vapor Lock Iocaine Powder A New Hope You can find us on Twitter Show updates are @TheHydianWay Ben is @DeuteriumIce Rissa is … Continue reading "The Forgotten Skill Tale"

This week we start with a Minotaur stepping on the gas and it gets weirder from there. We talk about how you can plan for players being unpredictable and how you can recover from them doing something completely unexpected. Things talked about on this show: The Steam Setting Tale Fast 5 safe chase Heroes of … Continue reading "The Player Choice Tale"

Ben and Rissa talk about bringing meaning to your scenes and items. From making the blaster your gambler is carrying mean something extra to the framing of a dead body at the start of an adventure. We have ideas and tips for bringing your players into being more descriptive and making those descriptions matter. Things … Continue reading "The Expanding Narrative Tale"

Ben and Rissa talk about the differences in approach that character driven and plot driven campaigns can take and are generated for your players. Things talked about in this episode Buffy The Vampire Slayer Bones Castle Murder She Wrote Taken 2 Die hard With a Vengeance Princess Bride Spider-Man home coming Mass Effect You can … Continue reading "The Driven Tale"

We start talking about the different sorts of force traditions there are from the Gand Findsmen to the Dathomiri Witches and try to come up with ways to make it matter in your game. Things we talked about in this episode: Baran Do sages Aing Tii Monks Courtship of Princess Leia Dark Disciple Weik Miraluka … Continue reading "The Traditional Tale"

We talk about finding the stories that specializations want to tell and learning to find the ones that are there and not always forcing our own onto the career and specializations. Things talked about in this episode Knights of Fate Unlimited Power Four Man Band Ton Phanan Leap of Faith You can find us on … Continue reading "The Character Finding Tale"

Ben, Rissa, and Leslie were talking about the absolute cheese that is in Star Wars and related products, how it’s baked into the essence of it, and discuss many ways to add it in and vectors to add some tension breaking levity to your adventures Things talked about in this episode Ewoks Theme Mo – … Continue reading "The Cheese Wheel Tale"

We talk about the players who shoot first and may remember to ask questions after they’ve looted the bodies. We get ideas on how to make the experience broader with them and how to try and how to make their actions matter to the stories you’re telling. Things talked about in this episode Murder hobo … Continue reading "The Player Mayhem Tale"

Ben is getting ready to run Mask of the Pirate Queen, Rissa runs a bunch of investigation and mysteries for her players. Rissa gives insights from her many adventures and what has worked and what hasn’t. Things talked about in this episode: Game Night Clue A Pup Named Scooby Doo Miss Marple Poirot You can … Continue reading "The Investigation Tale"

This week we’re excited to welcome James D’amato from the One Shot Network to talk about improvisation and some strategies to make it easier at the game table when players throw you for a loop. Things talked about in this episode One Shot Campaign Podcast Fiasco OSR Cannibal Halfling Mech Rules X Card Star Crossed … Continue reading "The One Shot Tale"

A scenario that’s always hard to setup is getting player characters captured. We talk about how to make it more intuitive for the characters to be captured, how to deal with a near total party kill, and how to make it so the players get the idea to be captured ‘all on their own’ Things … Continue reading "The Captured Character Tale"