Tales From The Hydian Way

Ben has Chris Ing from Silhouette Zero and Heroes on to talk about the force and some of the deeper things you can look at when using the force in your games. From what is light and dark, to the different force traditions we have ideas on how to make the force deeper in your … Continue reading "The Deep Force Tale"

We talk about space combat and a few issues that can come up as well as a few unintended consequences of putting mechanics before narrative. Things talked about in this episode: Serrano Legacy Series – Once a Hero Mandalorian Fang Fighter Freespace 2 Edge of the Empire Point Defence Side Bar – Page 267 X-com … Continue reading "The Everything is Terrain Tale"

We talk about how to run an adventure with few player resources and how to make it so player ingenuity is welcome when you take their toys away. From survival to horror to investigations we talk about ways of a few things to expect and ways to make it awesome. Things we talk about on … Continue reading "The Low Resource Tale"

We talk about failure in your game and how to make it feel like that isn’t the end of the action or the story. We show how there is always effects after an action even if they aren’t the desired ones. Things we talked about in this episode: Gladiator Stranger Things Smaug – Hobbit Live … Continue reading "The Fail Tale"

This week we talk about NPCs why some get elevated, how to deal with the mechanics for those that do get elevated, and why some people make full PCs for an NPC. Things talked about in this episode: Heroes of the Hydian Way Silhouette Zero From A Certain Point of View Kitt Harrington Freemaker Adventures … Continue reading "The Allied NPC Tale"

We talk about themes in The Last Jedi and several of the things we ponder about the story, from using bombers to why using force face time would be useful in an RPG setting. Things talked about in this episode: The Last Jedi Dice for Brains Silhouette Zero Fandable Soloshot Redtails The Tuskegee Airmen Leia, … Continue reading "The Last Jedi Tale"

We talk about how to end a session and a scene. With tips and examples of dramatic situations to leave your players in, the hosts have some deep thoughts about coming to that brick wall. Things talked about in this episode: Fiasco Fiasco Dice Fiasco Playsets Table Top: Fiasco Setup Part 1 Part 2 Hail … Continue reading "The Way to End Tale"

Kristine and Ben talk about the ways that you can use the in between session times to make your games better and keep engagement going when you have ideas that just need to get out. Things we talked about in this episode: X-Files Dice for Brains pregame Northern Nerdcast Bothan Banter The West Marches Discord … Continue reading "The Behind the Scenes Tale"

Splitting the party can be treacherous for a GM, from boring other players to finding there’s just too much going on to keep track of. We have ideas on making it make more sense and a few tricks on keeping everyone engaged. Things we talked about on the show: SilZeroChris Rise of the Rune Lords … Continue reading "The Split Party Tale"

We talk of how to make a failed crafting check mean something, what comes from not making something, and how to make it become a part of the story. Things discussed in this episode: Stranger Things The Walking Dead The Threatening Tale Burn Notice You can find us,  at TheHydianWay.com You can find us on … Continue reading "The Failed Crafting Check Tale"

We talk about making a setting up for yourself. From new adversaries and minions to new pieces of equipment. This can broaden your horizons so much we wanted to give our initial takes on how to grow beyond the time between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.Things talked about on the show: Marcus … Continue reading "The Home Brew Tale"

This is Kristine and Ben talking about the ‘hunt the Bismark’ campaign Ben did and ways to bring out the things that Ben had in his head for it at the table. We also talk of how to take ideas and see how big the idea really is. Things we talk about on the show: … Continue reading "Finding the Destroyer Tale"

We get talking about the morality mechanic and a few things we’ve been having a hard time with lately when looking at what the morality system can become and how to make it grow into bigger character beats than simple good or bad. Things talked about in the show: Usagi Yojimbo Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles … Continue reading "The Moral Beginner Tale"

We talk about Bounty Boards and how they can tell a story, even just in how they are accessed, and how they can propel your story forward to make amazingly complex worlds. Things talked about on the show: The Lego Freemaker Adventures John Wick 2 Mass Effect 2 Zuckus Dengar From a Certain Point of … Continue reading "The Bounty Board Tale"

We start talking about social encounters and then expand to talk about how to bring threats and advantage to the table in more narrative ways than just boosts and setbacks going into the next roll.Things discussed in this episode: Legends of the Five Rings RPG Genesys – social scenes Powered By the Apocalypse Dungeons and … Continue reading "The Threatening Tale"

We slip from idea to idea as we talk about learning what your players want to do and giving them the tools to do it. Things talked about in this episode: Masks Dungeons and Dragons Secret of Monkey Island Witcher 3 Firefly Genesys Monster of the Week Spelljammer Starfinder The A-Team You can find us,  … Continue reading "The First Tale"

We look into some of the ways to save a flagging group from having co GMs to genre swapping on a regular basis. Talked about in this episode: Masks Pathfinder Yggdrasil Dresden Files Silhouette Zero Chris Ing Community Fate 5th Edition DnD Monster of the Week Stargate Call of Cthulhu Dungeons and Dragons Animated Willy … Continue reading "The Round Table Tale"

We talk about Dead in the Water and how you can break down the modules you see and read to make them more your own and get inspiration for the campaigns you want to run. Things talked about in the episode: Onslaught at Arda I Friends Like These Mask of the Pirate Queen Jewel of … Continue reading "The Personal Module Tale"

We talk about how to make adversaries and villains build in power, how to make them build in threat relevant to your player characters, and how to make these characters be more of an actual character to your players than just cardboard cutouts. Things talked about in this episode: Team Rocket Batman Vs Superman – … Continue reading "The Party’s Problem Tale"

We have Kristine Chester on to talk about obligation and ways to braid it into your plots so they don’t become plot derailing intrusions into your story and complement the characters that are there. Things talked about on the show: Kristine Chester Firefly Macguffin René Emile Belloq Lego Freemaker Adventures Dark Matter Valette You can … Continue reading "The Obligation Tale"