Campaign Spotlight

Welcome to Season 4 of Campaign Spotlight! This week, we chat with Dante about running eleven weekly parallel tables in the same campaign, falling in to becoming a professional GM, and embracing the tropes of the fetch quest. Plus, Dante has some sage advice for GMs like Jake who love spreadsheets.During the interview, Dante mentions that they're opening a physical storefront for Chance Encounter Games in Seattle. In the time since we recorded this interview, we attended the grand opening and asked the customers about their campaigns, characters, and hot takes. Expect to hear all about it...

In the very last Flashlight of Season 3, Jake describes Reilly's rations, Reilly shows off some sound effect finesse, and we commit to a timeline for Season 4. Spoiler alerts for either Inspector Gadget or Mission Impossible, potentially. This was our first time recording one-on-one in the studio in a long time, and we'd really missed it.Listen to the episode to hear what we have in store for Season 4! If you're enjoying the show, and you'd like to support it, here are some ways you can make that hapen:Subscribing and leaving a review helps other people...

In our very last interview of Season 3, we chat with Ev about spontaneous goblinization, nanite infestation, and a future Seattle that's even grimmer than the one we live in. Quite a bit of Seattle talk in this one, but also a lot of discussion of playing a TTRPG in a grounded and realistic world where actions have consequences. Also, spoilers for iZombie, Mr Robot, and possibly Oceans Eleven? Jake would like to sincerely apologize for making a Homestuck reference.In addition to the Shadowrun system, Ev mentions a few other science fiction-themed TTRPG systems:ParaoniaEclipse PhaseRogue...

In this week's Flashlight, we're at Vulpine Taproom in Seattle! We hear about the appropriate attire for a fantasy cosplay wedding, the hazards of getting emotionally invested in a gimmick character, and the downsides of having a life outside of gaming. Thank you so much to Vulpine Taproom for letting us record at your game night.Thanks to Josh, Chris, Abraham, Shoe, Brandon, Sean, and another Chris for taking the time to talk with us! (And, once again, serious gratitude to Vulpine Taproom.) As usual, we have some notes on our conversations:Abraham mentioned the Mothership...

In this week's episode, we chat with Tyler about big beefy robots smashing into each other, character specialization and specificity, and playing with a whole party of GMs. This interview started out as being about the Lancer system in particular, but we ended up talking about building and levelling PCs more generally.Tyler tells us about Lancer and its free COMP/CON character-building website and also mentions a few other games:Savage WorldsStar Wars: Edge of the EmpireMicroscope (which we played and enjoyed way back at the start of the podcast)Tunnel GoonsRunequest ClassicWanderhomeHe...

In this week's Flashlight, we're still at the OrcaCon tabletop games convention in Seattle! We see a lot of excellent wizard hats, we hear about a lot of cool projects, and Jake reveals the deep lore of Campaign Spotlight. We can't wait to get back to the con next year!Here's everyone we spoke with in this episode. Some of these were booths at the con, and some were people who saw us with a mic and wanted to let our listeners know what they were working on. We're really grateful to everyone who took the time...

In this week's episode, we chat with RP about the expectations of the hero's journey, mysterious celebrity clients, and getting paid to DM. Spoilers for Beowulf, I think? We tank our chances for a Neuralink sponsorship in this one, just like we tanked our chances for a Tesla sponsorship earlier this season. (Also, just in case it wasn't clear, we recorded both this interview and the interview with Austin before the election, when joking about Elon Musk's failing companies felt different somehow.)RP plugs Order of the Stick in this episode, and the fact that this webcomic...

In this week's Flashlight, we head to the OrcaCon tabletop games convention in Seattle! We hear about a bunch of cool projects, we spot a prominent state official, and Jake is flummoxed by the concept of 24-hour livestreams. This convention was honestly so much fun, and we're already scheming to get to more tabletop gaming events.Here's everyone we spoke with in this episode. Some of these were booths at the con, and some were people who saw us with a mic and wanted to let our listeners know what they were working on. We're really grateful...

This week, we chat with Andrew from Legacies LARP about terrorizing the town as a fae abductor, depicting a demonic plague, and writing story for a long-running live-action role-playing game. This is a conversation about a very different type of storytelling experience in a game that's been running continuously for decades where each plot team only controls the narrative for six months at a time. (Also, if you're wondering, the town was called Fortnight long before the game Fortnite even existed.)Thanks to Legacies LARP for making this interview possible! We're talking about Legacies LARP this week...

In this week's Flashlight, we're back on location one last time at the Howloween furry convention in Vancouver! This season, we're getting out into the community and asking people about their PCs and their campaigns. We hear about banishing political figures from the timeline, a party with multiple competing cultists, and becoming the first vampires to climb Mount Everest. Also this week, Jake and Reilly chat about the season so far and what's coming next for Campaign Spotlight. Along the way, we talk about the difference between GM-only players and PC-only players, and Jake pleads with Reilly...

In this week's episode, we chat with Rob about order and chaos, recruiting a potato peeler, and running an epic high-level campaign. Rob shares a very controversial take on combat that Jake's still not sure about. Spoiler warnings for Mass Effect in this one.In our discussion of worldbuilding, we mention our very first interview with Mike. We also mention the Genesys system a couple times. Rob introduced Jake to the system many years ago, and we tried it out on the podcast way back in Season 1. (Incidentally, that's also the Flashlight where Reilly introduces Monocles McGillicudy...

In this week's Flashlight, we're back on location at the Howloween furry convention in Vancouver! This season, we're getting out into the community and asking people about their PCs and their campaigns. We hear about elfaboos, being dumb in a productive way, and a LARP character that actually steals things. Because we're at a furry convention, one of us is wearing a very clanky bell, and you can hear it throughout the recording. The host who's wearing a very clanky bell would like to apologize to the host who edits the audio for that poor satrorial decision....

This week, we chat with Mike about killing your PCs' beloved animal companions, treating your players to cool hats with powers, and bringing in guest players for very special episodes. Mike refers quite a few times to our interview with Sam way back in Season 1. Also, spoiler alert for How I Met Your Mother.Sam also recommends the podcast Dungeoncast, which is sadly shutting down.This week's PC intro comes from Marquis, who's also one of the guest stars Mike mentions. Marquis also plays in Sam's campaign from Season 1, and played in Prim's campaign...

In this week's Flashlight, we're on location at the Howloween furry convention in Vancouver! This season, we're getting out into the community and asking people about their PCs and their campaigns. We hear about hat enthusiasts, revenge at all costs, and giving up the reins of your PC to your DM.Thanks to Joey, Sean, Kaesu, Shadowsmyst, Fir, Robin, and Kaji for taking the time to chat with us! (And if you talked to us at Howloween but you're not featured in this week's episode, stay tuned for the next Flashlight.) You can see some of Sean's...

This week, we chat with David about saving the whales, publishing your own game systems, and making a city feel corrupt, classy and discreet. David has built some very cool systems, and our conversation covers rules lawyering, game balance, and what it means for a table to tell a story together. For the first time in a long time, we don't spoil any media and we also don't ruin our changes at any sponsorships.This episode is heavy on references to other games! First and foremost, you should go check out David's Itch page where you can...

In the very first Flashlight of Season 3, we're on location at Oppegaard Meadery in Seattle! This season, we're getting out into the community and asking people about their PCs and their campaigns. This was a fun episode - not just because people had interesting things to say about TTRPGs, but also because the space was ludicrously cozy and the mead was delicious. Thanks to everyone who took the time to chat with us! Check out our website to see some pictures we took while we were recording.A clarifying note: we emailed Oppegaard Meadery management asking permission...

In the very first episode of Season 3, we chat with Austin about literal truckloads of cryptocurrrency, designing high-level enemies, and the importance of in-game downtime. Austin is an accomplished game designer and brings a ton of helpful advice to the conversation. Unfortunately, we do tank our prospects for a Tesla sponsorship.A heads up that this episode swerves into a discussion of imperialist military violence in TTRPG campaigns and its parallels in the real world. Go check out the Beam Saber system, which Austin designed. (To hear more about this system, go listen to last...

In this finale Flashlight of Season 2, Jake is embarrasingly earnest, Reilly gives the listeners a lot of homework, and the sword makes a second ominous appearance. We plug our Patreon, repeatedly give different numbers for the PC intro hotline (it's 724 320 2020), and talk about our plans for Season 3. This is honestly an extremely silly conversation. We've had so much fun getting to make this podcast and we're sincerely grateful to our guests so far and we're really excited to share another season of interviews with you.If you like the music on the show, go check out more...

In this week's episode, we chat with Lew about unsustainable character voices, mixing ABBA with Norse mythology, and the importance of buying in to the fantasy. Very minor spoiler alert for 500 Days of Summer. We do joke about Ikea being our sponsor, but they're not, and this episode probably guarantees that they never will be.In this episode Lew mentions the Wayward Children series as well as the SCP Foundation. Lew also shared with us a ton of very cool pictures of the maps and minis from this campaign. Head on over to our website to check...

In this week's Flashlight, we talk about intellectual property, resolve to go to law school, and finally earn that explicit rating. You can tell that we record a few weeks in advance, because we joke about WotC's next bad decision but we don't know about the DNDBeyond debacle yet. Jake gets into economic theory. Reilly's mic might just be a cursed artifact. Spoiler warning for Fountainhead? Also, we're not actually sponsored by Microsoft.Dennis mentioned the OGL controversy last week, so go listen to the interview if you'd like to hear another perspective on the whole situation...